Amazon body language

[Elmosis]

Absolutely brilliant advice thankyou, I've read it 3 times over and if it's OK I will print it. One question if you please... when I get up on a morning and Elmo hears me coming downstairs, he makes a loud honking noise. I go say hello and then he starts with lots of different vocal noises head bobbing and lifting his wings although not flapping them.... Is this him calling his flock and saying good morning? He calms then after a few minutes

 

[Birdman666]

That is happy/excited to see you... (I want attention!)

 

[YoshiSwe]

I'm trying to do a bit of a crash course in amazon body language before tomorrow when I need to go pick up my blue fronted amazon girl. I am a complete novice when it comes to parrots.

I'm looking at tons of videos on youtube of this breed to try to learn. I am wondering about this video, this bird is happy I guess? Not biting just singing and excited? But what about that super flared tail? I thought that generally mean they are angry?

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWLRd8czdM8"]Blue Front Amazon REHOME - YouTube[/ame]

Thank you,
Victoria

 

[SailBoat]

As I am sure that Birdman666 will add and I hope he will forgive me for addressing your question in his Thread. - This is an Amazon that is excited and happy in the moment.

The fully flared tail is one of the signs of an excited Amazon. In addition, you are seeing a fully stretched body in height with lifted body feathers. Excited, but not crazed - still in control of the moment. An excited Amazon is a joy to be around, BUT - it would not be wise to further excite this Amazon. Enjoy the where he is.

When judging the emotional state of an Amazon, its the combinations within the overall presentation. In this example, note the eyes are steady not pining, the wings are close to the body not lifted and not combined with a clearly seen body rocking action.

 

[Birdman666]

EXACTLY!!!

Tail flairing BY ITSELF can mean a lot of things.

Eye pinning BY ITSELF means nothing.

Tail Flairing is something you look at IN CONJUNCTION WITH other body postures.

ANGRY/TERRITORIAL body posture is tail flairing COMBINED WITH bird hunched over, beak open, wings quivering, eye pinning, territorial intrusion noises, bird tense and ready to launch at you... ATTACK MODE/LINE OF DEATH DANCE...

Standing straight up and down like that, making "flirting" noises while the eyes pin and the tail flairs? THAT'S THE HAPPY TO SEE YOU DANCE.... INTERACT WITH ME, I LOVE YOU MAN!!! IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE ALIVE...

BODY POSTURE.... tells you all you need to know. This bird is relaxed, not tense, and standing straight up.

THINK OF IT THIS WAY: If amazon body posture is a form of language these birds use with each other.... tail flairing and eye pinning is the word "AND"!! IT'S A WORD THAT GET USED ALL THE TIME, BUT IT'S A CONJUNCTION. IT HAS NO MEANING WITHOUT THE WORD BEFORE IT, AND THE WORD AFTER IT...

THIS IS A FORM OF LANGUAGE. THINK OF IT IN THOSE TERMS. IT'S EASIER TO DIGEST. YOUR BIRD IS SPEAKING TO YOU IN COMPLETE SENTENCES, AND THEY ARE BEING COMPLETELY HONEST WHEN THEY SPEAK...

That to me is why I find that whole "unpredictable" thing about amazons to be absurd. They're easy birds to read... once you "get it."

 

[Birdman666]

Crash Course for you.

Two times you absolutely let an amazon be...

1. When the bird is in "territorial intrusion" mode. i.e. doing the line of death dance thing, which, with a friendly bird almost never happens. Not unless a "disfavored person" situation arises;

2. When the bird is in "do not disturb" mode. Wing flipping at you is a hint... I'm calm and content where I'm at right now. Leave me alone. I want to relax.

One where you have to wait for the bird to calm down:

3. When the bird is so excited and happy to see you, and playful, that it starts getting worked into a state... I WANT TO PLAY... and how do amazons PLAY with their toys?! That's right! THEY BITE THEM!!! So, you have to step back give the bird a moment to finish his little excited to see you dance. THEN pick them up. That way they don't start pinching or biting in the middle of their little dance...

