Wild Greenwing at Rescue - clicker training?

[Jen5200]

Well Roger is beautiful, and I didn’t see anything that I would think was aggressive either. He seems interested in interacting with you, which is positive, and takes treats so very gently. I would let him out of his cage and let him settle before trying to work with him - looks like he has a case of “fidgets and flaps” to get out of his system, and I would imagine that after a little bit he probably settles down . Great work with him already!

 

[TiredOldMan]

I'd adopt that bird in an instant. The only thing I saw that might have been aggressive was when the volunteer brought the B&G close to him. If anything it looked like jealousy.

My opinion(which is only worth what you paid for it....nothing) is that this boy needs a stable environment and a caring person he can call his own.

 

[ChristaNL]

LOL It is funny you said that TOM, I was going in the opposite direction.
I totally agree that every parrot deserves a great place to live and a fantastic family -- but when it comes to parrots I also believe in "love at first sight/ the soulmate-feeling/ the click".
Roger was willing to work with OP and was also giving a clear, non agressive signal "I am done, thank you, I will leave now"-> that tells me he is a great parrot.
What I missed in this story is the "hey- I really like you- you really like me" vibe (from him).

Not saying this is has no potential to be a great partnership (there clearly is a lot of positive going on here), but if at all possible I believe a parrot should have a choice.
Let the parrot pick you - they know what/whom they want or need.

 

[PCash]

That's where I'm a bit unsure actually, ChristaNL.

How long should I give Roger before I admit there's nothing there? I'm crazy about him, but I don't want to force him into something that he'll be unhappy with. I've gotta lot of respect for that bird.

My female GCC did not like me when I first got her awhile back. (Partly my own fault as I, naively, thought it would be okay to pick her up to get her from the travel crate to her cage even if she was terrified.) It's taken us a long time and I just recently started working with her in a more focused way with target training and such, and she's starting to hang out in the front of her cage and even chirp for me when I leave the room. She gets a lot of out of cage time too on our tree stand, and has the choice whether she wants to step up or not, rather than being forced. She even will step closer to me to get her head petted. This interest in me is a complete 180 degrees for her as she wanted nothing to do with me before. Not exactly love at first sight, but a lot of patience and love, and training to build a relationship.

So, that's kinda my question here. I feel like Roger is still getting to know me. To realize that I'm not another "visitor" just passing through. Clearly he's not over-the-moon for me yet, but I've seen him "follow" both the lady yesterday and then another male volunteer at the rescue before, people he's seen regularly for awhile. (Although he didn't have any interest in the other two lady volunteers there who I think have been there for a bit, at least one of them.) I guess I'm curious if over time he might be more interested in me if I offer a lot of love and patience. I don't know if that's how it works or not.

When do you know? I don't want to give up on the guy too soon, nor do I want to make something happen that's simply not to be.

 

[TiredOldMan]

LOL It is funny you said that TOM, I was going in the opposite direction.
I totally agree that every parrot deserves a great place to live and a fantastic family -- but when it comes to parrots I also believe in "love at first sight/ the soulmate-feeling/ the click".
Roger was willing to work with OP and was also giving a clear, non agressive signal "I am done, thank you, I will leave now"-> that tells me he is a great parrot.
What I missed in this story is the "hey- I really like you- you really like me" vibe (from him).

Not saying this is has no potential to be a great partnership (there clearly is a lot of positive going on here), but if at all possible I believe a parrot should have a choice.
Let the parrot pick you - they know what/whom they want or need.

I yield to your superior wisdom

 

[ChristaNL]

I yield to your superior wisdom

TOM that is the scariest AND sillyest thing I have ever read from you

=


Hey PC -I did not mean to make you sad or anything, as most people here will tell you: if there is no "love at first sight" it does not mean he will not be over the moon to be your bird after a few months or even years.
It is just *so* much easier to start from a 'honeymoon-point-of-vieuw" but some mariages work out great even if the partners have never even seen each other.
It's so much more 'a sure thing' if the bird really chooses.

