Need some answers on yellow shoulder anazon

[Mamaof3]

So I was all set to buy a Meyers parrot and I still am, and the breeder that I'm buying it from also recommended a yellow shoulder Amazon. I thought they were one person birds and don't really like children. She tells me, that the yellow shoulder is a much sweeter nice disposition Amazon that will get along with families with children very easily especially if I take them them at a young age. She said it's something to consider both the Meyers and Amazon babies will be ready in the beginning of April. She said to come visit them and get a feel for what works with my family best. She has actually sold ys amazons to many families and I've actually spoke to the families. They said they are doing great with their birds and they have young children, like toddler size. I too, have two boys, 3 and 4, and a 9 yr old girl. I keep cursing her in my head for putting the thought of an Amazon in my head, the Internet doesn't have enough information on ys Amazon and children. I'm just going to have the birds choose me, because I'm a mess right now.

Some other questions are:

How loud are they? Like cockatoo loud?

Male or female?

Thank you in advance!

 

[JerseyWendy]

ROFLMAO @ you cursing her for putting Amazon in your head.

No, they are not nearly as loud as cockatoos and/or big macs. I REALLY like the idea of YS Amazon. :54: Of course I'm quite partial to Amazons in general. :21:

Looky, I have 2 of the 'hot 3'. A Yellow Nape and a Double Yellow Head. Both my zons go to every single family member, and I can even put them on some strangers hands as long as they don't immediately try to pet them all over. Mine don't bite (family members and/or strangers). They'd rather fly away. Amazons are GREAT family birds. VERY social. VERY entertaining. VERY comical. If (WHEN) you get yours, just make sure to let everyone in on the action. Amazons are resilient. They may 'complain' a lot, but rarely mean it. They're just vocal that way. By 'vocal' I mean they will growl, perhaps even throw hissy fits. Ignore it.

Should I keep enabling you?????? :32:

 

[Birdman666]

Amazons ARE pair bond birds, and CAN get one person issues if allowed to overbond, BUT properly socialized, they will go to anyone.

I have three right now, and I think I've owned or fostered at least 8 others. All three of my zons will go to anyone and everyone.

As for amazons NOT LIKING CHILDREN here is some visual evidence for you:



Now, granted, I am, and always will be, the favorite person, but She's been going to Sarah just fine, ever since I finished rehabbing this bird. (She was badly abused, and was a horrendous biter when I got her. In fact, we were the "home of last resort" for this particular bird. Needless to say, it worked out. FIFTEEN YEARS LATER she's still my baby...) BTW - The little kid in that picture is 19 years old now...

Amazons like who they like. They can be opinionated. They can occasionally be hormonally challenged. But they are also goofy, can be very sweet, and are very smart, and usually one of the better talkers...

I suggest you read my amazon body language post.

And the key to a well behaved amazon is socialization, socialization, and more socialization. Do that, and they're fine. Don't do that? They're much more "opinionated."

 

[Mamaof3]

ROFLMAO @ you cursing her for putting Amazon in your head.

No, they are not nearly as loud as cockatoos and/or big macs. I REALLY like the idea of YS Amazon. :54: Of course I'm quite partial to Amazons in general. :21:

Looky, I have 2 of the 'hot 3'. A Yellow Nape and a Double Yellow Head. Both my zons go to every single family member, and I can even put them on some strangers hands as long as they don't immediately try to pet them all over. Mine don't bite (family members and/or strangers). They'd rather fly away. Amazons are GREAT family birds. VERY social. VERY entertaining. VERY comical. If (WHEN) you get yours, just make sure to let everyone in on the action. Amazons are resilient. They may 'complain' a lot, but rarely mean it. They're just vocal that way. By 'vocal' I mean they will growl, perhaps even throw hissy fits. Ignore it.

