orange wings anyone??

[animallovinmom]

alrighty soooo im am new here this is my first post, i joined because alot of my questions I googled seemed to lead me here anyway I have been wanting a african grey since my husband and I got married almost 5 years ago. We now live in alaska and it still hasnt happened so we were considering shipping one from the lower 48 but since it is october now and only about 20 degrees it would be unwise to ship until next summer. anyway I met a woman that was rehoming her "amazon" she had for 3 years she didnt know what type she kept calling it a yellow headed amazon so I went to look at it ( I foster for the alaska bird club) so I told her I would take a look if not i could set her up with the alaska bird club info. I got there and immediatly saw that he was in to small of a cage secondly that it was a blue front amazon. He ended up really taking a liking to me so i agreed to take him and pay for her crappy little cage. I also notcied that his band on his leg I had never seen before...more on that later. I immeditaly got him an appropraite size cage for him and started investigating his band online from what I can tell it is a band used on wild caught or import birds before 1992. It has 3 letters starting with F and 3 numbers. Next day as I was taking him out i realized his wings where more of an orange than a red and his beak isnt pure black so then i realized I actually have an orange wing not a blue front. So I have had him a whole 3 days but I am wondering if anyone here has an orange wing and how they are at talking and such the only thing he says right now is stupid bird he is very sweet and although I didnt get him just to have a talker I would love him to learn somthing other than stupid bird.... and just to see how they are in general from other people I cant find to much info on them that isnt generalized. any help would be appreciated thank you Ceaser

 

[ann]

thank you for taking him, he is now in a wonderful home . amazons in general are pretty good talkers, but it depends on the individual. it sounds like you got yourself a great new friend! to get him to stop saying stupid bird, you could completely ignore him when he says it and praise other words and sounds. you could also train him to say a similar word. for example, if you were potty training him, as a cue word you could say "poopin bird" (sorry if this is weird, im just trying to think of substitute words). that way when he needs to "go" he will say poopin bird and over time, it may replace stupid bird. if you dont have a name for him yet, you could also name him something similar like Cupid, and train him to say "Cupid Bird". ive never tried this, but it seems like it could work, its worth a shot . good luck with your orange wing!

 

[animallovinmom]

That's a good idea I he been ignoring stupid bird but I may try to substitute it as far as names his name was dodger but we would like to call him ceaser so I have heard that when training dogs to change their name you say the first name followed by the second name until one day you leave off the first name so I am doing that as well as telling him stories that include the ^ method and at the end of the story I just end with a bunch of things that have only ceaser in them I'm not sure how it will work but since he doesn't say his name yet I thought it would at least be a good way to try to get him to recognize his new name.

 

[Karigan]

I don't have one, but here's some google info for you!

http://www.susanclubb.com/pdfs/amrh.pdf

Orange-winged Amazon - Pictures and facts - Birds @ thewebsiteofeverything.com

Any pictures?

Orange-Winged Amazon Parrots

Parrot Link - Orange Winged Amazon

 

[MonicaMc]

I think that orange wings are charming birds!!!! Never owned a zon, but they are usually considered one of the "better" amazons!


I did hear that a Petco just opened up in Alaska, however I don't know where.

Leg band probably indicates wild caught imported through Florida, so you know he's at least 20 years old, if not older.

Don't know what they are like with talking ability compared to other amazons, but amazons are well known for talking and even singing! Opera seems to be a favorite... I agree with trying to change "stupid bird" into something else, but depending on his age and when he learned to talk, as well as yourself, he may learn new words or he may not. It seems to me that birds who learned to talk well, and at an early age, have an easier time learning new words vs birds who started talking at an older age.

Although, I don't have a lot of experience with talking birds, so I could be wrong. I do know that people who keep flighted parrots (typically for free-flight) may agree that it's best not to clip young parrots because of the learning curve. Flying is instinctual. Knowing how to fly is not. Younger birds are able to figure out how to bank, speed, slow etc quicker than older parrots and often learn to "think on the wing" - that is, they can easily change direction mid-flight and land/fly somewhere else. Older birds that were clipped at an early age may need to plan out where they are flying before taking that leap into air.

Hypothetical, but gives an example.

 

[henpecked]

I have Orange Wings,OWAs, some talk a little and some don't. They do seem to be calmer than many of the other zons. Mine are easy going and playful. IMO they get along with other birds well and are very flock orientated.

 

[animallovinmom]

This is my first large bird, so when they learn new words is it typical for them to mumble it queitly first and then get louder because sometimes i can swear that he has already picked up the phrase "wanna go home" for when he is going back in his cage but i cant tell but he always mumbles somthing. So i was just wondering if they tend to mumble and then become clearer as they become more confident ?

 

[mtdoramike]

henpecked is very knowledgable, especially when it comes to amazons. I'd prefer an Orange wing over most any other amazon because they are touted to be a calmer bird and most orange wings that I have seen are calm birds for the most part.

 

[wenz2712]

OWs are without a doubt the calmer of all Zons.

Most do talk at some point Just keep talking to him all the time and eventually he will suddenly come out with alot of the things you have been saying!

I have a YC Zon and over the last couple of Months, she has totally amazed me with the different words and phrases she is now, coming out with

 

[animallovinmom]

I think that orange wings are charming birds!!!! Never owned a zon, but they are usually considered one of the "better" amazons!


I did hear that a Petco just opened up in Alaska, however I don't know where.

Leg band probably indicates wild caught imported through Florida, so you know he's at least 20 years old, if not older.

Don't know what they are like with talking ability compared to other amazons, but amazons are well known for talking and even singing! Opera seems to be a favorite... I agree with trying to change "stupid bird" into something else, but depending on his age and when he learned to talk, as well as yourself, he may learn new words or he may not. It seems to me that birds who learned to talk well, and at an early age, have an easier time learning new words vs birds who started talking at an older age.

Although, I don't have a lot of experience with talking birds, so I could be wrong. I do know that people who keep flighted parrots (typically for free-flight) may agree that it's best not to clip young parrots because of the learning curve. Flying is instinctual. Knowing how to fly is not. Younger birds are able to figure out how to bank, speed, slow etc quicker than older parrots and often learn to "think on the wing" - that is, they can easily change direction mid-flight and land/fly somewhere else. Older birds that were clipped at an early age may need to plan out where they are flying before taking that leap into air.

Hypothetical, but gives an example.

Oh yes there is a new petco opening up I think in Juneau. We already have 2 in anchorage and 1 in Fairbanks and 1 in kenai. (I work at petco)

 

[henpecked]

Let us know if you have any more OWA questions. I would recommend them as a "family" zon , more so than the more popular nape,dyhs and Yellow fronted subspecies.