You are crazy about this bird- and if there is more than "I feel sorry for bird x because he has been here the longest "
(or something like that .. I have friends who pick their cats that way: go to the shelter and ask to see the least adoptable one...)
but really an "Oh, my, this is *my* bird even if he does not know it yet".
He is halfway happy to work with you anyway- so he is not that traumatized he will not come around (I think).

(You know I got Sunny that way too: I was the best of a bad bunch of choices for her at that time - she had no say in the matter at all and I keep wondering if there is someone out there who would be a much better match for her. All my other parrots really picked me. )


Is there any way you get this guy in your house for a 'try out' period?
Like a foster/ resocialize- situation?

Many animals are *so* different when they are away from the crowded shelter-sitation.

The parrot-rehoming-people here have about 50% of their birds in fostersituations, not in the shelter itself. just for the wellbeing of the parrots.


==


keep visiting, if he is ready... he will let you know!
He was quite the gentleman in your vid. so I asume it will be something heartwrenchingly beautifull

 

[Jen5200]

I will just add this thought - my girl Bindi came from the rescue that I volunteer at and we didn’t have an instant connection. I gradually spent more and more time with her as she was a little bird surrounded by big birds at the rescue (eventually she’d ride around on my shirt while I was feeding and watering and it became apparent that she was getting attached to me). I had known her for about a year before I actually brought her home. She is very bonded to me and trusts me fully and is such a happy bird. I only mention this to say that some great friendships develop over time.

 

[riddick07]

I did not have an instant connection with Titan (my macaw) if that makes anyone feel better about this guy. Titan is a very confident macaw and was trying to boss everyone around when I first met him. He was a jerk to me just like everyone else when I met him. I could make him do what I wanted because I don’t back down from macaws and told him to suck it up. Titan was at the shelter for about 6 months to 9 months before I clicked with him. I can’t remember why I even had him out....might just have been he was being a jerk with other volunteers and I had to go get him to put him away. But I started taking him out all the time and hanging out with him. So Titan choose me but it wasn’t immediately like my amazon and cockatoo.

I believe in birds choosing people too but sometimes they have to feel you out first

 

[PCash]

Thanks everyone! I went back to the rescue today. Wednesday is our usual day to help clean cages. I spent a little more time with Roger. This time we didn't get him out of the cage. I don't really have a plan for how to engage with him once he is out of the cage and highly distracted. So we just did cage time while I was there. The volunteer who was there too seemed more reserved about getting any of the birds out.

Yesterday the other greenwing neighbor to Roger went to his new home. When I came in this morning, Roger looked completely disoriented and had this almost desperate, confused look in his eyes. When my son got between the two cages, his and the what used to be the other greenwings, Roger fluffed up and lashed out at my son through the bars. Of course, I called my son away as soon as he went there. As soon as my son backed off, Roger calmed down. I haven't seen Roger look so vulnerable before. Gosh, I just want to bring him home and give him some stability.

Oh, and in response to why I'm interested in Roger. I really admire him and see so much potential. He communicates quite well in birdese (gotta work on my skills on understanding greenwing), and seems for the most part to be laid back. He was fully flighted when he came into the rescue, although I don't know how well he could fly at that point. I hope that one day he will be able to fly again. He's got a very deep/intelligent look in his eyes and also seems to be doing his best to cope with a sucky situation. Anyway, that's why I can't get the bird out of my head.

Today I worked on rapid positive reinforcement when he came to me (one almond piece after another, after another). I also let him choose to come over to get almonds, rather than going to his side of the cage. This way I knew that he wanted to engage. He came over a number of times and seemed curious about me, although guarded too. I have another video, but didn't get a chance to upload it yet. It's going to take this guy awhile to trust and believe that I won't abandon him, but so far I'm continuing to see hope. I'll keep at it. Thanks for all the thoughts and advice. I'm pretty sure I'm crazy for even considering life with a macaw. Thanks for letting me share through this journey.

