How come Amazon parrots are a lot cheaper than Cockatoo, Macaw, or African Grey?

CharliePickles · Feb 5, 2015

Aside from the question of availability of less common birds such as Caiques, Amazon parrots in Canada are generally more or less half the price of African Greys, 1/3 of the price of Cockatoos, and about 1/3 to 1/6 of the price of Macaws.

What's lacking in Amazon parrots compared to the other ones? I see Amazon parrots living just as long, being just as big, and having more or less same amount of talent in intelligence and speaking as the other ones (albeit African Grey being the exception)

Hawk · Feb 5, 2015

Well generally I see that here as well, price wise. And it appears the reason is that Amazons in stores do not readily go to a new potential buyer, they'll snap, hiss or bite which turns potential buyers off.

Greys, some cockatoos and others you'll find will go up to a stranger no problem. Thus you have amazons not selling as fast. The longer you hang onto them in a store without socializing one on one, the hard it is to take to any potential buyer. They begin to realize that a person is passing thru and not to be trusted, it's not their mate and won't try bonding as other birds will do. Therefore to move Amazons faster, they offer an attractive price. Do you agree with this?

CharliePickles · Feb 5, 2015

Hawk said:
Well generally I see that here as well, price wise. And it appears the reason is that Amazons in stores do not readily go to a new potential buyer, they'll snap, hiss or bite which turns potential buyers off.

Greys, some cockatoos and others you'll find will go up to a stranger no problem. Thus you have amazons not selling as fast. The longer you hang onto them in a store without socializing one on one, the hard it is to take to any potential buyer. They begin to realize that a person is passing thru and not to be trusted, it's not their mate and won't try bonding as other birds will do. Therefore to move Amazons faster, they offer an attractive price. Do you agree with this?

Well, I can't agree or disagree, because I don't know anything about any of the bigger species. So would you say Amazons are one-person birds, and tend to be aggressive toward strangers?

And wouldn't that sort of be similar to Macaws or African Greys? I heard Macaws aren't all the friendly, and African Greys are sort of shy and timid a bit like cockatiels.

Hawk · Feb 5, 2015

CharliePickles said:
Hawk said:

Well generally I see that here as well, price wise. And it appears the reason is that Amazons in stores do not readily go to a new potential buyer, they'll snap, hiss or bite which turns potential buyers off.

Greys, some cockatoos and others you'll find will go up to a stranger no problem. Thus you have amazons not selling as fast. The longer you hang onto them in a store without socializing one on one, the hard it is to take to any potential buyer. They begin to realize that a person is passing thru and not to be trusted, it's not their mate and won't try bonding as other birds will do. Therefore to move Amazons faster, they offer an attractive price. Do you agree with this?

Click to expand...

Well, I can't agree or disagree, because I don't know anything about any of the bigger species. So would you say Amazons are one-person birds, and tend to be aggressive toward strangers?

And wouldn't that sort of be similar to Macaws or African Greys? I heard Macaws aren't all the friendly, and African Greys are sort of shy and timid a bit like cockatiels.

Birds choose their mates, you don't generally chose them, if they don't want to be with you, socialize with you or have you as their mate, you'll find they will be aggressive towards you.
Amazons ( least the ones I have) are family sociable birds, they have their favorite family member (their mate) but go to all family members easily.
Amazons are aggressive towards strangers, but once they get to know you they are gentle. Poppie my Zon never bites or is aggressive, that said, My wife's friend's boyfriend came over and Poppie never seen him before, this dude ( nim wit) reached right up to her with her back turned ( a big NO NO) and she turned and caught this dude a good one on his hand.

Amazons are not similar to macaws and Greys, Greys are gentle, Macaws are cuddle bunnies once they get to know you.

CharliePickles · Feb 5, 2015

Hawk said:
Birds choose their mates, you don't generally chose them, if they don't want to be with you, socialize with you or have you as their mate, you'll find they will be aggressive towards you.
Amazons ( least the ones I have) are family sociable birds, they have their favorite family member (their mate) but go to all family members easily.
Amazons are aggressive towards strangers, but once they get to know you they are gentle. Poppie my Zon never bites or is aggressive, that said, My wife's friend's boyfriend came over and Poppie never seen him before, this dude ( nim wit) reached right up to her with her back turned ( a big NO NO) and she turned and caught this dude a good one on his hand.

Amazons are not similar to macaws and Greys, Greys are gentle, Macaws are cuddle bunnies once they get to know you.

Would you mind telling more about the intelligence of Amazons? I've read that Cockatoos are capable of opening locks, African Greys are quite clever with their speech, etc. Is there anything that makes Amazons sort of stand out?

