Hi everyone,
Just joined this site and looking forward to learning alot from you all. I recently adopted a pair of beautiful quaker parrots (male/female) from a bird haven who rescues birds who have been mistreated or neglected. This pair was not mistreated but were let out when their previous owner could no longer keep them. They were found/rescued within days of each other in Brooklyn, NY malnourished and lonely. While they were not rescued together, it was apparent that they knew each other. And once they were reunited it was essential that they stayed together. The happy ending is that they are now home with me and I am so excited to have them.

It has been just 2 days and already I have noticed their unique personalities. I have not named them yet and they don't seem too happy about it. It also makes it hard to talk to them since I don't have a name to repeat. The male is far more docile and approachable than the female, who seems to always want to protect her mate and becomes very aggresive when I come near. The male steps up and whistles, while the female will have nothing to do with me. She does not step up, she flies away and if they find themselves in separate rooms, the screams are piercing as they desperately look for each other.

Trianing the female is going to be a big challenge. Perhaps any tips on how I can approach this very unique pair. I'm wondering if I should separate them in order to spend some bonding time with each... working with them together doesn't seem like it's going to work. Any ideas?


thanks all,

Hello and welcome! How wonderful that you rescued those birds .... the first names that came to my mind are "Fred & Wilma" Or "Betty & Barney" (You have to know the Flinstones ... )

I'm not sure what I would do in your case. Since they are wild caught it may be difficult.
I think someone with more experience than I can help you better.

The only way to get them tamed down that I know of if in fact they truly are a mated pair is to separate them so they can not touch one another, they can see each other and talk to each other but just not be able to preen or sleep in the same cage. Once you get them tamed down then allowing them to play together would be fine but not cohabitate.

The easiest way to work with them is to take which ever one you are working with to a quiet room completely out of sight of either its cage or the other bird so it is focusing on you work with it for 10 or 15 minutes at a stretch 2 or 3 times a day. Be prepared for lots of calling for a while till it gets used to being out of site of the other bird.

Depending on how long they were housed together originally it may be quite difficult to really tame them both down. I'm assuming you aren't planning to use them as breeders again are you?

Give them a few weeks to settle in before you name them, they may relax enough to start talking and reveal their actual names. You just never know.

Congratulations on getting them by the way and Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to the forum!

Connie gives good advice.
All I can say at this point is welcome to the group and best wishes.

Welcome to the forum!!!

In addition to what has already been said.. you may want to consider clipping their wings so they are dependant on you.. and at elast you dont have to worry about safety hazards as they fly through an unfamiliar territory of your home.. this may help with some of the agression issues as well

Congrats of being a new qp owner!! that are wonderul lil unique fids that have soo much to offer!

Thanks! for all the great advice!

I'll be sure to keep you posted and share our predicaments as they develop.

Welcome to the forum

I agree with what has already been said. If you want to have a pet quality relationship with these two birds, you're going to have to cage them separately. A wing clipping (done by someone who knows what they are doing!) will be a huge asset in their training.

Also, if they are a male/female pair (only DNA or surgical testing can tell you this) you should separate them regardless, unless you have intentions on breeding them.

Good luck and I look forward to hearing more stories about these two!