About E.B. Cravens
"If we TRULY believe our captive-raised hookbills are important to world parrot conservation, we must work ceaselessly to ensure that…
Ask An Expert: E.B. Cravens
Browse by category: Parrot Care, Behaviour and Training, Conservation, Ethics and Welfare, Housing and Environmental Enrichment, General, Health and Nutrition
Dear EB, I am moving my blue-fronted parrot Manitou to a conservatory where he will be able to enjoy the moonlight, extra light from the double glazed windows and see the bird-feeders we have in the garden. I am wanting to make his environment interesting and stimulating and would like to grow the palm nut plant (palm oil palm) out there as I would love to see him pick off his own from the tree itself.
Also we are planning to grow the passion fruit and Kiwi plants, and an olive tree.
I would be grateful if you would kindly advise me if any of these plants would be harmful to him as he will be flying free in the conservatory as well as using a Double Nova cage.
Also please can you recommend sources of information regarding safe conservatory plants as we will always be developing a leafy green environment for him.
Thank you for your help.
Sarah
Also we are planning to grow the passion fruit and Kiwi plants, and an olive tree.
I would be grateful if you would kindly advise me if any of these plants would be harmful to him as he will be flying free in the conservatory as well as using a Double Nova cage.
Also please can you recommend sources of information regarding safe conservatory plants as we will always be developing a leafy green environment for him.
Thank you for your help.
Sarah
Answered by E.B. Cravens:
Dear Sarah, It sounds like you will have room for many different plants in your new bird atrium. All varieties of palms will usually fruit different cluster styles of palm nuts once they are mature (usually seven or eight years or more) so you need not look for the really tall palms. We like cluster palms and arecas since they are easy to control and will take more chewing by large parrots without dying.We have used a variety of olive in the past and our birds showed no ill effects. They liked to eat the tiny green olives and buds.
Passionfruit is not listed as toxic on any of the lists I have seen, but from years of having it here, we notice that our parrots, including the once wild adopted ones, never chew the vine or flowers. That prompted us to stop giving it and only offering the fruit which all our birds love dearly. I think other potential non-toxic vines and berry trees would be a better idea. Also consider the bamboos, prolific orchids, banana, juniper and some other evergreen like Norfolk Island Pine or casuarina.
There is good information online if you google "safe plants for parrots" or "toxic plants parrots."
Good luck in your endeavor.
EB
filed under: Health and Nutrition
Hi EB, I want to ask you if is better to clip or not the wings. I have a baby Congo African Grey and I didn't clip his wings. He is 18 weeks. He is flying a lot and is so happy. Please tell me what it is best for him.
Regards,
Oana
Regards,
Oana
Answered by E.B. Cravens:
Oana, Except in the cases of medical necessity or behavior safety (ie. mate killing, etc.) it is always more proper to leave parrots with flight feathers.It increases their aerobic and athletic health, makes them safer from falls and attacks by animals, increases self confidence and alertness, decreases problems like egg binding, and basically makes birds like your Grey "happier" in a natural way.
There are some dangers with flight--glass windows, parrots that have not been taught to come to an arm or fly down can escape the house, aggressive and jealous species may take to "buzzing" humans they do not like, and so forth.
Also in limited indoor spaces, it is sometimes appropriate to trim two or three of the outermost primary feathers at the front of the wing (one feather at a time over a two week period!) to increase flapping exercise in parrots that seem to be lazy flyers or only have room to glide and land....
Cheers,
EB
filed under: Health and Nutrition
I am writing because it is clear to me how difficult it is for the average person who shares his or her home with a parrot to create an environment where their parrot will actually thrive. Most parrot are social animals and need interaction with members of their social group. Since people often have to work, single parrots are left alone a large part of the day. Parrots evolved to fly in the open sky and we are often forced to keep them in cages. Given the complex nutritional requirements of these animals, it is not always easy to know what to provide as an appropriate diet. Parrots are highly intelligent and sensitive creatures and often do better with people who have taken the time to learn training techniques involving positive reinforcement. How many people can afford the time it really takes to learn effective ways to interact with their parrot? The number of abandoned parrots is powerful evidence of our failure to provide an environment where
both parrots and people can thrive. In addition to parrots that need to be re-homed, another indication of the difficulty of providing a reasonable environment for parrots is the number of plucked and mutilated birds that exist within our communities [see Joe Arbogast’s tribute to featherpickers: http://www.bird-tube.com/absolutevc/avc-view.aspx?videoid=127&categoryid= ].
