Red-bellied Parrot behavior change

[Marty804]

Hello,

I have a male red-bellied parrot that's 2.5 years old, and we have taken notice of his behavior change every time we return from a short vacation (3 to 5 days). When he was younger, we would bring him to a birdie hotel thinking company of other birds and socialization with human caretakers would be best for him but each time we would pick him up he was fearful of his family! It would take up to a week for him to normalize.

We recently came back from a 3-day vacation. We decided to keep him at home in his large familiar 2'x4' cage while a caretaker would visit and change his food/water daily. We even kept a camera on him and engaged him through voice (to go through his morning routine, sing his favorite songs, etc.). Upon our return, my instinct was to let the little guy out to let him stretch his wings. I noticed that he wasn't able to take flight...took off in fear but descended to the ground. We noticed seven of his flight feathers on the bottom of his cage, but no other physical injuries so thinking he may have had a night fright while we were gone and hurt himself. Now I feel he is associating this experience with his family members. It's now been two days and he's still deathly afraid of all of us and I don't know what to do. I'm afraid to let him out of his cage and hurt himself more since he's unable to skillfully fly without his flight feathers.

Will this pass? What can I do to earn his trust again? I tried click training but his favorite treats aren't enough to entice him to come close to us. Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Liv

 

[Cottonoid]

Oh, poor guy! And you too, it must be hard to see him anxious like this!

How did he react on camera when you talked/sang to him? My parrot seems to know I'm not there and has figured out the second I even check the camera (a light blinks). He acts like Yeah yeah Ok Weird Lady. My son's parrot on the other hand gets really distressed that he can hear voices he knows that aren't responding in person to his contact calls.

I mostly ask in case he could have been spooked close enough to the timing of hearing you to contribute to his fear now - which is more important for next time.

For some birds it seems to work well to basically start over building trust, as if you just brought him home. Stick to his normal routines as far as time of day he eats, sleeps, etc. But maybe go back to basics - how close can you get to the cage before he gets super nervous? Maybe try pulling up a chair next to him, where you're not looking right at him, and just sit and read aloud for 30 minutes. I use my camera to watch my bird when I do this so that I don't have to look right at him

There's also a method for using a clicker and the space between you and the cage to reinforce him calming down - the first post in this thread explains it pretty well:

Tips for Bonding and Building Trust

Hopefully others will chime in; I'm still very new to building trust with my parrot and I know we have a lot of members with many years of experience!

 

[Marty804]

Oh, poor guy! And you too, it must be hard to see him anxious like this!

How did he react on camera when you talked/sang to him? My parrot seems to know I'm not there and has figured out the second I even check the camera (a light blinks). He acts like Yeah yeah Ok Weird Lady. My son's parrot on the other hand gets really distressed that he can hear voices he knows that aren't responding in person to his contact calls.

I mostly ask in case he could have been spooked close enough to the timing of hearing you to contribute to his fear now - which is more important for next time.

For some birds it seems to work well to basically start over building trust, as if you just brought him home. Stick to his normal routines as far as time of day he eats, sleeps, etc. But maybe go back to basics - how close can you get to the cage before he gets super nervous? Maybe try pulling up a chair next to him, where you're not looking right at him, and just sit and read aloud for 30 minutes. I use my camera to watch my bird when I do this so that I don't have to look right at him

There's also a method for using a clicker and the space between you and the cage to reinforce him calming down - the first post in this thread explains it pretty well:

Tips for Bonding and Building Trust

Hopefully others will chime in; I'm still very new to building trust with my parrot and I know we have a lot of members with many years of experience!

Yes, it’s been heartbreaking to see him this way. I’m equally stressed out from it as he is normally a sweet loving boy who talks, sings and enjoys head scratches every day. So to see this 180 change scared, quiet and barely eating (forgot to mention this earlier) has been tough on the whole family.

As for the camera, I would watch him after the engagement and he just sat there quietly on his perch. No reaction. But maybe you are right…he may not need this extra attention next time.

As you recommended, I have gone back to basics to regain his trust. I will try the clicker/cage training as well. I’m just sad to think this may be our reality every time we go on vacation. 😢

 

[Cottonoid]

Maybe he's a little sore, if he bonked his feathers on something. I hope he comes back around soon, he sounds like such a wonderful bird!

 

[Marty804]

Maybe he's a little sore, if he bonked his feathers on something. I hope he comes back around soon, he sounds like such a wonderful bird!

Thank you! He is wonderful and I will work hard at getting him back! He lost several flight feathers, so thinking he just needs some time and space to heal.

 

[HeatherG]

The only time I had a bird lose several flight feathers was when there was a very rare earthquake in my state that scared my Pionus. She flopped (I heard her) and knocked out most of her long tail feathers and some wing feathers.

Maybe something scared him and he panicked, as you’ve guessed? He’s not tearing at his feathers now so it sounds like could be that sort of accident.

 

[Marty804]

The only time I had a bird lose several flight feathers was when there was a very rare earthquake in my state that scared my Pionus. She flopped (I heard her) and knocked out most of her long tail feathers and some wing feathers.

Maybe something scared him and he panicked, as you’ve guessed? He’s not tearing at his feathers now so it sounds like could be that sort of accident.

This may be the culprit. This is the first time I’ve noticed a blood feather and it appears broken. Does anyone know what to do? Would this require a closer examination to pull the root of the feather out? Or will he heal on his own naturally?

 

[HeatherG]

If the blood feather is broken, some say to pull it out so it doesn’t get bumped and start bleeding. But if it’s been a few days and not bled, perhaps it’s ok.

It would hurt plenty to pull the feather out. I’m not sure what to say. You definitely want to watch him and make sure it doesn’t begin to bleed.