New Amazon sound

[nkrbkr]

Hi everyone. I’ve had my Amazon, Ava, for about three weeks now. She’s an amazing 7-year-old (8 next month) bird, & we’re taking our time getting to know one another & starting to bond. I’ve read through all the great info here re: Amazons several times, which has been so helpful. A couple of days ago, she started making this new sound. It seems like she is asking to train/asking for treats when she makes this sound, but any insights would be greatly appreciated. Is it possibly a hormonal sound? I’ve got her first vet visit coming up in two days, so will be able to get a better sense of her weight/body composition then. She’s been converting to a healthy diet nicely, & maintaining her weight. 12+ hours of sleep a night, no petting, etc. Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

What a beautiful bird! I've never had an Amazon so I'm no help but she sure is a pretty girl! I hope you two have many wonderful years together and enjoy being a member of Parrot Forums. We are a very supportive group unlike many forums out there.

 

[nkrbkr]

What a beautiful bird! I've never had an Amazon so I'm no help but she sure is a pretty girl! I hope you two have many wonderful years together and enjoy being a member of Parrot Forums. We are a very supportive group unlike many forums out there.

Thank you, I appreciate it! She’s a very beautiful girl. I’ve lurked on here several times when searching for answers about my lovebird, so I figured it was time to make an account. It seems like a very helpful, great group.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

We have a lot of "lurkers" it seems, and want more people to participate. We hope to get to know you and your beautiful Ava.

 

[texsize]

It sounds to me like a begging sound like a young bird would make to a parent.
But I have never bread Amazon’s so I could be wrong.

It also sound a bit hormonal but I don’t see any hormonal body language with the sounds.

 

[nkrbkr]

It sounds to me like a begging sound like a young bird would make to a parent.
But I have never bread Amazon’s so I could be wrong.

It also sound a bit hormonal but I don’t see any hormonal body language with the sounds.

Thank you! I was thinking it felt a little “baby bird-ish” as well, kind of like the sounds young macaws make…

 

[nkrbkr]

Thank you! I was thinking it felt a little “baby bird-ish” as well, kind of like the sounds young macaws make…

She’s currently making the same sound while she eats her morning chop.

 

[rheashard2]

My CAG does similar especially in morning before her chop. It's random and frequently occurs in the morning. Vet says it's hormonal related. I am supposed to make sure she's got food, water. Give verbal encouragement but limit and/or redirect physical contact. There's better places here on forum where not to pet. Since I have a hen, I don't want her stimulated to lay eggs!

 

[nkrbkr]

My CAG does similar especially in morning before her chop. It's random and frequently occurs in the morning. Vet says it's hormonal related. I am supposed to make sure she's got food, water. Give verbal encouragement but limit and/or redirect physical contact. There's better places here on forum where not to pet. Since I have a hen, I don't want her stimulated to lay eggs!

Thank you! She’s been doing it periodically at all times of the day. We don’t have a lot of physical contact, as she’s very new to us, & we’re all learning to trust one another. Just practicing step-ups, getting her morning weight, & some target training. A little head scritching here and there, but definitely no petting of any sort. I don’t want any eggs either! lol She goes to the vet tomorrow, so I’ll see what they say.

 

[wrench13]

Begging sound.

 

[nkrbkr]

Begging sound.

Thank you! Does Salty ever do this? And if so, how do you respond? I don’t want to reinforce it, but I also don’t want to completely ignore her. I really get the feeling that she’s asking for almonds & eager to train. I’ve already taught her how to wave, and definitely would like to keep her stimulated by teaching her tricks, but again, I don’t want to reinforce begging.

 

[nkrbkr]

This Ava bird is so dang smart, & so eager to learn tricks. She just learned how to spin in a quick session this evening. I started training when she was calm & quiet (in order not to reinforce the begging behavior), but she started begging for more after I ended the session. I get the impression she’s never really been trained to do much, but she seems to love it.

 

[rheashard2]

Excellent job! Trick training is among the best mental stimulus for parrots. Good job!

 

[nkrbkr]

Excellent job! Trick training is among the best mental stimulus for parrots. Good job!

