My Senegal is afraid of other parrots

[Fennie82]

I have a senegal parrot that is 6 years old. I have been bringing him out to socialize. But he will usually perch a distance away from any parrot. He is terrified of other parrots, no matter how small or tame or gentle. How can I get him not to be afraid?

Fennie82
Fufu

[Pajarita]

When you say you have been 'bringing him out to socialize' what, exactly, do you mean? Out of the house to another house? Out of the room where he always is into another room in your house where he never is and where there are more birds? Also, how long have you had him? If not since he was a baby, what were his living conditions prior coming to you?

[Fennie82]

I bring him to meet other parrot and their owners at a gathering place. I am his first owner and he is my only parrot. Living condition: quite standard.. in a medium size cage with windows view. He gets excited when seeing the wild birds flying by and will call out to the wild birds.

[Pajarita]

Ahhhh, well, there is your problem! He has never seen/interacted with other birds and you are taking him out of his 'territory' (your house, his familiar and safe place) into a strange place full of strange people and birds (and this reads DANGER to any prey animal). That's why he is so scared! I know that it sounds wonderful for our birds to go on 'play dates' but parrots are not dogs and they are not children, they are not programmed by nature to accept strangers because, in the wild, they live with the same family they were born to all their lives - and new places are not something to 'explore for the fun of it' for them, parrots hardly ever leave their known territory and that's why they become extinct so easily when their habitat is destroyed, because they cannot adapt to moving somewhere else. Personally, if I were in your shoes, I would not take him to the 'gatherings'. He is getting all stressed out by it and the whole thing becomes harmful instead of beneficial. Have you considered adopting a potential mate for him? Not buying a baby, mind you, because the new bird would be much too young for him and that's not good starting point for them establishing a relationship (it would take years for the second bird to be ready for it) but adopting an adult female might work great for him.

[Wolf]

How long have you had your bird? Do you know how old he is? My biggest fear of taking my birds out to places to socialize with other birds is disease. There are so many pathogens that are carried by other birds and in the places that they have been that remain viable and can infect your birds even months after the birds are no longer there that are fatal to your bird. There are others that even if you realize that your birds is sick early enough that once infected if they survive they are then carriers and will pass it on to other birds. I mean like I buy a toy at the pet store and I wash it and disinfect it before my bird even sees it. When you have a bird in your home and you get another bird it is recommended that you place the new bird in quarantine for a minimum of 30 days and an average of up to 90 days to stop the spread of avian diseases from bird to bird.
New places and new birds will usually cause your bird to maintain its distance as they are afraid that they may be attacked by this strange flock of birds whose territory it is in. Also the age of the bird will affect how it acts in the presence of new birds as will the length of time that you have had the bird as it takes them some time to get accustomed to a new place and strange people who they don't know or have any reason to trust.

[Fennie82]

He is fine being picked by anyone, in order to avoid being with the parrots. At some point of time, I wonder if he knows he is a parrot.

[Wolf]

Again how old is he and how long have you had him? I am not so certain that he is alright with being picked up by anyone, I think it is more like he is a young bird and has come to realize that he does not have a choice in this, so he accepts it for now. The problem is that if I am right the day is not very far off that he will turn on you and you will not be able to handle him at all. I have a Senegal myself.
I am not saying that you cant socialize him, but that there may be better ways to do so then the way you are going about it. Regardless of what I think and say about this, at least show your bird the respect of listening to what he is trying to tell you. When he says, I am scared and don't want to be here, listen to him and stop stressing him so hard. Their intelligence is part of the reason that you got him, so respect the intelligence that he has.
Just so that you know. My Senegal is absolutely fearless when it comes to birds and other animals and she will gleefully take on any animal that approaches too close to me or anything that she has decided is hers. She cows down two 100lb. plus dogs and runs them off from their food dishes because she has claimed one of the bowls as hers. She is less than half the size of my African Grey and maybe a third the size of my Amazon and she will not back down from them. She will fly to the bedroom just so she can land in the center of the bed where there are usually between 4 to 7 cats laying about and walks about among them clicking at them and daring any of them to come in range of her beak.
Again, if your Senegal is afraid of other birds, it is only due to his age and that he is smart enough to know that you are not listening to him so he has no say, no choice and it will backfire on you shortly. It will not be pretty and could so easily be prevented.

[Pajarita]

The bird is six years old and have always belonged to the OP, Wolf. Apparently, the going to these gatherings where parrots are supposed to socialize with other parrots is a recent thing the OP has been doing. And, yes, you are correct that sennies tend to be fearless and quite the aggressor, even with animals much larger than them, but this is always in their own territory.

This bird is an adult but he has never been with other birds and, most likely (please correct me if I am wrong, Fennie), he has not been outside his home often so he is reacting as any other bird would react when taken out of their 'comfort/safety' zone/territory, he is afraid and wants nothing to do with anything new that might mean danger. This reaction is perfectly normal.

Maybe you can invite another owner and his/her bird into your home and see how he reacts to the other bird while in his own home... But Wolf is right about the danger of contagion from other birds because an apparently completely healthy bird could be an asymptomatic carrier of disease and pass it on to your bird. My other concern about these 'play dates' is that parrots do fall in love at first sight. Not all of them and not with any other parrot, either, but I have seen it happen and I've seen it happen with senegals, too! My Sweetpea fell in love with Tobita the second he saw her. There was another female Senegal at the time but he only had eyes for her from day one and never wavered in his affection. So I always wondered how kind is it to introduce a bird to another one when there is no possible relationship for them in the future... what if the birds fall madly in love with each other just to be separated and sent back to their lonely lives?

[Wolf]

Sorry I don't know how I missed his age in your first post, but I simply did not see it.