Scaly-naped Parrot Amazona mercenarius Scientific name definitions

Although widely distributed, from extreme northwest Venezuela, discontinuously south to Bolivia, with a single record from Argentina, the Scaly-naped Parrot appears to be nowhere common, and seems to have badly affected by deforestation in at least some parts of its range. It mainly inhabits subtropical and temperate forests in the Andes, and this parrot is speculated to perform seasonal or even semi-nomadic movements, presumably in search of suitable food resources. Smaller than the otherwise very similarly plumaged Mealy Parrot (Amazona farinosa), the Scaly-naped Parrot is largely confined to rather higher elevations than the latter, but some overlap might occur. In flight, note the red on the outer tail feathers, while at rest observers should note the scaly appearance to some of the head and body feathers, and the brighter green tone to the plumage of the present species.

33–34 cm; 340 g. Mainly green , darker above, hindcrown, nape and mantle with dark edges to feathers giving slight scaled effect; small whitish bare orbital ring; tail-coverts yellowish green; carpal edge yellowish with some orange-red; speculum red ; flight-feathers tipped dark blue; tail green tipped yellowish, lateral feathers with broad red subterminal bar. Immatures undescribed. Race <em>canipalliata</em> lacks red speculum.

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

A variety of screeches and rolling barks. Calls in flight also quite variable, but often incorporates a barking “cho-chow”.