unusual behavior, seeking answers

[veruka1973]

My DYH Amazon loves to eat scrambled eggs with me in the morning, something I have noticed though is anytime I give him warm food of any kind he acts just like a baby bird being handfed, you know that kinda head bobbing thing and rather than take the food from me he acts like he's wanting me to feed him...just like a baby being handfed. But he's not a baby. anyone else ever seen this kind of thing in an older bird?

I am not sure of his age since the lady I bought him from wasn't honest with me but she did say he was 5 years old, he looks mature to me and past the baby period, as his head is almost entirely yellow going down onto his neck

 

[henpecked]

Welcome to the forum. A couple of things come to mind. The practice of abundant weaning is more common in this day and age. This practice of stretching out the weaning process could lead to what your describing. parrots only get warm food from another bird who has ingested it already.( or from being handfed as a young bird) Warm food is probably the trigger. You don't say how long you've had the bird. Could be looking for acceptance ? I've seen this behavior in 2 yr old zons but not 5 yr old. Almost any behavior, if reinforced(rewarded) ,could last for years. Diet,,, variety is best, once a week is more than enough egg. daily is way too much. While 5 yrs old is not a baby he is a very young teenager, LOL.

 

[Birdman666]

Male or female? You said he, but I'm thinking she...

If it's female, I'd say it's probably a breeding season issue. The males feed the females... and they like the attention. My female red lored amazon is 16-17 years old... and there are times when she goes Diva Princess on me and just EXPECTS someone to feed her... begs to be fed... and at times, has gone on hunger strike refusing to eat from a bowl. (No! I'm not eating, someone's gonna feed me.)

She likes the attention of having someone feed them warm comfort food, whether that's oatmeal, or scrambled eggs, or small bits of potato. And it can be a bonding thing, as long as you don't do anything else to stimulate them. It satisfies some of those "companionship" needs... without stimulating the bird mate thing...

At 5 years old, this one is just starting to come into season.

I'm guessing here, but it's an educated guess.

 

[henpecked]

The behavior birdman describes between male and female parrots is called "allo feeding". Although quite common it usually doesn't include the "begging" sounds. Are you feeding him from your fingers? many "baby" birds associate hands/fingers with their mother feeding them. That with the warm food is IMO the reason for the behavior.

 

[veruka1973]

I'm not sure of his age or gender to be quite honest, the lady I got him from was very dishonest, I didn't find that out until after I got him, but she had told me he was DNA sexed and was a male, but basically everything she told me was a lie so I have no way of really knowing.
I don't feed him eggs every day but he does get them often, and it's not just the eggs it is literally any warm food I offer him he reacts as if he is being handfed like a baby, it can be a warm piece of toast and he does the same thing.
I do give him the food with my fingers, if it is placed in his bowl he just nibbles on it like any other food.
I am starting to wonder if he is a lot younger than she said, he says "hello" a lot but other than that he makes a lot of mumbling sounds like a young bird does when they are practicing words they want to learn.