Need help with new rescued orange wing amazon

[dburk79]

I just rescued a beautiful orange wing amazon the was found outside being attacked by some wild birds. The foster mom had her for three weeks and i got her today she is really aggressive and has torn my hands up. I love her and want to help her anyone have any suggestions.

 

[EdwardH]

Is this a wild bird, escaped semi tame bird or a fledgling fallen out of a nest? If a wild bird then a lot of time and patience to tame it. It may never happen.
The basics are the same whatever the situation. Spend time near it at a distance that it is comfortable with and quietly talk to it. Gradually move closer to it but at its time frame so that may be a week, month or whatever. When you can stand near the cage feed it through the bars of the cage, use a spoon so that it doesn't bite you. They are social eaters so eat around it and make sure that the bird eats at the same time. As the bird starts to trust you, you can reduce the length of the spon until it is taking food from your hands. It all comes down to building trust. There are plenty of threads on the site which go into far more detail if required.

 

[henpecked]

hey and welcome to the forum. loads of good info in some of the older threads. We could write pages of advice about rehoming OWAs but read though the older threads and ask more specific questions. We'll be glad to help.

 

[henpecked]

Escaped pet,feral OWA, it doesn't matter. In fact feral/wild parrots are often easier to tame than zons who have no fear of humans. Up until the 60/70's almost 100% of pet zons were wild caught. I don't know of any feral zons in your area but they very well could exist.
Back to taming, like some one else said, back off a bit and give him some space. I'd keep the cage near the center of activity in your house. "Stop by" and offer treats ,don't let aggressive behavior drive you away. Stay there until he calms down before you walk away. Don't let him think his lunging,biting is driving you away. Eating dinner next to him is a good way to get him interested in you. be confident and outgoing, make him want to join you and interact with you. When he does show interest in you ,play a little hard to get. Leave him wanting more of your attention instead of him becoming aggressive in order to tell you "that's enough". learn to avoid the bites, don't put him in the situation where he feels he needs to bite you. I'll stop there for now and try to avoid writing a book.

 

[Kiwibird]

You've already gotten some good advice. One thing I'd like to add is when you start to get frustrated and loose hope, just remember this poor bird has been through a lot and only has the mental capacity of a toddler to try to cope with whatever traumatic events it's been through (possible abuse/neglect, living feral, being attacked by wild birds, being captured by unknown humans ect...). You must have patience, patience and more patience! Your working on the birds timescale, not yours and it could take a few weeks for him to warm up or possibly a year or more. My amazon was a 'difficult' bird when we got him. He was mean and acting out and it took a good long time for him to settle down and begin to trust. Even if it may not seem so at times, if your are willing to put in the effort, eventually this bird WILL eventually come around to become a wonderful companion

And as others have mentioned, food is often the best method to earn the trust of an amazon. They are kind of like winged pigs

 

[Birdman666]

Old bird trainers trick. Wrap a towel around each forearm. Wrap that up with ace bandages to keep it in place. Put a loose fitting shirt on over the towels. Now the bird doesn't know they are there and won't be distracted by, or afraid of them.

With a zon, you tuck your thumb into a fist. (They generally go for the thumb.)

Keep a bent fist so there is nothing to latch onto, therefore biting the hand is ineffective. They will attempt to bite your toweled forearm.

Step them up on your forearm. Basic step up, no biting exercises.

When they accept that you move on to basic touch exercises, which I do with two wooden BBQ skewers. Once he accepts touching with the stick, you gradually move your fingers down, until you are touching him with the fingers.

And it is a fact: wild birds don't generally bite as hard as captive bred birds. The reason for that is that captive bred birds have no fear of humans, where the wild bird is still going to be hesitant and afraid. Winning his trust and getting him to allow it the first few times is going to be the battle. Once you get past that point you're golden...

In the wild, fights that cause injury can mean death. They will warn you away rather than attempting to injure. His first instinct is flight, not fight.

 

[Flboy]

If it gets too crazy, I will drive up and adopt him from you, There are many members of this forum in your area, 99% willing to help any way possible!

My adopting him, poor humor, Not really ready for such a commitment! But for sure, you are surrounded by a lot of folks that can help both of you thru this into something amazing!