The Joys Of Owning A Yellow Headed Amazon Parrot

The Joys Of Owning A Yellow Headed Parrot

Copyright (c) 2010 Kaye Dennan

One of the most popular pet parrots is the Yellow Headed Amazon parrot and what makes this so amazing is the fact that in its very own natural environment it is a threatened species. This is a wonderful talker and this is one of the reasons that parrot owners desire their company.

It is the continuing growth of commercial developments that is threatening the Yellow Headed parrot in its natural environment. Forests are being cut down for materials for building, or to clear the land for development to take place. The rate that land in the coast regions of Mexico and further south where the parrot resides, is being cleared is astronomical when you think of the forest that is left. There are fortunately, some domestic yellow headed parrots that have escaped from captivity and are reproducing around the more tropical regions of America in the south and this is helping to keep numbers alive. Still, let’s talk about the parrot itself.

The parrot is easly recognizable with its bright green body and bright yellow head. On the bend of its wing there is a touch of bright red and also on the outer region of the wing. The flight feathers are tipped with a blue-black color and the longer tail feathers are bright yellow. A Yellow Headed parrot is usually quite easy to pick even though there are some slight variances in color.

Although the yellow parrot is well known for its talking abilities, we have to accept that although most will talk, there will be some that will not. Generally speaking they are a fun parrot to own as a pet as they are very active, like to be let out of their cage and are great companions.

Taming a yellow parrot.

The Yellow Headed parrot has a lovely nature and is very easy to tame and train to talking and to do tricks. They need repetitive actions to be able to learn to talk and to do their tricks but they learn easily and remember well.

Toys in their cage.

As these parrots are extremely active, it is best to make sure that there are plenty of toys in their cage or aviary and some are swinging toys so that they can play with them when left on their own. Toys hanging on strings entertain parrots for hours.

Another feature for their cage is to have several rough branches in there so that they can chew on those as they love to do this if they are a bit bored.

Size of the yellow parrot.

The usual length of a full grown Yellow Headed parrot is about 15 inches which is a good size if someone wants to own a larger parrot than say, a budgerigar. At this size the parrot is easy to handle, easy to house and does not do too much damage as it flies around the house.

Wow. That Bird Sure Can Scream!

 

“Screaming. Somebody reinforced the heck out of that behavior.” I said to myself. Misty, a double yellow headed Amazon parrot, lived with me for only a few weeks. She was there so that I could put some of her vocal behaviors on cue. However it quickly became apparent she had a few other behaviors that needed to be addressed first. Before her stay with me she resided with Jill Bell for six years. Prior to that time her history is pretty fuzzy. She is estimated to be 19 years old. This meant screaming could have been reinforced for at least 13 years. It must have been, because it was STRONG. Misty was relentless. I’d leave the room; she’d scream and scream and scream.

 

She had been a good reminder of what companion parrot owners experience when faced with a very annoying and challenging problem. It can be very frustrating. Oddly enough, when I walk into someone else’s home and hear screaming birds I am usually not effected. But when a bird is screaming specifically, in what feels like a demanding way, to get my attention, it strikes a nerve. How does one find the patience to be a good trainer in those situations? It is not easy, but definitely necessary.

 

My mantra with Misty was “I am solving the problem. Getting angry or letting that knot in my gut sway my strategy will not give me the desired results. I am confident what I am doing will work. It has worked before with other birds I have trained. Hang in there!”

 

And it is true, my blue fronted Amazon parrot Tarah also learned to scream for attention. Completely through my own ignorance I reinforced screaming. I acquired Tarah, as many people do, when he was offered to me for free. At the time I was working in a veterinary hospital. One of my co-workers also worked part time in a pet store. Someone had walked in off of the street and sold her the bird for $100. Was the bird stolen, smuggled or desperately unwanted? I don’t know. My co-worker found she was overwhelmed with too many animals in her home and asked if I would be interested in watching the bird for awhile. (That “while” has turned in 18 years.)

 

Once in my apartment I was thrilled when Tarah offered a “hello” at the sight of me snacking on a piece of bread. However the enchantment wore off as Tarah began to scream anytime I was out of sight. Unaware of how to stop this undesired behavior, I did as many do, I ran back into the room each time Tarah screamed and told him to “Be quiet.” Did it work to stop the screaming? No, and at the same time I found I very much disliked my attempts at punishing reactions to the undesired behavior. I so enjoy having animals respond positively to my presence and did not want to become an unpleasant experience in my bird’s life in order to stop the screaming behavior.

