Head bobbing and whistling

[laducockatiel]

Recently my cockatiel has started bobbing his head and whistling. After he does this for a while, he gets aggressive and starts biting randomly and if he is on my hand, he bangs his beak on my hand. Is this normal?

[marie83]

How old is your cockatiel?

[lwis]

My 8 month old GCC has started banging his beak on my hand too! I don't know if it is the same behaviour that your bird is displaying, but he just started doing it a couple weeks ago. He seems to do this head banging or beak scraping thing when he is excited; when he is in front of a mirror or when he is tunnelling in blankets, for example.
He has also started nipping me a little harder than normal lately, but I don't think it's random. He usually does it when he has been out for a while with my boyfriend already, and I get home from work. He fans his tail, bobs his head, then runs over to me and nips my finger aggressively, but then he is usually fine after that and wants to cuddle. He started doing this recently too. Don't know if it is a hormone thing or if he is just being funny because my boyfriend has been spending more time with him than me lately.
That doesn't really answer your question, but I am curious about what the deal is with the beak banging.

[marie83]

Yea was going to suggest the good old hormones, my two are like it at the mo.

[laducockatiel]

Yeah probably hormones.....

[laducockatiel]

It's weird cos he follows my feet and bobs his head to them and whistles and talks to them. I think he thinks they are real dunno what to do cos he follows my feet and when I pick him up, he bites like hell! I'd really appreciate any help

[gabbagabbawill]

My Sun does this from time to time... he'll bob his head really fast, and bite hard as a finish. I believe what is going on is the bird is getting over excited and doesn't know how to contain itself. This could be hormones, though I believe 8 months old for a bird is still very young for sexual hormones to be kicking in, as usually birds begin maturing after 1 year.

What I have read is best to do for this kind of behaviour is leave the bird alone until they calm down before you pick him back up and play some more. Also, it's good to have a toy handy to redirect their attention to the toy instead of you. Notice, they are probably looking you directly in the eye when they do this? It's also probably a good idea to avoid eye contact and do your best to ignore it. I believe with ignoring and redirecting, you can help solve your bird's over anxiousness and work towards more agreeable behaviour.

[liz]

My male tiels tap their beaks as if to reinforce what they are trying to say. No aggresion though.