My african grey is a lunatic

[hollaroo22]

My boyfriend and I have had Kirby for about a year now, he's 7, and at first he liked my bf better than me but the roles have reversed and now I'm the "chosen" but it's come apparent that I am not a bird person! He's been cool with me and I've learned how to read his behaviours for the most part, but the last couple days he's been doing this new thing called fly to me and bite my hand or arm. He flys to me all the time but has never bit me after doing so till now and it's scary!

I know they get weird of things change. The power was out from 7pm Tuesday till 4pm Wednesday, would that have caused his weirdness? Also sometimes he's started trying to attack when I open his cage in the morning, he started doing that like 2 wks ago but only does it sometimes...

[Wolf]

Can't say for certain but it sounds like he may be trying to tell you that you are not spending enough time with him. But there is really not enough information to go on. The electric being out would not have bothered him.
The only reason that I even hazarded a guess is because if my Grey thinks that I am not giving her enough attention then she acts in a similar manner.

[hollaroo22]

Well that makes sense because my boyfriend plays a lot of video games and if/when I leave my bf tells me he flys to the door and hangs on the jackets on the door and screams/screeches...when I leave should I put him back in his cage? Because he stays out pretty much all day unless we are both not there.

P.s. I know he's not really a lunatic, I just thought his sudden change of behavior was really weird

[Pajarita]

He could be overly-hormonal, too (do you keep him at a strict solar schedule or a human one? do you reduce protein during the winter?). He is at the age when they usually start showing undesirable behaviors because of this problem - people usually say nothing has changed, only the bird, but it's like they waited and waited and waited for things to get better (the condition is painful and gets worse as the years go by) and they reach a point (around that age) that they don't want to wait any longer and start reacting. Now, the other way they 'go' besides aggression is barbering, plucking, screaming and self-mutilating so, please, re-evaluate your husbandry to see if it's a physical problem (hormones) or emotional (loneliness, boredom).

[hollaroo22]

I was reading about hormones with Grey's and it does seem to be that. So solar schedule is open his cover when the sun comes up and put him to bed when the sun goes down? Also since its summer now should he be having more protein than in the winter? He hasn't plucked feathers and only screams when I leave... Does he grow out of these hormotional outbursts or is this a seasonal thing?

Sometimes he does this thing where he troops his feathers if he's near me and makes these weird squeaking/chirping noises, I didn't know if that's a mating thing or somethinh

Sorry, im a new parrot owner, (well I have had him for a year) but learn something new about him everyday

[Wolf]

Hormonal behaviors will likely be a yearly thing once they are stabilized and in proper sync with the seasons. But these behaviors are also often milder than in the bird that is overly hormonal.
I have no idea as to what you mean by he troops his feathers but a video of this along with the sounds would be helpful in figuring this out.

[hollaroo22]

Oh sorry I'm typing on my phone and it put troops instead of droops! But I will try to get a video of him doing it, he has been very "fly and attack" lately... When my boyfriend sits in the recliner sometimes Kirby will fly over there and bite his head...today he fell asleep in the recliner and woke up to kirby biting his neck so my bf woke up freaked, fell out of the recliner and broke our coffee table leaving a big gash on my bf's side...

[Wolf]

Hormones are a possibility for the attacks but are not the only answer. To put him on a solar schedule he needs to be uncovered with no artificial lights on before sunrise, you want him to be exposed to the twilight period of dawn. Then again he needs to be exposed to the twilight period of dusk, without artificial lights, and continuing on through sunset and full dark and sleep. I would keep him on a low protein diet all year long.
It does sound as if he is doing a mating dance for you so I think that he is hormonal and the only way that I am aware of to correct this is through a solar schedule and a low protein diet. But you can't start it and stop it as it takes a long time to reset his system.

[Pajarita]

I would say that hormones are the most likely culprit. Grays are short day breeders and mine are both broody right now so, if this bird has not been kept at a strict solar schedule or fed correctly and taking into consideration his age, I would say that it's 99% chance sexual hormones is what is causing this aggression (they actually hurt, you know).