She’s a beaut and a quite the smarty pants. Would she survive on a ship? No way!! She’s as pampered as any diva, but she’s my sweet, Yellow-Shouldered Amazon parrot, named Rainbow. Yellow-shouldered parrots are actually pretty rare breeds, (I acquired her from a breeder in California), found in the arid regions of Venezuela, smaller and more even tempered than her Amazon cousins, but just as snarky and vivacious.
Amazon parrots, while not as intelligent as an African Grey, are still pretty darn smart and complicated creatures who need lots of lovin’ and attention. Rainbow loves to sing and is partial to reggae. But did pirates actually keep parrots as pets on board their ships? Not many accounts exist of animals on board ships other than the occasional cat and/or dog to keep the vermin population down. The trade in exotic animals flourished in the Golden Age of Piracy so a pirate keeping a pet parrot probably wouldn’t be unheard of, but as of yet, not entirely substantiated. So until then, we have Polly.