Cotton's Parrot

"You'll recognize Cotton from the parrot he keeps at his side."

- Joshamee Gibbs

Cotton's Parrot was a bird owned by Cotton, a pirate who joined the crew of the Black Pearl, under Captain Jack Sparrow.

Early life
"Lock up the Code! Strike the wenches! And if any of ye ever speak a word of this...I'll have your tongue." "...Aye, sir. Mum's the word." [squawking] "Mum's the word."

- Mungard, Cotton and Cotton's parrot

At some point in its life, this parrot would be owned by a pirate named Cotton, and would live in Shipwreck Coveby the mid-1740s. One night, he would join Cotton, who joined with a group of pirates as the Auctioneer led an auction on two wenches, Scarlett and Giselle. After accidentally shooting at the Pirate Code, a pirate named Mungard ordered the Code locked up and warned the crowd of pirates that if any of them speak a word of what occurred, that he would have their tongues. It was then that Cotton and his parrot assured Mungard that mum's the word.

However, Mungard ended up cutting off Cotton's tongue, though it is unknown if Cotton's tongue was cut before or after Cotton spilled the beans about Mungard. Cotton would subsequently teach his parrot how to talk for him; though how he, as a mute, achieved such a feat is unknown.

Jack Sparrow's crew
"If you're going to let a parrot speak for you, at least find one that makes sense!"

- Jack Sparrow to Cotton



As Joshamee Gibbs told Sparrow at Tortuga, Cotton had his tongue cut out at some point, and was somehow able to teach his parrot to speak for him, though no one had managed to work out just how this was accomplished. The parrot was known to use nautical catchphrases like "Don't eat me", "Shiver me timbers", "Dead men tell no tales" and "Walk the plank" for more complex ideas (in these particular cases, "You missed a spot on the deck" and "We don't like the job you're doing, Captain Jack."). "Wind in your sails!" was generally accepted to mean "Yes". The bird at times appeared to be more intelligent than many of the Black Pearl's crew members, to the point of giving Cotton orders occasionally. Another phrase the parrot said was "uh oh. Fire in the hole!" after Jack the Monkey lit a firework to blow up a firework factory.

The parrot accompanied Cotton throughout his time onboard the Black Pearl, and was the only crew member to escape capture by the Pelegostos during the search for the Dead Man's Chest. Cotton and his parrot later survived the attack of the Kraken that dragged both the Pearl and Captain Sparrow to Davy Jones' Locker. The parrot also accompanied the crew during the search for Jack Sparrow and seemed to form a bit of a partnership with Jack the Monkey. When the time came to fight Beckett, the parrot flew away. When the big battle had ended the parrot returned once again to his master's shoulder.

After the battle, there was a mutiny aboard the Black Pearl, which meant leaving Jack Sparrow, and put Barbossa back in charge. Sometime later, the Queen Anne's Revenge, captained by Blackbeard, attacked the Pearl. After the ship's defeat, Blackbeard shrunk the ship and put it in a bottle. Both Cotton's parrot and Jack the monkey were taken inside with the Pearl.

Behind the scenes
"Nobody knows the parrot's name, neither, so we just call it 'Cotton's parrot.'"

- Joshamee Gibbs to Jack Sparrow (first screenplay draft)


 * Cotton's Parrot is a Blue and Gold Macaw (Ara ararauna). Macaws Chip and Salsa portrayed the parrot on screen, with Christopher S. Capp providing his voice in all three films and the At World's End video game. James Arnold Taylor voiced the parrot in The Legend of Jack Sparrow.
 * When Jack came in a longboat to the shores from the Black Pearl in Davy Jones' Locker, while everyone was running over to him, Cotton's Parrot said, "Hide the Rum!".

Appearances

 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Tales of the Code: Wedlocked
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
 * The Accidental Pirate!
 * Revenge of the Pirates!
 * The Capture of Jack Sparrow!
 * Going Overboard!
 * The Eye of Dispair!
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (video game)
 * Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
 * LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game