New to the Parrot ownership world!

[Pajarita]

Yes, for some people (my husband been one of them BIG TIME) having birds fly to them or over their heads is unsettling. I never felt that way but that could be because I had cage-free birds when I was a little girl back home - you know how it is, when you get used to something unusual when you are a kid, you don't really see anything unusual about it, right? I was born and raised in one of the countries in South America where quaker parrots come from and, because they are considered an agricultural pest there, farmers knock the nests down and sell whatever baby survived the fall at the farmer's markets so my grandmother would buy one or two babies every December, raise them and, because they never lived in a cage and there were large flocks of them flying over our house, they would join the wild flocks when they felt the need (we had an open patio next to the kitchen and, during the summer, the door to the kitchen stayed open all day long so it was easy for them). So, to me, birds flying at my head or over it was an everyday thing. My husband is another story. It has taken him many, many years to feel comfortable with a bird flying straight at him

It's great that she is flying to you! And I would suggest you don't make any gestures or give any verbal commands for her to stop coming to you out of her own initiative. You WANT her to feel that you are her 'rock' and 'the bringer of good things' and that she is always welcome to your company (and that, I am afraid, means your body, too ).

[Jesscat]

Oh man well everything and new behaviors is happening really fast these days.
I talked to the guy I got her from because I don't think it's a good idea she is on my head, she knows, now it's a game. He said when she was at her first home, the one that ended up being a really bad situation for her. He said she would fly all over the house and get aggressive at any human that tried to come close to her. This is a surprise to me because she often fly's next to my children and says hello to them. She also is very sweet to me and my boyfriend.

Ok so my head. Every time she fly's to my head I let her stay up there for a minute and then move her back to the cage or perch her somewhere she is comfortable. I have started saying no to her and setting her down. Yesterday I wasn't feeling good at all from the dentist and I was talking funny. Also my face was swollen all day. She could tell something was wrong. She was very aggressive on me. She was super persistent to get on my head. I tried to get her off and she wouldn't. Well my hair was a loose bun and I felt like her foot was getting caught and wrapped in my hair. I ussually only pick her up with a finger or flat hand by telling her to come here. This time I had to grab her from on top and swoop another hand under her! Yikes so scary she freaked and didn't like it. I put her in the cage a while after that.!! I feel horrible! She was out again last night with my boyfriend there and was happy. We reassured her we love her and gave her lots of attention. Today she has flown at my head and I said no and put her on my shoulder. Oh yes I have been wearing a hat since that incident. She was scared of the hat but got over it quick and still fly's on it.

Oh my so I have been really rewarding good behavior today. She was really good for awhile and let me get choices done. Then I tried to give her some one on one. My two year old didn't like that idea and dumped her food all over the ground! So two year old in time out and Joe back on her cage. She was not happy and got super aggressive about flying on my head again. I tried putting her in the cage and it was awful she makes a crying whistle and paces. I ignored her and when she seemed calm I let her out and gave her a treat. She started again and I took her in the bathroom and played with her. I was putting water on her and letting her drink it from my hand. Then walked her back to the cage and she seems content chirping away.

I feel like a rug has been pulled out from under me! I don't want to tell her no for flying on my head! I am tempted to cut off all my hair or just wear baseball hats the rest of my life! I do feel like she needs more cage time though so it doesn't feel like a time out. Last night we also were eating chocolate pie. She was flying to everyone trying to get some. She doesn't do this all the time but this time was a lot more to the point I had to put her in the cage so she wouldn't get to eat! No more chocklate pie! She did eat a zucchini from the garden last night that she loved, a little Roundyhouse pellets and some cantaloupe! So I know she wasn't yo hungry!

[Jesscat]

Ok I just talked to a parrot behavioralist and she said NO more shoulder for at least a year. I don't see her stopping trying to get off my shoulder. She is actually in the cage rite now because she was on my shoulder for about 30 minutes and I couldn't get her off because she was rapping her paw in my shirt. She defiantly wants to make me her parrot!

[Wolf]

Well, I really must say that I don't care for this behavioralist. Of course your Senegal wants to be with and on you, it is one of their most natural drives. The bond that occurs between the parrot and their chosen human is one of the primary reasons that people want parrots. It is our problem that we don't understand just what that bond is and what it means. Parrots are very social creatures and the bond that develops over time between the bird and the human is the mate bond and when a parrot mate bonds it spends nearly all of its time with that mate. One of the biggest reasons for a parrot to lose its home and get placed in a rescue or to be rehomed is because the bird did not bond with the person that bought or wanted it. Parrots require a lot of one on one time. They really need to have at least four hours each day of out of cage time and most of that time will be spent on or near the favored human. It can indeed be a bit of a pain because it tends to interfere with the things that we want or need to get done.

