Question about skittish Red Bellied Parrot

[rrspamrr]

First some background information: I got my 2 year old red bellied parrot from an adoption center a few weeks ago, despite warnings about it being a 'really afraid' bird. I genuinely thought that with time I could transform it into a pet that loves interatciton. However, this bird is extremely afraid of me, and always tries to bite me. Whenever I bring my hand into the cage it first rushes to the other side (also I could see it hyperventilating in fear) and when I try to bring my finger closer it lunges at it unexpectedly and bites hard!! I'm not really sure what I should do. Should I just give up trying to get it out of the cage?

Also, from previous readings, I know that this bird can get hormonal during its transition into sexual maturity. Could that be it? And at what age does this usually occur?

Any help will be much appreciated

[Wolf]

You are making matters worse by reaching into the cage and then by continuing to try to touch this bird. You need to stop doing this. The bird is already afraid and you are not giving it any reason to trust you by scaring it further.
You really need to start all over and do not reach into the cage other than when you must in order to clean the cage or to change the food and water. You must never try to force you will on a bird it must come to you of its own free will. I am assuming that this is your first bird, so feel free to correct me if I am wrong about this.
If you wish to build a good relationship with this bird then for now the only thing that you want to do is to talk to the bird in a calming tone of voice. Make certain that you tell it often that it is a good boy, girl, bird, in times to come this phrase will help you with the bird, as it will help you to reassure the bird.
Start by watching this bird using glances or look at it using you peripheral vision instead of looking directly at it as that is the way that a predator looks at a bird. Pay attention to its body position, look at its feathers and notice whether they are held tightly against it body or if they appear to be slightly puffy. What I am getting at is that the bird will tell you everything that you need to know in order to make friends with it but you just need to learn how it will tell you and what its body language is saying. For starters if the bird moves away from you stop and don't do anything but talk to the bird, wait until it relaxes a bit before going closer to the cage. You will know when it starts to relax a bit because its feathers will not be clamped tightly to its body and it will perch on one foot. You may approach closer to the cage until the bird starts to get nervous and starts moving around especially when it moves away from you and when it does stop and wait. You should continue talking to the bird through all of these things.
While you are doing these things tell me about the birds daily routine. Tell what time does it get up in the mornings and when do you feed it as well as what you feed it. Does it have any toys in its cage? How big is the cage and where is it placed? What does the bird do all day and when do you feed it in the evening and what does it eat in the evening? When does the bird go to bed at nigh and do you cover the cage or not?
This species of parrot goes through puberty between the ages of 18 months to 2 years, generally. So that is probably not going to be a major issue as the worst effect that it will have is to slow things down a little while you learn your bird and make friends with it. This species of parrot is a very friendly and loving bird as a general rule, so be patient and go nice and slow. It is going to take a little bit of time for the bird to forgive you for what you have done so far and then to realize that you are trying to pay attention and then to start trusting you. I will be happy to help you through all of this and to answer any questions that you have.

[liz]

Wolf is right and usually is.
You have not had him very long and even if he came out of a bad situation he still knows that his world is different and he is confused.
Put the birds cage in your most active room. (mine is the dining room that connects 3 other rooms) Talk to him every time you go past. All birds are afraid of what our big hands could do to them. If possible put his cage where he is at face level. Let him come out on his own. When he is out is the best time to work in his cage. If he does not come out, keep your hands palm down when in the cage and don't make eye contact.
These little ones need love and respect. Myrtle was a rescue and would even shiver when I looked at her, so I didn't. Long before she would let me touch her she already trusted me. She was clipped so had to grow feather back. Testing her wings meant she had to jump off her cage. Once on the floor she would find me and climb up my pants leg and on to my shoulder so I could give her a ride back to her cage. Myrtles first year of life was really bad. I have had her for 4 years now and she is just now presenting her head for scratches. She did not want my hand above her.
The cockatiels don't climb me so I used the word help and scoop them up if they don't know step up. While scooped up I raise them to face level and talk to them while putting them back.
The word help is very important for them to learn. Rambo uses it quite often.

