New Member question about Double Yellow Headed Amazon

Hi,

I work at an animal sanctuary, and I work with the bears. In the office there is a 44 year double yellow headed amazon named Captain. He came to us 3 years ago after his female owner had passed away and her daughter had tried to take care of him, but with small children in the house Captain was not a good fit and came to us. Over the past year, Captain and I have formed an extremely good bond. If he hears me in the lobby, he starts yelling and whistling for me to come see him. I have been the only person able to form this bond with him and I frequently go to visit him on my days off. I can not adopt him, because I have a pitt bull mix at home that is aggressive with anything he considers to prey, and I would not want Captain hurt. Last week, the administration moved Captain out of the office to the Health Center which is a restricted area. However, I have been told that I MAY be able to visit him occasionally but I do not know if I will be allowed any physical contact with him. Though long winded..my question is this...I do not want to upset him even further by a brief possibly non physical visit, and do not know if my visiting him will help him or upset him. Like I said , I work with bears and never anticipated such a bond to form between myself and Captain. I, of course want to try to visit him any and every chance I get, but also realize I need to do what is best for him. ANY advice would be greatly appreciated.

Poor Captain. Why did they move him to a new area? If you were the only person he formed a bond with, I'd say go visit him as often as possible. While there, try and assess the situation he is in now. Is there a new person he likes? How is he behaving there?

Bless your heart for looking out for him!

They moved him because they no longer want any animals in the admin building..the Health Center, I imagine is a very scary place, much like the vets office is to my dog (he trembles and tries to hide) I am very worried about him and want to do the right thing here, so you think that visiting him as often as I am allowed to will be good for him? I KNOW it will help me, I'm starting to tear up just writing this so...

After seeing this precious photo....
http://www.parrotforums.com/members/sbradysfv-albums-captain-picture15685t-captain.jpg

Is there ANY way for you to adopt him???? You two look PERFECT together. Poor bub has gone through so much. Lost his human, found you, bonded to you, and then they yank him out of there.

I know you said your pit mix has high prey drive, but perhaps you have a spare room where Captain could safely live/reside? My Ziva is high prey drive, too, but luckily only with outdoor wildlife. :32:

Sorry if I'm not being of much help here. It's just that the 2 of you look blissfully happy in each others company.

We were both blissfully happy in each others company. I am so saddened by this..I would love to take him but just feel the danger to him is too great. Believe me, it is a realization I would rather have not come to. I have hours of video of us hanging out together on my very frequent visits with him

I completely understand and appreciate your concern for Captain's well being were you to take him home.

Would it be possible for you to help find him a forever home? And I'd still say go and visit him each chance you get. I know he AND you will enjoy each other's company.

And now I have to ask: What's it like working with bears?????

LOL! Bears are amazing creatures..smart, funny, adorable and yet so capable of damage it is crazy to see! I am a section keeper for 8 bears, 4 black bears, 2 eurasian brown bear and 2 grizzlies and it is never a dull moment! It is a LOT of work, but I LOVE every minute of it!
I will be hounding them to allow me to see Captain now..I had been hesitating because I truly didn't know if it would be upsetting to him. Thank you sooo much for the guidance and kind words..you rock!

Thank so much for telling me (us) about the bears. WOW!!! That sounds AMAZING!!

Please, please keep us posted on Captain, would you? Go get 'em!

sbradysfv said:

I will be hounding them to allow me to see Captain now..I had been hesitating because I truly didn't know if it would be upsetting to him. Thank you sooo much for the guidance and kind words..you rock!

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Just the opposite.

Amazons are pair bond birds.

There are essentially two main behavior types pair bond birds and flock birds. Flock birds live in tight knit flocks, change partners often, and take multiple mates.

Pair bond birds live in more loosely structured flocks, but you almost always see them two by two. They choose one mate, pair up for life, and become practically inseparable with their "chosen one." In captivity, they often transfer these same pair bond relationships to their "chosen person."

NOT being around you could be the upsetting part. He's been taken from his person... These birds, once they've bonded, love very, very deeply. (Five of my six are pair bond birds, and I'm the bonded person with four of them.)

YOU'VE BEEN CHOSEN...

I definitely will keep you informed! Thank you! Time go "Mama Bear" on them!

Birdman, thank you for your response. As I said, I really don't know too much about birds in general, and never suspected such a bond would happen. Being his "chosen" person comes very seriously to me, and I will do everything I can to see him as often as possible. Thank you!

Birdman666 said:

sbradysfv said:

I will be hounding them to allow me to see Captain now..I had been hesitating because I truly didn't know if it would be upsetting to him. Thank you sooo much for the guidance and kind words..you rock!

Click to expand...

Just the opposite.

Amazons are pair bond birds.

There are essentially two main behavior types pair bond birds and flock birds. Flock birds live in tight knit flocks, change partners often, and take multiple mates.

