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SPECIES PROFILE
Yellow-billed Parrot (Amazona collaria)
Amazona
IUCN STATUS
Vulnerable
CONSERVATION STATUS
Vulnerable
CLASS
Aves
GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE
Endemic to Jamaica; found across most forested areas of the island.
DIET
Herbivore
HABITAT
Montane and lowland humid forest, forest edges, coffee shade, and orchards; one of two parrots endemic to Jamaica.
🔬 Classification
PHYLUM
Chordata
CLASS
Aves
ORDER
Psittaciformes
FAMILY
Psittacidae
GENUS
Amazona
📋 Description
SIZE
Medium parrot 28–30 cm; stocky build with a short rounded tail.
COLORATION
Mostly green body; yellow bill; white eye-ring; yellow and blue wing patches visible in flight; red forehead.
ADAPTATIONS
Strong hooked bill for cracking hard seeds; zygodactyl feet for branch manipulation; loud complex vocalisations for flock cohesion.
🌿 Ecology
HABITAT
Montane and lowland humid forest, forest edges, coffee shade, and orchards; one of two parrots endemic to Jamaica.
DIET
Herbivore
GEOGRAPHIC RANGE
Endemic to Jamaica; found across most forested areas of the island.
REPRODUCTION
Nest in natural tree cavities; 2–3 white eggs; incubation ~26 days; female incubates while male feeds her; chicks fledge at ~8 weeks.
DIET DETAILS
Seeds, nuts, and fruits including coffee berries, figs, and mangoes; feeds in noisy canopy flocks that travel widely.
⚠️ Threats & Conservation
PRIMARY THREATS
Trapping for the pet trade, hunting for food, and forest loss; population declining despite legal protection.
💡 Interesting Facts
1
Jamaica has two endemic parrot species — Yellow-billed and Black-billed — making it a priority for Caribbean parrot conservation.
2
Like all Amazon parrots, Yellow-billed Parrots mate for life and may live 50+ years in the wild.
🔭 Sighting Guide
📍 BEST PLACES TO SIGHT
Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park (Hardwar Gap), Jamaica — reliable at dawn when flocks cross the mountain ridgeline.
Cockpit Country, Trelawny, Jamaica — large feeding flocks visible at forest fruiting trees in the wet season.
Marshall's Pen great house bird sanctuary, Manchester, Jamaica — private reserve with resident Yellow-billed Parrot pairs.
🗓️ BEST TIME TO SIGHT
Arrive at forest feeding trees at first light and scan the canopy; parrots call loudly in flight but are quiet and cryptic while feeding.
🎯 SIGHTING TIPS
Year-round; nesting season February–July when pairs are most vocal near nest cavities in the Blue Mountains.
