Help with bronze wing/Pionus body language and vocals?

[baserock love]

1. The soft chitter sounds she make are happy noises I assume as I see vids of them making them while being pet or clearly contended. She would make them at almost a frantic pitch when I was out of the room or not within eyeshot, just louder and more frantic chitters, almost excited. She's often on one foot and fluffed up in her cage which I assume is relaxed body language like with amazons. Does this change in frequency/urgency of vocalizations mean something?

I'm pretty sure this is just her being giddy and playful. I see her do it when she explored new parts of the cage and right before she starts tossing around newspapers on the top which is about the only play shes' ever done.

2. She will on occasion make low pitched raspy almost like gibberish words. It sounds like she's trying to emulate speech (I'm 90% positive she's saying I love you at times but only when she does this specific vocalization.) but they're much lower pitched then the chittering vocalizations she's usually making. I've heard her make them when she was on my shoulder when she first came home, and once or twice when she was running from my hand when i first realized she no longer was willing to step up and was now frightened of me. I ASSUME these are fear response vocalizations?

I have come to understand this is a generic begging thing. S he will put her head forward and do the begging wing quivering. She does this when she's scared, she does it when she wants food, she does it when she wants to go somewhere other than where she is and since she sucks at flying she is begging me to take her there. It basically means "I want X" and i have to figure out what X is.

3. She does this the same way every time and i've heard about Bronze Wings doing something similar. She so far hasn't touched a single toy, but will at random times when she was in a chattery mood, climb to the top of her cage, hang like a vampire bat, point her head downwards, look right at me and start chattering insanely frantically sorta similar to the vocalizations in 1, but even MORE excited. She Only does this when i'm around, and only does it for about 10 seconds. She will be on her perch, see me walk near the cage, climb up to the top of the cage, hang and talk excitedly and stare right at me, then go right back to her safe space perch in the back of the cage. I have no idea if this is play or what?

This i'm still unsure of but the vocalizations she makes are similar to #1 so I assume it's a sorta happy play display. She often does this before she goes to the spot on her cage where she demands pets and scritches.

 

[tka]

It sounds like you're doing brilliantly with her! I love how they take a while to work if they like something or someone - it's so rewarding when they decide that it's okay after all.

I'm acclimatising Leia to a cage cover - it's currently draped over the back wall of the cage, and she's marched over there and is "talking" excitedly to it. She doesn't seem distressed, just very interested. She's a weirdly confident pi though; she's never shown fear of new toys and will investigate as soon as I show them to her.

 

[zoo mom]

Andre has never really been fearful of anything. I think it might have something to do with what they experience earlier in life. Andre was hand raised as an only bird. I got him when he was 3 months old. He was raised lovingly and abundance weaned and has never truly wanted for anything (except for more attention he always wants more attention). He is a strong flyer, and is very bold about new things. He also was fully flighted up until they decided he was ready to go to a new home.

 

[finchly]

Andre sounds like Rio, my only un-frightened bird. He climbs, flips, explores, checks out new things. Skittles is *almost* there; he checks things out from nearby. Ernie and the tiel girls' first reaction to anything is "RUN!"

 

[tka]

Yes, I think it's that sense of security and being listened to. Leia was co-parent raised, weaned at her own pace, has never been clipped and spent the first nine months of her life with other pis which I think gave her a really steady start in life. We've worked a lot on communication and consent - for example, I always ask her if she wants a headscratch rather than just touching her without her consent so she's never felt the need to bite me. She's such a gentle, curious, affectionate bird - I hope puberty is easy on us.

 

[zoo mom]

Andre' s only nod toward puberty is the pionus strut. If you acknowledge that you understand he is hands off after a few minutes he will want to "shake" hands. He also has never been forced to do anything unless it was absolutely essential. He always gets asked if we can "scratch your head". He ducks his head if the answer is yes and leans backwards if the answer is no. It is very very clear what he wants.

 

[tka]

Thanks for sharing your experience with Andre - it's reassuring to hear it from someone with more experience and with an older bird!

I ask Leia in a similar way - I make a scratching motion near her head without touching her, and if she wants a headscratch she'll duck her head and/or fluff up her head feathers, and if she doesn't she either doesn't move her feathers or she'll shuffle to the side. Leia occasionally struts and I just let herself work herself out of whatever strop she's in.

 

[baserock love]

It sounds like you're doing brilliantly with her! I love how they take a while to work if they like something or someone - it's so rewarding when they decide that it's okay after all.

I'm acclimatising Leia to a cage cover - it's currently draped over the back wall of the cage, and she's marched over there and is "talking" excitedly to it. She doesn't seem distressed, just very interested. She's a weirdly confident pi though; she's never shown fear of new toys and will investigate as soon as I show them to her.

