This is Storm… and his current diet is so bad that he could literally die from a random heart attack any day. Actually, his owners are expecting it! So, Dave and I have taken him in to work with him to lower his chances of dying from a heart attack from his obesity and malnutrition.
Many Amazon parrots die from fatty liver disease because of being on an all-seed or extremely high fat diet. For Storm, it has been cheeseburgers and cooked chicken… among other human foods that are high in fat, salt and fortified sugars.
How Storm Came to Be with Us
Storm is a sexed male, blue fronted Amazon parrot who is 35+ years old. Storm was living happily with a family on the gulf coast of Florida when a hurricane hit and he was torn from his family, the home he knew and everything else rendered familiar. He remained in Florida alone until one day an elderly couple was camping?and in a tree above their heads they heard a very clear, “Hello!”
They looked up and saw Storm’s cute face looking down at them. “Hello…” they replied, and with that, Storm climbed down the tree and perched himself on one of their arms. They took the bird with them on their adventures after that, for 10 years they traveled around with him in their RV.
However, the couple was around 70 years old when they got Storm and at 80 they just couldn’t care for themselves and Storm too. They gave him up to a local pet shop nearby where he sat for a solid year without being sold. He didn’t take to anyone and the pet store feared they’d never sell him.
Then one day a woman walked in and Storm stepped right up on her. The manager begged her to take the bird, explaining their dilemma. They agreed and has had Storm for the last 10 years old. Her vet told her Storm was around 35 years old but it was hard to tell the exact age so a lot of it was based on his rocky and unclear past.
Dave and I will be housing and working with Storm for the next 45 days before we meet back up with his owner (who is in Virginia). Dave spent a couple days in Virginia around Storm but not interacting with him much as he didn’t like anyone but this one lady in the household… and it was a last minute decision to take on Storm and bring him back to Orlando to stay a while.
Storm sat in a car with Dave and our cockatoo, Bondi, for 13 hours for the drive back to Orlando. He was quiet for the most part while Bondi talked, and he let Dave touch his feet through the cage bars. When they got home in the night, we let Storm climb out of his travel cage and perch himself on top as I was eager to meet him. Within a few minutes, he stepped up on Dave’s gloved hand. There was no forcing, it was pretty much an accident, really. Dave’s hand was behind Storm and he literally stepped back onto it with no problem.
We both looked at one another with shock… thinking… it can’t be this easy…
And Storm proved it wouldn’t be that easy. He convinced us that step up was a fluke that happened and every day after that would be a learning experience, for both us and Storm. I plan on keeping you all closely updated with Storm’s progress so check back soon!
4 comments
I went to the bird shop and was looking around for my next family member when Ricco, my now 3 year old BFA stepped up on my shoulder and put his down for a scratch. It was so adorable. He came home with me that day. When my husband opened the door our then 6 month BFA stepped out onto my husband’s arm and the rest is history. His crazy antics entertain us every day and I couldn’t imagine my life without Ricco in it. My husband nicknamed him Bockey for the way he moves around on his perches. He can be so lovable but right around spring this year he was nutsy. So I interacted with him from a distance. His eyes would pin and he would put his head feathers up. Signs of, “Stay away or I will bite!” But then at the same time he ducks his head as if to say, rub my head mommy. I always say read that parrot body language. Parrot bites hurt. Luckily he has never really bit me. A hard nibble a few times(I said to myself, self leave him alone right now)and it was enough to know how powerful that beak of his truly is. I love my parrots. We currently have 3 parrots and 4 finches.
Hello I have recently gotten a blue-fronted Amazon he’s a rescue bird I went to visit him for maybe 2 months before I actually took him home and I’ve had him since September 27 and teach them a few things like how to wave hello how to say hello he takes things from me when I’m feeding them from hand he loves to play with me and Fly Like an Eagle pretend but he still will not let me pick him up or step up do you have any good tips for me
Hi Chet I have been reading your e-mails avidly from the UK. I came into posession of a orange winged Amazon about 9 months ago. He/she is called Baby as no-one knows his/her sex. I was given him/her as I am an animal lover and the family that had him were a completely disfunctional family and after two years of owning him were completely ignoring him/her and just screaming at him to shut up all the time. He/she has not left his/her cage since they had him/her (about 2 years). I am a complete novice with birds but have now got him/her to trust me and he now steps up and plays with me for about half an hour every evening (not all the time but still holds on to his bars for security). He can be very noisy but we let him/her sing along to MTV Dance for about 1 hour in the afternoons and he/she is quite happy when he/she has it out of his/her system! He/she is about 4-5 years old and I am still not sure of his/her sex just recently Baby has been displaying his/her magnificent plumage and when I handle him/her Baby gently rubs the tip of his /her beak across my hand and regurgitates food. Is this normal? I have so much by reading your newsletters, but fear I have so much more to learn. Baby has established himself so well into our household and is much loved by me, my wife and seventeen year old son, I do not want to let him down due to ignorance so please keep on sending the e-mails !! Danny Murphy
Hello Danny, Amazons are sexually mature around 3-5 years of age and when Spring comes around (like it has) you will see more and more signs of sexual behavior. Please check back on this blog on the 29th (this coming Sunday) for Patty’s post about how to handle hormonal birds during the Spring and some easy tips you can apply immediately at home with your Amazon!
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