How long for bird to adjust?

[jenseits]

I'd like to hear from some BB members who adopted older birds -- how long did it take for the bird(s) to get completely comfortable with you and your household?

I realize each bird is different and it all depends on individual personalities, but I'd like to hear some anecdotes about when your birds had that a-ha moment and started trusting/luvin' on you.

[Stasia]

I've had positive and...well...less positive experiences adopting birds.

Our younger bird was close to a year when we got him and he warmed up within a week I'd say. Nippy, but still generally friendly and within a month was completely at home :)

Our older bird was 5 years old (they estimated). To be totally honest, 2 years later I'm still not sure how at home she feels around me, but she adores my husband. We wonder if she had bad experiences with women since she has never gained trust in me. But for my husband, it was really something when she was one day out on her cage and as he walked by, she began to scoot over towards him. The simplest guesture ever perhaps, but it was the first time she showed an inclination to be near him. Their relationship has bloomed ever since then :) But even that first moment was a few months after she arrived.

[tielmama]

I rehomed a female cockatiel named Kiki when she was 5 to 6 years old. Her owner thought that she had a boring life, and didn't get enough attention or time. Kiki was also sitting on infertile eggs at the bottom of her cage. I took the cage and Kiki and her eggs to my house, where I had 5 other tiels at the time. I'm saying that for a good three months, even though she bonded with the birds, she was not happy with me or any other human in this house. I felt terrible, because when I looked at her or talked to her, she looked back at me with the most sad and disappointed look on her face. She looked like she was looking for her former owner in my face! She acted like she wondered how I could say her name, and the things her other mommy said, but not be her! I almost asked the lady to take her back several times, but I kept hoping she would adjust into a happy little girl. Well, she did, and she is now. We've had her for at least two years, and she's very happy now. I credit Cheerios for our breakthrough. My husband won her over with Cheerios, and now, any time I go in the birdroom, she flies over to see what I've got. She has a steady boyfriend now, and a big white boy on the side. She is here to stay. Happily.
Whiteboy, my 20+ year old U2, incredibly warmed up to me in the first two days that I knew him. He traveled 12 hours in two different cars to get to our house, but the first day he spent at my house, we had a connection. It actually started in my van when he first met me. I could tell that he was comforted by my talking to him and telling him what was going on. I let him out of his cage and talked to him the first day at home. He inched closer to me on his own. I held a bowl of water and he took drinks off the tip of my finger which I dipped into the water. He ate his favorite treat, millet sprays, right away, then before you know it, I gave him pizza, and I've been OK with him ever since. We are now inseparable.
I have two more rehomed cockatiels, but they stay to themselves and don't have much use for humans, unless the humans have something good to eat in their hands.

[cbalvino]

My oldest is my Sennie,who I was afraid might have aproblem he is 12 only one owner before me but he has done well,my 1st CAD was only 14 mos but was so fearful and cried like a baby till he got HIS cage back,all in all most of mine have bonded to me,some more than others

[jenseits]

Interesting stories. Thanks for sharing. I've had my conure for a month, and he seems to be settling in nicely except that he does not like to be moved away from his cage.

[jenseits]

My little Stewie (sun conure) isn't the attention hog that I expect him to be; he seems to tire of my company pretty quickly. And he never seems outrageously noisy when I'm home, relative to my expectations for a sun.

So my question is this: Is there something wrong with me for thinking my bird should be louder and needier?