GoDiego

Here's Diego trying to convince me that he had not been at the sunflower seeds!

This is such a good point to make about an Amazon. Diego does everything full speed ahead and this is just his way, however, sometimes he just does not know when to stop! One of Diego's favourite games is hand wrestling and will grab my fingers and hands with both feet and his beak, hang upside down and generally act like a clown. However, I have to watch him very, very closely when we play this game as he can get wired very quickly and when this happens It's time for him to be left alone to calm down as he does not know when to stop. His bites become harder and faster, not out of aggression but because you can see him getting more and more excited with the situation and losing control of his emotions. I just say to him, "OK that's enough now, or it will end in tears" and pop him back on his perch. I've also got him used to stepping up onto a wooden pole for when he is really wired but I need to get him back to his perch. A few times he as really bitten hard the pole and I have thanked god that I have used it. Luckily I find Diego's body language pretty easy to read as he is very much "what you see is what your gonna get" When he gets over excited his body language changes to: Slicked down feathers A snaking motion with his neck Eyes pinning Beak slightly open with his tongue moving rapidly and he also makes a funny squealing noise, but very different from his stay away growl. So far by nipping any over excited behaviour in the bud I have saved myself a few bites, however my arms do not get off lightly and I am constantly covered in cuts where he hangs upside down from me.

Haha, since his explosion he has not said any of the words again except Hola, but I am sure we will be hearing them again pretty soon. He has always chatted away loudly when I have had music or the hoover on but never anything recognisable. I was proud of him today and cannot wait to hear another outburst

I can't tell you how I feel after reading and seeing those photos. Sickened, Sad and very very Angry......

I've read that parrots tend to pick up words better when they are spoken with emotion. Also to talk with them rather than at them by repetition, not sure how true this is. I am sure she will surprise you one day soon.

Today, Diego shocked us all with his talking. Up until now the only word he has ever said is Hola. Today, he was just sat on his perch chattering like normal, then all of a sudden it was like an explosion of words! In a short 5 minutes he shouted out and repeated: Hola Guapo (Hello Handsome) Clever boy Good boy Diego No Que Queries? (What do you want?) Come here Then finishing off with a very loud and very proud Wolf Whistle! We all just sat there staring at him in amazement. It was like he had been storing them all up and all of a sudden had the confidence to shout them all out. Afterwards he sat there looking like the proudest parrot in the world as we all praised him. He then went on to showing off and acting like a real clown on his gym, I think the excitement was too much for him to contain. LOL I am just amazed how all the words came out at once with such force. I'm gutted I did not think to grab the video camera and will now have it close by so that I can catch the moment, if he ever does it again.

Have you had a look on ebay? I've seen quite a few listings for chains especially to make parrot toys. I searched parrot toy parts or even parrot chain.

Thanks Jayd, after what you said I looked into it on the internet and yes only Bitter Almonds come up as toxic to parrots. Taking my new knowledge on about almonds, I baked Diego some special bread for him, which I added ground almonds.

I had another one in the freezer which I gave him yesterday but still no joy, this time he wasn't even interested in it when it had defrosted. Parrot Popsicles are a no go for Diego, however, I am going to have a go at making some parrot bread for him. Not sure how I will be going about it yet, but I am sure that my normal cooking skills of throwing it all in and hoping for the best will work. LOL. If it comes out well, I will post a picture and how I did it.

That's interesting to know Jayd as I have stayed clear of Almonds as I do know they are poisonous for quite a few different animals including dogs. Because of this I kind of assumed they were also poisonous for Parrots also.

Amazons love their showers. Diego looks like a drowned rat after he's had a good shower, he loves it and arches his wings like an Eagle so I can spray under the wing and in the hard to reach places.

Your poor girls coming from this breeder, at least now they have a very loving home. Diego also flies inside the house, the reason for the harness, is we spend a lot of time outside and it would be lovely for Diego to join us out of his cage. I take him out for an hour a day in the cage to get some sunshine, but you can almost see him longingly looking through his cage bars to join us.