Should I keep enabling you?????? :32:

By all means, please do so!!! I love reading about family experience, Ive always wanted an amazon among other birds. When I went to pick up my mom's Galah cockatoo from the Todd Marcus store and one of the employees introduced me to a very sweet natured YS amazon she just melted my heart. I mean i started taking pictures with the bird and the bird was probably thinking " are you taking me or what?!"

 

[Mamaof3]

Amazons ARE pair bond birds, and CAN get one person issues if allowed to overbond, BUT properly socialized, they will go to anyone.

I have three right now, and I think I've owned or fostered at least 8 others. All three of my zons will go to anyone and everyone.

As for amazons NOT LIKING CHILDREN here is some visual evidence for you:



Now, granted, I am, and always will be, the favorite person, but She's been going to Sarah just fine, ever since I finished rehabbing this bird. (She was badly abused, and was a horrendous biter when I got her. In fact, we were the "home of last resort" for this particular bird. Needless to say, it worked out. FIFTEEN YEARS LATER she's still my baby...) BTW - The little kid in that picture is 19 years old now...

Amazons like who they like. They can be opinionated. They can occasionally be hormonally challenged. But they are also goofy, can be very sweet, and are very smart, and usually one of the better talkers...

I suggest you read my amazon body language post.

And the key to a well behaved amazon is socialization, socialization, and more socialization. Do that, and they're fine. Don't do that? They're much more "opinionated."

Thank you sooo much for posting this picture and telling me your experience, you have put a huge kool aid smile on my face . I will read your stickies.

 

[JerseyWendy]

By all means, please do so!!! I love reading about family experience, Ive always wanted an amazon among other birds. When I went to pick up my mom's Galah cockatoo from the Todd Marcus store and one of the employees introduced me to a very sweet natured YS amazon she just melted my heart. I mean i started taking pictures with the bird and the bird was probably thinking " are you taking me or what?!"

Wait, WHAT? You're in my neck of the woods then! Please, by all means, come and visit! Shoot me a PM if you're interested and I'll give you my address. I'm in central NJ.

And Mark, seeing your pic...of course I have some to share, too.

Yeah...those one person Amazons..... :21:

This is my oldest son, when he came home during exodus while in Basic Training with 'our' Hunter:

[/QUOTE]

My younger one and 'his' Hunter

[/QUOTE]

Sam will even wear a harness.

 

[Birdman666]

Honestly, amazons do get a bad rap...

A lot of the problems with zons tend to come from cage bound birds that were never properly socialized to begin with, and the "hormonally challenged" hot 3's when people DON'T HAVE THE COMMON SENSE TO ACCEPT THE FACT THAT THE BIRD TELLS THEM DON'T TOUCH ME RIGHT NOW!

To me, these are hardy birds. They are generally not velcro birds (THOUGH MY BFA WAS VELCRO-AND THEN SOME!) They generally self entertain well.

They are excitable. You can get them worked into a wound-up state, and if you do, they will bite.

But they are also generally very clownish, and very honest and straight forward. (Not right now means not right now. Push the envelope on this one at your own peril.) What you see is what you get. To me, they are VERY easy birds to read, and predict, once you understand them.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Wait for it....wait for it.

I KNEW I had an 'old' photo of Hunter hanging out with a family friend. Hunter is now almost 17 years old, and I plopped her on anyone willing to hold her.

Here's proof. My younger son's on the right. His friend held Hunter - nothing happened.

 

[Birdman666]

The impressive thing about that photo to me, is that the kid isn't missing any buttons on his shirt... Half of mine would have removed those immediately.

 

[BeatriceC]

We have a Yellow Nape, and he's most definitely a one person bird (I am not his person), but he's also got a bit of a background story. He'd been MrC's brother-in-law's bird, and became ill-behaved around puberty. BIL never did get him back under control even though he tried for years. At some point (around 1998, not sure exactly when, but MrC does remember it wasn't too long after his first wife passed away), BIL had to move and couldn't take the bird with him. MrC took him and bonded with him. For a few years he was friendly, but then MrC's daughters graduated from high school and moved away. It was just MrC and the birds for a few years until he moved in a girlfriend. That girlfriend wasn't very nice to Goofy. They eventually broke up and she moved out. When I first met Goofy he would take food from most people if and only if he saw MrC give that person the food *and* he was in his cage. If he was out of his cage he'd attack.

