I just introduced a new bird to our family and I have questions.

[teacherstevew]

I recently adopted a 25 year old Blue Front Amazon. I have a 10 year old Double Yellow Amazon that I adopted 3 years and he is not taking kindly to the new bird. In fact the last 2 times he was out of his cage he jumped off and tried to bite my head. I would like some suggestions on how to acclimate him to the new family member. They are in separate cages and I don't take them out at the same time for safety reasons. Both birds are males and it is springtime so I understand the hormones are wacky. It was suggested to me to start covering the DYH for 10-12 hours a night to replicate winter nights and that might help with the hormones. I would appreciate any suggestions that anyone out there might have on how to acclimate the birds to one another.

 

[Birdman666]

Amazons seem to need the most "space." And they are pair bond birds.

I've had at least 8 amazons in my house. My Red Lored has gotten along with all of them. Lila (my lilac crown) came in, and tried to perch on my red lored's favorite spot, and she has gone after her ever since.

This is, most likely, a territorial intrusion thing. Sometimes it's a "stay away from my person" thing.

The easiest way to calm territorial issues, is to give them each a "that's mine" space, and enforce it.

Calming the hormonal wacky issues, doesn't necessarily get rid of the territorial behaviors, but it helps reduce them a little.

Sounds like your DYH is going into "protect the nest from intruders" mode to me.

 

[MonicaMc]

You might want to consider teaching both birds to station and ignore each other. The more they station, the more they get rewarded for ignoring each other.

Lara Joseph has a couple of great blog posts about teaching a bird to station and it's importance.