I will tell you ALL birds make noise. A happy and content bird will not scream. I am working from home, and both of my Amazons are quiet as can be. They are happy, well adjusted birds with lots to do in their cages, both are just chilling out. It is what they do, even take naps.
If you can learn the triggers, then you'd have an idea.
This is... worrisome. Even the most patient, gentle bird in the world will bite if frightened, angry, or frustrated, and large birds make large wounds. If that's a dealbreaker for you, you may want to consider getting a smaller bird that can't do serious damage. Even then, you should be prepared to endure a few bites as you build your relationship. No owner/bird pair is perfectly in sync from day one.
Henry does share the same space as Lola but there is a floor divider to keep him from wandering over to her cage. The few times he has gotten to her cage they were in proximity of each other on the top.. sort of like a stand off. He's much bigger than Lola and could really hurt her if he wanted to. I'm not willing to take that chance by leaving him with her. His body language is quite clear when he's on her cage.... he's afraid she'll bite him. And she would have no problem doing so. I have to use a perch to guide him down off her cage and back to the floor where he'll walk back to his cage and while I'm in that process he's pretty concerned about where she is. There have been times she has flown over to his cage ( I didn't see her do it ... just happened to walk in and see her on his cage). He sits as far back from her with maniken pose, feathers pressed flat and wants no interaction with her even though she's in his domain. People with single amazons still go through these hormonal times. I certainly couldn't rule out having a female in the same space has a fraction of hormonal behavior. Currently, Lola still wants scritches, there are some times now where she flattens out and clucks which is total mating behavior and I stop immediately from touching her head. If she doesn't floof her head feathers forward while scritching I quit. Only when it's an appreciative head scritch as in closed eyes head feathers forward do I continue because it's more of a preening session without any hormonal behavior. When I do quit because of a more hormonal response from her she gets a little angry and will try to grab at me ( as in a bite)... she ain't happy with me as a partner! Sorry Lola.... no stroking!!!
Any bird has the potential to bite. We have members that are bitten by many different species of birds right down to the little parrolet, budgies, tiels, conures, you name it. The bigger the bird the bigger the bite. I've been bitten by every one of my birds. It happens.... mostly due to the owners fault for not reading the signals or respecting their space. Their hormones are no fault of their own. It takes time to learn how to manage them when the crazy times hit, they still deserve a good home with the utmost respect.
They pack quite a punch for a little bird!
I can tell you the watering eyes and sting you get when it feels like they have hit a bone with their pointed beak, been there one time and still have a scar from years ago!
All of my birds are little and only two have ever really bitten me (a bite meaning, broken skin and drawn blood), one was Aldora and the other Adelie. One was found on my doorstep, no idea where she came from or her upbringing, she is unsure of hands and is not ¨tame¨... the other hatched in my home and I raised her from 5 days old, and handfed her for almost 6 months, we have an incredible bond.
I think the behavior is exacerbated by the presence of a female. But I don't think it would necessarily be easy with just a male. The late president of the Amazona Society (can't remember her name) had all males and coined the phrase Hot 3. I remember reading an article from her that all her boys were horrible when 8 years old and seasonal after that. I was expecting it and with Gremlin, it happened literally just like the article said. Just when I was starting to think these males weren't that bad without a mate, wham, I'm bleeding.
Americans know them as Mexican Red Headed Amazons. I've seen the old time breeders and members of the international parrot community get a little snarky about the name. Apparently in most of the work they are called green cheeked amazons. A very different animal than a green cheek conure.
Not too long ago Astro ( GCC female) bit me on my nostril. She hatched here, I hand fed her.... she's twelve years old now and has never once offered to bite... until that day I put my nose up for a kiss like always. DANG THAT HURT!!!! Talk about watering eyes! Lower beak inside the nostril, upper beak on the outside.. did leave a mark... didn't bleed much. Probably not as bad as getting your nose pierced but undesirable nonetheless..
There are exceptions. I've found that female amazons get sweeter toward their favorite person during hormonal periods. They flutter and solicit sex but also generally want to hang out with you more and get scratched during those times. The trade off is that you have potential egg laying issues and that scares some people. Female amazons are not known for having compulsive laying issues, but we have had a couple on this board that have. Males go completely the other direction and become territorial and aggressive. Some individual females can be aggressive and some people that live with a human family will find that females will show the same behavior as males toward the less favored humans. So, even females of the hot 3 are not to be underestimated. Those smaller amazons species and mealys have fewer issues with all of that.
I think she did say she has conures. Would love to see some photos of them.
) ..... me... when I get nervous I can smell like one.. and not the sweet aroma kind..
That is what I see from my females too. Diva will sometimes bite after I stop scratching her. She gets so into having her nares rubbed sometimes that when I stop she's over stimulated and bites. I know its coming, so I just wobble my hand to disrupt her balance and put her down. 10 seconds later, she can step up again and be fine. Of course, if my dog is close by (as he always is) that bite or attempted bite might be a little more serious. I rarely get bit (what I consider a bite), but since the subject came up, a prospective owner needs to know it happens. I suspect long time hot 3 amazon owners have a different definition of what hurts that others. One of my baby amazons reached down and gave my mom a playful chomp a few years ago. No bleeding or bruising but she said she could still feel it 30 minutes later. I saw it happen and to me that is a normal part of life sometimes with a parrot and I forget it happened immediately. For the uninitiated, they can be hyper aware of the discomfort. In the course of a day, I get minor chomps that can be kind of painful I suppose. I also prevent many more bites from happening. The intention and opportunity was there, but I know the bird and didn't give them a chance.
It is worth noting that cockatoos are simultaneously known for being the sweetest parrots and having the worst bite. Male umbrellas and moluccans are notorious for having polar opposite days where they go from sweet cotton candy snuggle fluffs to the worst bite you've ever had in a fraction of a second. Or going on a completely over stimulated tirade over being allowed on the floor or the back of a couch, pacing back and forth with crest up and chasing whatever poor animal or human comes within range. The only time I've had a bad bite from a cockatoo was shortly after I got Ariel and she got tangled in a rope perch that unraveled. I had to cut her out while she as panicking and I had punctures all over me. Of course she was forgiven. We were both scared and she was sorry. Otherwise, I've had her for 18 or so years now and just that one minor bite to the nose that if it had happened on any other body part would not have left a scar. Faces are just weird. That bite seeped just enough to scab and that did it. I don't think she even meant it aggressively. But, cockatoos are well know for specifically targeting the face. Amazons just want whatever body part they can reach first. My goffin's went through a face grabbing phase a few months after I got him. But that has since smoothed over.