If you share your life with a dog and you care about your dog, you have a reasonably good chance of meeting a dog’s need for social interaction, adequate diet and exercise. Your job is made a lot easier because a dog is a domesticated animal and has evolved to share its life with humans. In order for a dog to get exercise, it is possible to take a dog running or let it free in the backyard for a period of time. The average parrot person does not have the resources to provide an aviary for their parrots and parrots cannot be set free in the average backyard to enjoy the outdoors.
Parrots are often deprived of adequate social interaction either with their human companions or members of their own species and it is very difficult to give them opportunities to adequately exercise, forage for food and fly. Unlike dogs, parrots have not really evolved to live with humans. Although they are raised in captivity, parrots clearly retain their wild instincts and these instincts shape the behaviors that parrots display in our homes [e.g. parrot vocalizations] and new parrot owners are usually not educated to this reality. Since dogs are relatively common in our communities, people absorb information about how to care for them over time. Most people who share their home with parrots do not have this built-in educational advantage and essential parrot information must be sought out from a variety of experts who have spent their life working and living with parrots. The bottom line is that even if you are fortunate to have learned
about the basic needs of pscittacines, most people will have great difficulty providing an environment where these amazing animals can thrive.
So my question is this: Can we design and build community “Parrot Day Care” aviaries that might meet the needs of our parrots for foraging, social interaction and flight? I know that I, for one, would be willing to pay for “parrot day care” if I thought that my bird was safe & enjoyed the time it got to spend in an environment much closer to its natural environment. I would also be willing to drop my bird off at a facility like this. Further, it might be possible to help other parrot owners learn about how to better meet the basic needs of their birds if concrete examples were available for them to see at a “Parrot Center”. I realize that there would be issues with health concerns & aggression from other birds but I am hoping that these issues might be addressed by requiring health checks/vaccines [frequently already required before you can board a parrot], housing compatible species together (along with monitoring the birds while they were together). So the question is: is this a viable concept? And, if this concept does have the potential to solve more problems than it creates, can we develop guidelines for designing and building a “parrot day care” facility that would minimize dangers and maximize enrichment for our birds?
Thanks.
Terry-
both parrots and people can thrive. In addition to parrots that need to be re-homed, another indication of the difficulty of providing a reasonable environment for parrots is the number of plucked and mutilated birds that exist within our communities [see Joe Arbogast’s tribute to featherpickers: http://www.bird-tube.com/absolutevc/avc-view.aspx?videoid=127&categoryid= ].
If you share your life with a dog and you care about your dog, you have a reasonably good chance of meeting a dog’s need for social interaction, adequate diet and exercise. Your job is made a lot easier because a dog is a domesticated animal and has evolved to share its life with humans. In order for a dog to get exercise, it is possible to take a dog running or let it free in the backyard for a period of time. The average parrot person does not have the resources to provide an aviary for their parrots and parrots cannot be set free in the average backyard to enjoy the outdoors.
Parrots are often deprived of adequate social interaction either with their human companions or members of their own species and it is very difficult to give them opportunities to adequately exercise, forage for food and fly. Unlike dogs, parrots have not really evolved to live with humans. Although they are raised in captivity, parrots clearly retain their wild instincts and these instincts shape the behaviors that parrots display in our homes [e.g. parrot vocalizations] and new parrot owners are usually not educated to this reality. Since dogs are relatively common in our communities, people absorb information about how to care for them over time. Most people who share their home with parrots do not have this built-in educational advantage and essential parrot information must be sought out from a variety of experts who have spent their life working and living with parrots. The bottom line is that even if you are fortunate to have learned
about the basic needs of pscittacines, most people will have great difficulty providing an environment where these amazing animals can thrive.
So my question is this: Can we design and build community “Parrot Day Care” aviaries that might meet the needs of our parrots for foraging, social interaction and flight? I know that I, for one, would be willing to pay for “parrot day care” if I thought that my bird was safe & enjoyed the time it got to spend in an environment much closer to its natural environment. I would also be willing to drop my bird off at a facility like this. Further, it might be possible to help other parrot owners learn about how to better meet the basic needs of their birds if concrete examples were available for them to see at a “Parrot Center”. I realize that there would be issues with health concerns & aggression from other birds but I am hoping that these issues might be addressed by requiring health checks/vaccines [frequently already required before you can board a parrot], housing compatible species together (along with monitoring the birds while they were together). So the question is: is this a viable concept? And, if this concept does have the potential to solve more problems than it creates, can we develop guidelines for designing and building a “parrot day care” facility that would minimize dangers and maximize enrichment for our birds?