 

While in the middle of dealing with this problem, I was introduced to the book “Don’t Shoot the Dog” by Karen Pryor. (Also known as the bible of animal trainers) As I read the book, I latched onto two important principles that could help me address the screaming problem. Extinction and differential reinforcement. Extinction is described as the process of discontinuing reinforcing a behavior that has been previously reinforced. In other words part of my strategy should include discontinuing offering reinforcement for screaming. This meant I should no longer run back into the room, or yell at Tarah. The book did not describe the exact situation I was experiencing with my bird. Rather it described the principles and how to apply them to a variety of examples, human and animal. In reading the words, I made the connection that the concepts could apply to any behavior I no longer wanted to continue. Paired with the principle of extinction was the strategy of differential reinforcement of an alternate behavior. In other words, if screaming would no longer work to get a response from me, what would? For Tarah this turned out to be a whistle. In the middle of a session of screaming and me doing my best to ignore this undesired behavior, Tarah offered a “whistle”. I immediately reinforced this by responding with the word “good”. Tarah replied with a scream. This was because at this point he only had one repetition of whistling being positively reinforced and entire of year of screaming being reinforced. However I remained consistent with my strategies and within two weeks time Tarah learned to whistle instead of scream when he wanted a response from me. 17 years later Tarah whistles when he wants to know where I am, when he desires a toy or treat, when I come home, and when he simply seems to be “happy”. The undesired screaming behavior was extinguished and replaced with a whistling sound.

 

Misty seemed to throw a kink in our now peaceful, well behaved and relatively quiet household. I “knew” from my past experience that I could repeat the process I had implemented with Tarah. However this time proved to be a bit more challenging. Because I was working out of the home at the time, it meant no breaks from dealing with the behavior problem. Every time I left the room I was challenged with having to be focused on training this bird. I was finding this to be very demanding. In addition there were times in the day when mentally I was just not prepared to train. Rather than feeling inspired to train and ready to resolve the behavior problem, I found myself dreading having to leave a room and work with Misty. I decided I needed to better set myself up for success. In getting to know Misty, who other than the screaming behavior, I found to be a delight, I learned that in the past she was accustomed to being covered at night. I took advantage of this and decided to leave Misty covered during the time in the morning I needed to shower and prepare breakfast and bird diets in the kitchen. This allowed me time to peacefully attend to necessary tasks in the morning. After this, I found I was less stressed and more prepared to begin a training session with Misty.

 

Throughout the day I would treat each time I left the room for whatever reason as a learning opportunity for Misty. I practiced my strategy of extinguishing screaming by not responding to it, followed by reinforcing a desired behavior. In Misty’s case the desired behavior was not a specific sound. Instead I chose to reinforce silence. My plan was to reinforce small increments of time of silence and gradually increase the duration Misty was silent before I would reinforce her with my presence or attention. If I was in the kitchen I would wait just outside of her view while she screamed. At first if she offered a pause in screaming that seemed the slightest second longer than what she had presented in between screams in the past, I would quickly appear and offer generous amounts of attention. I wanted quiet to receive a greater amount of positive reinforcement than screaming if I could. Overtime I gradually increased the amount of time she remained quiet before I would respond. And it worked!

 

However this was not without challenges. There were times throughout the day when a training session was not convenient for me when I needed to leave the room. Rather than cover Misty I opted for engaging her in other acceptable activity. For example, I often offered Misty a small cardboard box, a rolled up ball of newspaper, a new toy, or a portion of her diet just prior to leaving the room. This gave Misty another activity to focus on instead of screaming. But it also was not an opportunity for Misty to learn that screaming would not gain my attention and quiet would. It was still important to include training sessions throughout the day. The other activity was meant only to offer a break from training for me. This may have also lengthened the amount of time it took overall to teach Misty that screaming no longer would work.

 

Another challenge in training Misty was that Tarah was in the same room as Misty. Tarah would whistle at times when I left the room. While I wanted to respond to his whistle, I did not want to also then accidentally reinforce Misty’s screaming. My strategy had to be to only reinforce Tarah’s whistle if Misty was not screaming. If I was focused on the training session, I also found I could position myself so that Tarah could see me, but Misty could not. This allowed me to reinforce Tarah’s “good” behavior and wait for Misty to offer silence before responding to her.

 

Misty’s screaming also appeared to stimulate an occasional screaming behavior in Tarah as well. Fortunately because he had a strong reinforcement history for a whistle, I simply waited for him to offer a whistle before I would respond. Tarah quickly returned to offering a whistle and once again extinguished screaming.

 

Misty also would on occasion scream for my attention while I was in the room. When this occurred, I simply left the room. Again my thought process was to teach her that screaming now created the opposite response. Instead of people coming to her, people go away. It was also important to reinforce her with attention at times for being quiet while I was in the room as well.

 

Overall training misty to present silence to gain my attention took about 6 weeks to train. Obviously this was longer than it took to change Tarahs behavior. This could have been a result of the strength of the behavior in each bird based on their individual positive reinforcement histories. It could have also been a result of the fewer training sessions applied to Misty during the given amount of time. It could also be a factor of the birds as individual learners. In any case the end result was a bird that successfully learned to present desired behavior for attention as opposed to the undesired behavior of screaming.

