Am i rewarding, some advice??

[ViciousPeasant]

I am in need of some advice regarding my Blue Headed Pionus, regarding two issues.

The first is regarding his biting. He's still a bit bitey, actually more so than he used to be and from what i can gather i believe its from fear of my hand. If i approach him from the front he's not too bothered but sometimes when i go to scratch his head, or stroke his back he will lunge at my hand and bite very hard several times. immediately after that (and i mean immediately) he puts his head right down and fluffles his neck feathers up for a neck or cheek scratch - but at the same time he wheezes and pants loudly. Now i really dont think this is happy panting but more panicky sort, like hes really afraid of my hand. I really cant understand why hes so afraid.

Now the problem is 1) he often flys away when approached, which is seriously affecting his training and sociability, and 2) im i rewarding his biting by giving him the head scratch right after?

Ive read several of Michael's blog articles (including kili flying off) but its not quite the same.

My second issue is screaming - and its an awkward one. He has a real problem with noise. TV, radio, hoover - you name it, he'll scream. Now i think this is somewhat un-usual is i was always led to believe parrots likes music, tv and such. And the hoover always used to send him into a sort of "rain mode" as he loved to be sprayed with water when the hoover went on. Sometimes he still does but other times he screeches.

Any ideas how i can de-sensitize him to these noises. TV would be useful because we often have the tv on for background noise, and it would give him something to look at when where not about.

He is still quite young (7 months ish) but i would really really like to have him a lot more controlled and socialized before we reach sexual maturity stages.

[Michael]

When we say that birds like noise, we never said they don't scream with it. For the most part, parrots scream because they like to. When they hear a lot of noise, they want to join in and when they don't know how to talk or vocalize, they just scream. If I talk loudly on the phone or play a movie, my birds can't be quiet. If it's dead silence in the room, they often won't make a peep.

I've heard that vacuum cleaners and loud noise like that resemble thunder so it makes them want to shower.

For the taming issues, these should help:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=285
http://trainedparrot.com/index.php?bid= ... New+Parrot
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5374

[ViciousPeasant]

Thanks for articles Micheal, i've been reading a lot of the articles you have wrote and your youtube vids. I have however already read you thread regarding kili flying away and believe it to be in different circumstance to my own.

Now i have recently started food management. I come from a falconry background (birds of prey) where food management plays a vital part - so i know the difference between starving a bird and keeping it fit and healthy whilst maintaining appetite based motivation, something im sure you understand. However i wasnt sure weather this sort of action would be detrimental to the relationship between parrot and owner with such a socialized animal??

How far do you take food management with a parrot? For example, In falconry where keeping tabs to 1/4 ounces - and 1 ounce can be the difference between a bird flying solidly to the fist or sitting in a tree! So where do you go with a parrot?

Now regarding taming there is one substantial pitfall. My bird is flighted, and having been with me for a few months now, knows the rooms well and there isnt the same "new environment" fear that a new bird would have. Thusly he has no fears flying off to a different shelf or high place, somewhere where he knows i cant get him.

I one point i was really close to clipping him (mildly - not fully) just so i had a bit more control, and made it easier to hand tame. Trouble is if he gets somewhere high he goes straight into strutting and will bite really hard if it offer to step up. Where can i go from here?? He's been getting quite cage aggressive too.

The screaming is is not happy chirping, its distressed noise he makes whenever he doesn't like something. He does the same screaming when he's unhappy about something, so not sure. I am currently reading Micheals "Kili says hello" topic for some guidence, although again - kilis starting point is a lot better than my own.

[zazanomore]

When we say that birds like noise, we never said they don't scream with it. For the most part, parrots scream because they like to. When they hear a lot of noise, they want to join in and when they don't know how to talk or vocalize, they just scream. If I talk loudly on the phone or play a movie, my birds can't be quiet. If it's dead silence in the room, they often won't make a peep.

I've heard that vacuum cleaners and loud noise like that resemble thunder so it makes them want to shower.

Einstein goes BONKERS when I talk on the phone. He'll start spewing out human words as loud as me. I need to leave the room whenever I need to make a phone call or answer it.