Welcome to the Avenue
Thank you for being this birds angel and giving him a loving home
Birds are often afraid of many things, random things, things they were not scared of yesterday. It is a bird thing lol.
He may have been towelled (using a towel or oven mitts) a lot, roughly, unwillingly or just in a way that he was frightened of to be put into the cage or moved etc.
My bird really loves towels but after he has been towelled at the vet and poked and prodded and turned upside down in an unknown place by an unknown person we go straight back to him not trusting them if anyone is holding one and it takes me some time to get him to be confident and comfortable with one being placed over him again.
Every now and then I will get my bird something new that he seriously seems to think is there to kill him, sometimes it could be my new bright coloured or different sized hair tie that is there to eat him- I leave things like that (things he is not comfortable with) in his line of sight but at a distance where he is comfortable that is poses no threat to him. Many people only ever attempt to introduce new perches and toys after they have been placed in the same room as the bird but away from the cage if need be or on the outside of it if the bird is ok with that, then once they seem ok with the new item it is put into the cage. Everything wants to eat birds you know! lol.
If he was mistreated or not positively exposed to certain things (like brooms, mops, umbrellas, kitchen items etc) then they will be terrifying to him..... once he trusts you dealing with this stuff gets somewhat easier. My bird is much more accepting of new scary things if it is me that has them than if it is my mum, if my mum has the scary thing then it really is a danger to him but if I have it then he will eventually come closer to either check it out or tell me I need to get away from it lol. Birds are complicated in some ways.
You will be best off to expect nothing from this bird and work as slowly with him as he needs and you will end up with the bestest buddy that you could ever imagine.
@Monica gives really amazing training advice so hopefully she will have some time to drop you some clear detailed information like she is so wonderful at doing.
In the meantime I will add a few training links for you to read through...
So many people come on here with new birds asking what they should and shouldn't do that I thought I would put a short list together of things that owners of new birds could do to build a good relationship with their bird. These things can be done with all new rehomes, rescues or baby birds...
forums.avianavenue.com
Tika and Amanda (my mentors) asked me to write this. This is what I’ve learned and this is what I believe. We struggle to communicate with our animals. Some people can seem to get the most out of their pets and others think they can talk to them. Can we talk to our birds and can they talk to...
forums.avianavenue.com
Someone recently told me that there was only one trainer on the internet that had free training advice. This is, quite simply, false. This “trainer” they spoke of is an amateur that has taken advice from salesmen who market themselves as bird trainers. Not to say that they don't enjoy helping...
forums.avianavenue.com
Hopefully you will find some helpful information in the links while you wait for some more responses from other members