Barker Bird

**The Barker Bird** is an animal character from *Pirates of the Caribbean*.

## History

### Backstory

The Barker Bird is the name given to a green macaw which had some affiliation with pirates during the golden age of piracy. The bird was intelligent and capable of human speech but would come to lose its right-leg and left eyeball in-addition to losing the plumage on its chest where it would have an anchor tattoo.

The Barker Bird would come to the island of Isla Tesoro in the Caribbean Sea after it was pillaged and turned into a pirate-haven by the crew of *The Wicked Wench*. It would seem to have had some familiarity with the Wench's crew, quoting members of its crew years later after the Wench's crew died of a curse. Following Isla Tesoro being left in ruins, the Barker Bird would most notably inhabit the Castillo del Morro fortress which had been annihilated by the pirates years earlier.

The Barker Bird survived for centuries after the sacking of Puerto Dorado. In the 19th or early 20th century, the Barker Bird might have spent time in New Orleans in the *Royal Street Gallery*. This gallery had its own connections to piracy as it was allocated next to the Blue Bayou, a bayou which held the undead remains of one Captain X and potential connections to pirate Jean Lafitte. In the 20th century, the bird also might have travelled to the town of Disney Springs, Florida and spent time in an animation studio owned by the Walt Disney Company.

### Development history

The Barker Bird was created by imagineers Marc Davis and X. Atencio in the vain of Juan the Barker Bird used for the Magic Kingdom's Tropical Serenade. The function was to inform guests of what kind of attractions they would be expecting, similar to carnival barkers. The Barker Bird was voiced by imagineer Gary Goddard until its removal in 2006. The 2006 refurbishment was aimed at incorporating elements from the Pirates of the Caribbean films and as such the Barker Bird was ostensibly replaced with Cotton's Parrot from Curse of the Black Pearl. The Barker Bird's audio-animatronic was relocated to the World of Disney in Downtown Disney.

## Appearances and allusions

### Pirates of the Caribbean

#### Disneyland

A version of the parrot lacking its chest-tattoo appeared in the interior-queue and conclusion scene for this attraction. The Barker Bird sat atop a treasure-chest in the sand-bar next to the canals of the Royal Street Gallery where it squawked at guests.

#### Magic Kingdom

The Barker Bird appeared outside of the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction in Walt Disney World where it sang, "Yo Ho (A *Parrot*'s life for me)" and worked to attract guest attention to the fortress. It was removed from the attraction in 2006 though is still frequently featured in merchandise, promotional materials and paraphernalia.

### World of Disney

The Barker Bird would be moved to the Pirates of the Caribbean section of the World of Disney shop in Downtown Disney alongside a treasure ship and the mast of a sailing-ship.

## Connections

### Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room

The Barker Bird takes its name from Juan the Barker Bird from Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room and the two were in operation at the same point in time. The Barker Bird itself was inspired by Juan in design and function.

## Trivia

* In Pirates of the Caribbean, the pirate, "Dirt-Foot" is shown to have a pet green macaw with the Barker Bird's tattoo although not missing its legs nor eye. Given the Barker Bird appeared with said features in the, "Future/present" section of the attraction's story, some theorize that they are in-fact the same bird.
* Based off of his plumage and eyepatch, it is possible that Salty the Parrot from Oceaneer Lab was modelled after the Barker Bird.

1. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrHBF7Zk5Qs