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I have a hormonal Screaming Amazon

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I have a hormonal Screaming Amazon

Postby PatrickAlan » Wed Aug 18, 2021 9:58 am

I have an 8-year old Male Yellow-crowned Amazon, who right now has been Screaming, attacking and is outright wild. I assume this is hormonal behavior due to the fact that he is in breeding mode. But this is August, and I just didn't think this behavior and breeding season lasted this long. Can anyone enlighten me here on how to get thru this very difficult period with this Amazon?
PatrickAlan
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 38
Location: Southern New Jersey
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: 2 Male Gouldian Finches, and 1 Senegal Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: I have a hormonal Screaming Amazon

Postby Pajarita » Thu Aug 19, 2021 10:10 am

Hi, Patrick and zon! Male amazons can get very aggressive when hormonal (especially the 'hot three' species) but they are long-day breeders and are all now in the last stages of molt (I have five amazons: two YNA, one BFA, one YCA and one DYA) - meaning, they are no longer producing sexual hormones. Now, the problem with sexual hormones is that, for the bird to be in tune with the seasons (meaning, producing sexual hormones during their breeding season and not before or after), it needs to be kept at a strict solar schedule with full exposure to dawn and dusk (meaning no artificial light until the sun is up and coming into the room or after the sun is halfway down to the horizon) AND given a low protein diet. Let me explain. All birds are photoperiodic (from photo meaning light and periodic meaning seasons - research avian photoperiodism) so they need to follow the same light schedule as the wild birds (wake up with dawn, bright light after a couple of hours, dusk -when they eat their dinner- and sleep when night falls - think of chickens) but the trick to do it right depends on the twilight because it is this light and this light alone that turns on and off their internal clock (I am mentioning this because a lot of people think that covering the bird's cage when it gets dark means a solar schedule but it doesn't). And then there is diet... Amazons consume a maximum of 17% protein during breeding season and ONLY during breeding season - and this is for wild birds that are exposed to the elements and are breeding or raising hatchlings so pet birds (the study was done on a flock of wild zons which was followed for an entire year collecting their poop and analyzing it for protein content), which do not fly anywhere enough (especially zons that tend to be perch potatoes), live in permanent perfect weather and do not produce babies should get a much lower percentage of protein because high protein triggers sexual hormone production.

If your bird is being kept at a strict solar schedule and fed the right diet (no free-feeding protein food like pellets, seeds, nuts, nutriberries, avicakes, etc, and giving the bird a lot of raw produce), there has to be another reason for his screaming and aggression. But, if after re-evaluating his light schedule and diet, you find that either or both of these are not exactly as they should be, then you need to change it because you have three things against you: his species, his gender and his age. One more thing, when we talk about avian photoperiodism, please note that it's not only sexual hormones that get out of whack when birds are not kept at a solar schedule, it's the entire endocrine system AND their circadian cycle so appetite, sleep patterns, mood, etc are affected.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: I have a hormonal Screaming Amazon

Postby PatrickAlan » Thu Aug 19, 2021 10:56 am

Hello Bea,
Good to hear from you once again. I should tell you that I had to rehome my Senegal parrot. She was clearly not happy here, not happy with me, and leading a sad, boring life. With that being said, I now own an 8-year old Male Yellow-Crowned Amazon. I got him from "Ana's Parrots" in Pennsylvania. He came to me with little information about his past, only that he was previously owned by an elderly lady. Because of this lady's health and age, she was not able to provide Ana with alot of additional information.
Right now, as mentioned, "Rico" is acting out. I'm in the middle of watching a Webinar by a Parrot Behaviorlist, Pamela Clark, on "Screaming". I see that there are things here that need to be fine tuned. I observed that "Rico" does not like TV at all, and the TV is right next to his cage in the living room, where I also house my Male African Grey. I also had to close the blinds in the living room as I felt the noise and traffic somehow frightened "Rico" and just added to his screaming. Ever since I hve kept the TV off in the living room, Rico has calmed down and the Screaming episodes thus far seem to have come to a halt. However, he is still eye-pinning at me and he will chase me from the top of his cage and looks like if given the chance, he will give me a very nasty bite. I have not attempted to have him "step-up" on my hand as yet because I feel it is not safe and I don't want to be badly injured. I have ordered a T-perch to help me with that.
He awakes and is uncovered at approximately 7-7:30AM, and provided with his diet of Pellets and fresh water. I'm in the middle of figuring out this whole "Chop" thing but quickly realized that Rico does not prefer fresh fruits and vegetables, so this is going to be a challenge. For a snack, he gets a Nutriberrie once per day.
I am in the process of switching his Pellets to Zupreem Natural, as currently he is on Higgins In-Tune, and the Parrot Behavioralist said "dyed" pellets are not a good idea. I will have to again gradually introduce him to "Chop" and veggies, with little fruit added.
So now, he is in relatively low light and No TV on during the day and appears to be alot calmer and no horrible Screaming sessions have occured.
Let me know your thoughts, Bea.
Thanks,

