Identifying the age of a Parrot

[Verona]

My Amazon, Chia, died two days ago. It has been tough, and I only had her living with me for 7 years. The previous owner told me at that time she was only 12 years old and had one previous owner before her. I sort of doubted Chia's age, as she seemed to have a lot of problems. She had a club foot, was terrified of people (would do a charge then run away routine). Her bite was timid (soft bite and then run away), couldn't fly and was a closet feather chewer. She didn't interact very much with people, was not at all curious and the first time I took her outside, it was evident that seeing the sky was a new and terrifying experience. I would take her on flight trips around the house by securely holding her while she fluttered her wings in flight while I walked. Flying was something which could never happen to her. After about two years she finally stopped trembling when I went near here and just in the past two years, she was rarely trembling around any humans. She had learned to mimic the cockatiels and turned into my my third cockatiel. She was free range, and would crash land on the floor, then hobble back to climb up to her cage. She kept trying to fly. I don't know what she died from, but the past week she was spending more time in her cage sitting on the floor in her bedding, which was something she never did, as she preferred to sit on top of her cage. We found her Monday morning dead on the outside of her cage. There was no trauma and she didn't fall down off the cage. To make a long story short, I am just wondering if there is any way you can tell how old a parrot actually is? Does an older parrot's beak look different than a young bird? Do they die as young as 20 yrs old? One of my cockatiels is 19 yrs old and is very healthy and happy. I am just trying to convince myself that there was nothing I could have done to prevent her death, if she was older than what I had thought. I can't help but feel guilty for not recognizing she was in distress. I removed the medal band off her leg and it has a series of numbers on it. Can this be used to track down an age? Thanks.

[Mum2rory]

Sorry, cannot help you on age. RIP sweet bird. Love that photo.

[coral]

i think the bands have something to do with breeder identification or something im sure. my parrot doesnt have one. im so sorry to hear about your loss and if any of your other birds stop eating or sitting on the bottom of their cage or not acting like themselves you should take them to the vet as soon as possible because thats a sign of illness. i hope someone can help you find out her age.

[Sarah]

Sorry to hear of your loss, my heart goes out to you.

Coral you are correct, the leg band identifies the breader and the year the bird was hatched, as well as the birds identification number. Its not an exact date if I recall correctly, but it is a year. I kept my birds band even though we had it removed for safety, I should go take a look at it.

There should be a breader code on the band, if you wanted I am sure you could try to get in touch with the breader. If the breader kept good records you may be able to get an exact hatch date by giving them the ID number on the band. Though if the bird is as old as you were told that may be easier said than done.