 

I went through the emotional gamut that many companion parrot owners face when addressing screaming problems. However by focusing on good training strategy and allowing myself opportunities to relieve myself of the stress associated with addressing the problem I was able to attain my desired training goal. Screaming for attention is a behavior problem with a solution. Set yourself up for success and invest the time to train the desired behavior. The end result can be a lifetime of good behavior.

 

Tips to address screaming for attention

Extinguish screaming.

Reinforce any other behavior besides screaming.

Remember the extinction burst is a good sign! The end might be insight. Change your feeling from frustrated to hopeful when your bird really goes for it.

If you need to leave the room, but can’t focus on training, offer another positively reinforcing activity prior to leaving the room. This may buy you a short window of time to move freely between rooms without screaming behavior. However you will still need to include training sessions at some point.

Get some earplugs to help you cope with the screaming during the extinction burst.

Plan to wait in the other room. Prepare in advance a quiet activity you can do when trying to deal with a screaming session.

Leave the room immediately when your bird screams for your attention.

Manage your activities to help set yourself up for success. For example keep the lights off or your bird covered for a few extra minutes in the morning until you are prepared to deal with the screaming with good training strategies.

Get support. If neighbors are having a problem with your screaming parrot, explain to your neighbors that you are working on training your bird not to scream.

Count seconds in intervals of silence and increase if possible.

Focus on fixing the problem instead of your frustration.

Believe you will get there. This strategy does work.

Keep notes if necessary to determine how and when this behavior maybe getting reinforced. Eliminate any reinforcement of screaming.

Offer even more reinforcement for the desired behavior than the undesired behavior would normally receive in the past.

 

 

© Copyright 2006. First appeared in the Volume 2 Issue 1 Spring 2006 Good Bird® Magazine.

To learn more about products and services to help you train your parrot visit www.GoodbBirdInc.com

 

Barbara has been a professional in the field of animal training since 1990.
She owns and operates a company, Good Bird, Inc., (www.GoodBirdInc.com)) that provides behavior and training products to the companion parrot community. These products include Good Bird Magazine, books, videos, and training/behavior workshops. Barbara has provided behavior workshops and/or animal training presentations at the Association of Avian Veterinarians conference, The American Federation of Aviculture conference, The International Parrot Conference at Loro Parque, Parrot Festival, The International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators conference, American Association of Zoo Keepers conference, Association of Zoos and Aquariums conference, The Parrot Society of Australia conference and many more. She is the past president of the International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators (www.IAATE.org) and has been on the Board of Directors since 1997. Her expertise has been utilized by the US Dept. of Agriculture, Fish and Wildlife Service and numerous international professional organizations. In the past 4 years she has met and trained over 600 parrots at her workshops.

She is the author of “Good Bird! A Guide to Solving Behavior Problems in Companion Parrots” by Avian Publications and also “The Parrot Problem Solver. Finding Solutions to Aggressive Behavior” by TFH Publications. She is also the producer of the Good Bird Parrot Behavior and Training DVD series.

Barbara’s experience also includes consulting on animal training in zoos and other animal related facilities. She has been a part of the development and production of more than 15 different free flight education programs. Barbara continues to provide consulting services to zoos, nature centers and other animal facilities through her other company Animal Training and Consulting Services (www.ATandCS.com). In her career she has trained animals, trained staff, and/or presented shows at facilities around the world.

 

 

All About the Amazon Parrot

Amazon Parrot

Orange-winged Amazon (Amazona amazonica)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Subfamily: Psittacinae
Tribe: Arini
Genus: Amazona
Lesson, 1830

Amazon Parrot Species

Amazon parrot is the common name for a parrot of the genus Amazona. These are medium-size parrots native to the New World ranging from South America to Mexico and the Caribbean.

Most Amazon parrots are predominantly green, with accenting colors that depend on the species and can be quite vivid. They feed primarily on seeds, nuts, and fruits, supplemented by leafy matter.

Many amazon parrots have a remarkable ability to mimic human speech and other sounds. Partly because of this they are popular as pets or companion parrots, and a small industry has developed in breeding parrots in captivity for this market. This popularity has led to many parrots being taken from the wild to the extent that some species have become threatened. CITES treaties have made trapping wild parrots for the pet trade illegal to protect wild populations.

Amazon Parrot Classification

The taxonomy of the Yellow-crowned Amazon (Amazona ochrocephala complex) is disputed, with some authorities only listing a single species (A. ochrocephala), while others split it into as many as three species (A. ochrocephala, A. auropalliata and A. oratrix). The split is primarily based on differences related to extension of yellow to the plumage and the colour of bill and legs. Phylogenetic analysis of mtDNA do not support the traditional split.

