I never tried to touch my birds while they were in the cage. That would be an invasion of their space. When I let them loose to fly and they got tired they would either step up or allow me to scoop them.
I recently gave them their own room with no cage. Now I walk into their space. Even the ones who never wanted touched will use me as a perch. Cagney was one of my rescues who had been moved from person to person until they forgot his name. He landed on my chest and looked up at me. I scratched his head for the first time and he stayed right there.
When the birds are loose they are completely different. They are much calmer when they know they have room to get away if the need to. Can your bird fly?






