New Parront as of this morning! Seeking Advice

[Turbid]

Thank you SO much for the advice about the whistling! We started out whistling whenever she called and then slowly transitioned to whistling only when she whistled/call more quietly back to us! This seemed to work A LOT and also reduced the amount of time by a ton. This morning she only called for about 30 minutes vs 2 hours yesterday. Amazing! Her calls were much sweeter this morning also.. (:

[Wolf]

Since I just told you about the whistling, if it is having any effect this soon then someone has already taught her to respond and call with whistles, or at least got her started on it. You mention that she called for 2 hours previously and that it was reduced to 30 minutes this morning, may I ask where you were in relation to her during all of this time? I don't know if this is important in the grand scheme of things, but it could be. Anyway, for now I am just trying to build a picture in my mind to help me as I answer questions.
There are many mornings that my birds and I have a morning sing/ screamfest back and forth for an hour or more as they really seem to enjoy it. Other times we all sit quietly for a while with just a few whistles to break the sound of silence when it becomes too deafening..

[liz]

Since I just told you about the whistling, if it is having any effect this soon then someone has already taught her to respond and call with whistles, or at least got her started on it. You mention that she called for 2 hours previously and that it was reduced to 30 minutes this morning, may I ask where you were in relation to her during all of this time? I don't know if this is important in the grand scheme of things, but it could be. Anyway, for now I am just trying to build a picture in my mind to help me as I answer questions.
There are many mornings that my birds and I have a morning sing/ screamfest back and forth for an hour or more as they really seem to enjoy it. Other times we all sit quietly for a while with just a few whistles to break the sound of silence when it becomes too deafening..

I thought I was the only one to have screamfests. Rambo and Myrtle have accepted that you only scream when Momma screams.

[Wolf]

Oh no, I leave them alone after I feed them, although I am in the room with them and then Kookooloo will start whistling or talking and Mimi will now join in with singing and talking instead of just screaming and poor Kiki just gets drowned out by the volume of the two bigger birds but she is right in there whistling and screaming and I then join in talking and whistling with them. The budgies are getting into the action now too. This goes on in the morning and then again in the evening every day and sometimes at odd moments during the day as well. They have a blast with this activity.

[liz]

Oh, I thought you meant that you scream with them. I do.

[Wolf]

Well, I do a little as I am trying to mimic their sounds, just like they do ours, although I am not very good at it. But mostly I whistle and talk to them. Guess I am not much of a screamer.

[Turbid]

Since I just told you about the whistling, if it is having any effect this soon then someone has already taught her to respond and call with whistles, or at least got her started on it. You mention that she called for 2 hours previously and that it was reduced to 30 minutes this morning, may I ask where you were in relation to her during all of this time? I don't know if this is important in the grand scheme of things, but it could be. Anyway, for now I am just trying to build a picture in my mind to help me as I answer questions.

We have been sitting/laying on the couch in the morning about 10 feet from her. She has been reeeeally enjoying when we whistle back to her or make kissy noises! It's quieted her down a lot. This morning it was about 50 minutes of about half scream half whistling and purring.
Also yesterday she said her first word (that we've observed)! She said "Hello!" while we were just relaxing in the afternoon and then shortly after she made a kissy sound!

Meanwhile the past few days she really hasn't been eating much other than big tree nuts that we've been giving her (primarily almonds and pecans and walnuts). I know it's not the best thing for her in the long run, but it's been the only way to make sure she's getting any good at all. I think over the course of a day she will eat 2-3 tree nuts and 5-10 seeds from her old food from her previous owner. We have a 10lb bag of RoudyBush medium pellets but she really hasn't touched them when we've put them in OR she squawks about it. She seems pretty vocal about things she doesn't like...

Also, we are having a hard time with target training her (which I figure would be a really big help with introducing her to these new things). But, we can't really seem to get her to take a treat (walnut, pecan, almond etc) from our hands. Any advice on this topic as well?

Sorry for the loaded post! Thanks again for all of your help

[Wolf]

She is a smart bird, and although she has only been with you for four days, she has got you pretty well figured out and is holding out for the high fat, high protein foods. You really need to feed her as I described that I feed mine other wise she is just going to continue with what she is doing. To a parrot such as this one foods like seeds, pellets and nuts are like candy to a child and she knows which ones she likes the best, the nuts. Don't give her any nuts until you get her to eating the pellets.
Don't read me wrong as I am not a fan of pellets by any means, but she needs the basic vitamins and minerals in them, even though they are of poor quality and harder to process than the natural vitamins and minerals in more natural food sources. I know that it is hard but let her get hungry enough to start eating. As long as she has water she can go a couple of days, if she chooses to. Alternately you could try cooking some old fashioned oatmeal and grinding up a nut into it, mix it in with just a little sprinkle as a topping and see if she will eat this.
While I don't know much about her or her background, this not eating for a few days is not uncommon with parrots. Consider that when she came to live with you that she lost everything that was familiar to her and moved to a new environment that she doesn't know and so it is potentially dangerous for her and except for new humans that she doesn't know and doesn't yet trust she is all alone and this is a very scary place for her right now. Also she is grieving the loss of all that she once knew since in her world the only reason for her human to not be there for her is that he is dead, and so she grieves just as we would the loss of someone special in our lives. I am telling you this so that you can have some idea of what she is experiencing and thinking. This should help you to understand her current behaviors.
Sometimes with a bid such as this it is helpful to open the cage door and let them come out, they may just climb to the top of the cage or if they fly they may take to the air so I would cover such things a mirrors and windows with some type of curtain so that they don't hit glass at full speed and get injured. I spend a lot of time right outside of a new birds cage talking to them and singing to them and offering a treat such as a sprig of millet as it can be passed through the cage bars. This will help her to see that you mean her no harm and are the bringer of good things, But I do limit treats to just a couple at any one time. But overall the best thing that you can do is forget the training until she will take some millet or a piece of fruit or even a vegetable from your hand wile in the cage, and sit next to the cage and talk to her. Let her come to you before you do
much of anything else.