SOME OF THAT IS JUST PLAY MODE. AND TREE BRANCHES DON'T CARE IF THE BIRD PLAYFULLY CHEWS ON THEM A LITTLE. WHEN YOU ARE THE HUMAN BIRD TREE... YOU CARE!!!

And you have to communicate to them, gently but firmly, that this is unpleasant for you... and that's a boundary they need to remember if they want the interaction with you...

Don't overthink it. Relax. It's a bird. It'll be fine.

 

[YoshiSwe]

She sits on my laptop in front of me, preens, make little squeaky noices etc doesn't step up when i offer my hand, but she doesn't bite either. How do I interpret this?
[ame="https://youtu.be/MGwzdvnsMwE"]What is she doing? - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Birdman666]

Well she was perched on your laptop. The first thing she did was adjust her crop... (that movement with the beak open at the beginning.) then she stretched first one side then the other.

Generally speaking, you pulled your hand away too fast. Keep it in front of her. She's still unsure. You can also set it down on either side of her and invite her to come up.

 

[geoholl]

We adopted a Senior BFA (male) 4 months ago and he was fairly gentle most of the time but I feel that for some reason he has decided I am the enemy.
Whenever I get within 15' of him I get..
(from the stickey)
"Strutting around in a HUNCHED OVER stance, shoulders hunched, head down, beak open, eyes pinning, tail flaired, WINGS HELD SLIGHTLY UP AND POSSIBLY QUIVERING, while chattering TERRITORIAL INTRUSION noises at you: THIS is the AMAZON LINE OF DEATH DANCE."
When he's not doing that he does what I have been calling "Bait and Bite!", he'll seem calm, standing straight with a foot up (Come get me?) and he'll step up and within seconds he reaches down and bites me! This is not a playfull nip, it seems to be an "I really want to see what bone marrow tastes like!" bite. I have been accumulating scars the past month or so and it's really getting old.
How do I make peace?

Geo

 

[PL84]

Love this thread (the other sticky is great too but it's so long that i really need to take time to read it carefully), like someone said this is really good "user manual for amazons", this should be included with every baby amazon sold =)

 

[Anansi]

EXACTLY!!!
...THINK OF IT THIS WAY: If amazon body posture is a form of language these birds use with each other.... tail flairing and eye pinning is the word "AND"!! IT'S A WORD THAT GET USED ALL THE TIME, BUT IT'S A CONJUNCTION. IT HAS NO MEANING WITHOUT THE WORD BEFORE IT, AND THE WORD AFTER IT...

THIS IS A FORM OF LANGUAGE. THINK OF IT IN THOSE TERMS. IT'S EASIER TO DIGEST. YOUR BIRD IS SPEAKING TO YOU IN COMPLETE SENTENCES, AND THEY ARE BEING COMPLETELY HONEST WHEN THEY SPEAK...

Hadn't seen this post before, but this point about bird body language is phenomenal! Well stated, Mark.

 

[Ladyhawk]

Kizzy is doing something I've never seen before. She has maxed out (for now) at about 400 grams, has small bones, a small beak and a small round head. These are generally considered indicators of a female bird, but I do not know for sure. I haven't had her DNA sexed yet and I'm not in any hurry to do so at her age.

When she lifts her head feathers to ask for a scratch and I oblige, she quivers her wings. It's similar to the motion of a baby bird begging, only the wings are held close to the body and shaken very quickly. There's an audible fluttering sound. She quivers at my touch as if it feels so good she simply can't stand it. Usually when she does this, she doesn't let me pet her any further: "Thank you very much. That was amazingly good. I'm totally fine for now." It almost seems like a birdy orgasm, but she's too young for that and no, I'm not touching the naughty bits.

When she wants a proper skritch, she leans into my hand so her nose gets rubbed fairly hard. If she's letting me rub her nose, I pretty much have access to the rest of her body: head, thighs, stomach, web of the wing. She'll even let me extend her wings, which normally isn't one of her favorite activities. It's like she goes into a trance and becomes amazingly cooperative. If only I could turn that on during harness training!

