A PARROT with a love of the Scissor Sisters definitely feels like dancing after flying his way to the finals of a photography competition run by Amazon.co.uk.

Animals of all species, breeds and sizes have vied for attention to become Amazon’s next pet model in its inaugural Face of Amazon Pets contest, with Swindon’s very own Sammy the parrot making the final ranks.

Out of more than 28,000 entries the nominees were whittled down to a shortlist based on the most likes on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter before the seven finalists went head-to-head in a vote by Amazon customers.

Sammy, a male Indian Ringneck parrot now living in Ramleaze went up against Bob the dog, Scrappy the cat, Harry the pony, Sammy the bird, Rango the reptile, Arin the fish and eventual winner Effie the rabbit.

Giving them the chance to work the cameras, each of the finalists invited to a London studio where they were photographed and filmed strutting their stuff on a 'petwalk', modelling popular pet products available from Amazon.co.uk's Pets Store.

Sammy lives with owner Amanda Watcham, 31, who bought him from a breeder just over a year ago as her first bird having previously only owned hamsters. Her 15-year-old niece Athena Ridewood has been helping her care for Sammy and has taken a lead in training him.

“She came home one day and said there is this competition and could she enter Sammy in it,” said Amanda. “I said, ‘oh go on then’ not thinking for a moment that he would be the runner up. The next thing I knew we had been invited to the studio in London for a photoshoot.

“Sammy was very shy when I first got him, if you tried to stroke him he would move away, but after a few months he started to trust us and allow us to stroke him. Now when Athena puts her hand up he will just fly over to her – he is quite a bright little bird.

“He is absolutely lovely to be around. I still have a couple of hamsters, but we didn’t enter them as they sleep most of the time!

“He loves blueberries but he has a bit of a habit of chucking the bits he doesn’t like everywhere, so I have to make sure my hair isn’t down when he is eating or it goes everywhere. He loves watching TV and the Scissor Sisters, but if I even think about having any classical music on he grabs the remote and switches it off.”

Melis del Rey, Amazon Pets store manager, said: "Pets are fast becoming the latest social media influencers to become Instafamous, amassing devoted followers worldwide and becoming genuine stars in their own right. We are delighted to add Effie and the other six finalists to the list of gorgeous pets set for internet stardom and want to thank all of the many entrants for taking part in our Faces of Amazon Pets competition."

To view Sammy’s petwalk video visit www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk.