Do some Amazons act tough?

I recently adopted 2 Amazons (female Double Yellow and male Blue Front) and still working on figuring them out. It will take time. But the question I have for this group is if any of you ever noticed or encountered Amazons who like to act tough but it is just an act/part of their personality? I can't decide if the male wants to show he is protecting his female or is he really that angry at me.

Most Amazons wear their feelings on their shirtsleeves so to speak. GO to the Amazon sub-forum and read the Amazon Body Language stickie at the top. Generally if they look like they mean business , they do. Careful, either of those 2 can take a nice chunk of meat out of you.

I am still learning with these parrots and I do appreciate the advice I find here. So I have had the parrots for 4 months and twice a day when I go to feed them, Mac is in your defcon 2 mode. I will say that I did walk slower towards them today and Mac was less aggressive. But even after the food is delivered and he took a couple of bites, he still made a lunge at me. I also learned that it is personal as my neighbors do not get Mac riled up at them when they feed him.

I will take your body language tips to heart when I enter the cage. Mac usually goes to the other side of the cage from where I am but lately he sits on the perch watching me. He is not in an aggressive mode on the perch but it is a little more unnerving than when he was on the other side of the cage.

I do think I will be on better terms after I start this clicker treat training.

Even after nearly 30 years Amy will lunge at me if I come too close to his house when he is in it..This is MY place! STAY AWAY!!



Jim

Amazons can certainly have a personal vendetta against a person, sometimes for reasons not immediately apparent. Males are more prone to aggression than females. They also have extremely good memories, so if you happen to resemble someone who mistreated your amazon in the past, you may have extra work ahead of you! Do you know how old your amazon is BTW? Males between the ages of 4 up through their early teens are much more prone to extreme aggression fueled by hormones. Parrots not only go through puberty but it lasts several years before they begin mellowing out and establish an adult pattern of loosing their minds in the spring and being normal the rest of the year. If your bird is in that 'amazon teenager' phase, that could also be a BIG part of your problems. Females also go through puberty, though the aggression is not typically as bad with them.

Target training with a clicker is a good first step to test the waters and see how the bird responds, but be warned, it is not the infallible method of parrot training people make it out to be. It's most effective on already sweet little just weaned babies if you ask me. My BFA was a rescue and at the height of puberty and he would just bite the stick in half and do a death dance and/or come after me. He was not interested in any treat I had to offer at that time in his life (unless perhaps I was offering up fingers as treats). It wasn't until after he had already became a nicer bird through other efforts that he became much more amenable to such methods, though after he was already nice, I find no need to lead him around with a stick and find he learns just fine through observation/behavioral feedback. Also, having grown up around amazons and observing their interactions with each other, I don't believe in positive reinforcement only either. I prefer to interact with my bird in a more normal way, giving him behavioral feedback as we go, be it good or bad. Amazons most certainly correct a flock mate if they have done something wrong. Now, we shouldn't exactly be nipping or chasing our bird when they're bad, but IMO, a undesirable consequence (NEVER physical discipline) for a undesirable action teaches them just as much about how we expect them to behave as a reward for a desirable action. It is also wise in some areas to offer an alternative as well (such as when my bird was learning not to chew stuff like furniture, I'd push his beak away and say no, then offer a small foot toy and praise him for taking/playing with that. He now has a relatively good understanding of what kind of things he can and cannot chew). I personally found techniques to deal with unruly toddlers (modified for parrots), like a firm voice, counting down, time outs, distractions etc... more effective at helping him learn how to live in a domestic home than waving a stick in his face and clicking at him when he bit it in half or only praising him for good behavior, leaving what constituted unacceptable behavior up for interpretation. Thats just me though.

Do you know how old your amazon is BTW?

I was told that both of my parrots are guestimated to be 25 years old.

Target training with a clicker is a good first step to test the waters and see how the bird responds, but be warned, it is not the infallible method of parrot training people make it out to be. It's most effective on already sweet little just weaned babies if you ask me.

Thank you for lowering the bar on expectations - it is always good to have realistic expectations. But I am thinking that the original owner of my BYH was clicker trained but not the BF who is the tough guy. I see the DYH working with the BF on many things so maybe the clicker training will work in building trust and communication.

My 35 year old BFA is pretty tough. Not with us, but any stranger that comes too close he will attack. I had a OWA who passed away who was a tough actor. He would act real tough and make himself look big, but if you went too close, he would run away and hide. LOL.

Oh Yes. My Buddy is very ugly to people in his safe space, but when he doesn't feel safe he's mellows down. For example my problem with Buddy is when anyone comes over he is very sweet and says a very sweet "HELLO", eyes pinned, feathers spread. If the go up to his cage he strikes at them. If he is out of his cage he still says the sweet Hello but he doesn't strike at them. Buddy is 27 years old. Honestly he's a chicken, he has lots of bravado.

Sorry, couldn’t resist!
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Hi,
I am the proud owner of a resued YFA (Babe). I was her 4th, 5th, or 6th home. She was quite mean at first. I have a scar on my lip to prove it. After she started to trust me she would often act tough, as I call "testing the waters", with no real intention of biting. Not so much anymore, and it's been two wonderful years. But every now and again she does. Good luck from Babe and I