Re-classification of the Yellow-faced Parrot

The Yellow-faced Parrot (Alipiopsitta xanthops) was traditionally placed within this genus of Amazon parrots, but recent research has shown that it is closer to the Short-tailed Parrot and the species from the genus Pionus, resulting in it being transferred to the monotypic genus Alipiopsitta.

Hypothetically extinct species

Populations of Amazon parrots that lived on the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe are now extinct. It is not known if they were separate species, subspecies, or if they originated form parrots introduced to the islands by humans, and so they are regarded as hypothetical extinct species. There are no surviving remains of them, and their taxonomy may never be established. Populations of several parrot species were described mainly in the unscientific writings of early travelers, and subsequently scientifically described by several naturalists (to have their names linked to the species that they were proposing) mainly in the twentieth century, with no more evidence than the earlier observations and without specimens.

* Martinique Amazon, Amazona martinica (hypothetical extinct species). A.H. Clark, 1905.

* Guadeloupe Amazon, Amazona violacea (hypothetical extinct species). Originally called Psittacus violaceus by J.F. Gmelin in 1789.

Amazon Parrot Aviculture

The Yellow-headed Amazon, Yellow-naped Amazon, Orange-winged Amazon, and Blue-fronted Amazon are some of the Amazon parrot species, which are commonly kept as pets. Amazon parrots, together with macaws, and the African Grey Parrot are all known for their exceptional vocal abilities, playfulness, and dexterity with their feet. Hand reared parrots are very loyal loving companions, and they can live for 50 years or more in captivity. However, some amazons—even well trained ones—can be aggressive during mating season. In order to maintain health and happiness, pet parrots require much more attention than domesticated animals such as dogs or cats. They require communication, manipulative toys, supervised time out of the cage, and so forth, or they may develop self-destructive behaviors. They have a strong, innate need to chew, and thus require safe, destructible toys.

List of Amazon parrots

* Cuban Amazon, Amazona leucocephala
* Yellow-billed Amazon, Amazona collaria
* Hispaniolan Amazon, Amazona ventralis
* Puerto Rican Amazon, Amazona vittata
* Yellow-lored Amazon, Amazona xantholora
* White-fronted Amazon, Amazona albifrons
* Black-billed Amazon, Amazona agilis
* Tucumán Amazon, Amazona tucumana
* Red-spectacled Amazon, Amazona pretrei
* Red-crowned Amazon, Amazona viridigenalis
* Lilac-crowned Amazon, Amazona finschi
* Red-lored Amazon, Amazona autumnalis
o Lilacine Amazon, Amazona autumnalis lilacina
* Blue-cheeked Amazon, Amazona dufresniana
* Red-browed Amazon, Amazona rhodocorytha
* Red-tailed Amazon, Amazona brasiliensis
* Festive Amazon, Amazona festiva
* Yellow-shouldered Amazon, Amazona barbadensis
* Blue-fronted Amazon, Amazona aestiva
* Yellow-crowned Amazon, Amazona ochrocephala
o Panama Amazon, Amazona ochrocephala panamensis
* Yellow-naped Amazon, Amazona auropalliata
* Yellow-headed Amazon, Amazona oratrix
o Tres Marías Amazon, Amazona oratrix tresmariae
* Kawall’s Amazon, Amazona kawalli
* Orange-winged Amazon, Amazona amazonica
* Scaly-naped Amazon, Amazona mercenaria
* Mealy Amazon, Amazona farinosa
* Vinaceous Amazon, Amazona vinacea
* St. Lucia Amazon, Amazona versicolor
* Red-necked Amazon, Amazona arausiaca
* St. Vincent Amazon, Amazona guildingii
* Imperial Amazon, Amazona imperialis

Source: Wikipedia

How to Handle Noisy Parrots

Parrots are noisy birds and if you have made a decision to keep a parrot, you have to learn to adapt to the squeaky sounds that they make. Yes they can talk beautiful words and entertain you. They can also sing like Bing Crosby. But there is also the other side, where they scream and squeak until your eardrums fell out.

Even the quietest of parrots can scream loud enough and often enough to make you wish you had kept a cat instead. The incessant screams can lead to complaints from your neighbors so be prepared to handle that.

So how do you get your parrots to shut up? You can’t use a scotch tape to tie the bird’s beak. The answer to that is to understand how parrots communicate and why they make all those noises. It is normal for a parrot to squeak or squawk and you have to accept that there is no such thing as a quiet parrot. Parrots can squawk for hours just like humans talk and chat non-stop. Then at the right time when the parrot has had enough, it will be quiet.

As in humans, the more comfortable a parrot is with its surroundings the more it will squawk. That’s why when you first take your parrot home it will be fairly quiet as it begins to adapt to its new home and surroundings. Once that is settled, be prepared for parrot noises.