Perhaps you should try to get a play station built that is on wheels so that it is easy to move around so that instead of giving the bird more cage time it will have a place near to you that you can put it and it can watch you or entertain itself with for a while until you can grab a few minutes to spend with the bird. It may come as a surprise to you, it did to me, but many short periods of one on one time often works as well or even better in many cases that one or two longer periods of time spent on you.

Kiki, Senegal always tries to land on my head and as much as I don't like this, I really don't see it changing too much as it is the most natural place for her to fly to on me. I usually just move her to my shoulder. I also very often just set her down next to me if I am going to be in one place for more than just a minute. The thing is that I do not try to deprive her of time out and with me. This is while also juggleing the very same time with my Grey who is also bonded to me and who not only requires more time than Kiki, but also does not like to share me with any one animal or human.

Sometimes we really need to understand the birds natural life cycle and pay particular attention to the behaviors that are unique to these life cycles and then learn to work with them, even though at times it is inconvenient and bothersome. We have a tendency to only look at things from out perspective but with our birds we also need to learn to look at things from their perspective.

Just thought that it might help for me to share my perspective with you.

[Jesscat]

WOLF this helps tremendously! Thank you I couldn't help but feel like I was doing everything wrong or that she was just so scared she wanted my head. I need to trim her nails. I have one of those paw electric ones. I don't know how that will go but we will see. I couldn't imagine having two birds flying at my head all day lol. I have walnuts and almonds to give her when she is on my hand or shoulder now.

I really don't like the head it scares me! I will come down and give her what she wants about 50/50. I think her feelings would be hurt really bad if she couldn't sit on my shoulder. I live in a really small house so I am really close by all the time. I am very thankful she has bonded with me. It just happened so fast.

[Pajarita]

A parrot behaviorist told you no shoulder time for a year??!! I don't know where you got that 'behaviorist' from but it seems to me that the title of behaviorist was self-given Nobody (and I do mean NOBODY) who understands parrots would ever give you that advice for the simple reason that, unless you keep the bird in a cage ALL THE TIME (BAD!) or with a very severe clip (BAD!) it's completely unenforceable! Foing time-outs often and all the time (because it will be ALL THE TIME) will not only NOT teach her not to be on you (the closeness between a pair and the highly social nature of parrots are survival traits that nature 'hard-wired' into their brains so, short of a lobotomy, NOTHING anybody can do can change the need for either) but also make her resent you BIG TIME! You see, the way she will look at it is that you would be not only depriving her of what she considers her inalienable right and making her VERY unhappy with you but she will also feel so betrayed by your lack of love that she will, most likely, turn on you becoming extremely aggressive - AND, she might start plucking again! Senegals are known for their aggression when unhappy so I suggest you rethink your position on her needs and your compliance with them because it seems to me that the previous owners did not understand her and that's why she turned to aggression - which makes the situation even more complicated for you because there is already a precedent as one can say that she already knows how 'that' goes and her 'solution' in the past was aggression so she could easily fall back in that behavior. And you have small children so, if there is one thing, you do not want is an unhappy, aggressive parrot!

Mind you, I am not criticizing you. I completely understand where you are coming from (I don't think anybody actually 'likes' having a parrot on their head, I know I don't!) but the thing is that having a parrot as a pet requires a very special frame of mind because they are not like any other animal we would keep as a companion. We are used to companion animals conforming to our lifestyle, our desires, etc or been contained most of the time (like reptiles and such) but, with parrots, you can't 'contain' them and, when it comes to conforming, it's the other way around. It's not them that comply with our rules, it's us that need to comply with theirs because, when it comes to natural behaviors, there is no flexibility, no training, no nothing. It's the ONLY way that you achieve a healthy and happy parrot and a good human/parrot relationship. You also need to realize that the difficulty of parrot-keeping is our fault, not theirs. We are the ones that want the closeness with them so, in order for us to get this, we trick them into imprinting to people instead of to their parrot parents (our handfeeding them when babies does this). We make them believe that we are part of their flock and, as such, potential mates for them. Then we keep a single one so the bird has no choice but to choose a human - and the result is that we, parrot keepers, have to change not only our lifestyle for them but demolish all our previous notions of what a 'well-behaved' companion animal is and start with a completely different scheme where we are no longer the bosses but equal partners to a difficult other half with the ONLY advantage of a slightly higher intelligence (they are VERY smart and VERY wily!). It's like the old saying goes: Beware of what you ask for because you might get it!

