The Good, the Bad and the Ugly about Quaker Parrots

[tjc]

I really should introduce myself and Boo my Quaker. I have been a member for two years, but did not participate much. That is about to change. Boo is my 13-year old DNA sexed male Quaker. He is my only bird. He has a long history of mutilating under his wing at times. We have used collars and three different medications with good luck taking Fluoxetine or Prozac. He is currently drug-free. He barbers all the gray feathers on his chest. If you don’t know what barbering is take a look at his picture. He doesn’t pluck them he just chews them. I’ve never caught him in the act. He is very healthy and is on Harrison‘s adult lifetime pellets plus vegetables and fruits. He only started eating vegetables in early 2020. It took 13 years to get him to eat a vegetable, so don’t be discouraged if you’re Quaker is a picky eater. Eventually it may happen. For the good and bad and ugly, he is all of the things everyone has said. He does not like hands and he is not cuddly, and he is currently cage bound. The door to his cage is open all day, but in the last six months he has grown more and more fond of his cage. I have had MS for 32 years and I am in a wheelchair. I am in bed part of the afternoon and his cage is beside me. He is the best therapy I have ever had. He makes crying sounds if he thinks I am upset. He is my everything. Thanks for reading. I will be posting more and more, as I want to be a productive member of Avian Avenue.

 

[Kathryn]

Here's my good bad and Ugly I no longer have Coffee Bean but want to share this info.

The Good!
Coffee Bean is the sweetest little bird, I kept him in a cage right in front of my recliner where he could see my whole first floor of my house. He happily sat on my shoulder while I would do chores and whisper sweet nothings into my ear. He has a huge constantly changing vocabulary, I think he says about 50 different words and sounds. He can speak a little in context and would ask for certain snacks and treats. He would tell the dogs to be quiet then tell them they were good girls when they settled. He would remind me to feed the cats at dinner time and would remind himself no bites when he wanted to nibble! Such a smart little bird he learned very quickly when I put in the effort to train him. I've heard most Quakers are cage aggressive but I never had this issue with Bean. Then again I never really pushed him to do something if he didn't want to either and usually let him come out of the cage on his own. He LOVES his toys! It was so much fun watching him play I would take paper grocery bags put a couple treats in the then squish them into a ball. He would spend hours destroying it and made the happiest noises while doing it! He's a snuggle bug! And wants nothing more then to cuddle against you and whisper sweet nothings into your ear!

The Bad
Very nippy! He never bit me so hard as to draw blood but he would nip a lot like he just couldn't help himself. Very much a one person bird, he would go to others but not if he was on me. He would bite anyone who tried to take him off me. He was a bit hand shy, I think prior to me getting him he must have been grabbed a lot because hands made him nervous. He got better as I worked with him and even started to let me scratch his head, but still preferred to step up on my arm rather then my hand. He was fairly clingy, any time he came out of his cage he would make a bee line for me. I could never convince him to just chill on a perch. For some I'm sure they would count it as a plus but I often called him my clingy boyfriend. He can also be very loud! He pretty much makes noise constantly chirping and talking to himself, which I personally enjoy. Right around noon each day he will get very loud so loud I often put ear plugs in. You can hear him outside with the windows closed 3 houses away! It's so loud it makes your ears ring, however he generally only does it right before he takes a nap. So it doesn't both me much, I just stick in my ear plugs. However over all I don't think there was much bad about him.

The Ugly
Quaker Parrots are illegal to own some places including Pennsylvania. Unfortunately my Father has a terminal Cancer and I've had to move back to PA to be his primary care taker. I've read too many horror storys about Quakers being confiscated in PA and the owners never find out what happened to them to be willing to chance taking him with me. I was and am beyond heartbroken. I love that little bird and miss him dearly. I was fortunate enough to find an amazing young woman to adopt him. She keeps in touch with me and sends me regular pictures, videos and updates. She's doing a fantastic job training him and has almost cured him of his hand shyness. I still miss him horribly but hope to someday get another parrot one that won't be illegal to own.

I'm so sorry you had to give up your little Coffee Bean. I know that had to be very heartbreaking. To hear they would come and take your bird in PA and not tell you what happened to them is horrible. I could never imagine going through that. It is like someone taking your kids away forever to never see them again. No way. You know? That's so horrible. I love my little 7 month old Caly so much. She truly has my heart. She is all about me. This morning she went on a walk-about looking for me, and when she hopped up on my arm she made a "Yeah, I get to be with my momma!" sound. She is very defensive of me, but pretty well socialized with other family members. She has never bit hard, but I'm sure she could if she wanted to. She is so sweet, and gets so much love every day. I have a online job so I get to spend lots of time with her, which she really loves and me too. I'm glad your Coffee Bean is in a loving home and you get updates on her all the time. That I am sure prevents you from missing her even more.