[Pajarita]

No, not the most active room. Birds need a quiet place from where they can see activity but not be in the middle of it when they first come to a strange place. They need a space of their own, where they feel safe and putting the cage up high (eye level is best) and against a wall (a corner is even better because he doesn't have to worry about anything or anybody coming from them) or covering part of it (you can use a large bath towel or any other material large enough to drape over the back) helps a lot because been fully exposed on all sides is a dangerous thing for a little bird that is food to predators. The idea is to provide a place where the bird feels safe and that means height and blind walls on one or, better still, two sides. Leave it always in the same room and always announce yourself when you come into view. Like Wolf said, never approach him going in a straight line and don't stare at him, take a circuitous route as you get closer by stopping here and there, carry something in your hands and put it down halfway, look at him from the corner of your eye and never force him to accept your touch. The 'touching' technique works with dogs and cats that have lost their trust in people but it's not even done with hands (you use a rolled up towel or something like that and slowly caress their back with it) but it does NOT work with birds.

Do not try to interact physically in any way, your presence is enough for now. Just open the door to his cage and walk to a distance where he feels comfortable, then talk, sing, whistle, etc (praise, praise, praise in a high pitched, soft voice works best) and, every now and then, put out a treat on the top of his cage or somewhere near enough that he can reach it. Don't try to touch him, don't try to get him to take the treat from your hand, don't force him or expect him to do anything. Just let him get used to you and wait until he feels comfortable all the time before you try to interact with him physically. Didn't the people at the rescue tell you what to do? I am surprised that they adopted out a bird like this to somebody who has no experience without any type of prior instruction and familiarization process...

[rrspamrr]

@wolf Yes, you are correct. This is the first time I have owned a bird, apart from meeting a few “tame” ones from my friends and family. They were adorable and I thought I could eventually get my bird to act the same as well. After nearly a month, I’m not so sure if I can.

Tell what time does it get up in the mornings and when do you feed it as well as what you feed it. Does it have any toys in its cage?

It gets up around 7:30 and I feed it a pellet diet, along with leafy greens and fruits. It’s cage has a few toys, and a swing, but it stays away from them as much as possible – perhaps its scared.

Surprisingly, though, I found that when I try to feed it, it neither bites me nor tries to run away. In fact, it comes towards me to take a bite. It’s only when I do not have food in my hands that it gets aggressive and tries to bite/run away. Do you think this is this odd behavior?

How big is the cage and where is it placed?

The cage is placed near the wall of my living room and it’s rather large for a bird of its size. The cage, including the play stand up top (which has never been used because of his fear of getting onto my hand), is about my height, 5 ft 8 inches.

What does the bird do all day and when do you feed it in the evening and what does it eat in the evening?

It usually does one of two things: When I’m anywhere nearby it always runs to the opposite end of its cage and upon entering my hand it proceeds to bite me. When left alone, it just preens or sits still. Sometimes it’ll grab a quick bite, but overall it seems like a rather inactive bird. In the evening I usually feed it some sort of a veggie. The other day we fed it a red pepper and it really enjoyed it!

When does the bird go to bed at night and do you cover the cage or not?

It usually goes to bed around 9 PM and we do cover the cage to signal that nighttime has begun.

@liz thank you so much for the insight! I’ll definitely position his cage at face level and try to talk to him wherever I can. The "help" idea is pretty cool too! I’ll try to make him learn

@Pajarita He’s currently not in a corner but I’ll drape the other two sides to make him feel more secure. Hopefully not looking at him directly and not touching him for a while should do the trick! The people at the rescue said specifically that he wasn’t handled well in his first year so he’s very afraid of people. They mentioned that he will probably open up with time, and talked about some “positive reinforcement” technique that I couldn’t properly understand at the time…

[Wolf]

