My orange winged amazonian is really scared first day at hom

[artiseven]

i just wish im able to rub his head and play with him and clean his cage etc. didnt know parrots are like that when you first buy them. its been over a week now

[Dave & Karen]

I do agree, you should spend time with him even if you're just in the room reading or watching tv, just don't pay him any attention and he'll begin to get curious. Also, I'm assuming he's in your room if you're sleeping on the couch... claim your room back and sleep in there, he really needs to get used to you being there for him, even if you're ignoring him, and you'll be considered harmless to him while you're asleep, especially if you cover his cage.
When you're in the room with him, close the door and open up his cage, then go about your business. He'll get used to you being in there with him after a while, let him do this on his terms and take it slow. Maybe buy yourself a clicker or be ready to say "good bird" as soon as he does something you want him to do... like come out of his cage while you're in the room. Then drop off a reward by either walking up to his cage and dropping it in his food bowl (make sure he sees the drop) then return to your business like nothing happened. We know he loves sunflower seeds so a seed or 2 everytime he comes out will suffice for now, even if he scurries back into the cage, drop off the reward and return to your business.
See if this works for now, I do have a few more ideas if not, but by all means, spend as much time with him as possible, even if it's on the other side of the room from him and acting like he's not there, he'll begin to be ok when you wake up and get ready for work as well once he gets used to your routine.

Another thing I should mention is to search youtube for "bird taming" or "parrot taming" videos, there are some good ones out there and you may find some stuff that works while we're helping you with our replies. I will reply anytime you ask or post, but sometimes a good youtube video or 2 can really help out.

[artiseven]

thank you so much and can you please proide me with the youtube links ? thank you

[artiseven]

oh and i forgot to mention that im moving out of this hous this week or so any advice you can give me to prevent him from being even more scared ??

[Dave & Karen]

Here's one you can start with, this bird is still pretty nervous, but I'm sure not as nervous as yours is now... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NO6L_1WUf_U What's going on here is that she moved the bird to a different room which works very well when taming and training. When the bird is in an unfamiliar place, they tend to switch from being scared of you to almost depending on you... But notice her patience, this is the real key here. Also notice how the bird here is still not so sure of her hands but lets her touch him with her face, this does work as well, but everything she does is very gradual, she's waiting for the bird to calm down every time before she advances.
The hand next to the bird works the same way, they will be very nervous at first, but eventually calm down, then move your hand a little closer and repeat... it IS a very slow process. I also use food treats if the bird will accept them, but if not, then keep doing like she's doing in the video.

There's another member on Youtube you can search out by searching "parrot whisperer" You'll see his techniques are slightly different based on how the bird reacts to him, but he can tame a bird in a very short time... again, some of it's based on how the bird reacts, but he's using the same gradual techniques by placing the bird where it's most comfortable, then he begins to work with the bird, check out his techniques on the wild african grey, this guy talks a lot so you may need to skip thru his vids to find where the actual lessons or techniques being used are... Just search out "parrot whisperer"

Mike, the owner of this forum is also very good with his techniques and his youtube name is Killiparrot, here's his channel with lots of good info in there. http://www.youtube.com/user/kiliparrot

There's also the user "bird tricks" but they have numerous vids so sorting thru them can be difficult, and they tend to give you a little info then tell you to buy their dvd sets... just use the info they give on youtube, the rest of it you'll learn in here and from other vids on youtube.

That should get you started, you can also search stuff like "how to get your parrot out of the cage" or "getting your bird to trust you" etc and results will come up.

Definitely take the time to watch some of the vids and search out others, but still ask as many questions in here as you need to and you should find something that works for you and your bird pretty quickly.

Hopefully some of this will help

[Dave & Karen]

as for when you move, just keep your bird in his cage and just be as gentle as possible moving it into your car, he should be ok... but if you have a transport cage or pet carrier, that may be better... especially if the cage is too big to fit in your car, just don't put it in the back of a pickup truck with him in it and he shouldn't resent you too badly after the move.

[Pajarita]

I watched the first video and have to comment on it. The 'take the bird to an unfamiliar place' is what people used to do way back (another one was turning off the light so the bird could not see well and still a third one was to towel the bird and force it to accept human hands touching him -all bad experiences for the poor scared bird). This is not a technique that is recommended nowadays because you are not really allowing the bird to make a decision, you are forcing it on him -not a good start for a relationship that should be of mutual trust. She mentions that he is now calm but ekkies always freeze when scared or upset so his 'calmness' is not a good sign.

I believe in allowing a parrot's natural intelligence and highly social nature to do their work. That's why I never ask them for anything until they show me they want a relationship. Not that I don't encourage it because I do but my methods are very respectful of their desires: I open the cage door to allow them to come out but I never ask them to step up. I talk, sing, whistle to them and, if they make a call, I try to reproduce it. I offer them treats but, if they don't take them from my hand, I put them down so they can get them. These are very intelligent animals, they are masters of the body language and have taught themselves to recognize different tones of the human voice (they even learn to recognize different species vocalizations and what they all mean). This, added to their natural need (note I don't say 'desire' but 'need') for company work to our advantage when it comes to establishing a bond.

So, take your time, keep a strict schedule (always do the same thing, using the same words, at the same time every single day so he will know what will happen when and learn to anticipate it (parrots have a sense of time, both for the past and the future and this reassures them and gives them a sense of control over their own lives, something we take away when we keep an undomesticated species captive) nix your expectations for now and go at it slowly. It always works for the best in the long term...

