age of my Yellow Nape

henpecked

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Dec 12, 2010
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Jake YNA 1970,Kia Panama amazon1975, both i removed from nest and left siblings, Forever Home to,Stacie (YN hen),Mickie (RLA male),Blinkie (YNA hen),Kong (Panama hen),Rescue Zons;Nitro,Echo,Rocky,Rub
Welcome to the forum. It's very hard to age most amazons, that being said Dr Scott McDonald can lapiscopical exam them and give a pretty close guess. In your case, napes will "yellow" with age, however there's 2 more common subspecies of napes here in the states. The Parvipes is less common, generally smaller, has more yellow (on crown, nape and later forms a yellow "collar"). The parvipes also has noticeably smaller feet than the more common auropalliata subspecies. If the bird in your picture is a true nape then i'd guess auropalliata and a relatively young bird (not mature,< 7yrs) ( is he rough and tumble like a teenager??) I have many napes of both subspecies and color (yellow) varies much from each individual, some birds don't have but one or two yellow feathers until long after maturity and some are much more colorful at an earlier age. Maybe a video would help in aging your bird better, it's just a guess after only seeing 2 poor pictures. The bird in hand, i could give a better guess. I find it easier to age zons by their actions/mannerisms along with their looks. Hope that helps a bit.
 
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Birdman666

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Sep 18, 2013
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Presently have six Greenwing Macaw (17 yo), Red Fronted Macaw (12 yo), Red Lored Amazon (17 y.o.), Lilac Crowned Amazon (about 43 y.o.) and a Congo African Grey (11 y.o.)
Panama Amazon (1 Y.O.)
It's really hard to do that, unless you have a band number you can trace back to a breeder, and they can look up the hatch date, or an import band, that at least gives you ball park information on the bird...

My Lilac Crowned had an import band that dated back 40 years ago. So we don't know exactly how old she is, but she is at least 40 years old...

A friend of mine has her grandmother's DYH. That bird was 92 years old, when she inherited it from her mother (who had inherited it from her grandmother.)

So, the point is, age is just a number.

Having said that, I don't see much of a yellow nape on this bird yet from the pics you posted, so I am guessing this bird is pretty young. Show me the back of the neck...

My foster nape was in his late 20's or 30's I believe, when I got him, and he had a monster yellow spot...
 
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