Blue Front Amazon behavior issues

[Monica]

Definitely recommend target training while inside the cage! Don't even take him out! Don't open the cage door and allow him out. Teach him to target to a stick or object for a reward and get him to the point that he'll reliably target without any aggression. If he bites the target, then simply reward him for reaching for the target but not actually touching it.

Once he gets good at that, *then* you can open the cage door and try targeting around the outside of the cage, in and out of the cage, around the cage, etc!


Barbara Heidenreich has some good blog posts about aggression and bites.
Barbara's Force Free Animal Training Talk: Respecting the Bite


Another great trainer is Lara Joseph
Aggressive | Lara Joseph


Susan Friedman is another good behaviorist
Written Works: Learning and Behavior - BehaviorWorks.com


Steve Martin also has some good articles
Natural Encounters, Inc.

 

[Wasabisaurus]

I can't add much here, but as long as your kid bothers the bird with anything, he is going to continue with the aggression toward females and probably children, too.

I know your little one does not know any better and she thinks she is playing, but your Amazon is not thinking that. The toy is the enemy and your Amazon may be thinking the toy and your little one are enemies, too. Also, Amazons can have very, very long memories. If someone wronged them many years ago, they can remember it, my vet says.

My Amazon came to us at approx. age 17 with an aggressive attitude. He seems to prefer men and not like women.

Good luck with your precious boy.

 

[Nikomania]

You mentioned that his umbrella goes up when he's attacking. I thought Cockatoos; not amazons have umbrellas. Are you certain that your bird is a zon?

 

[Crazy4parrots]

Maybe he means that his head feathers Get fluffed up when he attacks!

 

[Chopper]

I wondered about this too. Thanks for asking.

 

[macawpower58]

BFA are one of the hot 3 for a reason. I've heard about aggression like this pretty often, though it does seem to have hit your boy late in life.

I've not a lot of advice on training, but I do wonder what activities and foraging opportunities he has? Sometimes boredom can bring out the worst in our birds. Does he have a large cage? Is it filled with things for activity and playing? Does he play and chew?

I think training with a clicker would be excellent for your bird. Give him an outlet (besides aggressive attacks) for all that attitude he's displaying. I'd hazard a guess he's quite intelligent, and could learn to love learning tricks and cued behaviors.