Tallest Bird

[Percival]

I've made loads of progress with my Black-capped conure, Percy. He used to be a serious biter and very cage aggressive, and now he greets me with chirps, "baby bird!" and runs to be let out every morning. We've become quite close and he enjoy snuggling, though one thing I've noticed is he is obsessed with being on my shoulder. To the point where he runs from my hand to my shoulder when ever he gets the chance. This can be a bit annoying at times, though isn't detrimental, but it can make training time slow. In addition he seems to have lost interest in hanging out with me. When I sit on the couch with him and his toys to watch TV, or play games with him, all he wants to do is either sit on my left shoulder (which is closest to the stairs that leads to his cage) or run down my arm and onto the arm of the chair to be closest to the stairs that lead to his cage.

I'm worried that he is bored with me if we're not training new tricks, or is more interested in hanging out with my room mate. I've been constantly having issues with my room mate as she feeds him things without asking, like pomegranate which turned his poop red and gave me the fright of my life! She also often takes him out without my permission so I fear he prefers her over me. I'm at the point where I want her to leave, which is terrible because we used to be best friends.

I guess what I'm asking is if you all think my Percy finds me boring, and how I can train him to not scurry up to my shoulder. I've tried holding my hand up above my shoulder to see if he just wants to be higher, but he ignores it even with a treat reward.

[marie83]

God help anyone that does stuff with my birds without asking. I used to go crazy at my bf for giving them a few sunflowers too many or getting Harlie out without permission. I did have to learn to relax a bit though- its good for Harlie to be out, yes shes skittish and could fly into a wall but my presence will not prevent something like that from happening.

Regarding the feeding I've had to make it quite clear I am monitoring their feed intake and weight for their health, he thinks I'm being too strict. I'm certainly not opposed to giving them the odd extra treat but if I have given it to them I know what they have had was my argument. I now put a tiny tub of a measured amount of treats to one side when I make their breakfast- he can feed them treats from there and tiny amounts of fresh foods. I've made it quite clear what they can't have and if he feeds anything new he must ask first. I am starting to relax more about it all now though.

My boyfriends kids who visit are both old enough to not go upsetting the birds but still they are not allowed to do anything with them without my permission and presence. No exceptions- if they think theres something that needs doing they have to get one of us not deal with it by themselves (unless life or death). I told them its not that I don't trust them but I don't want to fall out with them should anything happen to the birds. I told them even if it wasn't their fault, that people tend to take things out on other people when they are hurt and upset and I don't want that to happen with us. They both understand this.


As for the boredom thing I have no help but I often feel the same way.

[friend2parrots]

Percival and marie83, I can relate to both your posts. I had allowed my GCC free access to my shoulder for five years, because he had always been a perfect sweetheart. Then, he started having serious aggression issues overnight after being spooked by roadwork about six months ago. since then it has been very difficult keeping him off my shoulder or my husbands shoulder, because for five years he associated our shoulders with security, fun happiness comfort. problem is, Ringo (my GCC) now bites whenever he feels insecure, but he still wants that sense of comfort he gets from being on the shoulder. thus, we find him trying to get onto our shoulders more than ever because he is insecure. then, while he is on the shoulder, he bites when he feels insecure. his insecurity is often triggered by really little things, sometimes sharp sounds, like a door slamming elsewhere in the house. he has thus bitten our ears pretty hard over the past few months, but the bites are decreasing in frequency and intensity.

keeping Ringo off shoulders has thus become my #1 priority, largely because of what I have described above.
so I've been trying to keep him from running up to my shoulder by asking him to step up whenever I see him THINKING about running up my arm, for a nice click and treat. i then alternate with a "down" command here and there for variation, again for a nice click and treat. ive been doing this for six months, but I am not sure its really helping, except that it has helped with the ear biting problem. NOw it seems that he has figured out that if he LOOKS like he's thinking about running up my arm, a treat may be on its way! Can't keep up with his intelligence!
now, thats definitely NOT the lesson I want him to learn!!
I am also stumped as to how to keep my GCC interested in everyday things, sitting on my hand, playing on his own, etc. When all he really wants to do is sit on my shoulder!!

