Amazons are amazing creatures,  using both their voices and body language to communicate with us.  Their talking abilities are well-known and their voices are very clear and human sounding.  The Lilac Crowns are quieter and mellower than the Blue Front and Double Yellow Head, although the latter two are usually louder birds they are among the best talkers of these birds; with incredible mimicry and large vocabularies. This is not to say the others can't talk well.  We have a female Lilac Crown who entertains everyone within sight, not stopping talking until she can't see them anymore.  She has stolen the show from all the other birds time and again.   We would not recommend  one   of these beauties as an apartment bird, although the Lilac Crown are much quieter and would suit a smaller living space than the Blue Front, Yellow Nape and Double Yellow Head. 

Amazons love to bathe and like a lot of toys,  be sure to give them wood to chew on.  They also love being out in the sun.  Here in California we can put them out to enjoy the warmth of it almost everyday.   They love to be out on their playstands among their families, will be happy to talk along with you when you answer the phone and call out "Come in!" when someone rings the doorbell.  More than one person has walked into someone's house only to find out it was the amazon that invited them in!  They are also excellent singers, can even learn opera very easily and can sing whole songs. They have wonderful communication and will learn word games, even calling out to the other birds in the family to play with them. They are true clowns in the bird world.

We very much recommend that you reinforce the  'step-up' command over and over again until it becomes rote and your bird does it in any situation without fail.  Upon reaching maturity some amazons will have periods of time when they are feeling the pull of their breeding instincts and will become very temperamental.  This is most often the case in males, usually not female amazons.  It is, however, quite easy to read if one just notices their behavior when approaching the cage.  If your bird flares his tail, ruffles his head feathers,  pinpoints his pupils and overall tries to look like he just wants to be left alone then by all means do so!  After a day or so he will most likely revert to his old self and all will be well.  It is a good idea to train your bird to step up on a stick for situations like this too.  We also do not recommend ever letting an amazon sit on your shoulder, they just are not shoulder birds.  They are very expressive birds and it has been said more than once that seeing as their body language is so easy to read it makes knowing one a great study in bird behavior.