Need Help in identifying Horacio's girlfriend.

[Horacio's Mom]

At least we think she is a girl. She is small and about 1 year old. She looks like she is wearing a red mask, has a thick beak and some red in her tail feathers. The front of her head is white where Horacio's is red and her head is lilac. I'd send a picture, but don't have one. Is there such thing as a white lored, red masked Amazon???

[Monica]

My first guess would be a white fronted amazon...




Or a cuban amazon...

[Horacio's Mom]

This looks almost exactly like her. Except that she has dark brown around the eyes. Thank you so much. I had heard of white fronted amazons but thought that meant that their chests were white, not the front of their heads. Thanks again,
Horacio and Lolita (WFA).

[Horacio's Mom]

My daughter just asked me to ask you, do they talk? Lolita communicates in flock talk with Horacio, but has never whistled or talked like he does. She is just now beginning to be tame. I took them both out of the old iron cage and put them in a portable kennel. It's about a 3ft cube. Today since it was cold, I kept them in the house. For the first time, she came out on her own and walked around the floor. She's sitting on the top of the cage just like the bird in the picture. So far she has learned to wave and walk around in circles, enter and exit the cage on command and not bite every time a finger comes within striking range. She and Horacio groom each other and fuss like an old married couple. They have been together for a year now. Are WFAs normally small or will she grow to be the same size as a RLA? There is just so much to learn about our fids. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I appreciate it.

[Monica]

I don't know much about amazons cept that they should not have a high fat diet because they are known to becoming obese... White crowned amazons tend to be about 3" shorter than red lored amazons, and they are pretty small to begin with, so she probably wont get any larger than what she already is, unless she is under a year old...

As far as talking, any parrot, even crows, ravens, mynah birds, and european starlings can speak the human language... there is also a rumour that finches (yes, finches) may be able to talk human, however no confirmed cases... so yes, it is possible for Lolita to talk, though only if she decides she wants to.

[Rainy]

Yes the WFA 's can talk and have a sweet voice when they do.Years ago my husband had one.His was a male(Saku) but we knew who had Saku's clutchmate (sister)They both talked quite well.Saku whistled a couple of songs and seemed to prefer to whistle than to talk.I would compare our Saku's temperment often to that of a quaker.He was also our hardest lesson learned about the importance of trimming wings as needed.He flew out the door never to return.

[Horacio's Mom]

Dear Rainy,
Thank you for your reply. I clipped Lolita's wings when we first got her. But one day, I left the door a little loose and she figured out how to open it. She climbed down, walked across the yard where we have 3 dogs who must have been asleep, climbed a chickenwire fence onto a bouganvillia and ended up in the neighbor's yard. We wouldn't have known except at dusk she started her flock call to Horacio. So we found her and brought her home. Next time she disappeared, we knew where to look. Now she's only out of the cage inside the house and I check locks. I didn't want to clip all of Horacio's flight feathers because they are so beautiful. I just clipped them so he could only glide down but not fly up. When he was a baby, the first thing I did was clip all his flight feathers. The second thing I did was put him on a perch on top of his cage. He proceeded to try to fly, nosedived on to the floor and dislocated his hip. He spent the next month in a hamster cage sticking his head out the hole to eat. I felt terrible. So I was a little jittery about clipping all his feathers. Until last week when he "glided" from his outdoor perch, over the fence into another neighbor's yard. The neighbor found him pecking at the sliding glass door to get in. He called us to let us know he had Horacio. Now I have a nice collection of really beautiful flight feathers and Horacio has to stay home. He and I have a flock call we use which is a series of whistles so if I can't see him, I know where he is. He uses it more with me. He also whines like the dogs do when they want in, and says "Perro" and "Cotorro" which is dog and parrot. But only when he wants to.

I am so sorry about your little one flying away. It always feels like it's our fault, but I think if their need for freedom is greater than their love for us, then they escape. We had a pair of finches that waited until my husband was cleaning the cage. He never opened it, just took out the sliding drawer a little and poured water on it. He swears that they both just slid out on the water like a water slide and flew away. They had been planning this I am sure. So it's not your fault. Our female cockatiel also flew the coop. I guess she never did get along with her mate. I guess this was her idea of a divorce. Thanks again for sharing. Peace.
Elena from Mexico

[Horacio's Mom]

Dear Monica,
Thanks for the information. I think you really summed it up about birds talking. If they want to. Sometimes when the radio is on or the blender going, Horacio talks up a storm. Other time I try to get him to talk, and it's "cheep?" Like don't bother me!! Do you think they can read our minds? Or something like that? Has that been discussed before? Today I wanted to put him outside in the sun. I just went to him and put my finger out and said,"UP". He shook his head No. Then I tried again and he fanned his tale and flashed his eyes. I don't know if he just didn't want to move, or if he knew I was going to put him outside. It sure is a coincidence and it happens a lot. Have a great day, and again thanks.

Elena from Mexico

[Monica]

One should never clip all of a parrots flight feathers... Normally, only 5-7 should be clipped, usually with smaller birds having more flights clipped than larger birds. Some larger parrots only need 4 flight feathers clipped... When clipping the feathers, only the outer flights at the tip of their wings should be clipped, and not the inner flight feathers... and the same amount of feathers should be clipped on both sides to prevent a bird from twirling while trying to fly (wings being uneven).

[Monica]

As far as talking, well, sometimes it's to compete for noise factor or to say that they aren't happy with the noise, and other times it's because they want to... If you want Haricio to talk more, reward him with a treat and phrase when he does talk. So this way, he learns that you want him to talk, and by doing so he gets a treat! Be carefull though, he might learn to use it against you!

Birds may actually be able to pick up on things that we are thinking. It is quite possible, and there are reported cases of a bird identifying images that her owner was looking at in a different room. Noel does the head shake 'No' to me as well when she doesn't want something! But she normally only does that to me when she doesn't want to come back inside from her apple tree! She's usually quite content sitting out there as I watch her from inside!