Thanks.
Terry-
Answered by E.B. Cravens:
Your inquiry was long and there are so many aspects of it that merit comment.Yes, keeping parrots in captivity is a challenge and many owners fall short in providing stimulating environments, foods, activity, etc. for their birds. On the other hand huge progress in education of psittacine owners has been accomplished in the last 10 years or so and many keepers ARE using imagination and foresight in providing for their pets.
But, it is kind of a glass-half -mpty/half-full discussion since there were so many hundreds of thousands of parrots going into homes the past 20 plus years that it is only logical that many hundreds are going to end up neglected or less than adequately cared for.
In that, parrots are much like dogs and cats and fish and horses and other captive animals living their lives "by human leave." Many are ill treated. Your feeling that meeting needs of these animals is easier is a bit rosy colored. Dogs are abandoned and kept inside or penned or tied up without room to run; cats are let out to fight or fed overly rich foods, or allowed to produce unwanted kittens by the half dozen by some owners; horses overworked or under tended orsimply turned out on lean pastures and expected to stay healthy during poor grass growth; shucks, people even keep bee hives without any consideration to giving the bees water to drink....
Anyway, I disagree that most owners do not have the resources to provide an aviary for their parrots. I find most bird people, even the well meaning ones, tend to spend thousands of dollars a year on themselves, but neglect to get a new cage or an extra special expensive food diet for their bird.
In addition my parrots always get time out in the back yard even for short stretches in winter.....those former wing trimmed ones were placed in trees to climb and chew or hung in carry cages while I was out supervising; the flighted ones were trained to stay put with me watching over them nearby. Harnesses, screen gazebos--all sorts of ways can get parrots outside.
As to your basic question: I think it as a wonderful idea and should someone in an agreeable setting choose to do the day care thing, it would certainly be financially viable. After all, people pay significant daily sums to have their pets boarded at vets, bird stores or other facilities. The same protocols for health checks and safe intermixing of only healthy birds would apply in your case, with the added benefit of having outdoor air and sunlight conditions lessening the chances of many microbes being as highly contagious.
So, I concur, it is a good idea, and one which has infinite possibilities for some enterprising parrot lover. Unfortunately, you will have to move it forward; I have neither enterprising time nor enough parrots in need in my neighborhood to get such a project off the ground....
With aloha, EB
filed under: Ethics and Welfare
Dear EB,
I have a common Indian parrot and unfotunately the seller has clipped it's wings. I want to know as to how long it will take for its wings to regrow ie the centre wing span. Daily i take it out of the cage to give it flying lessons but am not sure when it would be able to fly. Presently it flies about 8 to 10 yds only.
Regards
Ranjan Bakshi
I have a common Indian parrot and unfotunately the seller has clipped it's wings. I want to know as to how long it will take for its wings to regrow ie the centre wing span. Daily i take it out of the cage to give it flying lessons but am not sure when it would be able to fly. Presently it flies about 8 to 10 yds only.
Regards
Ranjan Bakshi
Answered by E.B. Cravens:
Ranjan, Normally an Indian parakeet will moult out its primary wing feathers once a year--if it is in good health. That means the promptness of your parrot growing in new feathers depends upon when they were trimmed by the previous owners. Look for the new flight primaries to begin erupting shortly after you see old large feathers being dropped by the bird. When the new feathers are growing, the shafts will be full of blood, so be careful your parrot does not crash land too hard when it is exercising in its short flights.filed under: Parrot Care
Hi EB, A while ago, you asked if my Hawkheaded parrot is OK sharing the indoor sunroom with our 6 other companion parrots. In this room we have 3 amazons, a galah, a vos eclectus, and our Alexandrine, Hedda Pearl, who has survived many strokes but shows the signs of her illness. She is otherwise abled.
Hawkeye is pretty good about being out in the room with everyone else out, too, but that situation can change in a flash, so she's only out when I'm home and attentive. EB, of all people, you know how wonderfully tuned-in these birds are, so please let me know how you'd handle. I'd love it if
Hawkeye could be out 24/7 in this specially-designed-for-them room, but if, say, a hawk flies overhead or there is another disturbance, Hawkeye takes off and generally, she flies to Hedda's cage. There Hedda quakes because she's seen/heard the scary thing, too, then she flaps in the non-rhythmic way of a stroke survivor, and Hawkeye flares.
When I get there -- because I am being attentive -- they both settle down; how quickly depends on whether or not the situation escalates.
