New Yellow-Naped member MARLEY here :)

[JamJar]

Hi all new to the forum and just bought a Yellow-Naped amazon parrot from some slums in Al Ain here in the UAE and called him "Marley"..

Parrots "APPARENT" Life Story. so I've been told he is 2 years and 8 months old (i think he is younger) and that he has been hand tamed all its life.. i personally think this bird was found and mistreated and then later sold. the guy i bought it from had him in a tiny cage not even big enough for a canary and sold him extremely cheap.

so i got him home and bought him a nice big cage with a few different sized perches and some hanging toys etc.. at first he just sat in the cage and fell asleep till the next morning with not a sound.

its now been 2 days and 2 nights he still hasn't made a single sound apart from grinding his beak and fluffing his feathers. I've been feeding him apple (the guy said it was his fav) oranges, mango and some nuts. found out he is a sunflower seed ADDICT! lol he will get out his cage and climb all over it under its around it in every way possible he sits on all his perches and climbs down the ladder that connects to my sofa/couch and comes up and sits next to me and my wife whilst we are watching TV he even jumps up on our legs if there is seeds up there… BUT if a hand goes near him he backs away and if goes to bite.. he never bites unless u really take the piss its like he doesn't want to but can't be touched..

I'm wouldn't say I'm inexperienced i owned a parrot when i was younger until i had to give him away due to joining the navy and travelled a lot as u can imagine. also my brother has african greys. I'm not scared of getting bitten just the normal reactions i suppose.

My questions are

why is Marley silent i heard amazons are noisy?
can he still learn at this age?
i hope i haven't lost out on all the fun of teaching him to talk, whistle and sing??
do you think I'm trying to touch him/step him up too soon?

he loves to listen to me whistle and goes nuts when i put on led zepplin haha and seems to really relax when my wife sings nursery rhymes to him we also spray him every morning and he open his wings for bait then turned around and shakes his bum HAHA

 

[JerseyWendy]

Welcome to the forum.

Marley is a BEAUTIFUL "Orange Winged Amazon" (not a yellow nape)

Since it's only been 2 days since you got him, I'm pretty certain he's still adjusting to his new home/surroundings. Give him time, please.

 

[henpecked]

Welcome to the forum. like Wendy said,, that's an orange Wing Amazon. (i have several). Does he scratch at his face?? Could he have mites? OWAs aren't known to be the best talkers but many do. I'm sure he'll start to make more sounds as he becomes more accustom to his new home. loads of good info in this section , read thru some of the older threads.

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

Welcome to you and Marley!

YAY! another Orange Wing! I have one, they seem to be a bit on the rare side, but there are a few people on this forum who have them.

Great Parrots! And he looks beautiful! I LOVE mine to the moon and back!

 

[Ann333]

Hello and welcome! Glad you got him out of that small cage. As others have said he is probably adjusting and will find his voice soon enough. Sounds like you have some work to do on hand taming there are a lot of very useful old threads with wonderful advice. Just look through the amazon, and training forums for useful threads!

 

[Allee]

Welcome to the forum and Congratulations to you and your newly adopted friend! Marley is a real beauty!

 

[JamJar]

Welcome to the forum. like Wendy said,, that's an orange Wing Amazon. (i have several). Does he scratch at his face?? Could he have mites? OWAs aren't known to be the best talkers but many do. I'm sure he'll start to make more sounds as he becomes more accustom to his new home. loads of good info in this section , read thru some of the older threads.

MITES? why would you ask that? I'm itching al over since u said that.. yes he has scratched his face maybe two or three times after cleaning himself. he also has sneezed a few times..

I've wanted a parrot for a few years now and this might sound horrible but i bought marley thinking he was a yellow-naped amazon and i was told he was.. I've always been attracted to the vocal parrots..

can anyone give me any idea of the chances of Marley picking up a dozen or so words/phrases.. ?

 

[JamJar]

OMG i really hope Marley doesn't have Mites!?!?!?

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

Welcome to the forum. like Wendy said,, that's an orange Wing Amazon. (i have several). Does he scratch at his face?? Could he have mites? OWAs aren't known to be the best talkers but many do. I'm sure he'll start to make more sounds as he becomes more accustom to his new home. loads of good info in this section , read thru some of the older threads.

MITES? why would you ask that? I'm itching al over since u said that.. yes he has scratched his face maybe two or three times after cleaning himself. he also has sneezed a few times..

