Agression

[marie83]

I'm having massive problems with Ollie at the moment. We've dealt with nipping and excessive minor bites in the past. I've followed all the advice that is usually given and advice I give myself which has always worked in the past.

The issue I'm dealing with now is getting so far out of hand I'm getting to the point where I can't take much more. He still "loves" me. He chooses to be with me primarily at the moment and actively seeks me out over my partner but will happily spend time with him too (just less of it) even if I am in the room. He is sweet and cuddles up to my neck a lot and happily chitter chatters away. He is also happy to go off and play independently or forage for any treats I may have put around for him to find. So far so good, that sounds pretty ideal right from a "human" perspective- not too over-bonded to one person, not too clingy that he can't stand being away from us etc.

However I'm now finding myself receiving regular, highly aggressive attacks which are increasing in frequency AND severity.

There are no obvious triggers- believe me I'm looking for them (am I holding something he doesn't like? wearing something different? getting too close to my partner/one of our other pets? has there been any strange noises, am I in a funny mood and giving off the wrong signals? etc.
but there is nothing I can correlate to the attacks).

Always, before he nips/bites his body language changes very slightly and I usually only have seconds to stop whatever might be upsetting him or give him some space. He isn't the easiest bird to read but I can read him. I avoid 99.9% of any bite attempt successfully. Its only if I'm not paying attention he ever succeeds in biting me.

These attacks are different however. They come at random, there is no warning. There are no
nips or bites, these are full on attacks. He still gives me warning for "normal" nips and bites.
His tail feathers fan in a split second and he is attached to some part of me or repeatedly biting (most times he just clings on whilst chomping down and flapping his wings and squawking like mad. I have several chunks out of my ear and lip, he has also got my chin, my nose , under my eye and very nearly my eyeball itself all in the last couple of days. The attacks started maybe once or twice a week some months ago, I had a suspicion that he may have been trying to attack me but just thought he had slipped off my head when he landed and was trying to steady himself.

Once I get him off me he comes back, over and over again for more regardless of if I put him near to me or the other side of the room or behind an object so he cant see me.

The attacks happen when he is on me -whether I am doing something and paying him little attention, whether I am interacting with him or even if I am sat completely still. He has also been flying at me, our living room is around 20 feet long and he will fly at me "to kill" Ok I know he probably doesn't actually want to kill me but that is how aggressive he is, for anyone who didn't know better it looks as if there is intent there... Again when he flies to attack me it doesn't seem to matter what I am doing or who is in the room with me.


I'm not nervous or scared of him. I can still handle him with confidence so that isn't the issue here.
He is still out most of the day almost every day.
He is currently left alone no more than 2-4 hours as I adjusted my work times since we lost Harlie and we haven't been able to find a suitable mate yet.
He has a big cage and plenty to do in it for the times he can't be out.
He is on a solar schedule now (properly since the beginning of the year but an artificial one before that with a daylight bulb and dimmer system adjusting the time slightly each day which worked well last year.)
He has chop/gloop and fresh veg/fruit in the morning.
He has TOPS or seed in the evening.
Treats are sunflower seeds or nutribird seed ball things or a tiny bit of human food (no junk). These work out at much less than 1 per day when averaged out.

Sorry for the essay, I'm at my wits end now. I've just had to out him away he was so bad and I definitely do not want that to become a regular thing.

BTW, he still nips/bites my partner in the same way he always has. Its me and only me he has the real issue with...

[Wolf]

Do you think that he might be mad at you over Harlie's disappearance? It appears that this began at about that time.

[marie83]

It started a little after. He went through a very clingy stage right after Harlie died and never even tried to bite in the first 3-4 week after (I'm guessing the time period because I didn't even realise he was trying to attack to start with- I thought he was just sliding down my hair and trying to cling on to start with.)

We lost Harlie on the 23rd July so it's been a little over 4 months since her death.

[liz]

Every bird has it's own personality and every human and bird bond is different. I don't know what could be going on with him. You are doing the right things of food and light so you can rule that out. You are close enough to him to rule out pain or illness.

Things I know about my birds:

Rambo has passed the morn of my mom even though he still misses her. She died in April 2014. He still calls her name every once in a while and I have to tell him that she is "still bye bye".
When I first got Rambo he bonded to me tightly. He claimed my mom as second person. When mom was bed ridden he took responsibility for her and spent a lot of time with her. It even turned into a routine that when she woke up he was already with her and stayed with her all day. He guarded her ready to defend her if there was a problem with any care giver (especially men).

Every one believes that once a bird hits the hormonal stage that it mate bonds with it's human. I disagree. Myrtle still considers me the "Ma" in her life. We have gone through many stages and right now she is at the point that she is getting into things she is not allowed to and listens when I correct her just so I will tell her she is a good girl when she stops or leaves what she was into. This is definatly for attention. Being equivalent to a 2 year old human she gets my full attention all day. The only thing we are coming up short on is the evenings when I used to watch TV and she snuggled with me so I know where this attitude is coming from and will correct it as soon as I can.
She used to do fly bys and smack me on the head. She is now pulling hair on everyone who comes in the house. Aunt Betty is getting most of the attacks but my son is getting them too.

