Hey guys, my family has a wild-caught mealy Amazon. Now, before you jump to any conclusions, we do not support the industry. They were caught by government and sent to zoos (for free) to all parts of the world. We live on the other side of the continent and a contact zoo got quite a few of those birds. They had no space or means to keep the birds so we adopted one a month ago.

Obviously, we don't know the age or gender, but we call our mealy Amazon Izzy. We've only had budgies and lovebirds and we have an Alexandrine parrot, but none of them were wild-caught, so we've never had this kind of trouble before.

1. Izzy is very scared, which is natural and we do realize it will take a lot more time. Izzy got used to taking food from our hands but that's as far as it goes. One thing that makes me think we're doing something wrong is that we have to start progress all over again every single day. For example, yesterday, I gave Izzy his favorite pomegranate seeds one by one and gradually, he started moving closer to me and wasn't scared at all when I moved closer too. Then he even took a walnut from my mouth. Next day, I wanted to give him a carrot, but he was scared just by my hand and wouldn't take it. I placed it in front of him and he took it. And eventually, by the end of the day, he took things from my hand again. So what are we doing wrong? or is this natural?

2. Izzy has trouble flying, or more like landing. Every time he flies away from his cage (his cage is open all day long, we close it only at night and when nobody's home (happens rarely) so he has a lot of freedom) and he crashes into literally everything. He doesn't even land on his own perch (which is on top of the cage and has a lot of branches so he can move around) He even got a bruise once that fortunately healed up. He's extremely clumsy and often slips from his own perch and falls down. What can we do to avoid injuries? We don't wanna lock him up since mealy Amazons are couch potatoes and have tendency to get too fat (and he eats A LOT).

Sorry for a too detailed post. Any help with this will be appreciated, especially if you have experience with wild-caught birds.

Slow way down! You are moving way too Fast!

Wild caught Parrots have become loving members of our Homes for a very long time.

First: Read with understanding the two Threads at the top of the Amazon Thread. I Love Amazons - ... and Understanding Amazon Body Language. Start with Understanding Amazon Body Language. Process: Sit down next to your Amazon and Read Out Loud in a comforting voice both Threads. With the Body Language Thread, Re-read it until you understand it as well as a first language, because your Amazon will expect you to know this. Understand that it is the foundation and you Amazon has likely added and will add more.

Second: Change your Vantage Point!
It is Never the Fault of the Amazons!
It is Always the Fault of the Humand!
Use this for all interaction and you will quickly find what you are doing wrong and correct it.

Third: You should be building on what happened Yesterday by first repeating it before you go on to something new. Offing an Amazon something from your month is Not Recommended! A tiny error on either your part or the Amazons and you could be on your way to the ER. Also, our months contains a ton of bugs that are not safe for Parrots.

Fourth: Slow Down! The goal is to build a relationship on trust! Creating a Trust Bond takes time! Repeatable days of Only Good Things Happen when Humans are around is center to that Point.

Fifth: An Amazon is going to connect with your face (head) and guess that the rest of the tree that is with your head is just that. Now, since your Amazon is Wild Caught, why would it not be fearful of your waving arms and hands. After all, they can appear more like a snake than something safe. Keep your arms and hands in close to your body. Remember, the quick action /movement of your hand and arm can look like snake attacking.

Mealy's are the Big Lovers of the Amazon Family.

If your Mealy will step-up on your hand or a carry perch, walk Him (her) around the room and introduce safe fly ways and by ways, AND safe landing places. Kind of a Real Estate Agents Tour of the home.
Remember "Slow Down."

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In each Morning's early light; there is a promise, an Amazon makes!

I'll write more later when I have time, but I gotta say that you need to always keep in the front of your mind that this is a WILD BIRD!!! You're treating this bird like it's a captive/pet bird that you just adopted from another home and it's just going to take a little time to get it to settle-in and adjust...That's not the case with the bird you have in your house!!!

Wild animals are a whole other situation...This bird has never been inside a building before, he's never been with people before, and you're allowing it to fly all around your home, feeding it from your mouth (that is very bad and you need to not ever do that again, you're going to make the bird very sick and you are going to lose an eye or your lips), and wondering why it's "resetting" every day as far as it's tameness...It's perfectly normal for this bird to keep "resetting" every day, as it's not a captive-bred bird! It's like if you went outside with some nuts and spent a couple hours trying to coax a wild chipmunk or squirrel to take one from your hand; eventually he'll do it,
but the next day he's going to still be wild and forget about what happened yesterday!!!

And he's crashing all over your home because he's never ever flown inside a building/enclosed space before, and he's scared to death!!!

As Sailboat said, you need to STOP and SLOW-DOWN!!! You should still be talking to this wild parrot through the bars of his cage, reading to him, talking to him, etc. If you just let him out in your house all day long, which I know was well-meaning, but he's going to kill himself or hurt someone else, and destroy your home as well! He's flying all willy-nilly and crashing out of fear and because he's trying to find a way outside and he can't, and he doesn't understand "walls"...

Taming a wild parrot usually takes YEARS of patience and love. And starting out by treating the bird like a wild animal and respecting that by keeping them inside of a cage that is located in the "main room" of your home, where you spend most of your time as a family, so the bird can simply get used to being around people...Talk to him all the time, work on feeding him through the cage bars every day, but SLOW DOWN and stop letting him out in your house! This is going to be a LONG MARATHON, not a sprint, and you won't make any progress at all by treating him like a captive-bred bird and letting him simply fly all over your home crashing and bashing into things, like what happens when a wild bird accidentally gets inside of your home...He's a wild animal, and it usually takes literally YEARS to get them to become at all tame...

