The History of Blue Mutation Yellow-Naped Amazons
From my research there appears to be 4 distinct bloodlines of the blue mutation yellow-naped amazon in the United states. The following is the history of each line.
The Voren Line
In the 1980s, Howard Voren, a bird breeder and importer, came into the possession of two baby blue yellow naped amazons while in Honduras. This male/female pair were found in two different nests, indicating they were unrelated. Voren became the first in the world to produce blue babies in captivity. The Voren line is extremely large, weighing in at over 550 grams, and has a very distinct white patch over the nostrils (cere). Some feel that Voren’s blues are a slightly lighter shade than some of the other bloodlines.
The Singh Line
Mr. Singh acquired an adult female and a baby male blue out of quarantine in 1990. It is believed that they were originally imported out of Nicaragua. This line shares the larger size of the Voren bloodline, a similar 550+ grams. His line has no white above the cere. Some feel it has a slightly darker shade of blue than the Voren line.
Mr. Blue Line
Mr. Blue was an adult male that was first acquired by Harry Wayne Case, the lead singer of the KC Sunshine Band. He was then sold to Life Fellowship, a bird sanctuary owned by Ramon Noegel and Greg Moss. They attempted to breed Mr. Blue to multiple hens but was unsuccessful. At that time, no one had been able to breed a blue, leading many to believe it was a mule. Mr. Blue was then sold to Emerald Forest Exotics (Heidi and Joe Gallagher). He was paired with a normal hen and produced split-to-blue normal colored offspring. Later, through planned genetic breeding, they became the first to produce a blue in captivity from split-to-blue pairs. They were also able to prove that the gene causing the blue colors was a simple recessive trait. Mr. Blue was of normal size but was unusual, for his nape extended around most of his neck. There was also no white on his cere.
Greason Line
Chuck and Ellie Greason purchased a yellow-naped amazon at a bird show in the 90s. Six months later, they went back to the bird show and bought another. Since they didn’t know the pair's gender, they allowed the two to grow together. In 1999 they eventually bred and hatched one baby. This baby turned out to be blue. Due to an inexperience in breeding, they took the bird to the vet, thinking there was something wrong with him. The vet explained to them that they had a very rare color mutation that was worth a lot of money. The vet referred them to Howard Voren.
The Greasons called Voren, explaining their situation. Voren wrote down their number, intending to follow up, but misplaced the paper. I've been personally told by Howard that he greatly regrets this mistake, because he believes this bird was a different bloodline than his. The Greasons, not hearing back from Voren, decided to sell the pair and their baby blue to Life Fellowship, where they went on to produce many offspring, including some blues. This pair was then sold to Emerald Forest Exotics and then to me in the summer of 2012. This line is of normal size, has white on its nape, and a small patch on the cere like the Voren line.
