Abstract
The sun was setting into the distant horizon, creating one of the most magnificent of sunsets I had yet observed in the tropics. Among the distant treetops, a familiar call was barely audible. Described by Paul Slud as a "kurr-owk, kurr-owk!' it is easily recognized as that of the Yellow-headed Parrot (Amazona oratrix) as it sounds like no other psittacine that inhabits the area. Proceeding a short distance further up the highway, we located the parrots in a Caribbean pine tree, twisting and turning while vocalizing loudly. What in reality was only three birds sounded like 20! I observed the birds until darkness creeped in, then proceeded back into town.
In the United States, the final word as to the official common and scientific names of avian species in North and Middle America is the "Checklist of North American Birds" published by the American Ornithologists' Union under the advisement of the Committee on Classification and Nomenclature. In 1983, the checklist included birds found in Central America, therefore delt with Yellowheaded Parrot taxonomy.
It should be noted that while a number of ornithologists do not agree with the AOUs' decisions, the fact remains that scientific journals generally support its usage. So what did the committee decide and is it different from our past taxonomy? Up until this point, most aviculturists and ornithologists considered Yellow-heads found in Mexico and Belize as one or more subspecies of the species ocbrocepb ala. The subspecies were often debatable with little consistency in usage. For example, while Joseph Forshaw in '' Parrots of the World'' considered the Belize subspecies as A.o. belizensis, Stephen M. Russell, the author of the "Distributional Study of the Birds of British Honduras (Belize)" lists the Belize birds as A. o. oratrix.
Back at the species level, the AOU committee on taxonomy has ruled the Belizean birds are, in fact, members of the species oratrix, not ocbrocepbata. So that you do not become totally confused, I refer you to the enclosed chart.