Amazon Parrots

Finsch's Amazon

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:20:24 -0800

Peabody is now 7 1/2 years old and she still manages to surprize us daily. We had just lost our 12 year old Sun Conure, Sammy, and decided about 6 months later that it was just too quiet around the house. I researched parrots and thought the Lilac Crowned Amozon had all the traits we were looking for. Active, intelligent, social - the species seemed too good to be true. Then we received a call from Animal Lovers telling us they were about to begin hand feeding a new Lilac Crowned. My wife dashed to the store and immediately fell in love with Peabody and her tiny little eyelashes. We visited her almost every day while she was being weaned and brought her home several months later. Peabody (we discovered she was a female about two months after we named her) took to her new home and to us immediately. She bonded with both my wife and I but interacts with us in very different ways. Betty is the comforter; Peabody comes to her for cuddles when she's apprehensive or lonely. She won't let Betty eat a piece of toast unless she gets a piece too. I'm the playmate; she bops about when I return from work, tells me all about her day and loves to play a few rounds of "box the birdie" (not nearly as violent as it sounds - Peabody reaches out with her claws and trys to grab my hand - but it really does look like we're boxing!) Peabody has a vocabulary of about 100 words and phrases, fairly large for a Lilac crowned, we're told, and loves to whistle the theme to "Bridge Over the River Kwai" while bobbing her head in time to the beat. Unfortuately, I'm not the best whistler and she has managed to capture my errors to perfection! We had to board her for several months while we remodeled earlier this year. The caregivers told us that she learned how to "meow" (there were kittens in a cage across from her). We never heard her "catcall" at the store or after we brought her home. About six weeks later, Betty called to tell me that Peabody was trying to get her attention in the usual ways but she was immersed in a project and ignored her. Then she heard a little kitten cry. That caught her attention and she looked up just in time to see Peabody begin a string of plaintiff meows. Apparently this is her way to get our attention when all else fails! I guess you can tell we really do love our little parrot...we are so lucky to have her in our lives.
John & Betty

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Yellow Cheek Amazon

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:51:20 -0700

I rescued one of these guys - a thirty-something wild-caught male that I named Oboe, for the whistles that he makes. It took all of one hour to tame him. Now he gets jelly-legs when it's time to go back to the cage, and calls for me if I leave the room. He's the biggest cuddler I've ever seen, and much more of a chewer than my Orange-Winged Amazon.
Jennifer

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Blue-fronted Amazon

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:10:40 -0700

I also have a blue front amazon named joey but he's half again as big as the one in this story. His father is even larger! Joey is about one and a half years old.
ed richards

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Blue-fronted Amazon

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:49:07 -0700

I have a male bird named louie. He can say hello lou and he can laugh. He laughs when everyone around him laughs, and he is atached to me. He is scared of everyone and bites them all.
Amanda

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Blue-fronted Amazon

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:49:07 -0700

We got a blue fronted amazon parrot. He only likes our 13year old daughter and bites everyone around him. We do not know what he went through when he was younger but he is very beautiful.
Amanda

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Green-cheeked Amazon

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:49:07 -0700

For Lolita's Mom -- we would certainly be interested in caring for your bird when the time comes. We have a red-headed Amazon and obtained him in much the same way you did... email us at BJZotter@aol.com -- we live in the Kansas City area. We have many other birds we have adopted as well. Thanks, BJ & Tom
BJ

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Orange-winged Amazon

Wed, 05 Aug 2009 09:28:03 -0700

I got my OW from a friend of a friend whose girlfriend didn't like birds. I was told that he was probably around three years old. The owner had only had him for a year and had gotten him from a woman. He was very shy at first, but within a couple of days he let me scratch his head. I decided to trace his open band and discovered that he was illegally imported in 1983, so he's 26 years old. I have no idea how many owners he's had, but he must have been very lucky because I've now had him for only 2 months and he's the sweetest bird I've ever had. His name has changed multiple times I think and he wasn't actually named when I got him. So, I've named him Darwin and he loves to be with me and whistles and talks all the time. His talking, however, is impossible to understand. I know that he is talking some about airports, but I can't really understand anything else. Anyway, I love Darwin and I've promised him that he will live with our family the rest of his life.
Lisa Haake

