When birds push you away

[Pajarita]

http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-behavio ... arrot.aspx

[Michael]

Folks, please don't just post links. That is considered to be spam. You are more than welcome to post links in context though. State your opinion, rephrase what the link says, debate it, contradict it, support it from personal experience, whatever. But please don't just post a link out of context or on its own.

So Pajarita, what do you think about birds pushing away?

[Pajarita]

I think it's exactly as the piece says but I also think it depends on the species. A gray would politely push your finger or hand away same as a senegal that is bonded to you although the sennie would, most likely, fly away from you if you insist and just leave it at that. But another species like, say, a quaker, would not be polite at all about it if you keep on insisting and they would not fly away, either (they have quite an elevated sense of self-importance quakers), they would just chomp on your finger in an 'Off with their heads!' Red Queen manner and not blink an eye because, after all, their wishes are always more important than yours.

[Wolf]

I also agree with the article and feel that every bird caretaker should take the time to learn and respect their birds body language as it is the best means of communication that we have with them and they try very hard to let us know what they like and don't like before they ever resort to biting.

[Fidget]

But another species like, say, a quaker, would not be polite at all about it if you keep on insisting and they would not fly away, either (they have quite an elevated sense of self-importance quakers), they would just chomp on your finger in an 'Off with their heads!' Red Queen manner and not blink an eye because, after all, their wishes are always more important than yours.

Oh man, this made me chuckle hard. My quaker.... Self-important little bugger. She's on a kick right now. Throwing tantrums about her food. And in general, just a surly attitude. We're on a look but don't touch or ask for anything agreement right now.

[Pajarita]

Let me tell you about quakers... they are not the easiest parrots, they are noisy and too fearless for their own good, they can be quite cantankerous, and stubborner than the proverbial mule but they are SOOOOO smart, so cute, such great eaters/bathers/fliers and have such HUGE personalities that you can't help but love them to pieces. My very first bird was a quaker my grandmother and I raised when I was around 10 years old (I was born and raised in one of the countries in South America where they come from) and I have loved them ever since!

[shiraartain]

Fajr adooreeesss being petted. Often I'll be trying to get something done and he'll push his head at my finger and gently bite to get my attention if I try to keep working.

And I'm amazed at my youngest sister's relationship with her Clover (quaker). I came home to Clover on her shoulder and she encouraged me to give Clover a kiss. I was reluctant as Clover isn't exactly hesitant to bite, but my sister kept insisting so I slowly did it and Clover didn't react at all. This is a bird that was biting until a few weeks ago .

Clover will also call loudly and insistently if she wants my sister around, despite being bonded to Lemon. She's not begging for pets, but will accept them and will go to my sister on her own for attention.

[Wolf]

This is great news and I love hearing about the progress that your sisters are having with their respective birds, actually, I would love to hear even more than I do.

[bean]

Bean my Amazon will let me touch/scrstch his head/neck, but not the rest of his back. I will usually get snapped at or lightly bitten for trying But this is a bird a year ago, I would have gotten bitten, just reaching for his food bowls. It took a lot of patience and time to get this far.

[Pajarita]

Well, that's because amazons don't normally like their bodies touched, my dear. As far as they are concerned, riding your shoulder, preening your hair and consenting to your scratching their head is more than enough