Oh that broke my heart! Swallows are such intelligent birds, we have a swallows nest on our house and although all my friends say I should wash it away with a hose because they make such a mess down the side of the house with the poo, I could not even think about it. The same pair return every year to raise another clutch of eggs and I love hearing the babies when the parents return with food, it is one of the best sounds of spring to me. When a baby falls from it's nest, the parents still tend to it and bring it food and care for it on the ground. The important thing with baby swallows is to never remove them from where they have fallen as the parents do know where they are and they are still being cared for and often go onto being adult birds.

Diego my Amazon will only say Hola, Hola, Hola! He does know other words as when some music is played loud or the hoover is put on he chats up a storm! The funniest time Diego uses this word is when he flies to me but overshoots my arm, he whizzes past my face and all you can hear as he goes by is Hooooooollllllllllaaaaaaaaaa! If Diego says Hola repeatedly and in a high pitch almost as though he is screaming, I ignore him. However, when he is says Hola in a normal way, I always approach him and start talking to him so that he can see that saying things is a good way to communicate with me. With Sunny saying Hello to you, this is fantastic and now that he knows he can use this one word to communicate with you, others are sure to follow in time.

Yeah I watched the video and was almost in awe of the quite and placid Macaw he was using to put the harness on. He said that this particular Macaw had only had around 10 hours of handling in the 6 months of his life and I could not believe how well behaved it was! I'm thinking although I can use some of the pointers he made during the video, I may need to adopt my own way of getting the harness on. I think there is going to be a lot of distraction needed. I'm going to try giving him his favourite wooden book to play with whilst I try and put it on him, so that it distracts him from playing with the harness. He's not scared of the harness at all, OK, he's not sure about it when it goes over his head but I think it's more of a case he just does not get what it's for yet and sees it as mummy playing with him as before I got the harness I played with him a lot with a looped shoe lace.

Mmmmm, this was what I was thinking LOL. OK so a broken off switch I can deal with, but any ideas on how I can work with him to get the harness on. He just bites and claws it, not in an aggressive way but to play with it. This is not a bad thing as he is obviously not threatened by it, but at the same time it makes it impossible to get the harness on him. LOL

Today Diego's new Aviator harness has arrived in the post. I've started the process of getting him used to it but I'm thinking it's going to take a while. Diego is fine with me cupping his head in my hand, touching under his wings, and sometimes lifting the wings. Today, he stuck his head through the harness but quickly backed out again. He did this a couple of times and I treated him each time. He was not scared of it, but thought it was just a game in the end and ended up upside down from my fingers and clowning around. Does anyone else manage to get a harness on an Amazon? From what I can see from watching youtube videos, other species of parrots seem to be a bit calmer then Diego. Diego constantly has ants in his pants and is looking around for the next thing to chew or explore. Does anyone have any advice on how to calm an Amazon down whilst putting a harness on, or is his hyperactivity because of his age or is it just an Amazon thing? I saw the thread on the Grey section about cuddling in a towel, but Diego is not a cuddly bird. He likes a good scritch and he cuddles in his own way but not in the way I have seen other parrots do. Some advice on how to go about this would be great.

I've said it before, but Pippa is so lucky to have found you. She's a fighter Tweedle and your her strength so she can keep fighting!

I am really sorry to hear that Gizmo is not joining your family. I wish that everyone that purchased or adopted a parrot would think about the financial side of keeping these wonderful birds. Although it is obviously very frustrating for you to not be in the position to give Gizmo a new home, you have been very considerate and sensible with your decision. There are so many parrot owners who cannot afford their feathered friends and it is often the birds that suffer especially if they require a vet but the bills cannot be paid. Like Judygram said, when one door closes another opens. With regards to this woman keeping 30+ birds without the correct conditions and care is verging on abuse and agree that maybe this woman could be reported. It really gets me why people decide to keep birds as trophies rather than for being companions?