I moved in two years ago. In those two years I've been working to gain Goofy's trust. He's coming around very, very slowly. These days I can get him out of his cage by getting him to step up on a stick. He will let me and one of my sons give him scritches as long as he's in his cage, and he'll take treats from anybody in or out of the cage. I do wish I'd discovered these forums two years ago because while my instinct hasn't served me wrong (in that I haven't done anything bad or anything that would set us back), I've discovered there's a whole lot more I could have been doing. In the weeks since I've discovered these resources, I've been putting some of the ideas into action and we've made a lot of progress very quickly.

So that was a really long way of saying that I think Amazons get a bad rap. Goofy's a great bird for MrC and is becoming at least tolerant of the rest of us. If a 31 year old bird can make such a turn around, then I think a bird who's been properly socialized would be even better. If you fall in love with one of the Amazons, then I don't think you should let their reputations scare you away.

 

[Birdman666]

The bird my daughter is holding once de-gloved the finger of her former owner.
(The former owner was beating her... ANY QUESTIONS AS TO WHY YOU DON'T EVER HIT A BIRD?!)

Two months of intensive rehab and training, and she was great with me. Two more months of intensive training and socialization and she was great with ANYBODY... SHE'S BEEN THAT WAY EVER SINCE!!!

That's about the time this picture was taken. The bird that was going to be put to sleep... playing with my then (five?!) year old daughter 100% trustworthy!

THEY BOUNCE BACK, IF YOU DO THE WORK!!!

Trust me, when I got her SHE WAS ABSOLUTELY A BITER!!!

 

[Mamaof3]

We have a Yellow Nape, and he's most definitely a one person bird (I am not his person), but he's also got a bit of a background story. He'd been MrC's brother-in-law's bird, and became ill-behaved around puberty. BIL never did get him back under control even though he tried for years. At some point (around 1998, not sure exactly when, but MrC does remember it wasn't too long after his first wife passed away), BIL had to move and couldn't take the bird with him. MrC took him and bonded with him. For a few years he was friendly, but then MrC's daughters graduated from high school and moved away. It was just MrC and the birds for a few years until he moved in a girlfriend. That girlfriend wasn't very nice to Goofy. They eventually broke up and she moved out. When I first met Goofy he would take food from most people if and only if he saw MrC give that person the food *and* he was in his cage. If he was out of his cage he'd attack.

I moved in two years ago. In those two years I've been working to gain Goofy's trust. He's coming around very, very slowly. These days I can get him out of his cage by getting him to step up on a stick. He will let me and one of my sons give him scritches as long as he's in his cage, and he'll take treats from anybody in or out of the cage. I do wish I'd discovered these forums two years ago because while my instinct hasn't served me wrong (in that I haven't done anything bad or anything that would set us back), I've discovered there's a whole lot more I could have been doing. In the weeks since I've discovered these resources, I've been putting some of the ideas into action and we've made a lot of progress very quickly.

So that was a really long way of saying that I think Amazons get a bad rap. Goofy's a great bird for MrC and is becoming at least tolerant of the rest of us. If a 31 year old bird can make such a turn around, then I think a bird who's been properly socialized would be even better. If you fall in love with one of the Amazons, then I don't think you should let their reputations scare you away.