 

[Jen5200]

I’m enjoying following your adventure with Roger! You’ll learn to read him better as you get to know him...I look forward to hearing more . Nice job moving at his pace.

 

[Scott]

What an awesome thread! You clearly have an attraction to Roger, and he may be evaluating you as Riddic07 and Jen5200 suggest.

I've had one GW and he was a most impressive bird. A gentle giant who never bit hard and had a strong presence.

Good luck, I hope he will eventually become your companion!

 

[PCash]

I've been wrestling through a lot lately. I fell in love with Roger and I still really admire the guy and hope to work with him in the future, but sadly he's not going to be a good fit for our family. I really wanted it to work, but after more research, we simply don't have the room for a large macaw, not the type of setup that Roger needs. That and my son is five years old, and bringing a bird home that is a known biter and has fear issues wouldn't be fair to either my son or Roger. I really hope and pray that Roger finds a home with a skilled macaw handler that can see all of his potential. He really deserves it. But it's not going to be us. Thank you for all of your encouragement and help.

I still wanted a family companion though, and today we brought home a lovely, young Yellow-Shouldered Amazon. I have much to learn about Amazons and will be hopping over to the Amazon forum to try to learn all I can.

Again, thank you for all of your advice and guidance and encouragement. Send some prayers Rogers way too if you think of it.

 

[ChristaNL]

Oh wow, I just read Roger was not going to be a match for you, but that amazon came as a surprise! I hope he/she (?) will fit in wonderfully.
Thank you for doing all the research beforehand.


Your son's health comes first of course and I do not know how long Roger would need to become a falily-friendly bird.


(I've been messing around with Sunny's behaviour issues for 9 months now, but will not let her within striking distance of my friends and certainly not near my nephews and niece -- so sharing ahouse would have been "a bit challenging")


Personally I would have chosen more of a flockbird since amazons bond with one person strongly and not so much with anyone else .. but sizewise I think you picked well!

 

[Kiwibird]

I'm sure Roger will find the right person someday. He sounds to be in a shelter that has an idea of who might be the best match for him.

Congrats on your new amazon though! Nothing wrong at all with recognizing that a bird is too big or has special needs/behavioral issues outside your ability to deal with. We turned down even meeting several larger macaws and cockatoos during our search for a bird because they were just too big, but we adore our amazon. Speaking of, I grew up with amazons and they (can) make wonderful family birds. There are pictures of me in my crib with my moms DYH on the side, she was that trustworthy (of course, my parents owned her for years before me). Naturally, you will need time to train and develop trust in this bird before you allow him near your young son but amazons tend to like children and tend to enjoy living a busy family home, especially when younger birds themselves. I strongly suggest you either start harness training or buy a bird backpack (pak-o-bird) as amazons do best when they can be involved in family activities, including outings in the car or (appropriate) social events/out of the house activities. Very social, flock oriented birds. Only "over bond" with one person when not properly socialized. While they do tend to have a 'favorite person', that doesn't necessarily mean they 'hate everyone else'. Kind of like a person may have a 'best friend' but can also have plenty of other close friends and acquaintances they like and get along with just fine. It all boils down to keeping them involved with all family members (younger ones in a more hands off way as he is still new to your home) and including the bird in family activities. Amazons live in large, sociable flocks in nature and only 'pair off' with their mate (and tell the rest of the world where to go) in the spring (do be aware, all adult parrots have an annual hormonal cycle where they can become a bit aggressive for a few weeks during the mating season each year).

 

[ChristaNL]

Kiwibird: oh thank you for that one.... so amazones share the bad rep of one-person-only with the african greys?
I have never met one of these that wasn't a flockbird at heart and loved to socialize- so I could not believe people keep insisting they are one-person-only greys.


Grinnn, keep this up and I might end up with an amazon after all
(I really believed they were pairbond-and-to-hell-with-anyone-else birds.)
You learn something every day ...

 

[PCash]

Check, on the harness. Already have that in my plans as my next expenditures. Thanks for the encouragement!