So, can you hear and envision the bird room? The Amazons are all yelling their war cries, Hawkeye's war bonnet is fully flared, Hedda is going crooked, Nikki and Cella are trying to stay out of the way. Hawkeye will always come to me, of course, so that's good. But still, when it happens,
I'm always glad I'm close by.
So, it's a situation I invite only with supervision. Hawkeye is strong, Hedda is brave; accidents can be avoided, yes?
In your experience, any techniques to keep Hawkheads steady in a flock?
Thanks,
Phoebe
Hawkeye is pretty good about being out in the room with everyone else out, too, but that situation can change in a flash, so she's only out when I'm home and attentive. EB, of all people, you know how wonderfully tuned-in these birds are, so please let me know how you'd handle. I'd love it if
Hawkeye could be out 24/7 in this specially-designed-for-them room, but if, say, a hawk flies overhead or there is another disturbance, Hawkeye takes off and generally, she flies to Hedda's cage. There Hedda quakes because she's seen/heard the scary thing, too, then she flaps in the non-rhythmic way of a stroke survivor, and Hawkeye flares.
When I get there -- because I am being attentive -- they both settle down; how quickly depends on whether or not the situation escalates.
So, can you hear and envision the bird room? The Amazons are all yelling their war cries, Hawkeye's war bonnet is fully flared, Hedda is going crooked, Nikki and Cella are trying to stay out of the way. Hawkeye will always come to me, of course, so that's good. But still, when it happens,
I'm always glad I'm close by.
So, it's a situation I invite only with supervision. Hawkeye is strong, Hedda is brave; accidents can be avoided, yes?
In your experience, any techniques to keep Hawkheads steady in a flock?
Thanks,
Phoebe
Answered by E.B. Cravens:
Hi Phoebe, Answering flock behavioral questions is, as always from afar, a bit touchy. It sounds like you have a somewhat stable situation with the seven birds in your bird room; and given the supervision they all get, it is working adequately.More to the point, how would I set parameters to provide the hawk-head with unlimited time out of it's cage? Frankly, I see no way....
If my years with hawk-headed parrots taught me one thing, it was that these birds are extremely unpredictable. You have the good fortune to be keeping a single female instead of a male, which alleviates some of the aggression, but, basically once a hawk-head of either gender becomes mature, he or she becomes the most dominant psittacine in any room full of similar sized birds. Our former pets and breeders (we no longer keep hawk-headed parrots) were high strung and unsettling to our other parrots. They would attack and bite on slight provocation any intruder they perceived as a threat or rival--dogs, cats, humans included. A case in point was our male hand-fed, Chen, who would take a nut from April's hand, then a minute later, attack her hair and viciously bite the back of her neck if she was not wary.
Add to this the fact that you have an unwell parrot in the room with Hawkeye and it becomes doubly dangerous. Certain aggressive hookbills are agitated and prone to attack birds that are behaving erratically as stroke victims, begging hens of parakeet species, wet birds after a bath, etc.
I would surmise that Hawkeye grew up as a baby handfed with some of the birds in the birdroom already in your home, and that helps the environment by eliminating the "new intruder" concept, but nevertheless, I would hardly risk it to leave Hawkeye out unsupervised---to my way of thinking, it is a bit like keeping a pet chihuahua who has always been "good around the birds."
Besides, hawk-heads are most predictable around other hawk-heads and the way that they have been observed in the wilds suggests they are not at all the social type of pet most parrot lovers envision when they see the helpless little fledgling at the pet store. Hawkeye might be happiest getting "away" from the bird room for out-of-cage stimulation in an outdoor flight or garden greenhouse--that also might give the other six parrots a break too, as living with a hawkhead a few feet away can truly up the tension level in any mixed flock.
Good luck and keep up the great work
EB
filed under: Parrot Care
Hello. I'm asking this question for my friend who has a Timneh and a cockatiel. She has to live with her 84 yr old mother whom is recovering from a fall. Right now she has the birds in the guest room, but wants to put them in the living room so they can be where the action is in the household. However, there's a gas fireplace in the living room. (The living room, dining, and kitchen all share the same open space.) The fireplace is vented to the outside and there's a working carbon monoxide alarm near it. Do you think it would be safe for the health of the birds?
Thank you, Cindi
Thank you, Cindi
Answered by E.B. Cravens:
Cindi, It appears that your friend has installed safety precautions and that the fireplace is bird safe. But there are other considerations about putting parrots "where the action is" as you state it....Will they be able to sleep comfortably and in quiet once the sun goes down and their natural day is ended, or will they be kept up by noise and humans and television, etc.?
