I'm a 76 year old woman who adopted a 20 year old Amazon parrot. I am approaching the end of my life but a 20 year old Amazon parrot is just beginning middle age. I guess I thought I'd have to decide who gets to care for the bird when I'm gone. But, as it turned out, the bird decided that one. I am retired and living alone in an apartment and I got the bright idea of adopting a parrot. I guess you could say I was lonely and looking for trouble. I found it. Dutch had been in the same home with his original owner, a man, for 20 years. When he died, the surviving relatives sent Dutch to a rescue. That should have told me something, and the name "Dutch" should have also told me something. It's an old fashioned slang word meaning "trouble." I went to the rescue looking for an African Grey parrot. I owned a Grey and a Amazon when I was younger. Much younger. The Grey was intelligent, talkative and had a gentle nature. The Amazon was aggressive and loud. Maybe I didn't remember that. Anyway, the rescue didn't have a Grey, but it had an Amazon for adoption: Dutch. I visited with Dutch for a month before adopting him, and he bit me, but only once. He didn't draw blood, and I shrugged it off. The old saying is "If you own a parrot, it's not a question of if you're gonna be bitten, but when." The surviving relatives, who dropped Dutch off at the rescue, didn't leave a written history. The rescue told me he had been the property of a man for 20 years, preferred men, and was adopted by another man and returned to the rescue after 5 days. That should have told me something. But... The rescue said the man who adopted him had 3 dogs and Dutch had become aggravated because of them and was returned. That made sense to me at the time, but I realized later that Dutch could make short work of three dogs. In addition, there was no vet history for Dutch, no evidence that he knew how to speak and his wings were fully clipped. I don't have any dogs or cats. I live in a small apartment by myself with quiet neighbors, and some have small dogs or cats. I asked my landlord if I could have a parrot and he said yes, so I adopted Dutch. It wasn't long before I thought I would have been happier with a pit bull or a tarantula.
