Say the word "parrot" to most people and what
usually comes to mind is 
a
green Amazon, perhaps sitting on a pirate's shoulder
saying "pieces of Eight". Columbus brought Amazons
back to Spain on his 1492 voyage to the New World,
and they have been popular ever since. There are
over 20 different species and subspecies of Amazons,
but the most common one in the pet trade is the
Blue-fronted Amazon, and this is the only species
which we breed.
The Blue-front shares top ranking for talking
ability in the amazon family, along with the Double
Yellowhead and the Yellow Nape. Their generally
extrovert personalities mean that, unlike many
other talking parrots, they love to show off and
will often talk in front of complete strangers.
A Blue-front which was trained a few years ago
to speak several lines for a television commercial
sounded so authentically like a human that the
producer had to dub over his voice with that of
a human doing a parrot imitation.
Amazons are not as noisy as a large cockatoo or
macaw, but they do have loud voices, which they
will employ every day to greet you, to welcome
the dawn or sunset, or especially if you have
forgotten to feed them or keep their water dish
full! It is hard to generalize about the personality
of amazons, because there is wide variation among
individuals in this family of parrots. I would
say in general they are playful and mischievous,
strong-willed and excitable. They can sometimes
develop a strong preference for just one person,
or one sex (not necessarily the opposite sex to
their own). Unlike some other parrots, they have
a very distinct breeding season (from April to
June), during which mature individuals can become
nippy and somewhat unmanageable.
Amazons seem to love lots of noise, action and
excitement. I had a much loved pet, Charlie, for
23 years (before he died of cancer) and he loved
nothing more than a large audience of people.
He would fan out his tail, strut around, perform
a few tricks such as playing dead etc. all the
while talking non-stop in a loud voice. He would
ask all the adults to scratch his head, but if
any small children were present, he would fly
over and land on top of their heads and start
biting them. Once, an old friend, whom I had not
seen for some time, greeted me with a big embrace
and Charlie, thinking I was being attacked, promptly
flew over and started biting the back of her neck.
Though they may not be suitable for small children,
there is never a dull moment with an Amazon around!