Hawk · Feb 6, 2015

CharliePickles said:
Hawk said:

Birds choose their mates, you don't generally chose them, if they don't want to be with you, socialize with you or have you as their mate, you'll find they will be aggressive towards you.
Amazons ( least the ones I have) are family sociable birds, they have their favorite family member (their mate) but go to all family members easily.
Amazons are aggressive towards strangers, but once they get to know you they are gentle. Poppie my Zon never bites or is aggressive, that said, My wife's friend's boyfriend came over and Poppie never seen him before, this dude ( nim wit) reached right up to her with her back turned ( a big NO NO) and she turned and caught this dude a good one on his hand.

Amazons are not similar to macaws and Greys, Greys are gentle, Macaws are cuddle bunnies once they get to know you.

Click to expand...

Would you mind telling more about the intelligence of Amazons? I've read that Cockatoos are capable of opening locks, African Greys are quite clever with their speech, and well Macaws are sort of the standard "parrot" if you ever envision a parrot in your head without knowing anything about them.

Is there anything that makes Amazons sort of stand out?

That's a tough one...all parrots are capable of intelligence and clever speech. It all comes down to how much you put into them, training, love, patience. If I really could I'd have 100's of parrots. But that wouldn't be fair as you have to spend equal quality time with the birds to get to a certain intelligence level.
I Have two Amazons and they both have their independent personality, and both very clever. Speech wise my oldest Zon can speak about 1300 words.
Sings, and absolutely adorable love bunny she is. My Grey is More Independent and dose things on His terms. Very clever and seems to really retain memory of how to do things. He doesn't forget. My Senegal is a very clever little guy, though as the grey, is independent yet a cuddle bunny as well.
I can't single out any one species of parrot as they are all in my book, quite special and unique...I'd own them all if I could.

Birdman666 · Feb 6, 2015

Large Macaws, and Large Toos are often considered "status" items... (I know, I wanted to puke just saying it!)

Hey, a little Caique is around $900-ish.

A green cheek is $250, but a sun is $600? Why?! They're both sweet littl conures. And a cockatiel is about the same size, and it will only set you back $80.00

A new Ferrari will set you back around $400,000. But a new Corvette is only around $80,000. and is just as fast...

Why?!

Because people will pay that... or won't...

Kiwibird · Feb 6, 2015

Depends on the part of the world too. Part of the reason amazons are cheep here in the US because they were so easy to import for so many years from their native habitats in South America. They are even cheaper down there where they're native. Cockatoos, from what I hear, are really cheap over in Australia whereas new world parrots like amazons and macaws are extremely expensive because not as many were imported before wild caught bans were imposed.

Birdman666 · Feb 6, 2015

Amazons also have a reputation for being hormonally challenged biters...

Whereas the others are just big cuddle bugs, who never, ever under any circumstances bite anyone....

Cockatoos, and BABY macaws (adults notsomuch) will readily cuddle with a stranger in a pet store. Amazons generally need to get to know you first... unless they do that "amazon crush" thing...

Kiwibird · Feb 6, 2015

CharliePickles said:
Would you mind telling more about the intelligence of Amazons? I've read that Cockatoos are capable of opening locks, African Greys are quite clever with their speech, etc. Is there anything that makes Amazons sort of stand out?

Amazons have the mental abilities on par with a 3-4 year old child and are extremely intelligent birds. Though not all will, they have the potential to learn large vocabularies and convey some thoughts through speech in-cotext (i.e. they may say "hungry" and mean it instead of just mimicking the word). They also, as a species, have an affinity for singing.

Other things that make zons stand out are their hilarious antics (happy amazons love to entertain!), zest for life, strong bonds o their human flock and of course, those beautiful colors! They are also pretty tough birds too and tend not to be as "mentally sensitive" as too's and grays (of course, they deserve the best care possible, just seem to be more suited than other species to living with humans). They are prone to obesity (and related conditions), over bonding/aggression towards all but one person if not properly socialized (socialize your bird!) as well as do tend to have unpleasant hormonal phases once they reach sexual maturity where they become temporarily aggressive for a few weeks each year.

Birdman666 · Feb 6, 2015

Red Lored Amazons are particularly empathic...

They are at the upper end of the spectrum for parrots, who are quite high to begin with.

There are two basic flock structures in the wild. In one flock structure, "survival of the fittest" is the rule. The flock grows strong sick and injured birds are left for the predators.

Red Lored Amazon flock structures are "guardian angel" birds. They look out for the sick and injured, bringing them food, dive bombing predators, and looking out for each other... their flock structures are tight knit because they are just that devoted to each other...

