Animal-World > Pet Birds > Amazon Parrots > Double Yellow-headed Amazon

Double Yellow-headed Amazon

Family: Psittacidae

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"Louis" Amazona oratrix Photo © Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough

  Lou is a juvenile Double Yellow-headed Amazon about four and a half months old. When he (or she) gets older the entire head and throat will be yellow. Lou is headed to being a great talker since he is very vocal and already seems to be forming words! "Double Yellow-headed Amazons are known to be exceptional talkers."

For more information about the care of Amazon parrots see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Amazon Parrot.

Comments from people who have kept this pet:

I purchased my Double yellow headed parrot as an egg, brought her home at 4 months, and fed her formula until she was old enough to feed herself. I have owned her for about 8 yrs now and I absolutely adore her. It's true that they are very noisy in the morning. If she hears my voice even slightly in the morning, she will be screaming for hours. She is extremely friendly but is rather aggressive and will bite if she is approached by a stranger. She speaks very well, and is no longer a pet to me but rather like my child. I adore her very much and am very pleased at how easily maintained she is. I wouldn't recommend a parrot if you have no time to give it attention because they require massive attention, and do get depressed very easily when they are ignored (a common sign of this is plucking their own feathers). She has a macaw cage and plenty of toys to keep her busy, although she is very picky with what she actually chooses to entertain herself with.

My family and I just got a new Double yellow headed Amazon. Her name is Ophelia and we think she will be great to own at our home. Just from hearing what the others wrote they sound like a joy and a lot of fun! Ophelia has a wide variety of words. She sings the funniest things! Like ,"It's too hot for chickens!" or ,"Yellow bird!". Before we bought Ophelia she was owned by a couple.I'm sure they just adored her! They went to pick the bird up at the couple's house because they could not care for her properly. I am sure they hated to see her go but it was best for the bird! I want to get her a leash and a collar. Ophelia is about six years old and hopefully will live for many years. I also hope that we can have all the great moments you have had wiith your birds and even more.

My double yellow headed amazon a great bird who has never broken skin in the 3 years we have had him. He is so sociable and lovey!

I got My Doublehead Yellow Amazon when he was 3 months old. He is now 7 months old and says many words and phrases, like what you doing?, where you going, hello, love you,bye bye, mama, makes the fire siren sound..lol learned that from my pager, and wolf whistles. Am trying to teach him a song now and he seems to be real interested. can't wait to see if he picks it up! A real joy to me and my chihuahuas love him too. He barks with them..lol

We have a 6 year old Double Yellow Head named Ziggy. We purchased him from a breeder at the age of 10 months. He "chose" me from the moment I entered her shop. I must say he has certainly made a difference in our lives. We would be lost without his daily antics. And yes he is bonded much more to me then to my husband but allows dad to be the taxi service from his cage or parrot stand in order to get to mom! I highly recommend everyone do their research before acquiring any exotic bird. They can be a true joy but also one must be forever aware of their mood swings, reading their eyes & body language and understanding that this is a lifetime commitment. They are flock creatures and you and your family are now their flock & they insist upon being a part of the daily happenings. As I'm typing this Ziggy is sitting on my leg awaiting a trip to the shower, then will sit in the bathroom window yelling out to anyone that walks by.....a hearty wolf whistle, followed by a sing songy heeelllooooo, followed by a cheerful Good Morningggggg, followed up by a pitiful bye byeeeee. Yes, life in our household would be a great deal quieter without him... but also a lot less humorous.

My double yellow-headed Amazon is the best pet I ever had. I rescued him from someone who just didn't want him anymore. I thought, "What the heck!" and took him. I had parakeets before, but nothing compares to Oscar. I named him Oscar after Oscar Madison of "The Odd Couple." Oscar was, if you remember, the messy one. Well, "Oscar" is the perfect name for my lovable slob. He makes such a mess when he eats. And if I give him something soft to eat, like a piece of squash or other soft vegetable, he ends up with it all over his face. It's quite a sight. Oscar is very friendly with me, but not so with other people. I think it's because I am not afraid of him, I trust him, and he trusts me. We rough-house all the time. He rolls over and lets me scratch his belly. He likes to be scratched behind his "ears." He doesn't talk an awful lot, mostly "hi", "by" something that sounds like "grandma" and "Melissa". He laughs a lot, and when left alone, he can be heard chatting away as if he were talking to a friend on the phone. This is something he must have picked up from a previous owner. Overall, he is great to have around. He is very entertaining, and I'm so glad he likes me too.

Sammy is my male double yellow headed amazon parrot, and he was hatched in 1991. I got him when he was 7 years old, and as of the date of this comment, we've been together 9 years and he's currently 16 years old. He was rather overweight when I first got him (I don't know much about his past, and his hatch-year I got from tracing his leg band ID), but with a big change in diet and exercise, he slimmed down from about 600 grams to abou 460 grams. He has a King's cage model 306 (meant for macaws) with toys I rotate monthly. Sammy is fully-flighted and has been for most of the 9 years I've had him. He is getting better at coming when called (we have structured training sessions for this), and is a joy to me. However, he's very much a one-person bird, and can be rather aggressive toward anyone else who comes near him (or me, if he's out with me). This could be prevented if he was socialized better, but most of the people in my life aren't bird-people, so it's hard to get him to be friendly with others. He gets a home-made base diet that has about 2/3 China Prairie sprouts (a mix of various hulled seeds and legumes) and 1/3 veggie mash (a mix I make myself, including "frozen mixed veggies", various fruits, dark greens, and high beta carotene veggies, along with some diced tofu and ground hard-boiled eggs with shell, kept frozen in ziplock bags), mixed together in his food dish with a sprinkling of a green powder from China Prairie that has spirulina, kelp, alfalfa, chlorella, mineral clay, and lots of other good stuff. He gets other healthy treats and an in-shell walnut or two almonds each day as well. He's unusually snuggly (with me) for an amazon, plays well with his toys, and can be very entertainingly vocal. I haven't tried teaching him specific words or phrases, but he's picked up lots over the years on his own, including calling my name (Chris). All in all, he's been a joy in my life, and I look forward to a few more decades with him.

Double Yellow Headed Amazons are a great companion, but to understand and co-exist with this species you must understand they must have their personal space. They have a "bubble" that surrounds them and if you understand and respect the amazon quirks these parrots can be a great companion. At least in my expereiance.

Back to Amazons

Author: Clarice Brough, CAS.

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