Also, you're risking your health and safety, and of course that of the bird. He's going to kill himself by crashing into things, or simply die from the stress of being trapped inside a house he can't get out of and being constantly touched by people, etc. And he may very well reach over and poke out your eye without you even realizing it happened, that's how quickly that happens...Please respect that he's a completely wild animal and both he and you/your family are at risk of injury or worse if you keep treating him like he's not a wild animal...

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"Dance Like Nobody's Watching".

I can't add anything more than the above experts gave you. O just wanted to say you really are doing great, and your Amazon must be interested in being friends to already take things from you hand! Especially a wild caught bird. So I think you are your way to a wonderful relationship, just time, repetition, and patience. Thank you for the rescue.

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Live in the sunshine, swim the sea,
Drink the wild air's salubrity:
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hello to you! Thank you for taking Izzy in.

Wild birds are VERY different from captive birds. Imagine living out in the open all your life and then suddenly you’re caged and kept with people you don’t trust. It’s absolutely terrifying to them. I think you’re headed in the right direction with Izzy since she’s taking food from your hand.

I have a wildcaught rescue as well and boy, is it a challenge. Remember that this bird has spent all her life scared of humans and so, it is natural for her to hesitate along the way. The bond is there, but not as strong. Please take your time with her because wild caught birds are NOT easy to tame (ofcourse, there are exceptions). I’ve had Max for 6 months and there has been little progress only.

As for the crashing, Max did that a lot in the begining as well. He was crashing so much to the point he was injuring himself. Have you taken Izzy to a CAV yet? That might be a good idea. Izzy is not used to the setting of a household which is why she keeps crashing into things because she can’t find another way.

I do think it is good for her to be out all day because keeping them inside only frustrates them further. If Max is in the cage for too long, plucking begins. However, please keep a VERY close eye on her. Because she is not used to humans and the house, she may fly into things she shouldn’t get into. Example, in his first month home, Max crashed into a bottle of oil, knocking it over and getting it all over himself. I had to give him a VERY thorough bath.

I would suggest adding shredding and foraging toys in her cage and on her playgym as those are the ones birds take to quickly. Ofcourse, they may not understand it at first because they’ve never seen anything like this but they will get the hang of it soon.

Do you have a window by which Izzy could hang out and maybe sight see? This helped a lot with Max. I have a balcony next to his cage and it is meshed so he spends his evenings out there having fun.

Overall, I think you’re doing good with her. Bottomline: patience, patience, patience.

First of all, thank you for a calm reply, the first two scared me a little.
As for crashing, we never leave him unattended. He learned to clutch the curtains when he can't land anywhere else, so when this happens, we take his perch to him and he gets on it without a problem.
I got him toys that he enjoys a lot. Destroys a smaller one in half an hour
His cage is actually near a window (half of the cage is covered by a curtain, I read that if something outside scared him, he will be able to take cover), we live on the 6th floor and mostly he sees nature and birds flying around.

LOL--thst having been said, the 1st two (and three etc etc) are still entirely correct, as is "reeisconfused". Passion is sometimes mistaken for amger or yelling, but I promise, it's all out of love (not anger).

I think I should have been clearer on certain things. The walnut wasn't inside my mouth, I've owned parrots and I know human germs are no good for birds.
And I already do everything that you've mentioned. I sit in the same room, put on a relaxing music and read to him in a calm voice. It's kind of a meditating time for both of us. My mom talks to him all day while I'm at work and puts on music and they sing together.
He doesn't fly around all the time, once a day or not at all. He spends time climbing up and down his perch. If I lock him inside a cage for months, I'm afraid he will start plucking. His cage isn't small but I don't think it's big enough. Please take the fact that we don't live in US into consideration, pet birds are not a thing here and pet bird accessories are not readily available. I had to order everything from US and am still waiting for a new cage and toys.

P.S. we never touch him and will not do so until he decides he wants to come to us.

That is exactly what I do, I sit near him, put on meditating music and read about Amazon parrots, I study and he relaxes. I will make sure to read the threads on this forum as well.
I've been observing his body language and know what he does when he's afraid, so I know when I'm pushing too much.
Thank you for the advice about the hands, never thought of it that way.
My mom also makes sure he has the same routine everyday so that there's predictability, I've read that's what they thrive on.
Unfortunately, he doesn't perch on our hands yet so I can't do much in terms of introducing new areas to him. He does a little exploring of his own. He usually doesn't move away from his cage and perch, but started exploring the outside of his cage and flew over to the nearby cupboard the other day.

Oh I didn’t mean to scare you, haha. One wild bird owner to other, I want you to know the hardships of owning one. They’re incredibly different in every aspect and it can be incredibly frustrating at times when you feel like you’re not making any progress and feel like they don’t reciprocate the love you have for them. Sometimes their brains just hit reset button all of a sudden and its back to square one and you gotta start again. I think the best thing one can do is remove any expectations from their birds, especially wild caught ones, because it takes YEARS to build trust with them. Rescuing a wild caught is not for everyone. Although I did not know anything about wildcaught birds, I’m extremely glad to have Max in my life. Sure he doesn’t like hands and other things, but he does love me a lot in his own way. Sometimes, you gotta be content with that.

I think Izzy should improve with flying in the house overtime! She’ll get the hang soon enough.

Interaction is key with wildcaughts but also remember to give them space! Some days, Max hates everyone, including himself haha. Celebrate every small milestone you have with her because it IS a big deal.

Also, If you can stand *somewhat* near her without her freaking out, I think you should start target training her. It’s extremely effective and will keep her brain active. Look up videos of it on youtube.