- You can't categorize an entire species
like an Amazon parrot and just think
that you're picking out a car.
(upbeat electronic music)
hey guys, Jamie Leigh here from Bird Tricks
and today, I wanna talk about why
I don't recommend certain species of birds.
A lot of you come and DM me and ask me
what kind of bird should I get?
What species of bird is best suited for me?
Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.
And you guys get pretty frustrated with me
that I can't answer you.
Here's the thing about labeling birds in a certain way
of experience level or otherwise.
Every single bird is its own personality,
has its own likes, dislikes, characteristics.
Especially if you're looking at re-homing a bird
or rescuing a bird.
Things and experiences have happened in that bird's past
to shape who it is that day.
And a lot of it you may not know about,
you may not be told when you rescue or re-home that bird
exactly what its past was.
And you may not be able to fully understand it,
even if somebody did and was able
to tell you it's entire past.
Now how I wanna demonstrate this
and what I mean by this in this video
is with an Amazon parrot.
A lot of people ask about Amazon birds
and there's some really cute viral videos out there
of Amazon's either talking or singing really loudly
and amazingly, because they are known
for their talking abilities and mimicry.
And there's some cute videos.
I know, especially somebody on Instagram
who just looks amazing with her Amazon parrot
and it makes you want one too.
Now here's where it gets tricky.
I want you guys to realize
that although there are characteristics
that everybody kind of staples or attaches and labels
Amazon parrots as, I went on and Googled some of them.
And here's what the internet had to say
about Amazon parrots.
I cross-checked with about four different websites
and they were the top websites that came up
when I Googled this.
They all said that Amazon parrots are affectionate,
moody, playful, social, intelligent, active
and that they cannot stay calm.
One of the websites even said and I quote,
"Owning an Amazon parrot is the equivalent
to owning a dog without wings."
Okay Amazon people, those of you with experience
with any species of Amazon,
I know there's over 30 different species of Amazon.
Those of you with experience with any sort of Amazon,
please tell me in the comments,
do you agree or disagree with that statement?
I'm gonna go with a hard, no, on agreeing with that.
So the reality is that a lot of Amazons
actually die of obesity
because they are overweight in captivity.
Mostly because they get clipped,
then they don't have a proper way of exercising
because before they were clipped,
they were likely exercising by attacking people in the home
and so that's what got them clipped in the first place,
which doesn't get to the root
of why that Amazon was actually attacking.
It's just a quick fix of now,
the Amazon's not capable of attacking that way,
so it has to look for alternatives to get to that person.
The other cause for obesity with Amazon's in captivity
is just a poor diet, which is usually
just that the human doesn't understand
what a nutritional diet looks like for birds.
But I don't want this video to be anything about that.
What I want this video to focus on and to teach you guys,
is that you can't categorize an entire species
like an Amazon parrot and just think
that you're picking out a car.
Just thinking that you want a colorful bird
that is really good at talking,
that's super affectionate and cuddly
and really playful and intelligent
and okay, I want that one.
It doesn't work like that with birds.
They are all completely unique and different.
So I'm going to share a little tidbit
of how I went to Ronie's For the Love of Birds
Parrot Rescue, who I work with frequently.
So if you haven't heard of them,
please check out a link in the video description
to check more of them out
and see what birds they have up for adoption,
including the ones you're about to see me work with.
And I wanna share the experience that I had
working with four different Amazon parrots in their rescue
and show you how drastically different
all four of these birds were.
So let's get started.
The first Amazon that I tried working with
from Ronie's For the Love of Birds Parrot Rescue
was a lilac-crowned amazon.
Now this Amazon was not social, was not playful,
was not affectionate.
It had absolutely no interest in taking a treat from me.
All I tried to do is give this bird a treat
to have an initial interaction,
to see if this bird was interested in interacting with me.
And it was a hard no.