I know I can handle it, ive always been a bird lover. The thing that usually stops me from these bigger birds are my children. Especially my two little boys. I do have two little parakeets at home and my boys have been learning about respecting the bird and giving the birds boundaries. And I always, always supervise them. But reading everyone's experiences have me thinking that this will definitely work.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Let's not forget that YS Amazons are 'fairly small. (especially compared to YN and DYH)
https://www.beautyofbirds.com/yellowshoulderedamazon.html
https://www.parrots.org/encyclopedia/yellow-shouldered-amazon

 

[Aquila]

My BFA Sydney, although temperamental (he's old, I forgive him) warms up to people pretty fast. Even though others can't hold him like I can, almost everyone can pet his head super easily and he does love the attention.

Even my two non-tame BFA breeder pair are slowly warming up to me. They take treats, even tiny seeds, super gently and have never nipped me in the least.

Definitely go interact with the babies! Amazons in general have great personalities. Go in with an open mind and the right bird will find you!

 

[wrench13]

Salty, our yellow shoulder Amazon is my ideal parrot and lives up to everything that you read about that species. 9 inches tall, average of 300 grams, so they are a lot smaller then a yellow nape or dbl yellow head, and they are definitely a quiet bird. Very smart, at 8 mos old, he knows at least 6 words already and does about as many tricks. Of course like most Amazons, they want to be scratched when they want to be scratched. And Salty is not a cuddly type of bird but definitely likes to hang out with people. He is well socialized with the members of my family but I'm sorry we have no small children so I cannot comment on that. Personally I think children should be at least 4 years old before they start to handle parrots. As far as yellow shoulder Amazons, I did a lot of reading about them before we purchased Salty or should I say he selected us and we gave money for him. For me he is altogether an excellent parrot.

 

[thekarens]

I wouldn't assume that a Meyers would do any better with kids. I wouldn't trust my sennie (a relative of the Meyers) with children. Pois are fantastic birds, but in my experience not great with kids. So I think you're doing the right thing by visiting them both and deciding after you meet them.

 

[Mamaof3]

By all means, please do so!!! I love reading about family experience, Ive always wanted an amazon among other birds. When I went to pick up my mom's Galah cockatoo from the Todd Marcus store and one of the employees introduced me to a very sweet natured YS amazon she just melted my heart. I mean i started taking pictures with the bird and the bird was probably thinking " are you taking me or what?!"

Wait, WHAT? You're in my neck of the woods then! Please, by all means, come and visit! Shoot me a PM if you're interested and I'll give you my address. I'm in central NJ.

And Mark, seeing your pic...of course I have some to share, too.

Yeah...those one person Amazons..... :21:

This is my oldest son, when he came home during exodus while in Basic Training with 'our' Hunter:

My younger one and 'his' Hunter

[/QUOTE]

Sam will even wear a harness.

[/QUOTE]

I live in NYC, my parents lives down south jersey. Going to Todd Marcus takes me a good 2 hours.

 

[Mamaof3]

Thank you everyone for your honest and awesome replies. I feel really good towards purchasing a YS. But Im just going to wait to see which one chooses me. I might even take my oldest two with me back to Todd Marcus (they've been there before) and the bird see the crazy family it will be coming home too. I swear spring can't come fast enough. I will definitely post when I bring the baby home.

 

[Birdman666]

I wouldn't assume that a Meyers would do any better with kids. I wouldn't trust my sennie (a relative of the Meyers) with children. Pois are fantastic birds, but in my experience not great with kids. So I think you're doing the right thing by visiting them both and deciding after you meet them.

I agree. SENNIE-TUDE AND CHILDREN ARE USUALLY A BAD MIX... Hell, I've seen itty bitty Sennie's chase grown adults around the room!

[Hint: This happens considerably less often if you don't run!]

 

[Peppo]

If you want it to work it will! I am biased but I see growth in my 23 year old DYH everyday. It is so true that socialization is the key. I can do almost anything with my Paco and I am training my 12 year old son to do the same. The more people he meets the easier it is for him to be comfortable with strangers. Amazons are great, they melt my heart. Time to tuck Paco in for the night..such good boy. Funny, I still look forward to seeing him every morning. If an Amazon chooses you and your family you are in for an awesome ride.