Yellow headed amazon (Amazona oratrix) in Stuttgart, GermanyIt's time for the afternoon feeding and the male yellow-headed parrot has just arrived at the nest cavity in an old palm. After a brief look around, he slowly makes his way down into the hollow to feed the young.
As he disappears, the female alights at the opening and peers warily about. The sharp eyed parent seems unwilling to enter without first making sure no potential predator is watching.
Finally, she determines the coast is clear and carefully descends to join her mate. After several minutes the male emerges, his bill stained with the remains of the meal he has just regurgitated for the young.
Soon, he is joined by his mate, who climbs right on past him. After securing a steady grip on the cavity edge, she looks about for just a moment and then they both fly off.
Yellow-headed parrots normally lay one to three eggs and incubate for approximately a month. Once the babies hatch it takes another couple of months for them to fledge, so this pair of parrots will have a lot of time and effort invested in raising their young.
In a nearby palm, a pair of green parakeets is busy feeding their youngsters as well. Only their cavity entrance is just barely large enough to accommodate them, and it is a pretty tight squeeze as they come and go.
The parakeets won't take as long to fledge, even though they nested a little later, and the parrots will probably still be visiting the old hollow after the parakeets have flown.