In captivity, those same traits are transferred to their human flock...

Sally is, and since I got her rehabbed, has been my most fiercely devoted companion parrot...

My most bonded velcro bird ever was my BFA... but there has never been a more fiercely devoted and loving bird than this one.

And I'm not alone in that assessment.

Read "The parrot who owns me."

Yeah. It's like that...

Oh, and when I got her, this bird was scheduled to be put to sleep as a "vicious animal...!" So there's also that...

Kiwibird · Feb 6, 2015

Birdman666 said:
Oh, and when I got her, this bird was scheduled to be put to sleep as a "vicious animal...!" So there's also that...

Many "vicious" parrots are well justified in their actions based on their experiences with humans (especially since they are prey animals, not predators and do not have a natural drive to be vicious). They tend to "magically" turn into sweet, loving, strongly bonded birds in a loving, patient, caring home where the human was willing to earn the birds trust, yet were for some strange reason vicious towards humans when neglected and abused. Hmmm....:20:

Dinosrawr · Feb 6, 2015

I see Caiques all the time where I live (Saskatoon). They're very common in the pet stores. And there are several breeders that do ship them, but pet stores do jack up the price of any bird. I got my IRN from a phenomenal breeder and paid more than other breeders charged ($575), though less than some. An IRN at the pet store sells for $1300.

As for pricing... where are you getting your pricing lists from? And which amazons are you looking at? A reputable breeder that I respect sells Panama, Lilac, and OWA for 3k, her greys for 1600, and her caiques for 2k. Her macaw prices are 2-10k, depending on the species (ranges from B&G to BTM to HY).

Another breeder sells her BFA, YCA, and YSA from 1500 to 1600. Still perfectly on par with AG's and some cockatoos. I really think it depends where you're looking number wise, and exactly who you're looking at. Because I've never seen an Amazon go for half the price of an AG. Unless it was from Kijiji. Even a rescued BFA was sold for almost $2000 around my area...

thekarens · Feb 6, 2015

Shoot, the best singers are zons. That's one thing I love about them.

RavensGryf · Feb 6, 2015

As was pointed out, a lot of it is regional. How common the species is in a certain part of the world. But a big (if not the biggest) part of it I believe is based on popularity and demand. What people will pay for a certain popular animal.

I think Red Lored are gorgeous!

Jayyj · Feb 6, 2015

Aren't certain species much harder to breed than others? I had a chat with someone in a bird store last year about a Major Mitchell cockatoo they had where they were saying the reason they're much rarer and more expensive than other cockatoos in the regular pet trade is down to difficulty getting pairs set up in captivity. The bird they were selling was an ex breeder who had been 'retired' after nearly killing the last two birds he'd been paired with. Surely birds that were difficult to breed would command a significant premium.

In as far as location playing a part, try telling an Australian how much we pay for galahs in the UK or US and watch them burst into disbelieving laughter...

Birdman666 · Feb 6, 2015

thekarens said:
Shoot, the best singers are zons. That's one thing I love about them.

Yep!

PECKER used to sing the chorus of the Little Richard standard Tutti Fruiti... complete with the bomp-baba-lua-be-bop-bam-boom- WHOOOOOO!

By the time she got to the WHOOOOO! part she be completely unhinged, with her eyes going, and her beak straight up in the air...

GOD I MISS THAT BIRD!!!

Kiwibird · Feb 6, 2015

Dinosrawr said:
Even a rescued BFA was sold for almost $2000 around my area...

Talk about different price in different areas! $2K for a rescue BFA

?! Kiwi was only $350.

Birdman666 · Feb 6, 2015

Jayyj said:
In as far as location playing a part, try telling an Australian how much we pay for galahs in the UK or US and watch them burst into disbelieving laughter...

Yeah, but then tell them how much macaws cost... watch them turn six shades of green. That's an availability thing.

Dinosrawr · Feb 6, 2015

Kiwibird said:
Dinosrawr said:

Even a rescued BFA was sold for almost $2000 around my area...

Click to expand...

Talk about different price in different areas! $2K for a rescue BFA?! Kiwi was only $350.

I know, my boyfriend and I ranted and raved about it. They weren't a rescue we really cared for. The rescue we support sells large macaws for around $1500, including caging, toys, food, and they are generally rehabilitated (not that we encounter many here in SK). Those are people who genuinely care about birds! The rescue that sold the BFA was up and running for about a year before they shut down.

How come Amazon parrots are a lot cheaper than Cockatoo, Macaw, or African Grey?

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