A vented fireplace is usually free of toxic fumes, but that does not mean the air in the living room is always perfect for small psittacine lungs. Fires burn oxygen and unless there is a fresh air window open and proper ventilation, carbon dioxide can rise indoors in the winter. While humans would perhaps not notice such stale air, over several months it could be more troublesome for birds.
It might be a good idea to keep the parrots' sleeping and feeding cages in the guest room, but to provide play stands and areas in the living room where they can frequent and visit and interact with their humans. This also has the advantage of changing the monotony of always keeping the birds in the same cage spaces, expanding their lifestyle if you will.
As an aside, another need for our pet birds in the winter is to have at least two hour three hours of direct sunlight each week. This means sun through a screen but not a window glass since that blocks some of the beneficial rays. Sunny afternoons can be used in small carry cages where parrot are given some shade with a towel or such on their cage while being able to move out into direct sun for health reasons. By and large, the brighter the room, the better for the birds in the winter as long as it does not overheat or make them feel unprotected.
Good luck,
EB
filed under: Health and Nutrition
I found Sid elderly wild-caught and rescued Timneh African Grey parrot, dead in the nest box where he sleeps. Sid could not fly. HE has shared since last September the shed in which the nest box is placed with Vernon 6 year old Timneh cock. In the aviary are a pair of Amazons in a separate flight, one Timneh hen and 11 parakeets.
His head was gnawed on one side eye and his brain eaten and his windpipe exposed. I suspected a rat. After 2 and a half hours searching the perimeter of the aviary which consistes of 4 X 25 foot sections and 20 foot broad, we have found no holes nor are there any gaps visible in the roof wire. WE have had a recent infestation of field mice which has been controlled with poison in small bait boxes.
Since Sid's death 5 days ago I have put down 4 lots of rat poison but it has not been touched. The pest control officer visited today. I was disappointed that, like us, he could find no evidence of rats. He suggested a stoat or a weasel. There is a chicken house in the aviary with a dozen hens. They are untouched.
As he found no evidence of rat holes he put down no bait. He suggested that Vernon, Sid's companion had done this. I have had parakeets attack weak ones. And a Timneh has killed a weak Alexandrine hen. They have never eaten the corpse.
Sid was ailing. He was definately killed at night as I saw him alive at dusk. Vernon had no blood on his feathers and did not eat for a day or so. Has anyone any ideas or solutions? I am totally at a loss of what to do.
Dot
His head was gnawed on one side eye and his brain eaten and his windpipe exposed. I suspected a rat. After 2 and a half hours searching the perimeter of the aviary which consistes of 4 X 25 foot sections and 20 foot broad, we have found no holes nor are there any gaps visible in the roof wire. WE have had a recent infestation of field mice which has been controlled with poison in small bait boxes.
Since Sid's death 5 days ago I have put down 4 lots of rat poison but it has not been touched. The pest control officer visited today. I was disappointed that, like us, he could find no evidence of rats. He suggested a stoat or a weasel. There is a chicken house in the aviary with a dozen hens. They are untouched.
As he found no evidence of rat holes he put down no bait. He suggested that Vernon, Sid's companion had done this. I have had parakeets attack weak ones. And a Timneh has killed a weak Alexandrine hen. They have never eaten the corpse.
Sid was ailing. He was definately killed at night as I saw him alive at dusk. Vernon had no blood on his feathers and did not eat for a day or so. Has anyone any ideas or solutions? I am totally at a loss of what to do.
Dot
Answered by E.B. Cravens:
Dear Dot,Not only is this a complex question, but 'tis one which I find quite difficult to answer from afar. Predators and rodent infestations in an outdoor aviary usually are best solved in situ where one can observe and deduce properly.
That said I have several conclusions about your state.
Normally it is best to have a post mortem on parrot mortalities where one is unsure if the bird was injured/killled by another occupant in the aviary. This is not always conclusive but may shed light on whether the psittacine died and then was chewed and mutilated by other avian occupants of the cage. Cause of death is why we call in an avian vet...
I have spent two plus decades of avicultural work with differing African species and never received input to the supposition that two male grey parrots in a large enclosure would fight to the death over one issue or another (no female being involved). I think you can rule that out...
The circumstances you describe indicate to me that Sid was obviously partially eaten by a carnivore/omnivore. The eating of the brain cavity is consistent with killing animals that are not overtly hungry but choose the gourmet portion of the animal they killed or they found freshly dead. Certainly weasels and stoats and mongoose and mink and such all fit into this category. Well fed varmints I suggest....
