Gaining the trust of your new quaker parrot?

Question

my boyfriend and I just bought a quaker parrot on sunday. RIght now (tuesday) the bird flies away from us as we are holding it. we are being as positive and nice as we can but, we are worried we are stressing the bird out. we have done a lot of reading on the bird,but i'd like your help also. any tips would be great!

Answer 1

When my quaker first came to live with me, I sat by his cage and talked to him in a soft voice several times a day and also placed the cage where he could see us most of the time, but in a place where he wouldn't get startled by anyone getting too close or loud noises, etc.  After a few days, I started to leave the cage door open when I talked to him. It wasn't long before he came to me on his own. Just take it slow and build his trust and you'll have a sweet, loving companion who will do anything to please you. Also you should definitely clip his wings for his own safety. If you're afraid or don't know how, your vet will show you the best way to do it.

Answer 2

If you bought this parrot as a handfed and handraised bird, something is wrong.  If you bought it as semi-tame you have a lot of work to do.

First it must have it's flight feathers trimmed.  It is a bird, if it can fly, it will fly.  Once the flights are cut, it can fly horizontally and down to the floor.  You then become it's transportation up.  You tell it Step Up and have it step onto your hand.  

Google - Nurturing Dominance and also get Sally Blanchard's book The Parrot Handbook.  A must have.  

You can easily learn to trim the primary flights yourself.  The seller should have done this for you.

Answer 3

When I first brought my Quaker home (he was 2 years old, handraised but neglected for the last 6 months or so) I put him in an area that was a bit out of the way so he could still see what was going on, but didnt feel threatened.

Next I just played games with him through his cage. Playing peek-a-boo and seeing how he responded. Pretending to act scared and run away when he saw me or was looking scared. The usual stuff.

I then tried feeding him little tidbits through the bars of his cage (seeing as he hadnt been given fresh fruit and veg in god knows how long) which he enjoyed immensely.

After that, I started talking to him through the cage with my conure on my shoulder to introduce the pair, and to demonstrate that I am not going to hurt him as my conure is very trusting of me.

Then I tried letting him out of the cage by himself so he could get a feel for the place. He settled in and became comfortable very quickly.

I later read in a bird behaviour book that you can guage how much your bird trusts you with simple body language. Look at your bird and blink. If he blinks back that is a very good sign.

Also when they shake their tails out. You can tell how happy your bird is by how quickly he shakes his tail after you have tried a new activity with him and put him back on his cage. Cant remember how long you should wait. Think if it was within the first 2 minuites it was a good sign and you can try again soon, if a bit longer maybe try again in a day or so, and if over 5 mins or he doesnt do it at all you need to work more on developing the trust.

hope that helps

Answer 4

You have got to give this bird time to acclimate and get used to you both before it chooses who it will love. Sorry but Quakers are usally a 1 person bird and it will pick out itself who it will love. And right now you are both strangers to the bird until the bird understands it lives there for good. Try not to handle it too much right now so it will develope the desire to be handled, instead of rushed into it unwillingly.