Pair bond birds live in more loosely structured flocks, but you almost always see them two by two. They choose one mate, pair up for life, and become practically inseparable with their "chosen one." In captivity, they often transfer these same pair bond relationships to their "chosen person."

NOT being around you could be the upsetting part. He's been taken from his person... These birds, once they've bonded, love very, very deeply. (Five of my six are pair bond birds, and I'm the bonded person with four of them.)

YOU'VE BEEN CHOSEN...

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Thank you Birdman. As I said, I don't know much when it comes to birds and just didn't want to make a bad situation worse for him. I take being his "chosen" person very seriously, and will do whatever it takes to see him as often as possible. Thanks again!

Well, I know very little about bears, except you're not supposed to feed them, and don't leave food around the campsite in the wild. And Yogi likes to steal picnic baskets...

Amazons tend to be "opinionated" birds. They absolutely love it, or they don't like it, leave me alone. DYH's tend to be one of the most "opinionated" of the bunch. They really do pick their people... and when you're on the receiving end of an "amazon crush" it's pretty amazing.

What you do have to watch out for is overbonding issues. They can overbond, and when that happens THE ONLY person that can handle them without getting bit is "their person."

Lol..all good points about bears Thank you for the info..I have already seen that Captain gets defensive when he is hanging out with me and someone wants my attention. I just hope I will be able to visit him. I was told possibly saturday I could go in and see him...so, fingers crossed! I will keep you posted!

sbradysfv said:

Lol..all good points about bears Thank you for the info..I have already seen that Captain gets defensive when he is hanging out with me and someone wants my attention. I just hope I will be able to visit him. I was told possibly saturday I could go in and see him...so, fingers crossed! I will keep you posted!

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JEALOUS BIRD ISSUE... yeah. Anyone doubt you've been picked? Invite them to stick their finger out there and try and take him off your arm.

Go ahead. I dare you!

(Feeding bears might be safer... )

sbradysfv said:

Lol..all good points about bears Thank you for the info..I have already seen that Captain gets defensive when he is hanging out with me and someone wants my attention. I just hope I will be able to visit him. I was told possibly saturday I could go in and see him...so, fingers crossed! I will keep you posted!

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Gosh, I hope they follow through with this, I really do. Why 'possibly Saturday'....why not any time you feel like it???

Possibly Saturday because of the "restricted area" BS. Only authorized personnel are allowed in the Health Center. Saturday and Sunday the vet is not on site and is only on call, so, the head vet tech, who thankfully, has a good heart, is willing to let me in, provided there is no medical issues going on. The vet is not budging about breaking the rule and letting me in there, so this vet tech is my only chance to see Captain. I will try and post and update tomorrow to let you know if I had any success. And @ Birdman, Yes, I have seen him prepared to bite others when he is on my arm..he does the eye pinning thing like crazy! I do believe feeding the bear would be safer at that point! :20:

sbradysfv said:

Possibly Saturday because of the "restricted area" BS. Only authorized personnel are allowed in the Health Center. Saturday and Sunday the vet is not on site and is only on call, so, the head vet tech, who thankfully, has a good heart, is willing to let me in, provided there is no medical issues going on. The vet is not budging about breaking the rule and letting me in there, so this vet tech is my only chance to see Captain. I will try and post and update tomorrow to let you know if I had any success. And @ Birdman, Yes, I have seen him prepared to bite others when he is on my arm..he does the eye pinning thing like crazy! I do believe feeding the bear would be safer at that point! :20:

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I must be psychic... (either that or I've fostered a few!)

But, hey, people, here's a clue. He behaves like this for a reason. THIS BIRD HAS BONDED WITH ME. TAKING A BONDED PARROT AWAY FROM HIS CHOSEN PERSON CAUSES NEEDLESS PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS...

Well..I was able to spend about 2 hours with him today..he would not talk to me he whistled our little tunes but no talking..and you could hardly stop him from talking before. He seemed really overwhelmed and nervous. He is in a room with several other birds..a couple of conures a macaw and I think it is a yellow naped amazon. He hasnt ever been around other birds to my knowledge. He immediately came and got on my arm but he wouldnt answer any of our lil phrases we always say. He did do kissies with me (I kiss him on the head and the beak) I am concerned Bout his reluctance to talk. I feel so bad that something so senseless and unnecessary like this has been done with no regard to the well being of the animal thatvI have started looking for other work. This isnt the first instance of this disregard for an animal and its well-being. I am actively pursuing a couple of potential adopters for Captain because I have to do what I can for him.
Why wont he talk? He looked good and is being cared for in there. I am concerned because 2 of the conures he can see are pluckers and hope he doesnt start that. I took his favorite treats for him as well. I will go back again tomorrow..and keep you posted

He's not talking because he's upset.

I don't know that it's scared so much as apprehensive, and I don't like this place. "I wanna go back."

DYH's are generally NOT pluckers...

Nope. They don't take it out on themselves.

When they get mad, they tend to become BITERS.

They are way more inclined to "pluck you."