The rodent problem you acknowledge is probably not limited to mice. Large mice make their way into an aviary, and are followed in scent and tunnel by small rats which are in turn followed by larger rats that expand entrances minimally to allow passage. Furthermore, the photos you provided WPT about your aviary show that some wire walls are of hardware chicken wire and other openings have been stretched and expaned by beaks--even the smallest of these openings in the wire are sufficient to allow a rat entrance to the flight. Anywhere a rat can insert its head when hungry, it can enter by squeezing its body----one inch round wire openings are excellent for entrance.
Now I have not known rats to eat the brain of a victim. The ones I have experienced were more likely to chew the toes and eyes and extremeties of a bird. But overnight who knows what might happen if rats entered your flight where a grey parrot had died.
A flighted Grey parrot attacked by a predator such as a stoat or a weasel will usually put up a brief fight.. That means clumps of feathers and evidence of plumage disarray on the ground the next day or in the nestbox at night. The same with rats.
You did not say what kinds of parakeets so I am assuming Budgerigars. They are unlikely to chew a brain or windpipe. You also did not say whether the amazon parrots in the flight ever tried to usurp the nestbox. Keeping box sleeping species in an aviary along with the box---with Amazons or other nesting parrots when the days begin to lengthen and rains commence towards breeding is not a good idea.
On the other hand, normally rats in and around a flight will at least sample baits put out for control, so that indicates a larger predator.
Rats leave droppings which can be smelled and can be located around food areas. A rat does not kill a Grey; it may bite and bleed them, but it cannot take them down one on one unless the bird is weak and dying.
As for recommendations. I would say it is time to upgrade the wire and structure of your adoption facility. I personally doubt that a Timneh killed a weak Alexandrine unless there were a nestbox or a food station involved, but that and this recent death should be indicators of something amiss at the site. Having a chicken coop in a parrot aviary is old fashioned and inappropriate...it also leads to pests.
The statement "Sid was ailing" leaves a lot to be interpreted. Perhaps he should have been in special care or at least isolated during the "ailing."
I am sorry for your loss and your consternation. April and I shall light a candle this week in memory.
Aloha, EB and April
filed under: Parrot Care
Hi. I live in India and I have a parakeet. My dad got it from someones house and that's why we don't know its history. We have had her for about a month now and we never keep it in the cage, as it likes to sit on its cage the whole day. Can you give me some tips on proper care of parrots. I think I am feeding it too much. It eats like 15 pea pods , 6-7 green chillies, a small piece of bread, just the seed parts of tomatoes, a small piece of cauliflower all in one day. Is that too much?? It keeps screaming for more and more. also it never lets us touch it and attempts to bite if we try to touch it. Is there any way that we can find out its sex. and when will it start to talk. And also, do all parrots talk??? Thank you.
Shivani Karwal - India
Shivani Karwal - India
Answered by E.B. Cravens:
I assume when you say parakeet, you mean the Indian Ringnecked Parakeet of the Psittacula genus. Males and females look very much the same, so without an expert to view the bird close up, and unless your parakeet decides to scrabble around in a dark corner and lay an egg, it would take laboratory testing to find out what gender you have been given.All parakeets do not talk and normally the males are more vocal and better mimics; all you can do is try to repeat words and see what the outcome is. It may take months.
As adult ringnecks usually prefer not to be touched on the head or body, your best bet for training is to coax it onto a hand-held stick and later to your finger or arm with treats. This may take some weeks depending on the parakeet's previous home and how it was treated.
Birds like this seldom overeat. If it is appearing very hungry, it could be in need of the nutrients in the pods and fresh seeds you are giving it....continue to feed it fresh foods like that but add more food and different types of food like nutmeats, dried and cooked grains, cooked dosa, perhaps a bit of cooked egg or a bit of cheese once in a while, chili peppers, fruit like mango, and papaya with seeds, fig, etc. (NO avocado!!). Protein sources may be harder to find. As it was likely a wild bird at one time, you may trust it's tastes and feed it things that it likes, stopping the things it rejects. Not a lot of sugar of course.
You can go online and google search for "Feeding Ringneck Parakeet" and learn much information about food and water and training for your bird.
[Editor - you can also view more information and identify the species at the WPT Encyclopedia of Parrots found at http://www.parrots.org/index.php/allaboutparrots/ ]
Good luck, and best to avoid being bitten as that can turn into a habit for the pet.
filed under: Health and Nutrition
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