[Dave & Karen]

I watched the first video and have to comment on it. The 'take the bird to an unfamiliar place' is what people used to do way back (another one was turning off the light so the bird could not see well and still a third one was to towel the bird and force it to accept human hands touching him -all bad experiences for the poor scared bird). This is not a technique that is recommended nowadays because you are not really allowing the bird to make a decision, you are forcing it on him -not a good start for a relationship that should be of mutual trust. She mentions that he is now calm but ekkies always freeze when scared or upset so his 'calmness' is not a good sign.

I believe in allowing a parrot's natural intelligence and highly social nature to do their work. That's why I never ask them for anything until they show me they want a relationship. Not that I don't encourage it because I do but my methods are very respectful of their desires: I open the cage door to allow them to come out but I never ask them to step up. I talk, sing, whistle to them and, if they make a call, I try to reproduce it. I offer them treats but, if they don't take them from my hand, I put them down so they can get them. These are very intelligent animals, they are masters of the body language and have taught themselves to recognize different tones of the human voice (they even learn to recognize different species vocalizations and what they all mean). This, added to their natural need (note I don't say 'desire' but 'need') for company work to our advantage when it comes to establishing a bond.

So, take your time, keep a strict schedule (always do the same thing, using the same words, at the same time every single day so he will know what will happen when and learn to anticipate it (parrots have a sense of time, both for the past and the future and this reassures them and gives them a sense of control over their own lives, something we take away when we keep an undomesticated species captive) nix your expectations for now and go at it slowly. It always works for the best in the long term...

Ugh... got busted by the video police...
hey, while you're here, here's an idea... Let's see what videos you would recommend, let's hear how you would tame this bird? Let's see you actually help someone instead of waithing for others to help then spring into action to correct them when they don't do or say things exactly the way you would.

Now that I got that out of the way, the truth of the matter is that I don't always agree with every video out there nor do I agree with everything this person was doing in the video, but I did recommend it for what she was doing right... Patience, Patience, Patience, as well as her calm voice when talking to the bird and her calm body language to keep the bird at ease as much as possible.
It would be far more ideal for me to make a video myself and post it, but I work for a living and don't have a lot of time, not to mention, right now I don't have any birds that are fearful of me or my wife to show calming techniques on so I need to use what's already out there on youtube when I'm helping someone out, If I picked at everything I didn't like in other people's videos, then I'd never have anything I'd recommend. Everyone has their good points and bad points or they'll do everything right but maybe one thing I'm not so sure of, but for the most part the video is good or has some strong training points.
All of my birds will fly to me as soon as I open their cage or if I walk in the room while my wife has them out without me calling them before they go about their business. They will actually drop what they're doing to come and see me. I give them a little attention and a scritch or a foot rub, then they're back to their playtime. They play on their perches and with their toys relentlessly but they also just out of the blue come down to see me either for affection or to give affection, or simply because they want me to play along with them so I guess I'm doing something right...

I'm not an expert bird trainer by far but I do know what not to do and I'd never pass on bad advise, but I will pass on what I know first hand works, and I'm not here to argue, I'm here to help when I can as well as learn a few things to help my wife and I become the best birdie parents we can be.

[Pajarita]

I don't go to youtube for videos so I would not know which one to recommend. I work, too, and although it's not full time or all-year-round (I work in a school), I have so many animals (I rescue dogs and cats as well as birds) that my days are long and very busy. But I do have a bit of experience with scared or aggressive birds as I take in the ones that rescues consider unadoptable for one reason or another (I also take in handicapped or birds with incurable medical conditions, some terminal). I've taken in several neglected and/or abused birds which always translates into them been scared of people and what I do is exactly what I recommended. Granted, sometimes it takes quite a while to achieve a relationship of sorts but whatever level I achieve, it's a firm one. It took me over three years to have a male Senegal which had lived 11 years in the same small cage through three different homes to stop attacking me every time he saw me, and then another two years for him to approach me for scritches but, when he recently fell between the wall and the radiator and I had to grab him with one hand while I tilted the radiator with the other (and don't even ask me how I did that because I am not that strong and have terrible arthritis in my hands!), he never even tried to bite me even though he was VERY scared (kept on screaming distress calls non-stop). I am now working on a Citron too that also lived his first 17 years in a cage where I now keep a blind cockatiel (and that should tell you how small the cage is!) with only some head scritches in the morning when his cage was cleaned from the same woman who raised him, it's been a year at the end of August and it's only now that he has begun to trust me enough to touch him (and for me to realize he is a Citron as the woman who had him before thought he was a Lesser Sulfur but one year of fresh food brought out the orange color in his crest and a lovely yellow suffusion in his entire body as well as cheek patches). Parrots suffer neglect/abuse very deeply. It does something to them, to their heads, and to their spirits. They are confused, lonely, depressed, lost, always scared and anxious and don't find joy in life.... It's imperative to treat them with patience, as you say (and I agree) but it's also imperative to eliminate stress as much as possible and allowing them the security of a familiar place and the kindness of choosing when and how to interact with the 'dreaded human' goes a very long way towards repairing the damage done to them.

And, as an added note, the lady mentioned eye contact on the video also, something every bird rescuer knows it's a complete NONO when it comes to scared birds so you should always look at them out of the corner of your eye and never make eye contact. Not everybody who puts a video on youtube knows what they are doing even if they have excellent intentions...

[artiseven]

im watching the videos now