Turquoise-fronted Parrot Amazona aestiva Scientific name definitions

Also known as the Turquoise-fronted Amazon or Parrot, this species has been considered to be one of the most abundant of its genus. Found from northeast Brazil south to Bolivia, Paraguay, and northern Argentina, the species is known from a variety of more or less wooded habitats, including Cerrado and Chaco scrub, gallery forests, and palm groves. Given its overall abundance, the Blue-fronted Parrot has been heavily targeted by the cagebird trade, although on the plus side it has almost certainly benefited from ongoing agricultural expansion through much of its range. Like many Amazona species, the plumage is mainly green, with a largely yellow face, and a blue frontal band, as well as red speculum. There are two subspecies, and these differ most obviously in the color of the smaller wing coverts, red in the nominate race, and yellow (and forming a more extensive patch) in the southwestern subspecies.

37 cm; mean 400 g. Fore­crown blue; mid-crown, face , chin and throat yellow , blue or green; hindcrown, posterior ear-coverts, sides of neck , nape and mantle green heavily edged blackish, producing scaled effect, less pronounced on wings and undersides; shoulder and speculum red, primaries tipped dark blue; tail  green tipped yellowish, with lateral feathers basally barred with red  . Immature  has blue and yellow of head  reduced. Race <em>xanthopteryx</em> has yellow shoulder , often variably intermixed with red of shoulder.

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.

Thought to be closely related to A. barbadensis (1 Russello, M. A., and G. Amato (2004). A molecular phylogeny of Amazona: implications for Neotropical parrot biogeography, taxonomy and conservation. Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution 30(2):421–437. Close ). Race xanthopteryx has occasionally been considered a separate species, but yellow on shoulder a variable character (often intermixed with red) and can be present also in nominate. Genetic data suggest also a clinal distribution of variability (2 Leite, K.C.E., Seixas, G.H.F., Berkunsky, I., Collevatti, R.G. and Caparroz, R. (2008). Population genetic structure of the blue-fronted Amazon (Amazona aestiva, Psittacidae: Aves) based on nuclear microsatellite loci: implications for conservation. Genetics and Molecular Research. 7(3): 819–829. Close ). Two subspecies recognized.

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.

Cerrado and Chaco scrub, savanna, palm groves, gallery forest, subtropical woodland; closely tied to old-growth areas with large trees providing nest-cavities. In winter, Argentina, occupies yungas forest, particularly stands of Anadenanthera macrocarpa.

In Argentina, great majority of Chaco-nesting population moves W to eastern foothills of Andes, from mid-Mar to mid-Sept; some birds appear to wander E to E Paraguay, May–Jul. Recorded possibly as vagrant in SE Peru, Apr 2015 (3 Avendaño Medina, J.L. (2015). Primer registro del Loro de Frente Turquesa (Amazona aestiva) para el Perú. Boletín UNOP. 10(2): 19–21. In Spanish. Close ).

Fruit or seeds of a wide variety of plants, notably (in Argentina) fruits of Melia, Aspidosperma, Prosopis, Schinopsis and Ziziphus, and seeds of Citrus, Anadenanthera, Bulnesia and Cercidium; also cactus fruit and palm seeds. Flowers of Erythrina and Morus, late Aug, immature fruits of Cedrela, Sept–Nov. At Emas National Park, Goiás State, Brazil, it damages Eriotheca gracilipes fruit crops (4 Ragusa-Netto, J. (2014). Crop damage of Eriotheca gracilipes (Bombacaceae) by the Blue-Fronted Amazon (Amazona aestiva, Psittacidae), in the Brazilian Cerrado. Brazilian Journal of Biology. 74(4): 837–843. Close ). Also recorded in Brazil feeding on flowers of Ceiba speciosa  and fruits  of palm trees.

A variety of screeches, whistles and barks, most loud and rather low-pitched. Flight call, a repeated low-pitched rolling bark “crrow!”.

Oct–Mar. Nest in hole in tree generally around 9 m up or, more rarely, cliff face or arboreal termitarium  ; preferred trees in Argentina include Schinopsis, Aspidosperma, Chlorisia and Calycophyllum. High rates of cavity reoccupation in N Argentina, up to 68% in banded females (5 Berkunsky, I. and Reboreda, J.C. (2009). Nest-site fidelity and cavity reoccupation by Blue-fronted Parrots Amazona aestiva in the dry Chaco of Argentina. Ibis. 151(1): 145–150. Close ). Normally three eggs (1–5), size 31·9–35·1 mm × 27·3–27·4 mm (in captivity) (6 Harrison, C. J. O., and D. T. Holyoak (1970). Apparently undescribed parrot eggs in the collection of the British Museum (Natural History). Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 90(2):42–46. Close ); incubation (in captivity by female only) lasting 23–25 days; nestling period 58–60 days. Post-fledging survival in radio-collared individuals, 94% during a 33 days average period (range 11–87 days) (7 Faegre, S. and Berkunsky, I. (2014). Post-fledging survival of Blue-fronted Parrots (Amazona aestiva). Ornitología Neotropical. 25: 55–61. Close ).

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). CITES II. One of the most abundant of S. American amazons, benefiting from agriculture and despoiling maize and sunflower crops, and causing some damage to fruit (especially citrus) crops during winter. Very heavily trapped for cagebird trade, but impact on populations not clear; minimum net exports rose from 10,644 in 1981 to 58,464 in 1988, thereafter declining, most of these birds coming from Argentina, which exported 244,774 in the period 1985–1990. Selective cutting of mature Schinopsis trees, overgrazing by domestic livestock and oil exploration activities are all affecting parts of the Chaco in Argentina, but very substantial tracts of habitat remain.