So, any idea what's up with the quivering wings?

 

[wrench13]

I'm amazed at how hard Salty likes to be head scratched. He PUSHES his head into my fingers, I get worried I might be damaging his forehead feathers, buy they always seem fine after. Lady, if Kizzy will let you scratch her all like you say, handling her to put the harness on cant be far off.

Salty quivers his wings if he wants to come to someone from off his ceiling chain.

 

[Ladyhawk]

I'm amazed at how hard Salty likes to be head scratched. He PUSHES his head into my fingers, I get worried I might be damaging his forehead feathers, buy they always seem fine after. Lady, if Kizzy will let you scratch her all like you say, handling her to put the harness on cant be far off.

Salty quivers his wings if he wants to come to someone from off his ceiling chain.

Regarding Harness Training:

Kizzy has to be in the right mood to accept that kind of petting. If she isn't, she wants to play, play, play and may even become nippy if I try to pet her. So, I'm going to incorporate the harness into both moods. Mostly, she wants to play, so why not let her play with the harness?

I've also "adopted" two fake birds: Rio (plush scarlet macaw) and Paco (a talking(?) toucan that repeats everything you say). A third that may fit better into the small harness is on its way. I'm having my mother operate them while I put on the harness. If you're not familiar with it, this is called the model / rival technique. We put the harness on the fake birds last night and gave them treats and praise. Boy, was Kizzy ever jealous! XD She worked really well due to her jealousy.​

Regarding Kizzy's Wing Vibrating:

Her wing quivering is more like wing vibrating. When I woke Gabby up from a sound sleep, he would rapidly flap his wings against his body in irritation. It sounded like a covey of quail taking off. I always replied, "I'm sorry." When Kizzy vibrates her wings, it sounds a little bit like that, only not as loud because she's not irritated. It's completely new to me. I will try to get a video. The only problem is Kizzy seems to know when she's the subject of a camera and stops whatever prompted me to pick it up in the first place.

 

[KiwisMama]

Thanks so much for this ! As a first time large bird owner with an older Blue Front, his behavior was kind of starting to puzzle me a bit because some of the "happy" and "NOT HAPPY AT ALL, BACK OFF!" behaviors are similar with small differences! Ive only had him a few days, so theres plenty of time to learn! I do notice hes a whole different bird on his cage and quite territorial!

 

[texsize]

Don't wory, your Amazon will be happy to train you using the negative reinforcement method LOL.

For my YNA the big difference is being vocal.
Tail fanned, eyes pinning, neck feathers fluffed up and going sssssss....sssss. SSSSSSS. that means it would be a bad time touching/picking up.

If he is doing all the above and the hissing is replaced by head swinging and saying everything he knows he's ok for attention.

 

[Davinchi]

My YNA has lately been doing this thing like he is eating something but he has no food in his beak. Constantly opening and closing his beak while moving his tongue around. Any clue what this might be?

 

[SailBoat]

My YNA has lately been doing this thing like he is eating something but he has no food in his beak. Constantly opening and closing his beak while moving his tongue around. Any clue what this might be?

This would likely be your YNA adjusting the food in its 'crop' to allow for it to more easily pass into the lower track. Unless this become expensive /continuous it is nothing to be concerned about!

 

[Kiwibird]

My YNA has lately been doing this thing like he is eating something but he has no food in his beak. Constantly opening and closing his beak while moving his tongue around. Any clue what this might be?

I concur with Sailboat. Sounds like your amazon is adjusting his crop. It can look a bit frightening, like they are choking or trying to vomit, but is normal for birds to do.

 

[Davinchi]

My YNA has lately been doing this thing like he is eating something but he has no food in his beak. Constantly opening and closing his beak while moving his tongue around. Any clue what this might be?

This would likely be your YNA adjusting the food in its 'crop' to allow for it to more easily pass into the lower track. Unless this become expensive /continuous it is nothing to be concerned about!

Thanks! I was a bit worried he had food stuck or something.