(parrot squawks)
The next Amazon that I went to work with
was a blue fronted amazon and this Amazon
was incredibly social, didn't try the affectionate front
but very interactive with me and willing to train.
So very, very receptive to target training.
We had a great session and every time
I came back to this bird to interact,
it did very amazingly well and was super confident
in all of its abilities.
But then when I actually opened up the cage
to see if this bird wanted to step up onto me,
it was a whole different ball game
and the bird was incredibly fearful.
- He was starting so well.
(parrot chirps and squawks)
Look at that, see how scared he is?
(parrot chirps and squawks)
Yeah, he's too scared.
(parrot chirps and squawks)
we'll look at targeting.
(parrot chirps and squawks)
Super gentle.
The third Amazon that I worked with at Ronie's
was a double yellow headed amazon
and this bird was incredibly aggressive.
I was warmed from the get go
that I may not wanna even try working with this bird
in the first place.
And I did struggle through this one, pretty hardcore.
I was trying to get this bird
to go from aggressive, to calm and gentle.
And I was really struggling.
So I actually asked my husband to step in.
I said, Hey, you haven't worked with a bird yet.
If you're gonna work with one, it should be this one
'cause I'm scared, so have at it.
And actually my husband did way better
getting this behavior.
He set the training session really up for success,
which is something that I didn't do.
What I was trying to do is work with what I had.
And the difference was with Dave,
he looked at the situation and said,
"How can I bend to the situation
to be in my favor and in the bird's favor to succeed?"
And he did that.
And it was merely just moving the cage
to an easier position for him to access
and for the bird to respond to.
Like, duh, wish I would've thought of it
but good going, Dave, you're smart, love you.
Well, are you gonna do any of 'em?
You should do this one.
This is gentle.
Did you see how getting the treat was really aggressive?
- [Dave] He'll tear you up.
He says, see this treat?
This treat is what I would do to your face!
- [Dave] You want me to film that?
- [Jamie] If you want.
Whoa, this one's a little scary.
I wish there was like an empty dish to drop it in instead.
- [Dave] Hang tight and we'll come there.
- [Jamie] Do you wanna work with this one and I'll film it?
This one scares me.
Huh?
(parrot squawking drowns out speaker)
- [Dave] So it used the little treats
that look like fingers.
- [Jamie] Go for it.
He looks ready, man.
It's a really gentle target.
(clicker clicks)
You hear the little grumble?
Do you think he's nice to you, or no?
- [Dave] No, he's an Amazon.
So here, show this bar. I'm wanna show you guys.
I'm gonna use this bar spacing here
to make it so I can treat more predictably
without me having to lose a finger.
(whispers) It's so quiet in here.
- [Jamie] Make sure that you target
- [Dave] He wants some meat in there.
(clicker clicks)
- [Jamie] That was really good.
(clicker clicks)
- [Dave] Oo, he's cutting me up here.
Oh, I'm making it hard, right?
It's all right, you wanna go for the treat? There you go.
(clicker clicks)
(parrot chirps and squawks)
(clicker clicks)
- [Jamie] Good.
- [Dave] Do you want me clicking?
I'll get you the clicker.
(clicker clicks)
it's already lot better.
(clicker clicks)
(parrots chirp and squawk)
(clicker clicks)
- That was so good.
The last and final Amazon that we worked with
at the rescue was one that is a blue fronted amazon
and is incredibly fearful.
Now I get this question quite frequently.
People will say, my bird is scared
of the sound of the clicker.
So solution number one, you don't have to use a clicker.
I like to use a clicker because I feel
like sometimes it speeds up my progress
but that's because my birds understand
what the clicker already means.
If your bird is fearful of the clicker,
you can do a couple of different things.
You can muffle the sound to be not as loud,
so it's not as scary.
You can use a completely different sound.
I've had people use Snapple caps and things like that,
or even a short whistle,
or you can just merely use the word, good.
Anything can act as kind of that marker
or a bridge to let the animal know
that it did something correct and that a treat is coming.
