Shoulder Sitting - Good or Bad?

[Naurthon]

I'm going to have to add my two-cents' worth on this and recommend against letting your bird sit on your shoulder.

Yesterday, I had all three boys downstairs with me while I played Skyrim on my XBox. (Dante laughing when I killed things again...that's getting creepy!) When it was time to put the boys back in their cages upstairs, I put Maxwell on my shoulder - he's been very good when I've done this with him before - and Dante and Nikko each on my hands and took the whole flock upstairs at once.

Halfway up the stairs, Maxwell, apparently displacing his aggression toward Nikko, whom he couldn't reach, decided to try to take a chunk out of my neck instead. I yelped when he bit me and reflexively moved my right hand - the one with Nikko on it - toward him to make him stop. The sudden movement spooked Nikko, who flew down the hall and into the store room before circling around and landing back on my hand (and looking quite proud of himself, I might add!) Thankfully, the burst of confusion distracted Maxwell and he stopped biting me before he broke the very tender skin on my neck.

Today I have a big red sore on my neck from the bite. I look like I was attacked by a one-toothed vampire or Sharon Stone or something. It ain't pretty. I'm just thankful it wasn't worse. This will be the last time any of the boys will be allowed to sit on my shoulder.

[Kenny]

I've read that parrots are flock animals with pecking orders. (Dogs are similar but we call their groups packs.)
I believe such animals are hard wired to work all their lives to advance as high as possible in pecking oder of the flock for better access to food and sex.
The individuals that were best at this over millions of years got rewarded and their behavior became ingrained as the best way to send their DNA into the future.
One or two generations of domestication does not erase zillions of years of evolution.

It seems rational to me that birds judge each other's size (suggestive of power) by the height of the eyes.

Parrots and dogs are not people.
People embrace equality between people, and that's the way it should be.
Dogs and parrots, being dominance-seeking and very intelligent will try to control their humans.
IMHO one way to reinforce that you are the boss is to keep the bird's eye height low, both in the cage and out.

I have made the choice to never let my Senegal onto my shoulder.
He used to try to climb up there so I'd gently lower him back down.
Eventually he stopped trying and is content to hang on the front of my shirt or perch on my arm.

Even if I had the sweetest most loving most tame parrot in the world who was allowed on my shoulder for 30 years with no incident human eyeballs are no match for any parrot's beak when the parrot gets startled by a cat outside that suddenly jumps onto the window sill.

Even a small risk of loosing an eye is just not worth it IMHO.
While the risk is real for everyone, I certainly respect that others feel the risk is low enough to allow their parrot onto their shoulder.
I try to remember that one way is right for every person or bird.

[Naurthon]

Hi Kenny,

I often hear bird people talking about "dominance", especially with the idea that a bird feels more dominant the higher it sits. At least with parrots, that concept is wholly a myth.

A flock of birds is not analogous to a pack of wolves, particularly with regard to mating dynamics. In a wolf pack one and only one couple has the right to breed. Similarly, in a troop of gorillas, only one male has breeding privileges. These are the "dominant" animals. The members of the pack or troop who aren't "dominant" ain't gettin' any. They don't breed (at least not licitly). I can think of a number of other mammalian examples of the dynamic, but birds don't work that way.

Birds (in general) pair up. There are no flock members who have exclusive rights to breed; they all breed. There may certainly be competition in the process of choosing mates, which is why birds have such a variety of calls and colors, but nobody is in charge of the flock. Nobody pecks their way to the top. There are no "dominant" birds.

Flocks are too large to have any kind of dominance structure in place. Birds are gregarious, but not truly social with flock members (which may change daily) other than their immediate family unit.

Birds like to be higher up because they are safer there, and safety, not breeding or dominance, is the dynamic behind flocks. The higher a bird perches, the less able its predators are to reach it, and the more visible those predators become. A bird does not feel more powerful when it is higher up. It just feels safer.

And amen, by the way, on your comment about eyes being no match for a bird's beak! Keeping a bird off your shoulder is about safety, not about power.

[liz]

On my shoulder is when we spend out best time. We cuddle, they whisper secrets and preen me.

Since Myrtle was so scared of hands that was our best contact. While on my shoulder we started with the one finger "tickle tickle" of her feet and it progressed to anywhere on the body tickle. She will grab my finger and I pull her leg to kiss it. I ask if the wants the other leg kissed and she will shift her weight to give it to me.

[donald1954]

Hi,

we keep 4 Cags. 2 of my birds I trust, I know they will not bite. 2 of them, hmmmh, they are tame, but they want to play, and sometimes their play is to wild for my taste. I was bitten in my ears a few times. I always try to keep them of my shoulder. Too much of risk for me. They always try, but I offer them a piece of nut, and then they climb down to my hand. Works fine with me!

Rgds, Don

[liz]

On my shoulder is when we spend out best time. We cuddle, they whisper secrets and preen me.

Since Myrtle was so scared of hands that was our best contact. While on my shoulder we started with the one finger "tickle tickle" of her feet and it progressed to anywhere on the body tickle. She will grab my finger and I pull her leg to kiss it. I ask if the wants the other leg kissed and she will shift her weight to give it to me.

This only works one bird at a time. The only time I have both is when I am walking with them. Otherwise Myrtle will pick on Rambo when he can't get away.

[donald1954]

They want to play with me to, hang head over, playing wild things, sometimes it ends up in a bite. The two female seem to be very jealous. Sometimes they even fight, both sit on my arm, and than they start fighting, it seems, to get the other one of the arm. That is one reason, why we do recall training. Only the bird that is called will get a reward. The other one will get an opportunity to do it correctly. Not easy with 4. The two boys are much calmer, but only in that respect. In the mornings they vocalize much louder.

Regds, Don