Yes, thank you! My lovebird loves doing tricks. It seems Miss Ava does too.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

This Ava bird is so dang smart, & so eager to learn tricks. She just learned how to spin in a quick session this evening. I started training when she was calm & quiet (in order not to reinforce the begging behavior), but she started begging for more after I ended the session. I get the impression she’s never really been trained to do much, but she seems to love it.

That's great! My budgies look at me like I'm crazy when I try to get them to follow my finger in a circle! I just put a nice piece of millet in front of Joey and she walked away. Yes, she knows it's food.

 

[nkrbkr]

That's great! My budgies look at me like I'm crazy when I try to get them to follow my finger in a circle! I just put a nice piece of millet in front of Joey and she walked away. Yes, she knows it's food.

I had a budgie growing up, who was my best little friend. He lived to be 13 years old, & passed when I was in high school. He’s the reason I love birds so much. That was when we didn’t really know much about how to properly care for birds. I often wonder if he would have liked trick training. He was such a sweet little guy, & loved spending time out of his cage with me.

 

[rheashard2]

That's great! My budgies look at me like I'm crazy when I try to get them to follow my finger in a circle! I just put a nice piece of millet in front of Joey and she walked away. Yes, she knows it's food.

My CAG knows a few tricks. I gave up because her expression says clearly....and I should do it why? She's mastered that look better than my teenager! Like above she acknowledges the treat. But she's trained me well! I limit noise when she says go to sleep (she wants a nap). Move...means are you up yet or get up. Come here...means she's asking for attention. Blowing kisses...share what you're eating. See...I'm a perfectly trained human!

 

[SailBoat]

As stated, it sounds like a begging call! But for what is open at this point.

Since your girl is currently not flighted, you really want to start work on training safe flight paths for her now while she is dependent on you to get around.

When she makes that call again, check to see if she is looking in a specific direction or at a specific object and have her step-up and start in that direction. Stop and check if that is the direction she wants to go. With a little bit of your being very mindful of whether she is leaning forward, or left or right or setting back you can develop a communication between the two of you as to where she wants to go.

Note: Some Amazons love to go walk-about and what the video shows, maybe an indication that she wanted down on the floor.

If she has had a serious wing cut, it could be a couple of years before she has enough wing feathers to allow her flight. That will give you a ton of time to develop your communication /relationship with each other and when she starts to test her flight abilities, she will enjoy attempting to fly (flapping her wing) to rebuild her muscles. Your teaching (showing) her safe flight paths with help greatly in her avoiding crashing into things.

Good luck!

FYI: Now would be a good time to reread those I Love Amazon's Threads!

 

[nkrbkr]

As stated, it sounds like a begging call! But for what is open at this point.

Since your girl is currently not flighted, you really want to start work on training safe flight paths for her now while she is dependent on you to get around.

When she makes that call again, check to see if she is looking in a specific direction or at a specific object and have her step-up and start in that direction. Stop and check if that is the direction she wants to go. With a little bit of your being very mindful of whether she is leaning forward, or left or right or setting back you can develop a communication between the two of you as to where she wants to go.

Note: Some Amazons love to go walk-about and what the video shows, maybe an indication that she wanted down on the floor.

If she has had a serious wing cut, it could be a couple of years before she has enough wing feathers to allow her flight. That will give you a ton of time to develop your communication /relationship with each other and when she starts to test her flight abilities, she will enjoy attempting to fly (flapping her wing) to rebuild her muscles. Your teaching (showing) her safe flight paths with help greatly in her avoiding crashing into things.

Good luck!

FYI: Now would be a good time to reread those I Love Amazon's Threads!

Thanks so much! That’s great advice. I certainly want her to get the lay of the land & know where windows and glass are before she can really fly to avoid accidents. Once she is flighted again, I want to start recall training, starting with short hops & working up to strengthen her muscles. She most definitely does lean towards wherever she wants to go. It’s a little less painful now that we got her toenails dulled down at the vet.

 

[SailBoat]

Thanks so much! That’s great advice. I certainly want her to get the lay of the land & know where windows and glass are before she can really fly to avoid accidents. Once she is flighted again, I want to start recall training, starting with short hops & working up to strengthen her muscles. She most definitely does lean towards wherever she wants to go. It’s a little less painful now that we got her toenails dulled down at the vet.

She will have those back to slashing level in two weeks! Nah, but it seems like it! Remember that to a non-flight parrot those nails allow her to get to places that she would normally fly too!