Bonding in Young Parrots
by Heike Ewing Ott
How young do baby parrots begin to recognize people? And do parrots develop deeper bonds when they are younger than they do if they are acquired as older birds? This article written by an experienced breeder discusses these questions and more.
My experience when I was a breeder has been that small birds like cockatiels, lovebirds, parakeets, etc. react the same to everyone up to a point. My hand-feeding baby cockatiels would beg from anyone, although they did seem to recognize me when they got older, and reacted differently to strangers than to me.
My other babies, such as conures, mini macaws, greys, and even the parrotlets, seemed able to distinguish people at a very young age. My former husband did not particularly like the birds, although he did appreciate the money they produced, and never handled or fed the babies. Two-week old babies who had just been pulled stopped begging from or reacting to him after only a couple of days, although they still went nuts whenever they saw me.
By 4 and 5 weeks they “knew” the lady who helped clean cages, and Les, as being “part of the household” and did not react to them as they did to strangers. By 6 -7 weeks, many of them had deposits on them and their prospective parents were visiting them periodically. After only a couple or 3 visits, most of the babies recognized “their” visitors apart from the others and would go to them when they arrived, ignoring those who were visiting other babies. The mini macaws, of course, would climb on anybody and beg for attention, but I still think they knew who “their” people were.
Bear is about 7 weeks, according to the breeder, and in 2 days has differentiated John and I, and prefers John. She is happy to be with me if John is not in sight, but the minute she spots him she will try to get to him. I’m glad, since it was supposed to be his bird…and yet… this is the first time any baby has liked someone else better than me! <pout>! Additionally, at this age she has little interest in other birds – she wants attention from US! If she had been left with her clutch- mates a little longer, she might have already started playing with other birds and would not be quite as fixated on John and I.
I agree that a just-weaned baby can bond quite well, and I hesitated to let my babies go unweaned unless the buyers had experience or were willing to come over for lessons and supervised feeding before taking their baby, but I do think that the bond is formed more easily and is stronger if the bird is acquired younger.
My quaker is 5 mnths old and iv had him a week and am tryin 2 do everything right, toys cage love atention alone time the works . I hav a 3 yr lod who loves him and wants all 2 do with him as posible I hope he is not to young wut do u sujuest and also when can I feed him treats such as parrot snacks and fruit? Thank u 4 all th help. This is our first and only pet and its just my son and I that live with our buitiful bird whom seems to favor his gage more than us?
I just purchased a six month quaker parrot a week ago and already I am very fond of Pepito. However, he is still very much afraid and make some noises. I am speaking to him in the morning and evening when I get back from work. A how old do they begin to “speak”?
Any hints on how I can hold him without his biting me. I have ordered some help books (haven’t arrived). Any tips you can offer are great appreciated.
Thank you.
I have had my quaker, “Bonita”, for one week and I think she is bonding very well. She is still a little shy coming out of the cage, but once out, she is fine. She has learned to step up, and gives kisses when prompted. I think this was a good purchase!
Also, she is 5 months old.
I have recently become the proud ‘pet’ of a 4 1/2 month old quaker called Squirt. He had been taught how to step up from his foster mum before moving in with me so that was a huge relief. From the moment he’s come into my house he’s been chatty and social. Have been spending alot of time lately getting him to stop parking himself on our heads and of course to stop biting (but thanks to his super foster mum he does understand that ‘uh-uh’ means he is being bad and I have managed to get him to understand ‘no’ now also so this helps alot!). He has decided to adopt my husband as his official toilet stop when he’s out in the evenings, however rarely uses this approach with me.
His foster mum had suggested that when we first met I should approach him with only one eye showing as this is less threatening and it seems to have worked immediately.
He came to our home at just over 3 months and could already say hello, peek-a-boo, and the occassional Squirt. I think it’s usaully around six months that they start talking but it would depend on how they were raised initially. His foster Mum obviously spent good quality time with him talking to him and training him from a very early age and it’s definately worked in our favour.
I recently got a baby quaker (Lucy). she was 9 weeks old when I got her. She is now 11 wks. She says Hello & mocks my laugh. She starts very loud screaming in the evenings. So I put her to bed. This seems to work. I already trained her to “step up”. She is trying to say that too. Are quakers a one human bird? She will not let my daughter near her! She tries to attack…Also someone told me it was a bad habit to allow her to stay on my shoulder for long periods of time. Is this true?
Thanks
I just got my 3 month baby quacker last saturday. He (im not sure what the sex is yet so I am going to assume its a boy until I the vet get his DNA) is very quiet and doesn’t pay much attention to anyone. I try to let him out of his cage everyday when i get home and talk to him. He pretty much ignores me and turns his back to me. Do you think its because he’s still not used to me?
I have been able to get him to step up onto my finger when I ask him but he wont do it if he’s ontop of his cage, only if he’s in the doorway or if he’s away from his cage. He will give me a kiss if I start whistling to him but nothing else. He has also tried to fly away to get back to his cage but since his wings are clipped he only falls to the floor and starts to scream until someone comes and picks him up.
Do you have any tips on how he will become more affectionate? Or should I just give him more time to adjust?
Thank you, You’re articles have been very useful.