However, parrots don’t squawk all day long. They usually do so early in the morning and then quiet down. They will then start the process again around sunset. They will also get a little active vocally after a nap. This is normal behavior which you should not worry about. It is an indication that your parrot is happy with its environment. If you feel that your parrot is noisier than usual, then it is quite possible that you have chosen a species that is more vocal than others. A Macaw can scream at ear piercing decibels for up to ten minutes at a time as compared to an African Grey or a Cockatoo.

As a parrot owner, you need to learn to identify between happy chirping and upset squawks. This is not hard to do once you have lived with your parrot after sometime. Upset squawks have a tone of desperation and unhappiness about them.

Once you’ve determined the cause of the noise, you can make your parrot quiet by giving it something to do. Like a baby, bored parrots scream more. Give them different parrot toys to amuse themselves and play with. You will notice that the sound will become less noisy and less frequent once the toys are placed in their cages.

Another thing you can look into is your parrot’s diet. Make sure that the food is fresh and has not expired. A healthy parrot is not going to be as noisy as one that is being fed with a proper meal.

Also look at the cage and ensure that the parrot has enough space to move about. Parrots squeal more in smaller cages. Let it out of the cage often so that the bird can feel the open space.

As a parrot owner, you have to accept the fact that parrots are noisy. But your love for parrots and their companionship means more to you than little noise inconveniences. What you can do is to look out for factors that cause your parrots to scream more and address that so that the noise can be minimized.

The Complex Behavior Behind the Parrot Bite

Parrots behavior is commonly misunderstood by people who have them as pets. Parrots have complex behaviors which are a little harder to understand than peoplle’s, or that of a dog. Parrots are intelligent, beautiful and entertaining birds. Nowadays, parrot care and behavior books and videos can be found everywhere and seem to be the new main branch in the pet industry.

Parrots bite when they play.

Out of curiosity, a parrot must investigate the surrounding objects and environment. As every being has its own way of investigating, parrots use their beak. It is the caregivers duty to let the parrot know how far it should go in the investigation and how it can play or bite by what they say and how they react.

Aggression for territory delimitation

It is a parrots instinct to protect its territory from intruders. In the wild, parrots associate in pairs and protect their nesting territories. They do the same thing in captivity, the only difference is that they associate the caregiver as a flock member and defend the territory together against intruders. The best way they can fight the intruders is by biting.

Parrots bite when they are afraid.

Biting is also used as a defense mechanism by the birds. This comes from instinct, too. In the wild, a bird that fears something can always fly away, but in captivity, the birds are sometimes denied the ability to fly away so they can retaliate only by biting.

Biting as a form of communication.

Many birds may learn to bite as a way to ask for something, for something to eat or for peace. This kind of aggression has many forms of expression. Maybe some parrots find out that a light bite on the owners hand will be responded with a piece of food the owner is eating; other parrots may try to say by biting that they want to be left alone. This kind of aggression can become a habit. If the parrot gets the desired effect from the bite, it will most likely repeat it.

In a relationship between a parrot and their owner, things may be a little more complicated than other relationships between humans and pets because of the instinct of the parrot. The parrot will never do something it doesn’t want to and there are not too many ways to force them, not even in the wild. The relationship must be based on understanding and communicating because birds are very receptive and they show as much compassion as they receive. A person should learn to read the parrots language, their ways of communication, the way they move and the way they react to things or actions. It is important for the human not to be dominating in the relationship and to work things out by treating the parrot as an equal not as an object.

Strategies to Utilize When a Flighted Parrot Escapes

 

My blue fronted Amazon parrot, Tarah, does not have clipped wings. However like many birds that were clipped during the fledging process, he has never quite learned the kind of flight skills that might earn him the title of a “flyer”. I often said “He has his flight feathers, but he doesn’t fly.” One day I learned, the hard way, that this wasn’t exactly true.

I was visiting my parrots as I was moving from southern California to northern California. When I arrived I brought Tarah in his cage to my old bedroom. I opened the door to the cage to allow my bird some much needed free time. Before I knew it, he bolted off his cage, through the bedroom door, took a right and made his way down the hall. He then banked left and flew through the living room. At that very moment my father was just opening the sliding glass door to step out onto the deck. Guess who went through the door too? The deck was on the second floor, so my bird had two stories of lift to assist him on his grand flight down the fairway of the golf course behind the house. Thank goodness he was a green flying brick. He ran out of gas and slowly descended to the soft green grass before a tree offered its branches as refuge. Juiced by adrenalin, my feet barely touched the ground as I ran after my bird.

I have always been very careful about the choices I make having a flighted bird in the house. But I was very surprised by the amazing flight my bird made on that day. Sometimes birds that we think will never fly do indeed fly. Sometimes birds that have flight feathers trimmed surprise us when feathers return. Sometimes experienced flyers get frightened or find themselves in unfamiliar territory. Whatever the situation, there are some strategies that can be very useful to recovering a bird that has flown to a location undesired by you. The following information is provided to prepare you for that day when your bird may find itself airborne and heading in the wrong direction. These strategies apply if you bird has no flight skills or is a world class flying athlete.