Introducing this weeks Amazon of the Week: The Yellow Shouldered Amazon (Amazona barbadensis) also known as the Yellow Winged Amazon Distribution / Range Restricted to small coastal area in the North of Venezuela and the islands of Blanquilla, Margarita and Bonaire. Although never proven to naturally occur in Curaçao, an 18th century historical source reports the former presence of a wild parrot population. Others think that this parrot was introduced to Curaçao at a later date along with Aruba. Unfortunately the Yellow Shouldered Amazon is now extinct in Aruba and also possibly on Curaçao. This Amazon inhabits xerophytic vegetation (Suculant Plants) areas, and frequents desert shrublands dominated by cacti and low thorn bushes or trees. They have also been reported around cultivated areas and around mangroves. They can be found up to 450m (1476ft) on Margarita and maybe even higher on the Mainland. There population in the wild is decreasing due to Tourist and associated developments destroying their habitat. This is especially true on Margarita, where the principal breeding, roosting and feeding sites are threatened by unregulated mining for construction materials. This Amazon is also widely exploited for the pet trade and in some areas is hunted fro allegedly damaging crops. On Bonaire, natural vegetation has been heavily degraded for charcoal production, and through extensive grazing by goats has drastically reduced natural food sources for these Amazons. Because of these threats and their decreasing numbers they have been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Natural Habitat and Breeding These lovely Amazons are usually found in pairs, families; also in larger flocks up to 100. They nest in cavities of trees, cacti or cliffs generally from March to September but this varies depending on weather conditions. They tend to roost communally in tall trees or rock outcroppings, with groups of up to 700 birds recorded. Their clutches range from 2 to 3 eggs, these eggs hatch in around 26 days and the chicks normally fledge at 9 weeks of age. Wild Diet They mainly feed on fruits from several wild trees/bushes, seeds, nectar rich blossoms, cactus tops and cactus fruit. They have also been known to take crops such as Mango, Maize and even toxic avocado. Description The Yellow Shouldered Amazon averages between 31-33cm (12.4 inches) in length from head to the tip of the tail. An average adult weight is 270g (9.4oz). Both adults have a prodminately green body with fine black scalloping on the feathers. A white forhead, forecrown and lores. A yellow hindcrown to the area around the eyes and upper cheeks. The thighs and the bend of the wing ("shoulder") are yellow but both can be difficult to see. The throat and the belly often have a bluish tinge. Like with most members of the genus Amazona, it has broad dark blue tips to the remiges and a red wing-speculum. It's beak is horn coloured. There calls are loud and raucous and tend to be less musical than other Amazons. By: Carolina Related Links: http://www.parrots.org/index.php/encyclopedia/profile/yellow_shouldered_amazon/ http://www.avianweb.com/yellowshoulderedamazon.html http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=1677&m=0

Here is a wonderful organisation who's mission is to restore and conserve the natural ecosystems of Central America’s Pacific slope. By rebuilding forests and connecting ecosystems from land to sea, they are actively combating climate change and saving wildlife, such as the endangered sea turtle, spider monkey, and yellow-naped Amazon. Not only working with the natural ecosystem, they are also working very closely with the local communities to develop more sustainable livelihoods in eco-tourism, fishing, agriculture, and natural resource management. This is a wonderful website outlining all of the hard work this organisation puts into protect our beautiful land but also our lovely Yellow Naped friends. Here is the link to visit their website http://www.pasopacifico.org/ Also here is a fantastic video on how they are helping to save the Yellow Naped Amazon. [video=youtube;il-Z4lEZ2aU]

Deigo loves these, problem is he keeps trying to steal our real ones when we are writing a note. I had kinda thought this may be the case, it will take some time but as we say here in Spain Poco, Poco (Little by little).

Are you meaning the wine? Unfortunately it probably won't as gone were the days where I could drink more than 1 glass and not have a headache. 2 Glasses now and I get a hangover the next day, I've turned into a lightweight. LOL Although it has only been a couple of days, he does seem to be tolerating them more now. He's enjoying the treats from them and so now does not growl at them when they approach him. He still won't let them touch them, but then the boys are not too keen to do this yet either as they are also building their trust with him again. He did step up onto my eldest's arm yesterday for a treat and was quite happy to sit there. I'm just going to keep going with what I have been doing and hopefully it will keep improving. Diego also loves to chew everything and anything. I bought recently a bird Tiki hut which he loves to shread the roof off and he also loves wooden pegs without the metal spring inside as chewable foot toys.

He's lovely! Loving the setup at the top of your cage, I notice you have a few foot toys for him. Do you find he prefers these to the hanging ones? Diego tends to ignore any hanging toys that he cannot climb but loves playing around with his foot toys, his favourite is a wooden book, he actually makes his happy baa baa sounds when he sees me bringing it to him.

Too funny LOL!