Green-cheeked Amazons are a medium-sized, stocky parrot with mostly green plumage, including green cheeks, a red crown and a pale beak. A red patch of feathers is present on the wings but visible only during flight. The tail is yellow tipped.

What They Eat
Diets in wild populations consist of pine seeds, maize, berries, beans, flowers and acorns.

Where They Live
These parrots are found in deciduous woodlands, and floodplain forests in tropical lowlands. Green-cheeks are native to northeast Mexico but can be found in the Brownsville, Texas area where food is more readily available in the winter.

What They Do
Green-cheeked gather in large flocks and are noisiest in the morning and evening. Green-cheeks are cavity nesters and will often nest in abandoned Lineated Woodpecker nests or natural cavities in old trees. Usually 3-4 eggs are laid and incubation lasts around 28 days, with a nestling period of 9 weeks.

How They’re Doing
Green-cheeks are listed as an endangered species, their numbers extensively reduced due to heavy trapping and habitat destruction. Between the 1960s and 1980s when Mexico put a ban on exports this species was traded in the thousands and, possibly in some years, tens of thousands. There is currently no adequately protected areas specific for this species.

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Green-cheeked Amazon Parrot

Green-cheeked Amazon Parrot