Amazon Parrots- By Tony Silva

Tony Silva has written the most detailed monograph on the genus "Amazona" too date. On the cover a Cuban Amazon (Amazon leucocephala) can be seen perching. Amazon Parrots- By Tony Silva    A quick description by Mr. Silva on his experience with Amazons;   As a child, my father would often take me to visit a friend who kept a Cuban Amazon Amazona leucocephala loose in his car repair shop. The bird spoke but it was its antics that kept me absorbed: he would jump, fly, hang upside down from a wire used to hang rags to dry, get into mischief by trying to steal small tools, would come close and put its head down to have the nape rubbed and then snap at my fingers, bring me things, and he would focus on me and just as quickly on something else. He bit me once but I hid that incidence and my tears for fear of never being allowed to see it again. That bird was my obsession. I knew then that bird keeping was in my genes. My great grandmother, grandmother and father kept birds and I would do the same. It was 55 years ago that my passion for bird keeping started but it would be some years before I was allowed to own a parrot. My passion for Amazons has been with me since childhood. This book is not only a compilation of all that is known about the genus Amazona but also a work of passion. Amazons are intelligent, loud, unpredictable, aggressive, meek, and often pose a challenge to keep and breed. They are a favorite and have had a place in my collection for very many decades. This book has taken just as long to write. I started it in the 1980s but soon realized that I lacked the knowledge to produce a book that would encompass both field and aviary studies. My odyssey then started and today my avicultural experience and field work supplemented by information from vast sources provides what I believe is the most complete work ever produced on this incredible group of parrots. My fervent hope is that this monograph will advance the interest in the Amazons.