Lilac-crowned Amazon

Overview

The Lilac-crowned Amazon is endemic to Mexico's Pacific-slope forests, ranging from Sinaloa to Oaxaca. It is a mid-sized Amazon whose head pattern is its most distinctive feature.

• Compact body typical of Amazon parrots
• Head shows a graded red-to-lilac pattern rather than a single solid patch
• Dark horn-colored bill

Feather Identification

Forehead feathers are a deep red, transitioning into a dusky maroon or lilac wash across the crown, with a pale bluish tinge on the nape. Body feathers are green, each finely edged darker to create a subtly scalloped texture on the back and covert feathers.

• Flight feathers: Green primaries and secondaries; a small red patch may show in the secondaries in flight
• Tail feathers: Green with paler yellow-green tips
• Head pattern: Red forehead grading to maroon-lilac crown, unlike the pure blue forehead of the Blue-fronted Amazon or the extensive yellow head of the Double Yellow-headed Amazon

The graded red-to-lilac crown, rather than a sharply defined single-color patch, is the most reliable way to identify feathers of this species.

Sexes look alike in plumage. Young birds show a duller, less extensive red forehead and little of the lilac crown wash, both of which become more developed with age. Molt occurs gradually across the year.

This Amazon is tied to seasonally dry tropical forest and adjacent thorn scrub along Mexico's Pacific coastal lowlands and foothills. It is largely non-migratory, with local movements linked to fruiting cycles.

Lilac-crowned Amazons travel in pairs or small flocks, feeding on fruit, seeds, and blossoms in the forest canopy. They nest in tree cavities, and pairs share duties in raising the brood. Vocalizations include loud screeches and more musical notes, often heard from flocks flying between roost and feeding sites at dawn and dusk.