Does not have to be a clicker, by any means.
So what I had originally tried to do
was I tried to have Dave use the clicker
once I realized this bird
was scared to death of this clicker,
which was very unexpected.
It's okay.
I scared the hell out of it.
It's okay, it's okay.
It's okay.
it's okay.
(clicker clicks)
(parrot chirps and squawks)
(clicker clicks)
I had my husband click for me further away
but I still noticed this bird responded negatively to it
and so I decided to just get rid of the clicker completely
and just use the word, good.
Come on.
(parrot chirps and squawks)
it's like, why do the nuts make that noise?
(Dave laughs)
So I just wanna point that out.
You guys aren't married to the clicker.
You don't always have to use it.
There's times when I don't have one on me.
So I'm able to just use the word, good.
It's good to be universal that way
and not to rely or depend on the clicker, solely.
You wanna be able to kind of work
with what you have in that instance.
(parrot chirps and squawks)
Good job.
(clicker clicks)
There we go, perfect.
(parrot squawks)
I would love to hear what your guys' experiences
have been with Amazon parrots.
I always feel like people are reading the comments
and it does a lot of good
to share your unique experiences,
so people can read through and see what they're in for.
I think a lot of people end up
wanting an amazon parrot because they're beautiful
and they can talk.
It's the primary things that I hear about
when people are picking an Amazon,
it's usually they're talking ability.
Now, one of the things is, I would never recommend
an Amazon to somebody.
I just wouldn't do it, based on everything that I've seen
with them personality wise,
it's not a bird that I would ever say
like, hey, I think you should go get an Amazon,
You would be perfect for one.
they're one where I see so many issues
that I honestly am like,
probably shouldn't be in captivity at all.
However, I have a flight student
who has a dog training and grooming background
and she never planned on getting into parrots
but she ended up with an Amazon from a client of hers
who had just given it to her.
It was like, "Hey, my bird seems to like you
more than me, keep it".
And they're such a match.
It's amazing. Their relationship is amazing.
And I absolutely love it
and don't think that anything else would be more perfect.
So I do believe in people finding their animals
or the animals, finding their people
and it just making sense and being a match.
And so I think you should look for that.
Look for that magic.
Look for that connection where it's undeniable,
it's still not easy.
It's still complicated and hard
and difficult but it's worth it
and you have that connection with the animal.
I think that's what everybody should seek out
more than, I want a green one, I want a pink one.
I want a big one, I want a small one.
It should be more about finding that connection
with a specific animal who needs what you have.
I hope you guys gained a lot of insight from this video
and got to see how different each type of bird is,
even though they're the same species.
These were all Amazon parrots
that responded to target training entirely differently.
So from teaching a bird who is fearful to target,
to teaching an aggressive bird to target
and even getting no response at all from some birds
and then getting the ideal response from another Amazon,
I hope that this kind of gives you some insight
on how to work through it
because I think that people give up on targeting
way too quickly when they could easily push through
and get the results that would make
all the difference in the world
on communicating with their animal.
If you guys are interested in adopting a bird
or fostering a bird, please check the video description
for a link to Ronie's For the Love of Birds
Parrot Rescue, located in Sandy, Utah.
Whether you are making them handmade toys for their birds,
or making a little extra food and sending it to them,
every little bit counts and helps
towards raising and caring for these birds,
for as long as it takes to find them
the forever homes that they deserve.
You can also check out the Bird Tricks
and Hyper Finch pin collaboration line.
It's something that I'm super proud of.
Every pin was designed by the artist over at Hyper Finch
and it is a pin collection that is of my own birds
as well as project birds that I've worked with,
including Lefty from Ronie's For the Love of Birds
and you can collect them all at hyperfinch.com.
100% of our profits go towards Ronie's
For the Love of Birds Parrot Rescue.
So please consider splurging on some pins
in an effort to support rescue birds.