Since 2004 · Licensed by the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT)

Mealy Amazon (Amazona farinosa)
Photo: Joe crutwell, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist
Mealy Amazon

Family Psittacidae

Mealy Amazon

Amazona farinosa

In Spanish: Loro Verde (Lora Cabeza Negra, Lora Jupa Gris)

  • Resident

A big green lowland parrot with a pale eyering and a floury nape.

The Mealy Amazon, Loro Verde to Costa Ricans, is a resident parrot of the wet, well forested lowlands of the Caribbean slope and the south Pacific. It is common to abundant around the Golfo Dulce region.

You will often hear it before you see it, because its harsh squawks carry over the canopy. Look up early and late in the day, when pairs fly overhead.

How to find it

Scan the sky early and late in the day, when pairs fly overhead, and listen for the squawks. Aim for the first hours after dawn and about two hours before sunset. A fruiting Cecropia tree is a good one to scan. Look carefully in leafy treetops, because this big green bird can vanish in foliage.

How to recognise it

This is a large green parrot with no coloured patch on the head. The best field marks are the dark cere and the pale eyering. The Costa Rican form has a pale blue-green crown and a whitish, floury look on the nape, which gives the bird its name. Its tail is two-toned, with the outer half paler and more yellow-green. In flight it shows a red wing patch and a bluish-black trailing edge to the wing.

What it sounds like

0:12

Recording: Eric Schmidt, CC BY 4.0, source, read 4 Nov 2026.

Behaviour and diet

It eats mainly seeds, fruits and berries, and also buds and flowers. Parrots are mainly active in the first hours after dawn and in the afternoon, about two hours before sunset. Pairs are often seen flying overhead. It nests in natural cavities of dead trees, often enlarging them. Being mostly green, it blends well into leafy treetops.

Where it lives

In Costa Rica it lives in humid lowland forest but also visits forest edge, crops and gardens. It rarely goes above about 500 m, and is found up to about 600 m on the whole Caribbean slope and the southern half of the Pacific slope. It is less numerous in the drier General-Terraba and Rio Frio areas.

When to see it

It breeds in the dry season, so pairs at tree cavities in dead trees may be easiest to watch then.

Similar birds

The Red-lored Amazon is the only Costa Rican Amazona with a red forehead, and its calls ring and clink rather than squawk. The White-fronted Amazon is smaller, with a yellow bill, white forehead and red forewing patch. Near Carara it can also be mistaken for the Yellow-naped Amazon.

Names and lore in Costa Rica

Costa Rican sources list loro verde, lora, loro corona azul and loro harinoso. The Costa Rican subspecies is called loro harinoso de Costa Rica or loro de cabeza verde.

Status and conservation

The AOCR list marks it as a resident (R), and BirdLife rates the Central American birds, as Northern Mealy Amazon, Near Threatened.

Photography tips

Work the first hours after dawn and the hours before sunset, when the parrots are most active. Check treetops closely, because the bird may hide behind a branch.

How we know this 19 sources, each read on the date shown
  1. Aves de Costa Rica read 2026-11-04https://avesdecostarica.com/Amazona-farinosa.html
  2. Diversidad y un poco de todo read 2026-11-04https://www.diversidadyunpocodetodo.com/amazona-harinosa-amazona-farinosa-loro-grande/
  3. World Bird Photos read 2026-11-04https://www.worldbirdphotos.com/photo/amazon-mealy-amazona-farinosa-costa-rica/
  4. Nigel Forrow read 2026-11-04https://www.nigelforrow.co.uk/mealy-amazon-costa-rica
  5. Birds & Breakfast Costa Rica read 2026-11-04https://birdsandbreakfast.com/en/mealy-amazon/
  6. Wikipedia via iNaturalist read 2026-11-04https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/19005-Amazona-farinosa
  7. Eh New read 2026-11-04https://ehnew.org/articles/mealy-amazon-parrot-subspecies/
  8. World Parrot Trust read 2026-11-04https://parrots.org/projects/northern-and-southern-mealy-amazon-conservation/
  9. World Parrot Trust read 2026-11-04https://parrots.org/encyclopedia/northern-mealy-amazon/
  10. Birding Craft read 2026-11-04https://birdingcraft.com/wordpress/2010/11/01/tips-on-parrot-identification-when-birding-costa-rica/
  11. Canopy Family read 2026-11-04https://canopytower.com/red-lored-parrot/
  12. Wikipedia (es) read 2026-11-04https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazona_farinosa
  13. Wikipedia read 2026-11-04https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mealy_amazon
  14. Aves Exoticas read 2026-11-04https://avesexoticas.org/loros/amazona-farinosa/
  15. Animal Diversity Web read 2026-11-04https://www.animaldiversity.org/accounts/Amazona_farinosa/
  16. Birding Craft read 2026-11-04https://birdingcraft.com/wordpress/tag/mealy-parrot/
  17. Birda species guide read 2026-11-04https://app.birda.org/species-guide/13200/Southern_Mealy_Amazon
  18. Loros Sin Fronteras read 2026-11-04https://lorossinfronteras.com/costa-rica/
  19. Canopy Tower read 2026-11-04https://canopytower.com/mealy-parrot/