 

[Kathryn]

I'm so excited to post here

The Good. Everything. Penguin is smart, loving, affectionate, he learns very very fast. He is a clown, he loves to be with me and on me. He loves to play. He's pretty good at entertaining himslf while Im at work. He likes people and is a great eater.

The Bad. He is still bitey but we're working on it. He can be loud, and he calls for me non stop if I leave the room to shower or make food. He's an Energizer Parrot so if I am having a low energy day, it can be exhausting. He demands my full attention!

The Ugly. Nothing yet

Yeah my little girl "Caly" is so demanding of me too. I find it to be adorable and it not to be a problem for me. She is more adorable then words could aptly say. She is 8 months old and absolutely a joy to my life. She is fiercely defensive of me when anyone comes near "her" shoulder. She has never really bit anyone, just a light nip, to say hey this is MY person, back off. It is so cute. The bad is that she is very scared all the time of others. Not sure if this is because she is so fiercely my bird or not but my husband is the "bird guy" and she is terrified of him and he has never done anything against her. Birds in general are not finger fans and this takes time. I'm sure that after some time she will be less scared. She is a very sweet bird and I love her so much. I don't know how I ever lived my life without her before.

 

[Vmax]

Hiccup is my adopted Quaker. He was found and taken to a bird shelter not far from me. He’d been there since this past July. We brought him home a couple of weeks ago, so we’re still getting to know each other.
The good so far - affectionate and gentle and the sweetest baby (don’t know his age, but hoping he’s young). He’s excitable and engaged in the comings and goings. He says thank you and hello and makes the cutest “conversation” noises. He makes me laugh and “laughs” with me.

The bad so far - cage aggressive is putting it mildly. Quakers in the wild protect their nests, so I’m assuming that’s sort of what this is about. I try not to harass him and to be respectful. That seems to be getting better in that he doesn’t “growl” all the time now.

The ugly so far - I am his primate and my spousal unit is some sort of alien interloper who needs attacking or correcting.

Jeff and I have been working with him. I’m smitten. Jeff thinks Hiccup is funny, but he’s a little taken aback by Hiccup attacking him. It was very surprising and I’ve been careful about having Hiccup out when no one else is around...not sure if that’s a great idea but he needs his out of cage play time, so that’s the current arrangement.

 

[Pixiebeak]

I love quakers bunches@ ive had 4, with the devastating loss of one. So I currently have 3 DNA girls.

The good, oh so cuddling, its non stop head scratches and kisses here! Tho one took about a year to get to snuggle bunny stage. They all purr when getting loves. They have a ton of humor and have learned to laugh. Its so much fun to laugh with them and they pull pranks for laughs . I'm a solo bird mom. But I've worked to have all step up and say hi to visitors, take a treat nice from visitors. And if a visit brave enough ill have the birds kiss their cheek. Overnight guest can usually get shoulder hang outs and snuggles.


While they all got along right away with careful slow introducing and hung near each other it took years before they preening and kissing each other


The bad. All three luv bugs are cage sharks! There is no putting hands in cage without screaming attacks and bites to draw blood.

The ugly. The noise! Like to always be making noise, unable to fly without squawking. When they reach screaming level its unbelievable! You can hear it outside and 2-3 houses down. I watched the wonderful video examples available here, mine are easily 20x louder and prolonged! As a public service to you all I'm going to have to record a screaming session . With instructions to not let your quakers hear it!!!
This epic screaming might be due to taking a rescue with exceptionally bray and screech skills. She was so angry at first, and before I got her past that she taught everyone else this vocal routine. But I found an unmatched screaming quaker at a pet store and she could and would scream without break from sun up to sunset. Zero breaks!!!! Crazy me, I knew I had to get her to save her from an awful life. I knew I could help her , and that not many could or would take that on. It took months, nearly to my breaking point, and success was measured in miniuts at first. She's just a regular parrot on the noise now, but she would still like to get screaming sessions started just for the joy of it , and takes continue maintaining work to prevent relapses. Quakers are quick to turn to screaming, especially if caged a majority of time and not living the good life. I do have one girl who is quiet by nature just a quiet girl rarely vocals. Takes the other 2 really getting going before she will join in.