by Pajarita » Fri Mar 07, 2014 4:19 pm
GCCs all LOVE to perch on our shoulders -at least, all four of mine did! They love the closeness and, often, all they do is just nap there, so there is nothing really wrong with your bird wanting this. It's perfectly normal.
As to not showing pain or any type of reaction when they bite, I know this is what everybody says you are supposed to do but I don't believe in it. It makes no sense, actually. It's not as if another bird would just 'take' the bite and not do anything so it's not a natural avian behavior (a weaker bird would fly away and a stronger bird would retaliate -not that I am telling you to retaliate because I'm not!). People say one needs to do this so they don't keep on doing it confusing an exclamation of pain with the 'drama' they love but that implies they are stupid and would get pain and enthusiasm confused and I don't believe in that (they are excellent body language readers because they are born highly altricial and need to learn behaviors from their parents through observation and imitation). The only other 'explanation' would be that they like causing us pain and when you show them they did, they keep on doing it so as to 'reward' themselves... as if they were sadistic. But I know for a fact they are not. Quite the contrary, they are very empathetic and once they love us, they hate to see us suffering and would often try to console us and love us when we are sick or down or whatever. But the only way they would know that they are causing us pain is if we show them they did, don't you think?
Personally (and I deal with aggressive birds), I make a big deal out of it when I get bit. I don't punish them in any way but I do tell them Bad Bird!, scare them (I caw real loud and make a 'beak with my right hand and move it up and down on top of their head as if the 'beak' was going to bite them -but I never actually touch them), and turn away from them. I have wild-caught male amazons that were ex-breeders and are now mate-bonded and they don't bite me - not even during breeding season. Yesterday alone, one of them grabbed and squeezed and let go my right index finger but he did not break the skin or even bruise it and believe me when I tell you that this is FABULOUS restraint for a bird like him! (I only told him Bad Bird, I did not make the 'beak' because he had not really bit me). He ended up with me because his third owner ended up in the emergency room twice from his bites.
I also had GCC male that had been neglected and possibly abused and he was VERY bitey but he came around in a matter of a few weeks and I didn't really do anything but tell him Bad Bird and put him down whenever he would bite me.