my new "old" bird

I got a Parrot, Macaw , ? My sister & brother n law had Merlin for about 26 years. He does not like females, Girlfriend, sister, every time they get near his cage, he tries to attack and bite them. He has actually bit my sister before, she had to have 3 stitches. There is where my concern comes in. I have had him for about 2 months, he has never tried to bite me. He takes treats from my hand, I can touch him on top of his head but knowing his biting ability, im a little nervous about trying to "handle" him, or actually pet him. When I try to reach closer to him he kind of backs up. Not in an agressive way, just backs up. I work & talk with him daily, he conversates rather well. Sings to me when i get home, etc. SO, how do I know when to just take the leap of faith and pet him ? Thanks

Oh wow! You have a beautiful bird that is really in need of help! There are many qualified folks here that can help your baby through this! PLEASE stay around for Merlin's sake!

Bird behaviour videos via goodbird.com (Barbara Heidendrich - spelling?) helped me feel a *lot* more confident about handling a bird. Great advice there - take it slow with bribes/treats, watch the bird's body language, etc. I highly highly recommend the videos, they're available to rent on Vimeo and may even be available in your local library (and if they're not I'm sure you can request them to be obtained?)

Take it slow and keep talking and singing. Maybe offer some treats or a toy. What kind of macaw is Merlin? If you are unsure you can post pictures and we can help. Stay with this forum please..lots of good reading and advice. Not to mention awesome people.

What kind of a macaw is it?!

Do you know anything about this bird's history?
Has it been handled by anyone recently?
Is it cage bound? Cage Territorial?
Need more information to give you an informed opinion.

The bird in your profile picture is not a macaw. That is an amazon. Is that the bird we are talking about?

An amazon who does not get outside his cage much can become territorially aggressive in and around the cage. It's fairly common.

Yes, It is the bird on my profile picture. I only know my brother n law got Merlin sometime in the 80s. He was just a baby when he got him. My bronlaw has always gotten him out & held him, taught him to talk, very social. My brother n law has been very sick for the last year, in the hospital for the last 4 months. My sister was scared to take care of Merlin. ( he would always get aggressive & try and bite her when she got near the cage.) He does not even seem like he wants to bite me but I have not had him out of the cage. Tonight, he did let me pet his neck for a few minutes. I was SO excited ! Another concern is, I think his nails definatly need trimming. They are starting to curl under pretty good. My brother n law always took him to get his nails, beak done. However, with him being sick & in and out of the hospitals for close to a year, i can only assume he hasnt had any of that done in some time.

Yeah. If he hasn't had that done in four months it's probably time.

That is not a macaw, that appears to be a yellow fronted amazon.

These are pair bond birds. The reason he bites your sister is probably because he has overbonded with your brother in law, and has not been handled by other people.

He's become a one person bird. Now, chances are he will transfer that bond to you. You will, most likely be able to pick him up.

BUT given the fact that he hasn't been handled in four months, he's probably cage bound and cage territorial by now.

Ordinarily, these guys require A MINIMUM of four hours outside the cage time each day.

The more you handle them, the tamer they get.

If you don't handle them, they don't stay tame.

Read my post on amazon body language in the amazon section....

Mods, can we move this post to the amazon section?

Birdman666 said:

....

Mods, can we move this post to the amazon section?

Click to expand...

Yup. Done.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Amazons. Birdman666 has provided great information that will get you started and well on your way. As he stated, read the post on amazon body language. And, it never goes out of style, so re-read it every other month of so.

Our DYH Amazon is a pro at disassembling his cage, so we leave his cage door open 24/7. Not recommended for every parrot, but I hope that this will give you some idea of what level of relationship and trust that they are capable of.

The Amazons that have come into our life have been older, handicapped, seriously ill and/or some combination thereof. None had any reason to trust us, let alone allow us anywhere close to them. All became trusting close friends and some much more. The reward of gaining their trust and love is a true joy.

Amazon's Have More Fun!