Does your bird enjoy petting?

[Kathleen]

For the longest time, my budgie would walk away from my finger if I tried to ruffle the feathers around his head, face and neck. After having him for about two months, he was in the car with me for a long drive stuck in traffic in his carrier. I had my fingers on the bars of the carrier and he began to beak them playfully and make cute little chirps. I opened the carrier and he let me approach his beak and face with one finger and I was able to pet him there. Now I can usually approach him and he'll accept petting.

Is your bird or are your birds very cuddly with you? Do they like when you pet them?

[Mona]

Hi Kathleen:

It depends on the bird and it depends on the person. I have African birds and I don't think that they like to have their entire body petted; however, they definitely solicit head scratches. They get pin feathers on their heads and these are very itchy, so they like to have a favorite person rub the feathers so that the outer layer goes away and the feather can grow out without the itch.

I am always careful when I touch a parrot's body because they can also interpret this as sexual behavior. The back and under the wings are often used to solicit mate attention for many species and you don't want them to think about you "in that way".

My birds all solicit petting by lowering their heads to me. When they do this, I know that they want their heads' scratched. This is a wonderful bonding event and an expression of great affection between both parties.

Not every bird likes to be petted and that is okay. There are many things that you can do and you can have a lot of fun, even with a "handsoff" bird using basic trick training methods.

Thanks for the question!

Mona

[Kathleen]

Hey, thanks for the reply.

At one point, a little girl wanted to play with my budgie, Duke. She was trying to pet him but she was doing it incorrectly (she was very young, she didn't know better or understand much about parrots). She kept touching his back and his tail and I could see he was getting frustrated, trying to walk away from her hand and made a little screech kind of sound at one point.

Her hand is a bit smaller than mine but to a bird that size it's still big. I explained to her to try it with just one finger and just to pet around his face and she tried that. Duke wasn't getting frustrated anymore but he wasn't enjoying it that much. Her hands were a little jerky and I think she was a little scared of approaching his beak. I explained to her he would never bite unless you grab him, he's not an aggressive bird, but if he did I'm sure she'd get upset and cry from the shock because she's not used to that little pinch like I am.

Thanks for the advice and I will try to avoid touching in other places.

Duke is going through a molt so it's very possible he will enjoy this petting more than ever within the next month or two. Exciting!

[Mona]

Hi Kathleen:

Yes, I understand that. There are workarounds so that you can enjoy socializing Duke and still set this up so the bird, the child and you are having fun together.

One workaround is to teach some "non touching" behaviors that the bird will perform on cue. Phinney and Babylon wave on cue. I noticed that you and Michael were working on teaching a wave to Duke. I think that's a great idea. A wave is a friendly gesture and it usually charms people.

If your bird learns to cue off of a person raising their hand (like a wave), the bird will learn to perform for just about any body. You can set this up so that Duke will wave at children. The children will enjoy the game, Duke will enjoy it (because he will get rewarded for it) and you will not have to worry about Duke becoming uncomfortable, biting or getting hurt (depending on the age of the kid)

Other things that are easy to cue and train include: turnaround, big eagle, short flights, etc. If you watch and see Duke performing a fun behavior naturally, try to reinforce that behavior and get it on cue. That way the limits are your imagination.

Have fun because I can see that you are doing a great job with Duke.

Thanks

Mona

[Michael]

I am always careful when I touch a parrot's body because they can also interpret this as sexual behavior. The back and under the wings are often used to solicit mate attention for many species and you don't want them to think about you "in that way".

This is interesting because I often run my hand down Kili's back. I wonder if that's ok? Usually I'll scratch her all around her head and neck but that often messes her feathers around so I stroke from head to back and press them back down and just run my hand from head to tail along her back. Is that really a bad thing to do? She doesn't seem to mind at all and likes it without liking it THAT much.

I also try to occasionally touch her in different areas just to maintain tameness. Like grabbing her tail, gently tickling her belly (kids find this hilarious), touching her armpits under her wings, holding her wings open, touching or holding her feet. I know most people get bit for touching their bird in some unacceptable place but Kili let's me handle her anywhere and even though she's flighted, I can totally grab her and physically mess around with her in any way. I prefer it be that way than an untame bird but is it really a problem?

[Mona]

Senegals are pretty easy to tell when they are too wound up. They do something called a skirt dance. They droop their wings next to their body and hold their heads low. The boys often make a funny whoop, whoop, whoop sound. That dance means they really like you. They will also try and feed you by regurgitating.