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Orange-winged Amazon

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:59:04 -0700

I got my OW at a bird show in Orlando, Florida from a breeder of many different species. All her birds were sweet & gentle & friendly. Lolita was just finished being weaned & she is now 6 1/2 years old. She is the sweetest girl! She has never bitten anyone but me, once, when I made her do something she didnt want to do. She talks fairly well. Her favorite thing in the world to do is chew & destroy wood. I usually get her wooden bird houses from the craft dept. at Walmart & they are gone in 2 days. She loves being with me & will scream if she doesn't get out here fast enough. She was an awesome cuddling bud with my female Nanday Conure, Keiffer.(who was suppsoed to be my boy named after Keiffer Sutherland from The Lost Boys) But after 11 years of having him... she layed an egg. Keiffer was caged with my male Indian Ringneck & got along well with him too. But the OW was her favorite. Keiffer passed to the Rainbow Bridge on the 25th & both birds are not up to par yet. It's kind of quiet in the bird room. Quiet in our hearts too. She was 19 & was hatched with a deformed foot & 2 toes. Lolita loved grooming her. Lolita's appetite is not quite as much as it was. I am hoping this will pass & she will perk up. She's my girl!!! A perfect little Amazon.
shirley

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Orange-winged Amazon

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 09:38:29 -0700

I rescued an OW amazon from a terrible place. He was living in a cockroach filled cage and fed nothing but garbage. He lost an eye from getting into a fight with a ferret in their home. His nails had not been trimmed in years,they were corkscrew down to his toes. He is elderly and imported, he has an open band. I cried all the way home because he looked so sad and sick when I met him, it's hard to believe he was living that way for so long. I got him home, bought him a new cage, gave him a bath, some good PROPER food and made a vet appointment. The vet told me I got him in the nick of time and that he was lucky I found him. He was VERY WILD. I have 10 other pet birds, most were rescued from bad situations, and I had never seen a bird as fearful of humans as he was. With veterinary care, proper diet and A LOT of patience and love he is turning out to be the SWEETEST little man. Almost as cuddly as a cockatoo, he can't wait to be with his momma and get a kiss. He loves watching HIS TV and chewing up wood when he is not in my lap. I mounted a tv with cable in the bird room (near his good eye so he can see it)because he loves it. He lets me know what he wants to watch. The only thing I can say that is sometimes a hindrance is his screaming, which I am working with him on. Unfortunately he spent most of his life locked in a tiny cage so screaming is the only way he knows how to communicate. I understand this so I am doing my best to be patient even though my hearing is probably permanently damaged. Since I got him I find myself saying "what" a lot, lol. His scream makes my cockatoo sound like she is whispering. OW Amazons can be VERY LOUD. OW are unique from the other Amazons. I love how he smells like daisies and his neck feathers "puff up" when he is happy. Overall I've found that in spite of his fear of humans he is a gentle bird who doesn't have a mean bone in his body, he just wants love and to be understood. I love him with all of my heart and I encourage all to rescue parrots instead of buying babies, there are plenty more out there just like mine who need someone to love them.
Shannon

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Yellow-naped Amazon

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 13:55:27 -0700

We have a Yellow Nape and we named it �Rico� because we we�re told he was a male. But we now have no doubt that he is female since finding an egg this morning (7-11-2009). I met �Rico� in the pet store after he kept saying step up inside of his closed cage whenever I passed by. The worker opened his cage and he stepped up to me as if he had known me all along. I really didn�t want a 2nd parrot since we already had one at home, but I found it interesting that �Rico� would single me out. The worker told me he is a biter and seldom goes to anyone. This made me nervous, so I put him back into the cage. Weeks past and on each trip back to the store, the bird would single me out and start saying �Step Up� and also kept saying what sounded like �Puerto Rico�. My wife decided to purchase �Rico� while I was out of town on a business trip. We now have a total of three parrots and �Rico� is my favorite. I have never seen another parrot that knows so many words. And she is very calm and will put her beak underneath my beard as if to snuggle. I have noticed they bond to one person to the extreme. My YN Amazon won�t let strangers handle it and it will bite them when it gets scared or when it feels threatened. We just picked up a young Blue Fronted Amazon from the store about two weeks ago that no one wanted either because it�s a biter too, but he is adapting well and the training continues. Just remember that parrots only bite when they are scared. Once they feel safe with their surroundings and owners, they will become friendly. All it takes is some patience and lots of love and they will return your affection with the same.
Rick Sizemore

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