I've wanted a parrot for a few years now and this might sound horrible but i bought marley thinking he was a yellow-naped amazon and i was told he was.. I've always been attracted to the vocal parrots..

can anyone give me any idea of the chances of Marley picking up a dozen or so words/phrases.. ?

Henpecked asked about mites because of the bare areas around his eyes that should have feathers. I would take him to an avian vet and get a "well bird" check up just in case.

A yellow nape would have a yellow patch on the back of his neck. He looks just like my Orange Wing.

Mine doesn't say very many human words, but she does have a lot of vocal sounds she makes. It took her several weeks with me to become very vocal, so maybe in time he will get noisier.

Here is a picture of Zilla for comparison...

 

[JerseyWendy]

Even though OWA (Orange Winged Amazons) aren't necessarily known for their talking ability, they can make wonderful, sweet and loving pets, and many DO learn to mimic some words and sounds. Unfortunately nobody here can guarantee that your Marley will start talking. Much depends on how much time you spend with him and how ready/willing he is to learn. He may surprise you.

IMO a young bird is more likely to pick up new words than an older/mature one. That doesn't mean you can't teach an old bird new tricks.

 

[JamJar]

Thanks for the replies.. I've checked around his eyes and there is no red marks or flakey skin.. the only problem is here in dubai it costs a standard 500Dhs for a vet check MINIMUM.. thats like $1000 just to be seen! i don't have that sort of money at the moment.. can i not get anything for mites from a petshop? a spay or cream?

And I've been doing a lot of reading of OWA for the past couple of hours and i see there great with other birds? maybe il sweet talk my wife into getting another parrot next year

Thanks!

 

[JamJar]

Bogena bird insect spray

i found this in my local pet shop online…?

this any good?

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

Well, I wouldn't trust it.

It says right on it "do not breath spray mist" how would you keep him from breathing it? It also says "do not spray on the birds head"

Just my opinion, but I don't use anything on or near my bird without consulting my vet.

 

[henpecked]

I'd check for mites before treating for them. use the backside (sticky side) of scotch tape. Touch it to a bare area (legs). use a magnifying glass to look for small "bugs". Google feather mites in parrots.

 

[Birdsfourever]

I hope you r getting it not just of talking and singing most parrots dont talk. Watch parrot confidential on youtube. Greate documentary

 

[JerseyWendy]

I hope you r getting it not just of talking and singing most parrots dont talk. Watch parrot confidential on youtube. Greate documentary

Nobody should ever get a bird for the wrong reasons!

 

[Snabb133]

Hello there! Welcome to the forum, Your orange wing looks beautiful! And you're not alone since I have one my self. Feel free to ask if you have any questions. Kiwi my OWA is rather reserved and shy, and likes being by her self. She has improved a bit though, but I don't think she will change much since thats how she is.

She was/is also on the quiet side, but she does tend to scream a bit louder with screechier sounds than my BFA Kiki some times. Give him some time to adjust to his new envorinment and he sure will open up for you in no time. You're never too late.

 

[JamJar]

I hope you r getting it not just of talking and singing most parrots dont talk. Watch parrot confidential on youtube. Greate documentary

NO! id never buy a parrot for just talking purposes. I'm not going to sit here and lie and say that its not really cool to hear a bird talk or sing but i wouldn't buy a parrot just for that.. I'm hoping to have a new friend to hang out with.. make me laugh and something i can talk to if i was wanting a parrot to talk a lot i would have bought a African Grey.

 

[JamJar]

Another question though..

OWA are they good with other birds? I'm not going to be getting one anytime soon but there are around 5 other amazons in Al Ain where i got Marley.

DYHA
Blue headed one (lol)
Another APPARENT Yellow naped
and a Sky blue parrot that looks a little like marley but its all blue??

there all cheap and i expect stolen and are all housed in a small cage in basically a shed. if i had the cash id take them all home.

Will Marley be ok with another parrot or is that hit and miss?
If YES what age would be best?
Separate Cages or 1 Big Villa Cage?

these might sound like really silly questions but i have never had multiple birds

thanks for all your help guys!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Unfortunately there are no guarantees that Marley will get along with another parrot.

And if you do decide to bring home another one, I'd suggest you house them separately (each in their own cage).

Lastly, please 'google' the birds these folks are offering up for sale, especially since they told you Marley was a YN Amazon, which he is clearly not.