Bird is flying away

Call to your bird loudly as he is flying- it may help him find his way back to you.
As your bird is flying, do not take your eyes off of him. Note the last place you saw him, the level of his flight, how tired he looked. He may have landed in that area. (Radio or phone contact for a group of people searching can be very helpful in this situation. Grab your cell phone!)

 

Searching for your bird

If you have a group of people, spread out and circle the area you last saw him.
If you cannot locate him, call to him. He may call back. Say words or sounds he knows or mimics. Most parrots are located by their screams.
If he has another bird he likes, put that bird in a cage and bring it to the area you last saw him. Walk away from the bird in the cage. It might encourage the bird in the cage to scream. This may inspire the lost bird to scream. Keep talking to a minimum so you can listen for the scream.
Look carefully in a limited area (within 1 mile) in the early stages of your search. Parrots usually do not go far unless, blown by the wind, chased by a bird of prey or extremely frightened.
Keep in mind your parrot may see you before you see him. When this happens, parrots are sometimes very quiet. This may be because the parrot is more comfortable now that you are present.
Despite some parrots bright colors, they can be very difficult to see in trees. Look for movement buried in the trees as opposed to your whole bird perched prominently on the tree.

 

You have located the bird, but he is out of reach

Once you find you bird, relax (unless the bird is in immediate danger.) It is better to let the bird sit where he is (if he is inaccessible) while you work out a strategy. Do not frantically try to grab the bird, hose or scare him down.
If the bird has just landed. He will probably not fly again (if at all) for awhile.
Bring the bird’s favorite person and/or favorite bird friend (in a cage) to the area where your bird is located.
Bring favorite food items, familiar food bowls and the bird’s cage if possible.
Be careful not to ask your bird to fly from a great height or a steep angle. Try to position yourself (or bird buddy, or bird cage) to allow short flights or short climbs to lower places.
Try to lure your bird to fly or climb to branches/objects that are similar to those upon which he is sitting if possible. A bird may be too frightened to climb onto a distinctly different perch. (For example, the bird might be afraid to climb off of a tree onto a fence.) If you have no other option, expect the process to be slower and be patient with your bird as he builds his confidence. He may also fly again if he touches the new perch and is frightened by it.
Do not raise unfamiliar objects up to your bird to have him step onto it. More than likely this will only scare your bird to fly farther away. If you have a familiar item, you may have a chance that the bird will step onto it. Keep in mind things like ladders, people climbing trees, cherry pickers etc. may also scare your bird. Go extremely slowly if you resort to using these items. Stop any action if your bird looks like he wants to fly away.
Try to call your bird down when his body language indicates he is ready to try to come down. Do not constantly call.
Try hiding from your bird on occasion. This will create a level of anxiety in your bird which may cause him to try to come to you once you reappear. Usually birds will scream and or start moving around a lot when they are ready to make an effort to return to you. If you notice this activity, come out from hiding.
If you hear your bird screaming while you are hiding, he may be ready to fly or is already in the air. Come out of hiding right away. Most parrots scream when they are flying in this type of situation.
Birds also often relieve themselves and also scream right before they fly. Be alert for this. You may need to see where your bird flys. Be ready to run if necessary.
Avoid having a crowd of people around the bird’s favorite person. A scared bird may not want to fly into a crowd of strangers. Give the bird’s favorite person lots of room.

The sun is setting and your bird is still out.

Parrots will usually fly again shortly before the sun starts to set. This is probably your last opportunity to get your bird back before he will begin to roost for the night. Take advantage of it. You can try to get the bird “pumped” up by yelling and creating a level of excitement. This may encourage one last flight.
As the sun starts to set, your bird will start to fluff his feathers and get ready to roost for the night. At this point it is best to just allow him to go to sleep. Keep an eye on him until the sun has set completely. Remember his exact location.
Before the sun rises the next day, return to that location. Your bird should still be there, unless he was frightened in the night (owls can cause this).
Usually by 8:30 or 9:00 AM your bird will be ready to fly again or make an attempt to get to you. Repeat the steps described in the section “You have located your bird, but he is out of reach”.

 

Your bird has flown off and after 24 hours of searching he has not been spotted.

Contact the following people and let them know you are looking for your bird. If a person finds your bird they may contact one of these organizations.

Call animal control
Call the SPCA/humane society
Call local veterinarians
Call local zoos
Call local pet shops
Call local police

Place an ad in the classified section of the paper for a “lost” bird.

Note: Don’t give out the bird’s band number. If your bird accidentally falls into the wrong hands this could lead to removal of the band.

