by Pajarita » Sat Nov 12, 2016 11:12 am
The length of time depends on the species, whether the bird was hand-fed or not, the age and the kind of care the bird got before it came to you - then, to all these, you need to add the quality and quantity of time you spend with it. Babies that were bred and raised with love would bond with their new human as soon as a few hours after coming to them, if treated right, but, on the other hand, a bird that comes to you as an abused adult would take months and, sometimes, even years.
Personally, I don't do anything special to the new ones (all my birds have come to me as adults) to win them over... no training, no treats, no nothing different than I do with all my other birds. I follow a super strict solar and routine schedule so every day is exactly the same as the day before and this works both in mine and their favor -it reduces stress on their part and endears me to them because they know exactly where I stand with them. I open their cages (without turning on any lights) when light is beginning to break in the sky (this time of the year, at 6 am), I don't ask them to step up or take them out of their cages, I leave what to do up to them. Then, when there is already light but the sun is barely peeping on the horizon, they get fresh water and raw produce - I just put it there or, sometimes, I give them a piece in their hand (this morning, they got fresh whole green beans which they love to hold in their hands so everybody except the lovebirds got one) but all my birds eat produce by now so, although I munch on fruit with them just to keep the 'feeling of flock', I don't need to spend any time actually eating in front of them. Then, about half an hour later, I give them their gloop and put them all in their cages to eat it but, about half an hour to 45 minutes later, I open their cages again so they can come out to fly (this is the time to interact with them or do some target training). I talk to them, I dance or sing with the radio or the songs I usually sing to them, I scratch the head of whichever one happens to perch on me or whichever one perches in front of me and asks me for it, etc. all this while I do my morning chores around the house (they fly up and down the stairs or from one room to another, sometimes following me, sometimes just because they feel like it). It's easy for me because I have a number of birds and the new ones see the 'old' ones approaching me - but also because I have learned that the best thing to do is to just let them decide on their own. I don't ignore them, I just don't get 'on their faces'. And, eventually, they all take the first step to a closer relationship with me. Sometimes it takes months while other times they choose to trust me in a matter of days but, when they do, it's their decision and, as such, it ends up been a very firm first step toward a good relationship because of it.
People are often in too much of a hurry for the bird to love them and insist on interactions that the bird doesn't want at that point in time and this ends up screwing things up. Parrots need the closeness of a loving relationship but they are also highly intelligent beings which do not understand the concept of obedience or subservience so the same way that we don't like a stranger pawing us or allowing himself familiarities with our person, they don't like somebody they don't know enough to try to interact closely or to demand something of them they are not willing to give. It's not that people are been mean or inconsiderate, it's that most people are used to dealing with dogs or other domesticated species that belong to hierarchical social groups so they often treat parrots the same way they would a puppy and, although it works with some species when they are babies, it never works with sexually mature individuals or species that are more independent or more intelligent than others. Quakers are one of those species that precisely because they are so smart, so resourceful and so fearless, you need to win them over first even when they are very young.