Parrot Frequently Asked Questions

Question: Should I buy an adult untamed bird or a handfed baby?

It is always better to purchase a hand-fed parrot. Taming an adult parrot can take some time and requires consistency and dedication. All too often, people run out and purchase untamed parrots thinking that in only a few days they will be able to tame the parrot. This is simply not the case. If you don't have time or dedication to tame an adult parrot, obtain a hand-fed baby just weaned so you will have a good pet that loves people.

Question: I already bought an adult untamed parrot and don't know how to tame the parrot.

Begin by allowing the parrot a bit of time to settle into its new home and then work with the UP command.
The "Up" command is the very first behavior you should teach your parrot. Whether you have a tame, loving, hand-fed baby that is just weaned or you have an older, untamed parrot, the process is still important. It's a question of good manners! Of course, the process for teaching the behavior to a hand-fed, young bird is much, much easier and quicker than teaching an untamed bird. It is, however, nonetheless necessary.
When I work with a parrot that is untamed, I find it works best to use a spare perch or untreated wooden dowel which is rather long. I like to work with the parrot outside its cage, but if that isn't possible, you can perform the process with the parrot inside the cage if you have a large door opening and can move the perch about easily. Be sure the selected perch is comfortably sized for your parrot species.
Place the perch just above the parrot's feet and just below its breast while saying "Up" clearly. There is no need to be loud or sharp, just say "up". Move the perch slightly toward the bird so that it will naturally step onto the perch. Once the bird steps on the perch, reward it with loving sweet talk, telling it what a wonderful smart parrot it is. Repeat this process for about 10 minutes per session with two sessions per day if at all possible. Consistency is the key.
It is important that you do not allow your parrot to refuse to perform the behavior after it has stepped up the first time for you. You want your parrot to understand that this is something it must do when requested. In return, you will provide love, attention, foods and playtime.
As your parrot becomes comfortable stepping onto the perch, you can slowly shorten the distance from your hand to the parrot. I usually find that with untamed parrots, shortening the perch more than once a week can stress them and actually create a loss of the trust we've built. Don't rush the process! Take your time and be certain your parrot is comfortable with each training level.
Eventually, you will reach a point that the distance from your hand to the parrot on the perch is very small. Once your parrot is comfortable with your hand being that close to it, begin the final step - offer your hand or forearm (depending on the size of your parrot) instead of the perch.
How long will this process take? It depends on you, your consistency and your parrot. If the parrot has been stressed or made afraid through abuse or trauma, it can take a long time. If your parrot is simply unfamiliar with you and you just have to prove to it that you won't hurt it, the process can occur quite quickly. If you parrot was hand-fed, you can count on the entire process taking a very short time - in fact, you'll probably start at the final step with the parrot stepping right onto your hand.
I recently brought a budgie home that was just weaning. He was not hand-fed but very young and trusting; he was trained to the "up" command within a week and consistently performs the behavior whenever requested.
Be sure to watch your parrot's body language for clues to the level of trust and level of comfort with the activities you are performing with it. The parrot will generally communicate to you their comfort level using body language - beginning in October we'll study parrot body language, teaching you how to interpret your parrot's body language!

Question: What should I do when I first bring my parrot home?

This question is best answered based on what type of parrot you bought - untamed or hand-fed or tamed.
If your parrot is untamed, allow it to stay in its cage for about two weeks to get used to the surroundings. During this time, avoid moving quickly around the parrot. Talk softly and soothingly to your parrot. After the settling in period, begin with the UP command.
If you purchased a tame or hand-fed parrot, you should place it in its new home and allow it to remain quietly for at least one day. Once you see the parrot playing and searching around, feeling more comfortable, you can begin to interact with your parrot. Hand-fed babies are so tame already that you can begin taking them out and playing with them right away. But, since change is stressful, give them that one or two day period to get settled into their new home.

Question: Should I have my parrots' wings clipped?

This topic is so controversial. However, as the Bird Lady in residence, I think parrots must have their wings clipped. All too often a beloved parrot escapes out an open door, crashes into a mirror or otherwise injures or kills itself. Clip those wings!

Question: What "People Food" is safe for my parrot to eat?

It is much easier to tell you what people food you can not safely feed your parrot. Do not allow your parrot to have any chocolate (it can kill your bird), drinks high in caffeine, foods high in sugar or fat. This doesn't mean that a tiny bite of birthday cake will harm your bird. Just limit the amount of high fat and high sugar foods offered. Do not offer avocado or any fruit seeds. Remove seeds from fruit before offering. Wash all vegetables well. Meat, eggs, cheese or other food that can spoil quickly should be removed after a few hours to ensure no bacteria grow on the food making your parrot sick.
Think of feeding a parrot as you would feed a small child. A small child could have 2 or 3 potato chips but not a whole bag. Since a parrot is much, much smaller, a chip from the edge of one potato chip would be a great treat but potato chips should not become a staple of the diet. Use common sense in feeding your parrot people foods.

Question: How do I teach my parrot to understand the word "No"?