I am also confused. I know it is wrong but I have had to trap her in my bedroom at times to get things done without her harassment. These guys are little "bird brains" and I have been giving her the benefit of the doubt because I don't know what is going on in her head.

I have said nothing that could help you in your problem. I just wanted you to know that you are not alone in the problem. We know our kids love us. Are they going through a phase? Will the come out of it on their own? If I don't find out why will it become the norm?

[Wolf]

We really don't know what is going on inside our birds minds or with their emotions and since they can't tell us, probably due to our own lack of understanding their languages, and not because they don't try to tell us, we just have to muddle through as best that we can, sometimes.
Kiki Senegal, is my bitey bird and she almost never bites gently, although I must give her credit as after what seems like three years( I would have to look up dates),she is finally learning that she does not have to bite hard every time that she want to hold my hand or finger. However she has always been prone to biting out of the blue, with no warning at all. Usually it is just a sudden single bite or two and it is over, sometimes for days and at other times she feels the need to be this way all day long. I live with my birds, they are with me all day, every day and I am constantly observing them trying to understand them.
I am no expert and whether it is right or wrong there are times, with Kiki, that my only recourse is to return her to her cage. I always try putting her on top of it first, but if that doesn't work and the biting continues, I will put her in the cage and close the door. I will try several times during the day to let her out without her continuing to bite and some times it works and sometimes she spend most of the day in her cage. She has never needed the time in the cage to be any longer than that. I don't like doing this, and probably would not, if it deprived her totally of my presence, as I said I am right there whether she is in the cage or not. But I don't feel that I am wrong to insist on that if they want to be on me that they don't bite and abuse me. I don't do that to them. I know that this has helped with Kiki and that is all that I can say.

[marie83]

Hmmm. I've never put him away for nipping or biting, I just ignore him for a bit because he usually does it to let me know he wants attention.
These full on attacks though... I might have to because he is literally flying 20ft just to attack me...its always my head area too! My face if he can get to it, second choice is my ears but my scalp is good game too if I manage to avoid the first two. This is a several times a day occurrence now although currently he is snuggled up under my chin that can change in a split second...

No matter how I react he is a proper "fighter" and just keeps running or flying back to continue the attack. I have to either towel him and put him away or leave the room for a few seconds. He is fine with being towelled currently but am a bit worried it will build a negative association but nine times out of ten it is the only way I can get him to let go of me.

[Pajarita]

How old is he now? It could be that he is at his prime stage in terms of needing to look for a mate and, not been able to find one, takes it out on you. I know it sounds a bit farfetched but I do believe that as we take on the roles of 'omniproviders', they look to us for their needs and often blame us when they are not satisfied, even if it's something that is not in our power to give them. It could also be that he has finally realized that Harlie is not coming back. I have found that parrots are actually patient about these things - or maybe the word is not patient but hopeful. What I mean is that, when they lose somebody or their home, they seem to go into a waiting period when you don't really see a big reaction in terms of emotions but, as the days turn into weeks and the weeks into months, it's like a light bulb goes on and they say to themselves: "Wait a minute! He/she is not coming back!" and that's when they start 'acting up'.

[marie83]

He is 6 in Jan I think.
I'm still actively looking for a female for him but still had no luck. The last one I tried was actually re-homing 2 together but only mentioned 1 in the ad Grrrrrrrr. Most I reply to don't know the sex and won't get DNA test done. There are loads of babies about though.
Any ideas on how to deal with his behaviour in the meantime?

[Wolf]

So far, putting Kiki in her cage for a while has been the only thing that has worked here, but I probably would not do this if their living arrangements were different as this does not prevent her from interacting in any way other than limiting her physical contact and I do try several times on these " bad" days to let her back out to ply with me without biting. Since Senegals often don't breed until they are 5 or 6 years old and she is only been here for about 3 years it is very possible that she is at the height of her mate hunting state. I have already been through a period of having no unbitten, scabbed over place on my hands and forearms due to her removing so many pieces of my flesh. That lasted for nearly the entire first year of our being together. I paid the full price the last time and this time she can share in the responsibility of her actions. It is really very simple, I will accept only so many bites for free and after that if she wants to remain on me then she needs to not bite me.
As I also said, it may not be the right way to approach this, but it is working for us, so far.

[marie83]

Thanks Wolf. Again I'm concerned about building negativity towards the towel but also him avoiding being put away. I've worked hard over the years to make sure being put away is always a good thing for him.

I do suppose there is always the chance to try it- I think he is so engrossed in attacking me he won't really notice it, he doesn't seem to bother about the towel as yet. I can stop doing it if it's not working out.

Yesterday he got me 4 times. I hate to do it but I'm going to have to stop him sitting so close to my face, yesterday he got me so badly I didn't stop bleeding for 30 minutes which is pretty impressive for such a small bird