I evny you people with brave unafraid pi's. Gamera's wussiness is a little frustrating at times. Just spent some more money on toys for her, smaller cat toy type things i'm hoping she'll want to push around or use as foot toys, nope! She's scared of course. I do give her credit though. Only a month or so ago she couldn't be taken more than a few feet from her cage without a full blown panic attack, today she finally decided the left dish on her new pvc perch setup is not-scary enough to investigate and she realized it has water in it, she literally squealed with joy when she realized she now has access to food AND water in my room anytime she wants it. It's so nice to have a companion while i work at home now <3

 

[finchly]

I evny you people with brave unafraid pi's. Gamera's wussiness is a little frustrating at times. Just spent some more money on toys for her, smaller cat toy type things i'm hoping she'll want to push around or use as foot toys, nope! She's scared of course. I do give her credit though. Only a month or so ago she couldn't be taken more than a few feet from her cage without a full blown panic attack, today she finally decided the left dish on her new pvc perch setup is not-scary enough to investigate and she realized it has water in it, she literally squealed with joy when she realized she now has access to food AND water in my room anytime she wants it. It's so nice to have a companion while i work at home now <3

Clearly you love your bird! Congratulations on the progress you've made so far.

The fact is she IS a wuss. I wish you'd take it a little slower. For example when you buy a bunch of toys, don't push them all on her at once. Those of us with shy birds usually hang the toy somewhere in sight, move it closer to the cage over the span of several days or (in my case) a week.

She is still settling in. I feel like it's important to let things be as they are right now - she has figured out the perch setup, has her new home, etc. Let her experience the same things/same routine for awhile.

 

[baserock love]

The fact is she IS a wuss. I wish you'd take it a little slower. For example when you buy a bunch of toys, don't push them all on her at once. Those of us with shy birds usually hang the toy somewhere in sight, move it closer to the cage over the span of several days or (in my case) a week.

Honestly not sure where you got the impression that I do this. They're small balls with bells in them, she was on her perch, i held one up to see what her reaction was and she started distancing herself from it and looking for an escape route, so now it's sitting across the room in a safe non threatening area where it doesn't bother her.

 

[finchly]

I see. When you said multiple toys, I got the wrong impression! Sorry!

My pi is a rescue, was cage bound for 17 years and is not a good example, but he usually likes toys marked for smaller birds. He has never played with a foot toy, though I do see. Him grabbing the bottom end of a hanging toy and wrestling it. He only does this when he thinks I'm not looking, and quits when he sees me look.

Here is a toy he would love, from one of our vendors here: Small Bird Toy Hoopla Birdie Bagels

And CA bird nerds is closed this week but they have toys like the cat toy things with bird-specific toys inside. I bought several sizes. No one has approached them yet except the baby caique.

 

[Begone]

i held one up to see what her reaction was and she started distancing herself from it and looking for an escape route,

If you do it the "right way" it will go faster. And that is never to show or put o toy near to them.
Just put the toy on a place, and then you go near it and play with it. Do that often, and she will soon find out that the toy is safe.
It doesn't matter what animal you are handling, you should never hold up things to them like that, that will more be that they feel like they need to defend themselves and that can be that they get aggressive/scared.
It's much better that you get the animals closer then the thing you want them to interact/feel safe with.
And if you think about it you will understand that I'm right. What are you doing if you want a animal to trust you and feel safe = Let the animal come to you and not the opposite.
I also think you should try some DIY natural toys. Like paper, wood pieces, pieces of egg carton. Just so she will understand the meaning of what a toy is. (to destroy, and that is fun if you are a parrot)

I hate by bad English, so difficult to explain this kind of things..

 

[zoo mom]

@Eloy That was very well written.

 

[baserock love]

If you do it the "right way" it will go faster. And that is never to show or put o toy near to them.
Just put the toy on a place, and then you go near it and play with it. Do that often, and she will soon find out that the toy is safe.
It doesn't matter what animal you are handling, you should never hold up things to them like that, that will more be that they feel like they need to defend themselves and that can be that they get aggressive/scared.
It's much better that you get the animals closer then the thing you want them to interact/feel safe with.
And if you think about it you will understand that I'm right. What are you doing if you want a animal to trust you and feel safe = Let the animal come to you and not the opposite.
I also think you should try some DIY natural toys. Like paper, wood pieces, pieces of egg carton. Just so she will understand the meaning of what a toy is. (to destroy, and that is fun if you are a parrot)

I hate by bad English, so difficult to explain this kind of things..

To be honest, i'm getting really sick of armchair Gamera owners making these insane assumptions about my methods. I don't chase her with the fricking toy, i don't jam it in her face, i don't hold it up a foot from her. The toy has to be in visual range for her to even be aware it exists. If i'm ten feet or 20 feet away from her and the toy is on the bed or in my hand or being removed from the package from across the room she will react to it. If she 's afraid if it she will look at it out of the side of her head, hang her head low and become very still and inch away from the direction of the toy very slowly, it could be literally 30 feet away on the floor, if it's something new that she's afraid of in her environment, she will react to it that way.

Like seriously. if you want to know the specifics of how i do things with gamera, just ask me ok?

 

[finchly]

Hey, play nice.

You probably think we have all the information, because the picture is in your head. But sometimes it's hard to have the whole picture. People work from their own point of view/experiences, which may skew what your saying (for them) ok?

Plus @Eloy is speaking English as a second language so give her a break.

Plus, she is right.

 

[zoo mom]

Sorry if you are upset. You said you showed her the toy. You did not say you showed her the toy from across the room. We are all here for the best interest of the birds. @Eloy explained what she has found to work best with frightened birds.