This word is especially useful for parrots that nip or bite. To teach the word, you have to first develop the skill of performing the "evil eye". This simply means that you must make eye contact with the parrot with your most upset, mean look. If the parrot is near you and about to bite or do something you want it not to do, look at it with this evil eye, touch its top beak and say clearly but not extremely loudly, "NO!" Then ignore the parrot or place it back into its cage with the door closed for 10 minutes of time-out.

Question: How do I discipline my parrot?

Time out is the only form of discipline that parrots understand. Yelling, screaming, waving your arms simply add drama to the situation and parrots LOVE drama. They do the behavior that resulted in this display again just to see you react. Never, ever under any condition should physical force be used with a parrot. They will only feel abused and will not get the idea about the behavior.
The only way to disciple your parrot is to use "time outs". This means 10 minutes (no longer) the parrot should be put in its cage with no treats and ignored. If the parrot screams about this, cover the cage for the 10 minutes. Do not leave the parrot in time out any longer than 10 minutes because you want the parrot to learn cause and effect.

Question: I work all day long. Will my parrot be bored?

If your parrot is left in its cage while you are gone all day with no toys, no interesting food and nothing to do, then it will become bored. By providing toys that are brightly colored and fun that are changed on a regular basis plus interesting foods with different textures, colors and flavors, your parrot will be just fine until you get home from work. Your parrot will, however, expect attention as soon as you come home if it is tame and bonded to you.
Change the toys in the cage every few weeks if the parrot is alone all day. Keep the old toys because you can simply rotate toys. The parrot will believe the toy is new!
Some parrots will be somewhat leery of new toys. They may take a bit of time before playing with a new object. Avoid toys that have realistic looking eyes because your parrot may feel threatened. Avoid toys that are too much like real snakes because snakes are a predator to parrots.
If you make homemade toys, be sure they are bird-safe. Give your parrot some natural branches from trees that do not make sap. Avoid avocado, pine and maple branches. Oak and many other local branches that have bark will be great chew toys for your parrot to make into toothpicks. Wash the branch and place it into an oven at 200 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes to ensure any pests are killed. Cool the branch before offering it to the parrot.

Question: I live in South Africa and I've got an 8-month old African Grey. Please, can you help me with this bird as he is very beautiful but very wild, he even growls. He was found being sold on the street in a very small box so friends of mine bought him and managed to get him to South Africa legally with permits and all. I need to try and tame him before I can teach him to speak. Please Help!

The place to begin in taming any parrot is to earn its trust by moving calmly and quietly around the bird. Do not intrude into its territory (cage) unnecessarily. Speak softly and calmly to the parrot at all times.
Provide clean water and healthy food every day and let the parrot realize you are not going to hurt it.
After the parrot has had a bit of time to settle into your home, begin teaching behaviors that lead to trust. The very first behavior that should be worked on with any parrot, tame or untamed, should be the UP command. This article was published recently in a newsletter but if you don't have a copy, please request one via email.

Question: I have a Quaker parrot and he will be two soon. He's a very affectionate and sweet bird but he screams! I live in an apartment complex and I know my neighbors can hear him. I can hear him when I'm across the street! He's always quiet or talking when I'm in the room but as soon as I leave the room, he screams for me to come back. It's loud and annoying. How can I effectively control this behavior? I don't want to have to give him up but that's looking like my only option. Please help!

This is a common problem for apartment dwellers and home owners alike. What is happening is that the parrot is attempting to train their human to respond when "called" by screaming. The first step is to ignore the screaming and do not respond! I know this is hard to do, but it is the only way to avoid reinforcing bad behavior. If you raise your voice or shout at the parrot, it will know that it got what it wanted - a reaction from its human.
I lived in a one-bedroom apartment with a sun conure for years and never was kicked out or even had anyone complain. You could hear the conure a block away when she really let a loud scream out! We discouraged the screaming by ignoring her and, if she continued screaming, providing "time out" for 10 minutes. The 10 minutes time out means that you place them in their cage - preferably a separate cage that has no toys or food and ignore them for 10 minutes. Do not allow the time out to go longer than 10 minutes or the parrot will not be able to make the connection between their behavior and the punishment.
Never, ever respond to bad behavior on the part of a parrot by shouting, banging on the cage, physically threatening the bird or striking it in any way. Some people believe in using a spray of water to quiet the bird but I have found that often the parrot learns to scream in order to get a shower! Time out is the very best, time proven method of discipline.

Question: I have a blue and gold macaw and she turned 12 in April. She was previously owned by a man that she was very attached to, but was treated very poorly by the female, and others in her home. She has a vast vocabulary; unfortunately she knows some very distasteful words, and phrases.

