My Amazon attacked my sister

Hi Guys!!!

New here but I've been reading this forum for awhile. This is a long post but info is important. Thank you for your time and reading!!!!

I have Double Yellow Headed Amazon and he's around 7 - 10 yrs old. From what I read on this forum, Amazons around this age tend to have behavioral problems which is why I'm writing for help now.

I love my bird and him and me are best buds. He was originally my mothers' and she got him from a breeder and raised him as a baby. After she passed away there was no one to take care of him and no one in my family wanted to. He was maybe two years old when this happened and he would constantly scream and bite people all the time. Often a blanket was put over his cage to keep him quiet but that didn't work or someone would bash his cage to stop his hollering. He's had a awful past with my family and not a day goes by when I don't forget that awful treatment.

But one day I had enough and decided to take care of this bird. Back then I was terrified of my bird and didn't want to be near him. Also I was mourning and would often be in my room to grieve by myself. He didn't like me one bit when I started taking care of him but I knew I had to take care of this parrot because this was my Mother's parrot and she would be furious that her parrot was being mistreated.

It took a long time, years!, but eventually my bird started trusting me and I got him a big cage that he enjoys more than the last one.

Unfortunately my bird's relationship with the rest of my family didn't grow fond and that's mostly by the fact that they don't care one bit about my parrot. I have three sisters and the oldest moved away to her own house so I don't have to worry about her. Currently I am living with my father and two of my sisters. My bird hates one sister in particular because he holds a grudge against her. I think he remembers specifically her because this sister often bully him back that dark time- she would poke pencils in his cage, bash his cage, scream at him when he's loud or cuss at him. She doesn't do this stuff anymore because he's under my protection now but I know that my bird remembers that time and how mean she was to him. I would often tell this sister to not get into his space or not be a threat but she doesn't care and believes my bird is stupid in the sense that all he does eat, poop and sleep. But that is not true!!!! My bird is brilliant and beautiful!!!!

The attack happened last night. I was watching TV with my bird on my knee and my sister went to the kitchen to make herself a sandwich. My house is very small and the kitchen is open to the living room so everyone is close by in that part of the house. My sister tells me that she made a dentist appointment for me and I was like hell no because I hate going to the dentist. So she comes behind me so she can say it to my face with a butter knife in her hand to poke me and bam! My bird attacks her and my sister is screaming and I'm staring and finally come to my senses. My bird lets go of her hair and lands on the couch and I take a breath of relief that my bird is unharmed during the battle. But now my sister is pissed and angry and saying she doesn't care if he dies. That was a bit hurtful for me because my sister knows how I love my bird. I tell its her fault because she KNOWS that my bird hates her guts and she needs to be careful around him. I tell her why she pointed the knife at him and shes like 'I pointed the knife at you!' but my bird is right beside me and believed the knife was going at him. Or he knew the knife was for me but either way here she came with a unknown object in her hand close to my space and my bird's space so of course he attacked her!

Anyway the big question is how can I tone down my bird's anger? I cant change my sister's dislike to him and I cant make my bird forgive her for the dark past but at least I can stop more attacks in the future so their relationship can be tolerable.

Again, thank you for reading and answers!!!

Hello there, and welcome to the forums.

My condolences to the loss of your mother. And THANK YOU for taking the time and earning the bird's trust. DYH you said, right? What's his name? Got any pictures for us? http://www.parrotforums.com/technical-support/6287-how-post-pictures.html

Unless your sister is ready and willing to work with your bird, I can't think of a way for him to change his mind on how he feels about her. Sounds as if he wasn't socialized much throughout his life, and you are now his favorite person. So anyone else should be eliminated (in his mind). :54:

Here is a great thread for you. It explains Amazon's body language in detail. http://www.parrotforums.com/amazons/54250-amazon-body-language.html

Yes, your bird was protecting you! And unless your sister wants it to change, there is not much you can do! FYI, that was much more a simple warning than an attack! IMHO

Sorry about losing your mom. That had to be hard on everyone.

When an amazon doesn't like someone, he can make their life really miserable. Since your sister doesn't want to make friends with the bird, for the moment, I think I would protect them from each other. I'd keep the bird in your room and only bring him out when your sister isn't not home. If you want to watch TV with him, ask her to go to her room to avoid confrontation.

I think I'd also appeal to your sister on the fact that this was your (both of you) mom's pet that she loved and she sure wouldn't want him abused, neglected, or frightened. There are lots of people in this world that don't care for birds (strange, but true) but that doesn't give them the right to harm them. It's immoral and in some places illegal. You might share that with her, as well. I love my sister but I would not tolerate her abusing my pets. I would move or move her out.

Thank you for taking the Amazon into your care. You're right, DYHs are brilliant and beautiful.

Like OOwl said I think they need to be kept separate as much as possible for the safety of each, including new housing for you and the bird (or your sister) if possible. This seems to be, I'm sorry to say, more about managing people than managing Amazons. Like you say, you're not going to change either of their minds about each other, but it's possible to appeal to a more accommodating side within your sister. How that works best is more about psychology and your specific relationship.

Good luck!

Your bird is doing what any bird would do: protect its flock. You have made amazing progress keep up the good work! If your sister doesn't want to be attacked, she needs to put in an effort to work with your bird. Simple as that

My take on this is multi-fold...

