GREY FISHER
Persistent biters can change
 I am an animal tender at our one and only animal shelter. I am comfortable and experienced with most animals, but my recent "rescue" is a challenge. Henri (or Henrietta - we're not sure) was confiscated from the pants leg of a smuggler at the Mexican border 35 years ago. He was eventually adopted by the border agent who discovered him. After the owner passed away, a family member took the bird and eventually passed him to a friend who gave him to me. Problem is Henri is a very nasty biter. He allows me to change his food and water, will take treats from me, at times appears relatively comfortable, but will not allow physical contact and will sometimes lunge at me when I am working with surrounding cages. I recently was distracted while talking to him and he lashed out and nearly pierced my lip! No serious damage, but I got the hint. At his age, what would be the best way to develop a bond? Should I remove him from the living room where I have four other medium size parrots (including another double yellow head who is very tame) and numerous other small cage birds, six dogs and three cats? He doesn't seem at all bothered by the dogs or cats, but is territorial toward the larger birds (he allows my free flying lovebird to enter his cage and eat his food and roost on a part of a perch). Also, how should I approach taking him from the cage, teaching him to step up - should I use a stick or a glove? The suggestion has been made that I isolate him in another room and have frequent one on one encounters with lots of treats. Fine, but how do I integrate him into the flock?
-- Barb, Fairbanks, Alaska
 TAKING ON older parrots that have less-than-perfect pasts is always a challenge but can be very rewarding if you are able to establish a positive relationship. Aggression is common in Amazons and double-yellow heads especially. This, however, does not mean there is no hope. You don't say how long you have had this bird, but one thing to keep in mind is that a bond can take time to develop. If I count correctly, you are the fourth home this bird has seen in 35 years and his life in captivity began inside a smuggler's pants. Throughout all of this, we can only guess what his life was like. It is very possible that he never left his cage. It is also possible that he was physically abused. And it is also possible that he had a great life at each stop along the way. Regardless of the past, your life with him is beginning now and you need to only know two words: positive reinforcement.
Yes, I know I sound like a broken record, but positive reinforcement is the key to developing a healthy working relationship between you and the rest of the world, your parrot included. Broken down into simple terms, reinforce the behaviors you want, ignore those you don't want. Reinforcement is anything the bird wants and is willing to work for whether it is a touch, treats, or time out of the cage. I'll assume here that the bird is on a healthy diet made up of pellets and lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Those fattening, unhealthy sunflower seeds that you have eliminated from the diet make great treats just like a cookie or ice cream is a great treat for kids but not something they should eat for dinner! When your bird allows you near its cage without lunging at you, give it a treat. If you can change its bowls without being bitten, give it a treat. If at anytime he turns aggressive, ignore the aggressive behavior and he loses the opportunity to earn his treat. Eventually the bird will look forward to your interactions because every time you come by he gets something he wants. It won't be an overnight solution, but it will be one that will help to build a solid relationship.
You won't need to separate him from the others in order for him to learn that you are a good thing, but once you move on to taking him out of the cage, I would work in a separate room with no distractions. Training him to step onto a stick is definitely a valid option, but if you don't rush the bird and continue to keep your relationship positive, that stick will turn out to be an interim step that you most likely won't need.
Grey Fisher is a trainer at the Taronga Zoo in Sydney, Australia. Previously he was a trainer with Natural Encounters, Inc., a world-renowned organization that helps zoos all over the world train birds and many other types of animals using positive reinforcement.
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