Patrick Bowen
PatrickAlan
Lovebird
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 38
Location: Southern New Jersey
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: 2 Male Gouldian Finches, and 1 Senegal Parrot
Flight: Yes

Re: I have a hormonal Screaming Amazon

Postby Pajarita » Fri Aug 20, 2021 10:28 am

I thought it was you but I got thrown for a loop because your post was about an amazon and I am so sorry you had to rehome your sennie! I wish you had contacted me about it because I would have taken her in (I hate to see birds I've known since babies to end up with God knows who). But, as to the amazon, I am afraid that you are not doing the right thing. Let me explain. When you uncover his cage at 7 or 7:30, he is not getting the benefit of the dawn light -and that's a problem (my birds start their day at 6am this time of the year and I turn on the overhead light at 8 am). And your making the room shady all the time is another problem (bright good quality full spectrum light makes them produce the happy hormones). He needs to be exposed to complete dark at night, bright light during the day and two whole hours of dawn as well as two whole hours of dusk without any artificial light on. Nothing else does the trick. You are also feeding over 17% protein (all pellets are higher than 17% so they are too high for amazons and other low protein species like conures, for example) and not enough raw produce. Amazons cannot be fed pellets. Period. They are too high in protein and waaaay too dry for them. As to his not liking fruits/veggies... well, I don't mean to contradict you but I find that VERY hard to believe. Amazons are great eaters -and I do mean GREAT eaters! They adore wet food and mine go straight for the gloop every single morning as if it was a delicacy they had not eaten in ages. My Zeus (Yellow Nape) doesn't even wait for me to hang the bowl inside the cage, he actually waits for it hanging from the outside of the cage next to the door opening and, as soon as my hand is close enough, he stretches out his neck so he can get the very first bite from it. And Groucho (a Double Yellow Head male -but he told me his real name is Eohl) flies across the birdroom as soon as he sees the ladle in my hand (this bird started eating the gloop on the very first day and as soon as I put it out for him after eating only seeds and very little produce for 24 years!).

TVs are not good for birds because of the way the image is 'produced' (teeny tiny points of light that kind of flash super fast and make brains produce Alpha waves) but they do like a background soft noise (I have the radio on for them tuned to an easy listening station - amazons LOVE music).

I don't know how long you've had him but parrots take a long time to feel comfortable in a new home. Of course, parrots that were kept the right way (good husbandry, enough attention/one-on-one and out-of-cage time, etc) adapt much more easily than parrots that were not - and being in a rescue for some time doesn't help things either. Male amazons are not really very friendly birds, you know... after they reach a certain age, the most that you can expect from them is for them not to be aggressive, to eat well and to cohabit with other birds (which is easy for them unless there is another male and only one female). I also do not use my hand with either of my males. I usually do not even use a stick because they are pretty obedient in that they go into their cage on their own in the evening when told to and, even when they fly a couple of laps around the room (Zeus likes to do that every now and then) they always end up landing back on the top of their cage. I do use my hand with the old females (I can even towel them and trim their claws without them even offering to bite) but not with Precie because she is Zeus' mate and he would eat my hand before I could even reach her :lol: but, when it comes to zons that have no mate, in my personal experience, males are completely different from females. I've cared for over 10 zons and I've never completely trusted the males but the females are the SWEETEST things once they are comfortable with you - never aggressive, loving and even cuddly. But, regardless of species and gender, I find them all to be very sedentary birds and incredibly easy to care for, especially when you have a male/female bonded pair. They are great eaters, love to bath, they don't fly around a lot so it's easy to prevent them from chewing your entire house down and very easy and cheap to entertain, give them a nice, large, hard cardboard box and they are happy to chew on it for hours. I mean, with them, is just a matter of cleaning the cage and giving them food! My husband, who is only now (after almost 30 years of living with parrots!) beginning to really appreciate my birds absolutely ADORES Zeus and Precie since I took them out of the birdroom and put them in my dining room (I had to as I can't put two males with only one female) because they are so very easy to care for - and so beautiful (GORGEOUS birds!).

So, correct the light schedule and the diet, give him something to chew on and be patient. If you do right by him, he will be a very easy bird to care for.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


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