(1) Your bird is overbonding.

(2) Your bird sensed your sister was behaving in a threatening manner towards you, and reacted to that by defending you. PAIR BOND BIRDS LOOK OUT FOR THE ONES THEY LOVE. The bird sensed your sister was a danger, and she behaved in a manner that was considered provocative by the bird...

(3) THEY ABSOLUTELY REMEMBER... so, some of this goes back to her poking the cage. She was what? POKING YOU? At the time it happened... Doesn't take a genious to see the trigger here...

(4) Your bird is also becoming hormonal, and is probably territorial around the cage, and around you... THIS will pass when breeding season passes. But for right now, tell your family he's hormonal, and more likely to bite than not. So think before you act around the bird...

(5) IT WOULDN'T HURT TO REMIND THEM THAT YOUR MOTHER LOVED THIS BIRD... AND THAT HONORING HER MEMORY INCLUDES BEING NICE TO THE THINGS SHE LOVED.

FYI - A friend of mine has her grandmother's bird, also a DYH Amazon. Grandma got the bird when she was 12 YEARS OLD! (Great grandpa worked overtime to earn the money to get her the bird she desperately wanted for her 12th birthday.) Grandma
had the bird for 56 years!!! That bird was passed down to her mother when grandma died. Mother had the bird for 19 years, and passed the bird down to her daughter, when her daughter moved out. (She was the bird's favorite person.)

In that family, anyone messing with that bird is disrespecting the memories of both Grandma, and Great Grandpa... it simply isn't done!

Best thing you may be able to do is to station train your amazon and teach him to ignore the people around him. Basically, just keep feeding him treats for sitting still as other people walk around. Keep his attention on you.

You want to start out feeding him treat after treat. As soon as he's finished with one, offer him another. Keep him busy. Then slowly start decreasing how often you give him a treat as you want to reward the behavior of staying still.



Over time, you may also want to encourage him to play with foot toys or other things to keep him preoccupied. Amazons are well known as "perch potatoes", so it's best to try and keep him busy! If he's busy playing, he may not have 'time' to pay attention to what's going on around him! Especially if you continue rewarding desired behavior!

MonicaMc said:

.... Amazons are well known as "perch potatoes", so it's best to try and keep him busy! ....

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My Amazons must have not gotten that memo. If they're not actively playing, foraging, wrestling with something, or eating, they're sleeping, LMAO! Especially my male DYH - he never sits still for more than a minute. :09:

So sorry for your loss. Im a newbie here so I wont comment on your problem other than to say well done for rescueing your Amazon from an abusive situation in the home and moving him to your room and spending time with him to gain his trust...you have done well and your mom would be very proud of you and Thankful too .

You are a wonderful daughter to do this for your mom! I have always made sure that Paco and my only son get along and that he knows his routines if and when that happens to me. It truly weighs heavy on my mind that Paco is only 23 and I am almost 50! Your story reminds us why we need to have plans for these long lived kids!

flboy said:

yes, your bird was protecting you! And unless your sister wants it to change, there is not much you can do! Fyi, that was much more a simple warning than an attack! Imho

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agreed.

Hey sis! Don't like it when stuff like that happens?

Try being a little nicer to both me and the bird for a change...

JerseyWendy said:

My Amazons must have not gotten that memo. If they're not actively playing, foraging, wrestling with something, or eating, they're sleeping, LMAO! Especially my male DYH - he never sits still for more than a minute. :09:

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Mine too. Constantly poking around and looking for the next thing to do. I just ordered a much bigger daytime tree for her to climb around on and find the treats and swapped/new toys. For Jungle Gin!

In my house we call the eager body language Active Bird -- good time for training, but if left too long (and it's not long, sometimes I barely have time to grab a clicker and treat), it turns into Amazon Launch Mode!

She's a kid so I've been guessing some of this will slow down later. But who knows...

(ETA: Not to derail the thread. Just chatting)

Sorry for your loss, but well done, adopting your Mom's 'Zon!

In my experience, some 'Zon's (like mine, for instance) view their "special person" (I don't say "owner", as I don't feel I can "own" a pet, but rather share my life with them) as their bonded mate. My 'Zon gets insanely jealous when ANYONE gets close to me, and he WILL attack them if he has the opportunity. Heck, he'll even attack me, if I'm close & he can't reach the other person instead!

I suspect it's not a matter of them protecting us from harm, but rather keeping potential competitors away from us. If it's someone that the bird already distrusts or dislikes, repeated incidents will likely exacerbate the problem.

'Zons of breeding age don't seem to mellow if they're aggressively possessive. Some 'Zons can be fairly easy-going, and will tolerate the presence of others, but some simply won't. I suspect it has a lot to do with their early upbringing - my Sammy was raised in a 2-person household, where the wife hated him & refused to have anything to do with him (he was the husband's bird), and he was rarely, if ever, in contact with anyone other than the husband...until, of course, he died.

In the 3 years I've had Sammy, even though he's gotten more bonded to me, he continues to stay extremely possessive of me. Perhaps its just part of the 'Zon experience...

Socialize, socialize, socialize.Especially at an early age.