White-fronted Parrot, Amazona albifrons

White-fronted Parrot, Amazona albifrons albifrons. Photographs taken in the greater Zihuantanejo area, Guerrero, March 2019. Photographs courtesy of Ron Woheau, Zihuantanejo.

White-fronted Parrot, Amazona albifrons saltuensis. Birds photographed in Parque National Huatulco, Huatulco, Oaxaca, March 2021. Photographs and identification courtesy of Marina Sutormina, Stockholm, Sweden.

White-fronted Parrot, Amazona albifrons saltuensis. Photographs taken within a residential community in Alamos, Sonora, January 2018 and April 2018. Photograph and identification courtesy of David F Smith, Alamos, Sonora.

The White-fronted Parrot, Amazona albifrons, are two of three subspecies of White-fronted Parrot, all three of which are found in Mexico. They are member of the Psittacidae Family of New World and African Parrots, which has one hundred seventy-five members placed in thirty-seven genera, one of the thirty-two global species of the Amazona Genus. In Mexico they are known as Amazona frentialba.

The White-fronted Parrots are mid-sized in stature. They are sexually dimorphic with the males having red in their wings. They have an obvious white forehead, reddish eye surround, blue crown, red wing-band, and dark blue speculum; the rest of the plumage is green.

The White-fronted Parrots are found in dry deciduous forests, and in advanced second growth, scrubby woodland, thornbush, coastal palm-fig thickets, and in semi-open areas with scattered trees and giant cacti at elevations up to 1,850 m (6,000 feet). They are known to make seasonal migrations in search of food. Their diets consist primarily of seeds supplemented with berries, cacti, fruits and crops such as corn and mangos.

In Mexico they are found in three separate regions with one population in northwest Mexico, another along the Pacific slope in southwest Mexico and a third within the Atlantic slope from southeast Veracruz south to Belize including the Yucatán Peninsula. The albifrons subspecies is found within the Pacific slope from Nayarit to Guatemala. The saltuensis subspecies is found within the Pacific slope in southern Sonora, Sinaloa and western Durango.

From a conservation perspective the White-fronted Parrot is currently considered to be of Least Concern with stable, widely distributed populations. They have benefited by agricultural development and have become pests in some areas. They are heavily utilized by the caged bird trade.