Check the classified section of the paper for “found” bird. Answer all ads. People are sometimes unaware of what they have found. A Congo African grey may be mistaken for the mythical red tailed pigeon by a helpful stranger who is unfamiliar with parrots.
Post flyers that state “lost bird” in the areas you last saw your bird. You may also wish to offer a reward as incentive for people to call.
Often times a bird is found within 24 hours of his disappearance. The trick is to find the person who found your bird before you.

 

Do not give up

The key to getting a bird back is perseverance. Do not accept that you will not get the bird back once you have lost sight of him or her. As a professional bird trainer that free flys many types of birds on a regular basis, I can attest that parrots are often the easiest type of bird to locate and recover. Trust me – nothing is more frustrating than searching for the silent, but observant owl who has buried himself in the bushes and has watched you walk by 100 times! Thankfully our parrots often seek out human or bird companionship if and when they have a big flight adventure.

 

Copyright 2005 © Good Bird Inc. First appeared in Good Bird Magazine Volume1 Issue1 Spring 2005.

 

To learn more about products and services to help you train your parrot visit www.GoodbBirdInc.com

 

Barbara has been a professional in the field of animal training since 1990.  
She owns and operates a company, Good Bird, Inc., (www.GoodBirdInc.com)) that provides behavior and training products to the companion parrot community. These products include Good Bird Magazine, books, videos, and training/behavior workshops. Barbara has provided behavior workshops and/or animal training presentations at the Association of Avian Veterinarians conference, The American Federation of Aviculture conference, The International Parrot Conference at Loro Parque, Parrot Festival, The International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators conference, American Association of Zoo Keepers conference, Association of Zoos and Aquariums conference, The Parrot Society of Australia conference and many more. She is the past president of the International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators (www.IAATE.org) and has been on the Board of Directors since 1997. Her expertise has been utilized by the US Dept. of Agriculture, Fish and Wildlife Service and numerous international professional organizations. In the past 4 years she has met and trained over 600 parrots at her workshops.

She is the author of “Good Bird! A Guide to Solving Behavior Problems in Companion Parrots” by Avian Publications and also “The Parrot Problem Solver. Finding Solutions to Aggressive Behavior” by TFH Publications. She is also the producer of the Good Bird Parrot Behavior and Training DVD series.

Barbara’s experience also includes consulting on animal training in zoos and other animal related facilities. She has been a part of the development and production of more than 15 different free flight education programs. Barbara continues to provide consulting services to zoos, nature centers and other animal facilities through her other company Animal Training and Consulting Services (www.ATandCS.com). In her career she has trained animals, trained staff, and/or presented shows at facilities around the world.

 

Basics on Yellow Headed Amazon Parrots

There are 3 types of parrots in the Amazon family. The most popular of the three types is the Yellow Headed Amazon. Yellow napes, blue fronts and double yellow heads are distinguished by their bright yellow colors and is also in the Amazon family. These birds have an uncanny ability to speak including inflections and undertones. Dancing to music is one of the things that can be taught to the Yellow Headed Amazons because of their love of music.

Fossils of parrots have dated back 23 million years in Australia and Melanesia. Christopher Columbus actually named the Yellow Heads during his travels to the New World and he brought them back to England. Currently, Yellow parrots are from Mexico, Honduras, Belize and Guatemala.

Yellow Amazons can live up to 80 years and will grow to approximately 15 inches. The females are slightly smaller than the males. Parrots require a healthy diet in order to live this long though. Without it, health problems can develop as soon as 15 years and could possibly die. Yellow Heads can climb easily as they have 4 toes, 2 pointing in opposite directions and also enables them to crack nuts and hold things.

Yellow head amazons learn most of their vocabulary by 2 years old and will begin to talk as early as 3 months. With this uncanny ability to speak so soon they can also form phrases and add connotations to their sentences. It is also not uncommon for them to yell expletives at others since they pick up words they hear from their surroundings. The more words they can speak by 2 years old, the better at socialization they will be.

Yellow heads are very energetic and can fly and climb for several hours while singing and talking. They also like to fly around the room and can make a mess as they like to clown around and will pick things up just to watch them drop to the floor. They will then need at least 10 hours of sleep at night because of the spent energy.

A square or rectangular cage that is a minimum of 21x21x27 to allow for the spread of their wings as they fly is required for these small birds. Add tree limb, playground area or something similar for climbing.

Amazon Parrots – Nature’s Eloquent Chatterboxes

Amazon-parrots are the best talking parrots that you can get as a pet and the double yellow headed amazon and blue fronted amazon are definitely some of the best and most intelligent of the species. Native to South America, Mexico and the Caribbean, the average life expectancy of amazon parrots is a whopping 40 to 80 years.

Like their name implies, double yellow headed amazons are green with bright yellow heads, although blue and lutino mutations can occur naturally. The feathers on their heads have the ability to rise up to make their heads look double their usual size when they are excited.

