Talon

My birds all learn by association as well as by me repeating phrases or songs over and over. Talon can sing Happy Birthday to you & say Merry Xmas ho ho ho. She also says Be back soon, when I am going to put her in her cage for when I go out. They all associate bedtime with nite nites. Talon also says Thirsty Bird whenever she wants a drink. My other two, love to yell at the dog when he barks, and also each other by ssying Bad Bird or GIT OFF OF THERE! The more I talk, the more they do. It took YEAR before Talon would say her own name even tho I worked really hard at getting her to say it. She just wouldn't, but now she says it all the time. AFTER I gave up!

Hi, yes, the title says it all. I am late for work every day 15-20 minutes because of Nilah! She used to be easy to put back in her cage after breakfast so I could eave for work. Then gradually, it became harder to get her into her cage...so I used bribes, snacks, treats, food...her most wanted items.......that worked for a while until she figured out what I was up to. Now, she wont fall for any of my tricks. She flies away from me constantly!!! FOr the last week, I have had to try and grab her, or when she will step up, I can see she is going to fly off, and I have to hold her tightly against me while she makes hamburg out of my hands...Luckily no blood, but boy does it leave red marks for days and it hurts!!! I don't react at all or say a word to her at that point. I DO praise her when she is in her cage and give her a treat just so there's no hard feelings. Any suggestions would be appreciated....please...

That's great news! I have never been able to get mine into their cages for bedtime on their own.

Happy Birthday Cosmo! Sounds like you are very special! Love reading the story on how you came to your forever home. I looks forward to more! Hope you were showered with greyt presents and treats!

Jeff, those are very inspirational words to live by. I wish my kids had been lucky enough to have you for a teacher.

My avian vet only does a Gram stain test, unless the results or my birds exhibit any other symptoms. Checkup & gram stain is under $150

Beautiful pic!

How old is Chili? I went thru this same problem with my amazon Nilah. She was around 2 1/2. My hands felt like they were turned into hamburg, after I finally got her into her cage for bedtime, night after night. But I read somewhere when I first got her, NEVER allow an amazon to win, you HAVE to let them know YOUR the head flock. If they win by biting, it will only get worse and they will become uncontrollable. So...I allowed her to chomp down so she had the last word (she thought) but actually I had the last word, cause she still went into her cage and I never reacted or made a peep to her bite. I would tell her no bites, but I said it calmly so she didn't think I cared. When I was at my wits end, I posted for help here...I had to turn all the lights off as Janet suggests and repeat over and over softly "time for Bed, nuh nites" which she says every night now. It was a stage she went thru as I suspected, and in time her bites became lighter and lighter, and barely anything if at all now.

Yes, beak slaps are common here too. Rikki does it to my cheek, Talon prefers to slap her beak on things that make a loud noise or clinging sound from a glass

Oh Nancy, my heart breaks for you and your family. This is too close to home for me, with Nilah, and I also have a dear friend who lost their grey a couple of months ago as well. I have heard others say dusk and dawn are good times for contact calls and searching by name, many times they hear and answer back or fly to you. My prayers are with you never give up.

My Bird is probably going to get lots of flack about this, but this is what talon and I enjoy doing.........And Feathered Friends, DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME! Just call us Danger Birds! http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s98/talon1013/20130707_101738_zpsea5371b2.mp4

Oh how adorable! Welcome to our family Thane!

Excellent video! Thank you for sharing that with us. There is a lesson we can all take away from that video.

Nice to hear you had a good day Jeff! Just a thought I'm going to throw out...my cag Rikki misbehaves for a day or two after if she had too much cheese.....once and a while, she helps herself to too much pizza or mac & cheese.

Interesting topic on bites. My greys will cut as they do keep their beaks pretty darn sharp! My amazon just grabs and squeezes as much pressure as possible. It leaves a red swollen mark in a V shape. Nilah only bites me when she doesn't want me to take her away from what she wants to do, which is many times because she is into something ...forbidden !

Those of us that have both species know what others probably don't. Most people think that a bite from a parrot is a bite, but there are huge differences in there bites from my experience. The best way I have found to describe it: a Grey will slice or cut the skin when they bite. An Amazons bite is hard and more like vice grips latching on and squeezing with incredible power! Almost like getting your finger shut in the car door!

Jeff, it DEFINATELY is not te same for sure. I must admit, I do allow a beak kiss on the lips from my greys when we are on our way to bed, depending on their body language, their mood, and how quiet they have been. Not every night, but some nights......always with a missy sound. BUT never with my amazon, as much as she loves me and loves to cuddle, she is very affectionate, but she leans to far towards me with her beak open, and she is a biter. Like Janet, I mostly keep my face turned away if she is on my shoulder so she can't bite it, or keep my distance when we are chatting. As sweet as she is, she can give a nasty bite.

Nice pictures, I enjoyed them.

Omg Dave. Thank you for posting that it's a lesson we all need to be reminded of.....I ne'er trust my birds to kiss them. We do a,pretend kiss at a distance of maybe 4 inches and I am always careful to watch and ready to pull away in case they lunge at me.

My tag has always loved her green hut...yes, it must remain dark green. When she was little, she always climbed in it and slept in it for the night, but as she grew older, she prefers to perch on top of it and that where she sleeps. It is Ning as high as I could get it, but she still wants to be on top of it. My cag wants nothing to do with them. My amazon loves to crawl inside and play, but only when they are outside hanging somewhere.

Wow, talk about caught between a rock and a hard place. I LOVE your determination and your drive about not leaving her behnd. Please keep us updated on this. It is an important topic to have here. 6 months pronged. It is a learning experience for us all. You have our support and prayers and wishes.

Oh my! Hope your staying cool as best you can!

My tag loved to sleep in a happy hut. Now tat she is a grown up (in her opinion) she prefers to sleep on top of it!

Nice pics. Thanks for sharing!

I am no expert. I can only go by what my tag looked like, although she was 8 1/2 weeks old when she was shipped to me. I think that at 12 weeks, they are still quite young and will exhibit the down feathers, after all they are still a baby. I don't think he is any younger than that. He is beautiful and has pretty eyes.