[Jesscat]

Haha Pajarita! I do feel like I asked for this. Not that I'm not happy with it but it did catch me of guard! I respect you guys a lot and am glad at this point that I chose to be apart of so many groups to get advise! Today is going better. She is already staying more on my shoulder then my head. I have been giving her treats all day. I also haven't been reacting to her when she gets on my head. Just letting her stay for awhile. She is slowly trusting my hand again when I go to get her off of me. Yesterday she was very upset every time I got her down. I also cleared a high shelf completely of and had her eat her breakfast there that seemed to make her happy. She is now on my shoulder again singing away lol

[Wolf]

I can understand how Joe's biting could easily put you off and even cause you to be afraid. When Kiki first came to live with us, she originally chose to bond with my Lady although I was the one doing all of the caring for her needs. In about 6 weeks she changed her mind and decided to bond more closely to me than to my Lady. During the time that she thought that she wanted my Lady the most she spent a considerable amount of her out of cage time on me as I was the only one at home, but most of that time was spent with her satisfying all of her protein needs with my flesh. Then she decided that she would bond to me and switched her alliegences to me, if you thought that would end her behavior, she fooled you as much as me. She continued this behavior for nearly a year before she got it all out of her system and even then she demanded that I demonstrate that I would trust her without any valid reason to do so, which is pretty much what we ask of them when they come into our homes. Then she quit almost all of her biting of me nearly overnight. I have never heard of any other bird, except for a Senegal parrot ever being referred to as a demon bird, but it really did fit her for that year and now she is the sweetest bird you could want.

All of that was so that you would know that I do in fact understand all about what a pissed off Senegal's bite is all about.

Try to understand that a parrot does not bite without a valid reason to do so, even if we do not know or understand what that reason is and Senegals do hold grudges over what they perceive as mistreatment. Still unless they have been previously taught that biting was their only recourse, biting is a last resort type of thing, they would naturally try to run or fly from bad treatment or being pushed around or any other situation in which they could get hurt in. They much prefer a peaceful cooperative type of effort in pretty much all aspects of their lives. They now that they are not built for fighting and that biting is not for anything other than to get them a chance to escape a bod situation. They really have no desire to bite or hurt us in anyway.

It can be very difficult to keep this in mind when your bird is intent on remove chunks of flesh from your body, and it can be difficult to understand why they are biting you so that you can make the needed adjustments to end the behavior.

I just thought that sharing this with you might be of some use to you and Joe.

[Pajarita]

Ah, see? It does help when one lets them have their way and simply work one's way around their quirks. I always say that success in having a good relationship with a happy parrot requires acting on the Marines motto: Adapt, Improvise, Overcome

I have found that using a stick to get them off my head works better than my hand. I saved a couple of the sticks that blinds bring to change the position of the little slats from old ones and they are super useful because they are the perfect size for the feet of small and medium birds, they are super easy to wash AND they are long enough so I can reach up or down without bending or stretching - and my birds are so used to them that I can put them down or up in a real steep angle and they still climb 'aboard'.

[Jesscat]

Oh man guys! She has way to much energy! I hate the sound of that by the way, "to much energy" Her diet needs to be abjusted. She isn't eating the pellets. We keep giving her this fruit seed blend I got from the pet store. I bought it when we got her. I kept insisting to Ed that she can only have it once in awhile for treats. Since she won't eat her pellets from Roundybush we are giving her lots of veggies and millets. She eats fruits once in a while. She is very aggressive with food!

I am getting discouraged here. Not meaning I'm ready to get rid of her. Just that this was a really bad idea with children like you said. She is very aggressive with me. I have her in the cage rite now and she is content eating millet. I have almost gone through a whole bag of almonds that I keep EVERY where because she is constantly flying to me. I had her calmer on me and then she starts getting aggressive quick when things aren't her way. Dang I feel like I've already wrote this. Sorry I am venting I guess. I am just scared. Scared of hurting her little legs when I am trying to get her off me. I let her stay on me for a long time. She gets so dang frustrated when I put her down she is started not wanting to eat in the morning. BY evening she is calmer and not so aggressive about it. She will bath and play. She will show off with her toys which I love. It's just morning time that is getting out of control.

I think it's going to take a really long time for me to work with her. I am ok with that. I am going to try and move her cage to a new room. I will work on playing with her more. I will stop giving her the seeds mix. I was thinking of buying her the zupreem fruity colorful blend.