The Yellow Naped Amazon parrot is one of the larger of the Amazon species. He is also one of the more intelligent and confident parrot species. While this sounds like an ideal pairing of attributes, this combination can sometimes be a problem when your bird gets a little older. When your Yellow Naped Amazon approaches about three years of age, he will begin to enter sexual maturity (this age differs by individual bird). During this time you are likely to see some personality changes in your bird. This is the result of the onset of hormones that come about seasonally for all adult birds.
The changes in your parrot can be similar to the changes that are observed in human teenagers. Your normally cooperative and sweet-tempered yellow naped amazon might start to challenge and test you in ways he hadn’t before. Some birds, especially the males of the species, can become aggressive to the point of biting. We do hope your teenager isn’t doing that.
While “coming of age” for a parrot is natural and to be expected, it can bring on some very unexpected behaviors. It is during the onset of sexual maturity that the parrot/human bond is put under the most strain. It is difficult to maintain a relationship when you fear being bitten. Most often, though, it is our feelings that are hurt the worst as our former best friend seems to turn away from us.
The best way to avoid being a casualty of sexual maturity is to make sure you have the strongest possible relationship with your bird from day one. The best way to assure a powerful relationship and unbreakable bond is with training.
In the course of training your bird, the two of you will develop a bond of trust and mutual respect as, day after day, you work cooperatively to achieve a common goal. Your bird learns to trust you and gets the opportunity to earn yummy treats making every training session one for you both to look forward to.
Understanding body language is a key way of determining the many moods of your companion parrot. This isn’t as easy to do as it sounds. Humans are able to read the body language of our fellow humans. We know what it means when someone paces and wrings their hands, or begins to blush in conversation. These are common signals sent out by humans. Birds have no trouble reading the body language of other birds. It’s when you put a human in the same room as a bird that things get tricky.