I knew a french fellow who wrote once that "Just because they try to feed you, doesn't necessarily mean they want to make babies with you. I think of it more as dating. People often go out to dinner when they date but it doesn't mean things need to go farther!"

I think you have to gauge this yourself. If it is a problem, Kili will try to mount you. In my experience, Senegals are more hands on than greys and definitely will tolerate touching (maybe even like it) from their favorite people. I can roll Babylon on her back and tickle her tummy saying "goochy, goochy, goochy" and she loves that. I have also had the experience, where Babylon has had terrible night frights and the only way I could calm her down was to hold her quietly in my hands until her heart slowed down....so, there is a "touch" connection between us.

If Babylon comes on too strong, I can usually easily distract her. She hasn't been a problem - but Phinney has tried to mount my hand before and she bit me pretty hard. Phinney has only bit me about four times in her life....and it was because she was sexually confused not because she was aggressive...so, it's something to be aware of.

So...I guess to answer your question, it will depend on the bird and it will depend on what you tolerate. I would just be aware that it can be a problem so that if you see some unusual or unwanted behavior, you can think about whether "sexual issues" might be the root cause of the problem. If they are, sometimes you can easily solve the problem by being less hands on....but if your relationship is good, then I'd enjoy that.

Just my two cents! Thanks

Mona

[Michael]

Yeah, I've noticed that courting dance and figured that's what it was. She drops her wing away from her body walks side to side and pumps her head in and out. She barely does this any more for me though. She used to and I tried to avoid it and it seems like she doesn't. Usually it's only when she gets overly happy and excited that she does that and not from petting. Also for some reason she does that for my brother (more than for me). But I try to avoid further interaction when she is like that.

But I've never seen her regurgitate. Is that just something the boys do?

[Kathleen]

Hi Kathleen:

Yes, I understand that. There are workarounds so that you can enjoy socializing Duke and still set this up so the bird, the child and you are having fun together.

One workaround is to teach some "non touching" behaviors that the bird will perform on cue. Phinney and Babylon wave on cue. I noticed that you and Michael were working on teaching a wave to Duke. I think that's a great idea. A wave is a friendly gesture and it usually charms people.

If your bird learns to cue off of a person raising their hand (like a wave), the bird will learn to perform for just about any body. You can set this up so that Duke will wave at children. The children will enjoy the game, Duke will enjoy it (because he will get rewarded for it) and you will not have to worry about Duke becoming uncomfortable, biting or getting hurt (depending on the age of the kid)

Other things that are easy to cue and train include: turnaround, big eagle, short flights, etc. If you watch and see Duke performing a fun behavior naturally, try to reinforce that behavior and get it on cue. That way the limits are your imagination.

Have fun because I can see that you are doing a great job with Duke.

Thanks

Mona

Thanks for the advice. I know this little girl enjoys doing tricks with the birds, she always asked me if Duke knew wave and I kept telling her "not yet" but now he does know it. I also try to let her participate in the trick process. I let her handle some of the easier props (run through toilet paper tube, jump through a ring etc). I'll be trying to train him some other cued tricks in the future that she can do with him as well.

[Michael]

What is it with the law of murphy. I Just told you that she doesn't really do that and a few minutes ago she flew over and landed on my hand. I was reading something on the computer not paying her much attention. I felt her nibbling my hands but didn't care. I look down and she's quaking her head rapidly on my finger!!!! A little later looked down again and her wings were drooped and she was doing that! I asked her to wave and she did but she went back to her little dance. So I sent her back to her perch to try to discourage that.

[greatgriffin]

Our king parrot female seems to be a bit twisted, too. She seems to be very sensitive to high pitch voices and these seems to trigger sexual behavior in her. She has picked my smaller son as "soul mate" and apparently she treats him as mate.
Whenever she hears his voice she starts to utter special sounds that I assume are associated with courting. If he then imitates these sounds (something like squeaking eeee-eeee at a high pitch) she will cuddle down and slightly stretch her wings. At this point she can be touched and stroked - only by my small son (9). This really seems to be sexual behavior.

She has a quite different attitude towards the other members of the family, and it has actually changed during the past years, maybe as my children grew she switched favorites based on voice pitch. My older son used to be the "chosen one" before but he has lost this status in the past year and my younger one took over.

She treats me as "simple flock member", although she binds well with me, she does not allow me to touch her and she is territorial towards me (which she is not towards my small son)

She completely ignores my elder son and my wife, probably because they don't spend too much time with her.

So the bottom line is - no petting allowed unless you are considered "mate". I suspect though, that I could work on this with her IF I could afford to spend much-much more time with her.