Anything that increases the bird's nesting behavior will increase his aggression. If you think he is aggressive now, wait until you get a female that he is trying to impress. He will show how he can defend her by attacking you. She will be very impressed, but I think you will not!

He will also bond with the female and will no longer want to do much with you. Amazons are very family oriented and their mates and home are everything to them.....well, almost as food is also very important to an Amazon.

If you get another bird, I would suggest one that does not look anything like him. They should be housed in different cages as each bird really deserves their own place when kept in a pet situation.

Joanie Doss / The Amazing Amazons

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Many times some bird in a domestic flock becomes a bully and causes others to pluck, show phobia, do nonstop screaming etc. Some male Amazons are also capable of being bullies. I have one and he absolutely terrifies my Kodiak. I know better than to place his cage where he has to look at this bird as the stress would be very hard on him.

Sometimes we are not aware of the bully in the flock. I found out by accident. I use to gather all the bird dishes and then go upstairs to clean and put food in them. Maggie is good at getting out of cages and when I would come back, Maggie would be on TJ's cage playing with him. (Maggie and TJ used to be best buddies.) No harm in that I thought.

One day I left to feed the birds and forgot a dish so turned around and went back to the bird room shortly after leaving it. There was Maggie cornering Kodiak from the outside of his cage and threatening him by lunging at him through the bars! You should have seen the look on Maggie's face when I caught him! He knew he shouldn't be there and had timed it in the past to terrorize Kodiak and then run over to TJ's cage before I got back.

To this day Maggie has a lock that needs to be opened with a key on his cage. I don't dare leave the key in the lock as he knows how to turn the key and get out. I have to be very careful where I put the key as I would need to have it ready in case of an emergency exit.

Had I not caught Maggie in the act, I would never have dreamed what was going on with the flock. When I was present, he left Kodiak alone. But when mother was gone, he turned into a very bad bully.

Joanie Doss / The Amazing Amazons

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All birds can talk....crows, canaries, parakeets, parrots......but few of them are motivated to do so. I saw a little Stellar's Jay that could out-talk most parrots...on command mind you! When you find the right motivation, you won't be able to stop them from talking! <grin>

Joanie Doss / The Amazing Amazons

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Generally if you use cold water instead of warm and work an area so you can get down to the skin, they will get into bathing. Also skip a few days if possible so they really need the shower. (If he is a feather plucker this may not be an option.) Even Pepper will spread his wings if he goes two weeks without a shower. (Not very much, but at least they aren't plastered to his side!<grin>

Joanie Doss / The Amazing Amazons

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He may have been hit by his former owners. This may work to your advantage however, as you can scare him off now with a firm...."No" and "back off". When he does so, praise him. Male Amazons can get aggressive with food so be careful.

Joanie Doss The / Amazing Amazons

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With beak and feather, generally the feathers start coming in deformed and malformed. It seldom affects mature birds but can be devastating to young ones.

Joanie Doss The / Amazing Amazons

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Some females will do the sound as well but not for as long or as often. You should be in my bird room in the spring time! Picture 5 male Amazons honking merrily away! The sound is deafening and I do not use the telephone in that room during that time with non bird people as it would be too hard to explain the unusual honking sound in the background!

Joanie Doss The / Amazing Amazons

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About 10 years ago, a friend went to visit his relatives in Colombia, South America and brought me back two Orange Wing Amazons. He used to climb the palm trees there to catch parrots for his grandmother. These birds were young, but probably about a year old. They were wonderful birds. The one was extremely smart and could open any cage. He would open his and then all the other cages freeing all the birds.

I worked with them briefly but my husband did not like these two boys so I sold them to a good place. He thought they were "wimpy" and their scream sit his teeth on edge. He could put up with my Napes and Blue Fronts but it was something about their scream that he just could not handle. Anyway, these two little guys were completely hand tame in less than two weeks. I worked with them for about a year. They quickly learned the tricks I showed them and never tried to bite.

The person that bought them said they out-talked her African Greys. They remained tame even when set up with mates. She owned about 75 birds, and you guessed it. The little Orange Wing freed all her birds whenever he figured how to get out of his cage.

Joanie Doss The / Amazing Amazons

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I generally have to be careful when I take them from the place, but it is seldom a full fledge attack.

The male is generally the one who first goes into the nest. Those guys are so macho. When they feel it is safe, then the hen enters and starts moving the nesting material around to her liking. Both male and females do that "I've just found the perfect spot." sound.

It could easily throw him into breeding mode or hormonal behavior. Breeders often hang a nest box to bring out breeding behavior in their pairs. It would be fun for him, but if he gets aggressive and hormonal, not much fun for you!

Joanie Doss The / Amazing Amazons

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