What can I do to help her accept that we love her and want to give her a good home? She replays events and talks them out, and I know that they must be bad memories. An example: "No, no, no, bad bird, no, no, stop it! Shut that f---ing bird up!" While I sweep up her seeds she will say "What the F--- is this sh1*?" Can you help us?
This is very, very sad. April is clearly a victim of what, if she were human, would be called "post traumatic stress disorder". She has had some very bad experiences and it will take a lot of time and love for those to recede in her memory. Of course, they will never go away completely, but with a great deal of love and patience, she will come around.
Lavish this macaw with love and affection. Speak calmly and soothingly to her at every opportunity. Don't allow anyone in the household to cause her any stress whatsoever. Provide her with a good diet of seeds or pellet plus lots of fresh food and keep her supplied with interesting toys.
Watch for her to begin eating when the people eat a meal if she is in sight of the dining area. This is a sign of "accepting the flock members", with the humans being her flock.
You can work on teaching her new and more acceptable words constantly. Macaws are very intelligent and often develop an extensive vocabulary. Obviously your parrot is well on her way.
Patience, love and peace are the best ways to help this bird who has finally found a safe and loving home! I'm so happy she is no longer in that bad and abusive situation!

Question: My parrot is losing feathers. I see them in the bottom of the cage and around the house. The seasons are changing and the vet said it was normal. Is this true?

Yes, the vet is correct. Parrots "molt" usually two times per year. They love a few feathers at a time and do not show bare patches. Just as humans lose hair and it is replaced with new hair, so parrots lose feathers that are replaced with new feathers.
The new feathers will grow inside a keratin sheath. This sheath looks a little bit like the feather is coated with plastic or wax. The parrot will groom the sheath away or may want you to groom it away when the feather is mature.
Feathers, when fully grown in, are no sensitive. Just as your hair does not have nerves inside the hair, only in the scalp, parrots have no nerves in fully developed feathers. However, while a new feather is growing in, the feather has a blood supply and the parrot can feel if the feather is bumped. Parrots may get a little grumpy during their molting period because prickly feathers are growing in.
Feathers are made primarily of calcium. Make certain that your parrot has access to cuttle bones or mineral blocks so that calcium is available whenever your parrot wants some.

Question: I have two Love Birds - they have been together for about four months and have not started breeding. How do I go about to determine their sexes without the help of an expert?

Lovebirds are not sexually dimorphic. This means, you generally cannot tell if a lovebird is a male or a female just by looking at it. There are some subtle differences between males (cocks) and females (hens), however, there is no certain way to tell for sure unless you have a DNA test performed. For this test, you order a kit from one of the many laboratories then taking a sample of blood from your bird. The easiest way to do this is to clip a toenail a little higher than you normally would. Be sure to have styptic powder or flour on hand (they will stop the flow of blood when you are done). This self-testing is quite inexpensive and is a sure way to know for certain. If you do not feel you can take a blood sample from your parrot, ask a pet shop or vet to do this for you, but it will raise the cost quite a bit.
Hens tend to have a wider stance on the perch, and hens tend to be a bit larger. Hens also have wider pelvic bones that can be felt (very gently!!) with an index finger. The pelvic bones of the hen also tend to move a bit when felt, which makes it easier for eggs to pass.
When nesting material is available, around breeding time, both hens and cocks will shred the material, but hens will tuck the material under their wings and into their tail feathers to take them to the nesting box. Males may try to do this, but are usually unsuccessful. But remember, there ca be exceptions to these general indicators of sex. The only sure-fire method is DNA sexing.

Question: My parrot sometimes regurgitates food when with me. It is a very tame, loving bird but I don't understand why it regurgitates and slings food onto me. Help, please?

When a parrot in the wild is bonded to a mate and is ready to breed, the parrots will feed one another by regurgitating food from the crop (place in parrot's body where food is stored before digestion). This is a parrot's way of saying "I really love you."
While you don't want to encourage this behavior, you also shouldn't make a big deal about it. The parrot is paying you the highest compliment possible and you don't want to hurt its feelings by rejecting the offering in a big display.
Remember, this is a compliment and your parrot's way of expressing its love and desire to have a family with you, its favorite person.
The only other reason for regurgitation is illness. If the parrot is in its cage and frequently regurgitating, it should be immediately take to a vet because this is a sign of illness. When regurgitating out of love, the parrot will only do it when with you and when being playful. If the parrot is puffed up, sluggish, not playful, quiet and regurgitating food, immediate medical care must be given or the parrot could die quickly.

Question: How can I tell if my parrot is sick? Someone said that if the tail bobs up and down that the parrot is sick but I don't know if this is true. What are some of the signs of illness?

Parrots tend to hide any symptoms of illness. In the wild, a sick parrot is driven from the flock because it can endanger the whole flock by either spreading illness or being slow to escape predators. Because of this instinct, parrots in our home also try to hide any illness symptoms.
One way to tell is a parrot is healthy is to observe them while sleeping. A healthy parrot, no matter the size or species, sleeps on one foot. If you find your parrot sleeping on two feet and puffed up, then it is probably ill and should be taken to a vet. Check several times because parrots may nap on two feet, but their sound sleep is done on only one foot. Even large birds like flamingos and egrets sleep on one foot.
If your parrot is sitting low on the perch, avoids eating, doesn't play or make any sounds, perhaps keeping its eyes closed, then it is probably sick.
If you suspect your parrot is ill, visit a vet as soon as possible. Illness can progress very quickly and your parrot could die. Act quickly and get to the vet!