My husband has pretty much retreated from handling Ringo. he tolerates Ringo landing on his shoulder, and then holds his breath waiting for the ear bite (which luckily no longer happens to him, miraculously, but only to me!! ) and then relaxes when I pick Ringo up and take him away. I guess this is preferable to Ringo being handled in a way I don't approve, but still, I would prefer that my husband be more involved in Ringo's training, etc. I am hoping once Ringo calms down and becomes a sweet non-biting bird again, I can reintroduce him to Ringo.

i'm thinking a Pryhurra support group would be a good idea for this parrot forum, huh?

[friend2parrots]

also, Percival, just a few thoughts on the boredom issue you are having with your bird: from what I've learned about all Pyrrhuras, they are quite playful, when they are not stressed. perhaps listing all the possible stressors in your birds life, and then working down the list to eliminate or desensitize them as much as possible might help. i think its amazing that you have already come so far with him, if he was aggressive previously.

regarding the bonding issue: i've been told that a car trip or an excursion of some kind is a great way to help your bird bond with you. this is because the bird sees you as the only familiar thing in a world that is unfamiliar and strange. the bird can be in its plastic carrier while driving, but once you've gotten to your destination, i'd suggest putting him in a wire travel cage of appropriate bar spacing, so he can look around comfortably, and so you can give him little scritches to his forehead and pet his beak and feet while he's in the cage.

let us know how things go, and good luck

[charlieandkiwi]

My is still a little slow about stepping up off of my shoulder, but he's come a long way from what you're describing.

How I trained him past the shoulder-leaving reluctance was by showing him that stepping up on my finger didn't always mean that he would be set down away from me. What I did was make him step up, tell him "good boy!" and then a immediately set him back down on my shoulder. After the first time, he was immediately more eager about stepping up on my finger. For the first session, I just did this a few times, praised him each time he stepped up and then set him down. Basically, I made it so that he didn't know whether he was going to get praised or set down when he stepped up, but the average of the past indicated that he would probably get praised and probably get to go back on my shoulder if he stepped up onto my finger.

Then, I started extending the amount of time he had to stand on my hand after I took him off of my shoulder. I'd take him off, praised him, make him stand there for a little while (just a couple more seconds at first) and then put him back on my shoulder. Over time, he learned that the shoulder would come if he just sat there peacefully for long enough.

As for him not always wanting to sit on you, I'd say that's a good thing. Domestic parrots need to be able to entertain themselves. My white eared conure only spends about half his time out on us- for the rest of it he's flying around, tearing up toilet paper rolls, hiding in cool shelf places, and generally having a blast. He always comes back for resting on shoulders and snuggles from hands. In my opinion, he acts like all of the wild birds I've watched- he's always flitting from one thing to the next.

If your bird definitely wants to hang out with you some of the time, just keep up the training and positive reinforcement and be happy he can amuse himself.

[friend2parrots]

QUOTE/ How I trained him past the shoulder-leaving reluctance was by showing him that stepping up on my finger didn't always mean that he would be set down away from me. What I did was make him step up, tell him "good boy!" and then a immediately set him back down on my shoulder. /quote]

CharlieandKiwi, Thank you so much for this idea! it makes perfect sense - basically, rewarding the bird with exactly what it wants at that moment. i'm going to try this from this point onwards. Will keep you posted on my progress.

[charlieandkiwi]

QUOTE/ How I trained him past the shoulder-leaving reluctance was by showing him that stepping up on my finger didn't always mean that he would be set down away from me. What I did was make him step up, tell him "good boy!" and then a immediately set him back down on my shoulder. /quote]

CharlieandKiwi, Thank you so much for this idea! it makes perfect sense - basically, rewarding the bird with exactly what it wants at that moment. i'm going to try this from this point onwards. Will keep you posted on my progress.

Cool. Good luck!

[mack0311]

Everyone: thanks a million I'll try these techniques.