Barnaby A Big Yellow Nape Amazon

This is Barnaby. He is staying with me while his mom is making a movie! Exciting eh? He is one big boy who is very active and curious.

I captured this close up and, if you look closely, you can see his nictitating membrane! This third eyelid is not often seen but it acts as a windshield washer and protective covering. He had just come up from eating and probably wanted to clean his eyes to see who would be bothering an amazon during mealtime! How rude! Amazons really get into their food.

Barnaby is a fun active talkative guy. He has plenty to say and sing but the funniest moment came when he and another boarder upstairs were exchanging snore whistles like we used to hear in cartoons. A deep rasping snore intake and a shrill high whistle exhale. Sure is difficult to describe a sound! Kilgore, a grey upstairs, would make this sound and Barnaby would respond in kind! Sounded like some heavy duty napping was going on around here.



When Barnaby stands tall, you can
see that he thinks he's pretty special. He really is magnificent. No other species of parrot displays his emotions like an amazon. They exhibit excitement and joy, and anger and fear. The trouble is, often this is done with very similar behaviors! A flared tail and level posture with pinned eyes can mean many things. But, for me, it means to be careful! Even if he is just excited and playful, you don't want to offer a bare finger. Most of the time he would probably be a sweetie, but the other time, he would nail you and laugh about it.