My parrot is obsessed with the kitchen sink

[btwhitley88]

My , who I've had for 3 months, has been behaving badly ever since re-growing his flight feathers. In particular, he has become obsessed with the kitchen sink. The first thing he does when I let him out of his cage is fly over to the kitchen counter. He just runs back and forth screaming, sometimes dragging his beak along the surface of the counter, until he eventually decides to fly down into the sink. If I remove him from the counter and put him on top of his cage, he will just fly back over. Thinking that perhaps he is just doing it because he is curious about this forbidden area, I decided to just let him stay on the counter to see if he would get bored with it after a while. I tried putting a couple of toys on the counter, but he would fling them off immediately. I also tried to teach him a new trick while he was on the counter, in which he would step up onto my forearm instead of my hand. When I offered him my forearm, he bit into it viciously multiple times to the point of breaking the skin. Although clipping his wings would obviously solve the problem, I would like to try having him fully flighted for a while. Do any of you who have advice for dealing with this situation?

[Cage Cleaner]

K

[btwhitley88]

Cage Cleaner, thanks so much for your very helpful reply! I think the reason he likes the kitchen sink so much is because it is shiny and he can see his reflection in it. He is probably also just curious about the kitchen in general since he has hardly been in there at all, so I'll start letting him hang out with me while I am cooking, washing dishes, etc. I was trying to minimize "time outs" in the cage to prevent him from associating his cage with punishment, but I may have to do this (in combination with positive reinforcement) until this behavior subsides. I also might put some shiny toys in his cage to see if that will give him the entertainment he was getting from the kitchen sink.

[liz]

Not while you are cooking.

Don't turn you back on him when the sink is full of water.

If you can't keep him out of the kitchen while you are cooking - cage him. ( and I don't like to cage birds) but it is the only safe way.

When you see him heading for the kitchen sink - put your hand up to send him in another direction.
Then say no.

[Cage Cleaner]

K

[liz]

Me too.

[liz]

I'm interested in knowing if there has been development on this issue?

I tried to send a Pm but my computer is acting up. Would you send one to check?

[btwhitley88]

I've been putting him in his cage and walking away when he flies to the kitchen, but it doesn't seem to have much of an effect on him. If anything, it seems to entice him even more. I've settled for just keeping him as entertained as possible. This task is quite difficult, because he doesn't seem interested in any of his toys (swings, ladders, ropes, coconuts, bells, kabobs, puzzles, etc.), so I just give him a piece of broccoli to occupy his attention if I'm busy or otherwise can't interact with him for a while.

[liz]

I have a wooden towel holder that I move around when they want to see what is going on. They seem content and stay on it if I give them a little piece of this and that while they watch.