They are excellent at mimicking human speech and will learn how to talk very quickly. Their intelligence also makes them particularly good at learning tricks and their love of performance makes them a very entertaining pet bird to have. Although they need some daily attention, they can entertain themselves for long periods of time if supplied with enough toys. This makes them much less time-consuming than other parrots.

Blue fronted amazons are also incredibly intelligent and quick to pick up human speech patterns. The only downside of amazons is that they do go through a bluffing stage as they mature, in which they can become aggressive. However, they can quickly outgrow this phase through good training and handling and will become very fun and affectionate pets.

Like all amazon parrots, blue fronted amazons are prone to becoming obese if they eat too much and exercise too little. Therefore, it is important to let your parrot out of its cage every so often so that it can stretch its wings and work off some of the food you have been feeding it. You can also manage your amazon parrot’s weight by cutting nuts and fruits out of its diet, or at least keeping them to a minimum.

Yellow Headed Amazon Parrots

Despite their name, Yellow Headed Amazon Parrots did not originate in the Amazon. They actually originated along the coastal regions of Mexico. Their beautiful colors and bold striking marking are what helped to make them so popular as pets. They are predominantly bright green with a vivid yellow head and a beautiful red patch on each wing. Their native habitat is now primarily in Central America where there are large tropical forests and swamps that allow them to nest safely. Their beauty has caused them to become rare and endangered. Poaching of the birds as well as deforestation of the region has caused a dramatic drop in the number of birds.

Yellow Headed Amazons which are breed in captivity are readily available but they have become quite expensive to buy. People then to like them because they can be very verbal and talkative. The problem is that the ability to talk varies greatly with each individual bird. Some will talk your ear off while others may never say a word. They are amazingly intelligent. They are also playful and have great a great sense of humor. Add to that the fact that they can be extremely noisy and you’ve got a housefull of excitement. They like attention and if they do not receive it they will certainly let you know that they are needy at the moment. The challenge to the owner is to get the bird to replace all of it’s screeching with intelligent words. A wonderful and rewarding challenge.

These birds tend to be very active and they need an environment that will allow them the space to fly and move around. There cage is a wonderful place to house them but they need time each day to get out and about. The good news is that even though they are quite large and can be quite destructive, their intelligence allows them to be very well trained where they will not tear your house apart. Obviously, part of the training is to provide lots of chew toys and branches for them to play with.

The male yellow headed parrot will grow to about 15 inches long while the female will be slightly smaller. Their hooked beak is used to crack seeds and nuts and also as a hand to help them to grab and climb. Their feet have two toes pointing forward and two toes pointing backwards. The perfect setup for grasping branches and food.

In their natural habitat their diet consists mostly fruit, nuts, corn, flowers, etc. At home, the owner needs to not only provide fruits and vegetables but also seeds and pellet food.

One of the biggest considerations for a person considering adopting a Yellow Headed Amazon Parrot is its life expectancy. Birds this large can live 60+ years with some reported to reach 100 years. For the right person, these birds will give years and years of happiness, pleasure, and entertainment.

Amazon Parrot

The amazon parrot is a large green parrot that lives in South America and the Caribbean. They usually have accenting colors, depending on the type of species. The most common species of amazon have a shade of yellow across their breast. An amazon parrot like all parrots have four toes on each foot, with two at the front and two at the back allowing them to balance easily on treat branches in the wild.

Lots of amazon parrots are kept in households as pets due to they are lovable nature and they are amazing ability to mimic human words. They are also very loyal and have the ability to live for a great many years. No one really knows why parrots live for so long. It is often said that their intelligence is a key factor for this unusual trait.

However the occasional amazon parrot during a mating period may become strangely aggressive, therefore it is necessary to keep them well under control and in good company all of the time. The best way to do this is to have a second amazon parrot so they can communicate with one another during the periods when human company is unavailable. This will stop them from getting bored which can happen very easily!

Every amazon parrot likes to destroy things, some more than others! In the wild they tend to chew on wood often, which breaks down their cavities and helps keep their teeth nice and strong. Make sure you have lots of destructible toys for your amazon parrot to chew on throughout the day. Having these toys also stops them from becoming aggressive as they always have something to amuse themselves with.

It is important to realise that an amazon parrot requires more attention and care than any other domestic pet such as cats and dogs. It is recommended that before you buy an amazon parrot, you should first purchase a smaller bird that is easier to care for so you gain some valuable experience. Perhaps starting off with a budgerigar would be a good idea just until you have enough experience to handle a real amazon parrot.

An amazon parrot is a very serious animal and requires a lot of attention. Only experienced bird handlers have the ability to care for such magnificent creatures. This is the number one golden rule that all likely amazon parrot owners must abide by before owning these beautiful bird as pets.