Alice White
We all come from childhood and we all remember how we read books about pirates, how we watched films and cartoons about them. An obligatory attribute of pirate life was a talking parrot – on long voyages, he was a good “companion” and companion. As adults, many of us never gave up the dream of a parrot sitting on our shoulders. But before the general public was available only budgerigars. Of course, they are beautiful and could also learn a few words, but they obviously did not pull the pirate parrot. But times are changing …
Today, you can often find exotic animals and birds in the houses, among which various species of parrots occupy a special place. The amazons enjoy deserved the attention of lovers of exotic plants – beauty, sociability, talkativeness, and devotion – not a complete list of attractive features of these luxurious birds.
Amazon parrots appeared in homes as early as the 15th century and the presence of a tame bird, and even a talking bird, distinguished its owner from others. Amazons are distinguished by their playful, cheerful disposition, and communication with him will bring a lot of wonderful minutes not only to the owner but also to the guests. Before you go to buy a parrot, you should at least briefly familiarize yourself with its habits and conditions of detention, so that there are no problems at home, and the bird feels comfortable.
What is He?
They belong to the subfamily of true parrots. They have a dense, rather robust build. The size of this parrot on average ranges from 20-45 cm, depending on the species, which currently number 29. Most of the species are green; the head, neck, and wings can be decorated with feathers of other colors. By the way, to determine belonging to a species, it is these colored spots that serve as a defining feature. Amazons have a short, rounded tail. They live in dense forests along the shores of the Amazon (hence the name). Certain species were chosen for the residence of the island of the Caribbean archipelago.
For home keeping, the most common are yellow-winged, white-headed, or yellow-headed Amazons. These species are not as whimsical as they are to collect and are easily tamed. For captivity, the life span is limited to 40-45 years.
Lifestyle
Amazons compare favorably with other birds in their high adaptability to living conditions. They are quite sociable, but they are aggressive and value their independence and territory very much. If there are small children in the house, then it is better to refrain from buying until the child grows up. Better yet, if you have some experience with parrots. But living together with you for more than one year makes the bird faithful and faithful, as they say – for life.
Under natural conditions, Amazonian parrots live in small flocks, most of them being related to each other. During the mating season, the Amazons break in pairs, and the female lays 2-5 eggs.
Amazon is an early bird. As the sun rises, he wakes up with an urgent need to communicate with his fellows (he will have you in his apartment for such communication, so be ready to talk!). Then he will need breakfast, after which he can rest. In the wild, it feeds on nuts and fruits, plant seeds, and the coffee tree.
Home Accommodation
Being picky, they quickly get used to a new place of residence. But the first days the bird will behave wary, getting used to the situation. At this time, guests are undesirable, and you should bother your pet for nothing. After a period of adaptation, you can get to know each other better.
It should be said about the nature of the bird. Like most parrots, after a night’s sleep, they love to “sing songs” and communicate “for life”. His screams will clearly not allow you to enjoy your morning sleep, so adjust to your friend’s life schedule, or cover the cage with a blanket at night. Do not be surprised if your Amazon sometimes behaves impudently – he does not allow anyone to encroach on his independence! Be careful with him, otherwise, you will run into rude “obstinacy” until the parrot gets what he wants. Birds have a rather capricious changeable character and a changeable mood: from joyful excitement in a minute, he can fall into despondency and show his dissatisfaction with all his looks. At 5-8 years old, the Amazon parrot may show aggression associated with hormonal processes that activate gender behavior.
Education and Training
Build mutual understanding and respect before you start training! Only in this case, it is possible to learn to speak, this bird is amazingly able to copy sounds and quite easily can “pronounce” different words. The parrot is able to memorize over a hundred words, phrases, and sentences. When he “gets excited”, he can learn and memorize expressions himself, without outside help (you just have to monitor your speech so as not to blurt out too much and express yourself decently!).
Food
In addition to a spacious cage for living, the Amazon will need a properly composed diet, then you will live happily ever after. You can make grain mixtures (oats, millet, sunflowers, canary seeds, wheat) yourself, periodically adding nuts to them. But the most correct decision would be to purchase balanced feeds that can be bought in the ZooIdea online store – the choice of feed for parrots is huge from many manufacturers. This will make it easier for you to take care of your pet, and the bird will be happy and healthy. Here you can also buy treats and vitamins for parrots. The diet should contain fruits, vegetables, and herbs. For the renewal of macro-and microelements in the Amazon’s body, sepia is needed – a mineral stone that is fixed in the cage, but for many years living together with the parrot, that just does not get on his table. Therefore, it is necessary to adhere to certain rules to avoid problems. Amazon is a happy owner of a good appetite, which does not disappear even during a bird’s illness, so its nutrition can be diversified not only with ready-made food for parrots but also with additional products.
Amazons love carrots (here is vitamin A for you), pumpkin, cabbage (cauliflower, white cabbage). Among fruits, he prefers pears and apples. If you give citrus fruits, then before “serving” they must be peeled so that the chemical compounds that processed the fruits do not enter the bird’s body. Almost all types of berries that we meet are suitable, they can be given fresh and thawed (if they were prepared for future use for the winter). Do not get carried away with grapes – up to 4-6 grapes per day. Melon and watermelon can be pitted. Banana, peach, plum, apricot, and pomegranate (no more than a quarter) are also eaten by the bird with pleasure.
Exclude potatoes, persimmons, mangoes, papaya, all spices, and candied fruits from the diet.
Do not get carried away with protein foods – obesity, self-pinching, and so on is possible. Not more than once a month – a little cottage cheese, a quail egg (boiled). Do not feed the ward food from your table. Amazon is not a vegetarian, but this does not mean that it can be fed with meat – after a week of such a diet, feathers will begin to fall out, and other problems will appear. Let your pet eat plant-based food (maybe treat it with boiled meat once a month). The best food is grain mixtures.
