Amazon parrot
Amazon is a genus rather than a single species — around thirty of them, from the yellow-naped and double yellow-headed to the blue-fronted and orange-winged — all stocky, short-tailed, predominantly green parrots from Central and South America.
They are the great performers of the parrot world: many are outstanding talkers and singers, and they are extroverted in a way greys are not. They are also among the loudest birds commonly kept, with dawn and dusk screaming sessions that are entirely normal behaviour. Mature males of some species go through a hormonal season that brings genuine, sudden aggression.
- Origin
- Central and South America
- Size
- 25–45 cm depending on species; 300–700 g
- Lifespan
- 50 years or more
- Diet
- Pellets and fresh vegetables; amazons obese easily
- Temperament
- Extroverted, confident, seasonally hormonal
- Noise
- Very loud, particularly at dawn and dusk
Related: African grey parrot · Australian king parrot
3 amazon parrot photos, newest first
Living with a amazon parrot
Noise is the reason amazons are rehomed. It carries through walls and is not trainable away — flock calling at first and last light is the bird being a bird.
They gain weight readily, and obesity leads to fatty liver disease; measured pellets and vegetables rather than a seed mix with sunflower.
Learn to read body language. Pinned eyes, a fanned tail and raised nape usually precede a bite, and hormonal males can change temperament sharply for a few months a year.
Fifty years is a normal lifespan. Non-stick fumes, aerosols and smoke are lethal.
General guidance, not veterinary advice. Individual birds vary, and anything about a specific animal is a question for a vet who has seen it.
Worth reading alongside this
More birds by breed
Every bird breed somebody has posted a photo of.