Ok from your post there is more than one person who is around this bird, do they try to interact with the bird? I don't know who this other person or persons are, and am not trying to dig so all I need to know is if it is a child or if it may be a significant other. What pellets are you feeding to the bird, I ask because some pellets are junk and should not be allowed to be manufactured for birds. I do not know if your schedule will allow you to do this easily or not but Ideally your bird should be uncovered just before dawn, while it is still dark so that it can get the light from the predawn twilight and then allowed to wake up all on its own which it will right around sunrise. it should have breakfast about an hour after that and then in the evening it should be fed about an hour before sunset and allowed to go to sleep around full dark after receiving the light from dusk. This is basically the very same schedule that the wild birds keep and is referred to as a solar schedule.
As for the toys in its cage it may be afraid of them but unless it is cowering in a corner of the cage just leave the ones that are there and he will get used to them. It is also possible that he has no idea as to what they are or how to use them, it will probably take a little bit of time before he is ready to attempt to play with them and if he doesn't know what they are and doesn't try after a while, we can tell you how to help him with that. It is not uncommon when you acquire a bird with this type of background that it will come to you for food and be afraid and run or be aggressive when you don't have food. This is part of the behavior that we are in the process of walking you through. Ok, the whole cage is about 5'8" tall but what are the dimensions of the actual cage, meaning the part that the bird is in and not the playtop or the base of the cage. It sounds like it may be the right size of cage, but it does not hurt to be certain.
Keep feeding the bird a variety of vegetables but avoid avocados as they are toxic to the bird. I am including a link to a topic here on the forum that has a list of good and bad things for your bird. The list begins on the second page of the topic, read it and book mark it for ready reference.
viewtopic.php?f=8&t=12521 This is the link.
I would get some small bird seed to feed your bird in the evening something like a budgie or cockatiel seed mix that is not dyed pretty colors as the dyes are not good for him. I cook for my birds it is called gloop and consists of cooked whole grains, cooked vegetables and cooked white beans and lentils. I feed this in the morning along with a couple of fresh raw vegetables and fruit. and then I feed a portion of seed mix for dinner which I remove from the cage after the bird goes to sleep.
Since the bird will come to you when it knows that you have something to eat I would offer the bird a little bit of a sprig of millet while sitting down and talking to the bird. Talk for a few minutes and offer some millet through the cage bars and continue talking and in a few minutes offer a little more millet. Do this two or three time during a 10 minute session.

[Pajarita]

Positive reinforcement simply means that you praise the 'right' behavior and ignore the bad. It basically means no punishment ever. But, with parrots, you need to get their trust before the positive reinforcement starts to work and this takes months and sometimes years, it depends on the bird itself. The first few weeks or months are what we call 'the honeymoon period' when the bird will be on his best behavior, no bites, usually no screams, etc. Then, as they start feeling more comfortable in their surroundings and realize that you are there to stay, they start showing their 'true colors' and this is when positive reinforcement (as well as good husbandry) starts to work.

So, for now, you need to worry and concentrate on bonding with your parrot and this means you need to convince him that you are 100% trustworthy and not a threat to him in any way (parrots are prey animals so they are hard-wired to be leery of strangers). Give him his space, provide a quiet and safe spot for him so he can familiarize himself with his new home and family without feeling any type of pressure. Talk, sing, whistle and praise, praise, praise and bribe, bribe, bribe! I know it sounds a bit extreme and you will find lots of people saying stuff like: "Get him used to what he is going to be getting in the future" - "Don't give him more in the beginning than what he will get later on" - etc but the thing is that parrots need what parrots need and that's hours and hours of attention so what you give him in the beginning is what you will have to give him for the next 40 years and getting him used to less has nothing to do with what he needs.

But, the most important piece of advice is to allow him to set the pace in the relationship so, if he backs off from you, don't get so close that he feels the need to do this, watch his body language and learn to recognize the signals he is sending (parrots don't really need to speak human language to make themselves understood, they are VERY good at communicating non-verbally but one needs to pay attention). This will change and he will allow you to get close and interact with him - this is actually pretty inevitable because parrots are highly social and they NEED the closeness to another bird but, if there isn't any other bird, he will get close to you AS LONG AS HE TRUSTS YOU so work on that and just follow his lead and you will be fine.