Son of Sam

Meet Sam our hybrid amazon. Our vet thinks Sam is a cross between a yellow nape and a yellow headed amazon. We aren't sure exactly what species Sam is, but we can tell you one thing. He came by his nickname "Son of Sam" honestly.

Sam was surrendered with a history of self-mutilation and severe aggression. He stays in a collar since he harms himself. Our vet can find no cause, but after many years (no one knows how long he had been mutilating when he arrived) it is unlikely to stop. The severe aggression is what earned him the nick name. At first, Sam would fling himself at any human in eye sight and attempt to bite their face and head. Volunteers tried to work with him, but he was extremely dangerous since he would always jump or fly at people's eyes and lips.

Sam also liked to sit and look outside. He couldn't be transported outside without risking serious injury unless a towel was used and toweling was traumatic.

Eventually one of our volunteers started to work on teaching Sam to be "perch trained" using positive reinforcement. Instead of offering an arm (which is attached to a face) the volunteers could use a stick. A side benefit was that a towel could be slung over a shoulder so that if Sam did attack the volunteer could easily protect their face and restrain Sam without dropping or hurting him.

Once he was carried outside, Sam was a different bird. He didn't display or attack humans. In fact he was happy to sit in the sun on the grass and stare at the sky or the ground or whatever happened to be nearby. In this environment, Sam actually started letting people touch him. He also learned to accept toweling and will sometimes sit in the towel and make cooing sounds.



















Sam still isn't really trustworthy around faces, but he does enjoy being kissed when he's in his towel and everyone can be safe.

Sam says: Everyone Deserves Love!