My cockatoo doesn't like men

[Nualahoops]

Hello everyone , I know this is a common problem with parrots that they prefer a certain sex . My question is how do I make my bird just ignore my partner ?. My partner wasn't even talking , just sitting in a arm chair and my bird decides to straight over a bite his feet . Does he want to be man (bird) of the house or something ?? . All ideas would be great , thanks . Donna

[Pricey_boy]

he could be terrotorial of you, or something he's wearing. what type of cockatoo do you have? species and age could play an important role in your birds biting. try getting your partner to do some simple training and rewarding with your parrot. give me all info on your parrot and ill give you as much info as possible. diet, age, sex, etc.

[Pajarita]

It might very well be that it's not just 'men' he doesn't like but him because he sees him as competition for your love. Sometimes, only parrots (parrots that don't have bird companions of their own) or incubator parrots (parrots that were not raised by its parents not even for a couple of weeks) bond (by necessity) too deeply with a human. They single out one person and make him/her the object of all their affections. This is quite common with certain species and toos are one of them because they are highly hormonal birds that have two breeding seasons in the year.

I have a Senegal (female) that was like that but now she is fine as long as my husband does not touch me because, if he does, she will rush over to nip him (not bite him, mind you, only nip because she now just warns him instead of punishing him as she used to do).

I am afraid I know of no real 'cure' for the problem -well, there is one: get the bird a mate of its own- because these birds are monogamous and if he sees you as his mate, he is not going to allow another to usurp his position. This is not a learned behavior, it's instinctual so fighting it does no good. What your partner will have to do is to avoid touching you or showing his affection for you in any way when the bird is in the room. Whenever you are around, your partner should keep his distance and only approach the bird when he is in his cage to talk to him softly (praise goes a long way with birds) and offer him treats (let him be the ONLY person to give him treats - establishing a certain routine for this is also good -like, for example, let him offer him treats always a couple of hours after breakfast or something like that). Once he sees that the bird accepts his getting close to his cage without reacting (display) and he actually anticipates his bringing him treats, he should open the door to the cage and let him out (you cannot be in the room, he must be alone). If all goes as it should, the bird will come out, climb up and just chill there without attacking him. Once he has been doing this for a couple of weeks with no negative reaction, you should come into the room AFTER he has let him out and a period of time has passed (like ten minutes or so). When you do, you can approach the bird (but don't even look in your partner's direction -ignore him completely) and interact with him.

You will have to play it by ear and see what happens so you can adjust your behavior to achieve what you want which is, basically, that the bird accepts him as a flock mate which poses no threat to him or his relationship with you. But he might never allow him to touch you in front of him -LOL

[Nualahoops]

Hi , I have a lesser sulfur crested cockatoo, he is 5 yrs, I've only had him a few weeks . He has had two previous owners , I was told he didn't like men ( I have no idea how he was treated in these other homes- only when I went to view him the lady was holding this metal scewer in front of his face( incase he bit I guess. ) I was not impressed , also said he played up for attention ( but they had him in a back room of the house , all alone , bless .. Here he is in the front room with all the family and my other bird ... Anyway getting back to my subject . Olly ( my bird) will let my partner stroke him very briefly in his cage . And lets him go near to talk to him . But doesn't like him too much in his face , like a 2 second stroke is enough attention for my partner. I shall start getting my partner to give all the treats , that's a good idea . At the moment my partner has now said I can only get him out while he is out ( which isn't a problem I'm home all day , and weekends I'll get him to go fishing !). Donna

[Pricey_boy]

right now im doing training and spending time with my mums galah who also hates men but will love any women because in his previous home it was all women. get your partner to do some training with the bird but you must respect his space. and dont touch spots like his face and back until he is ready.

if you have only had this bird for a few weeks that could be the problem maybe he has never seen a man before and doesnt know how to feel about him being around. since youve only had this bird a few weeks it may need time to warn up to the idea of new people. your bird ma need up to a few months before he is ok. try holding your bird when your partner is in the room but not within attacking distance. do this every day for a few months and im sure your bird will be alot better in the future.

how do you know its just your partner he hates maybe its other people also.

[Pajarita]

No, no, NEVER touch a bird's back. It's a sexual caress and a complete NO-NO in the companion bird world.

[Pricey_boy]

i have no trouble touching my birds backs no problem. but my birds completely trust me

[Pajarita]

It's not a matter of trust, it's a matter of arousal.

[Shelby]

If you'd only had the parrot a few weeks, he probably isn't bonded to you yet. And Pajarita is right - in the wild, birds that are companions will only preen each other around the head and neck. The only time they touch each other on the back is when they are mating. I've also heard that stroking under a bird's wings is sexual and should be avoided.

Also, birds in the wild don't have a "hierarchy" like some other wild animals do (lions, elephants, etc). So the cockatoo isn't attacking because he wants to be the boss. He is more likely attacking out of learned aggression or fear.

I don't think you can ever really be on neutral ground with a bird. From what I've read/experienced, a bird either distrusts you because of prey animal instinct/previous bad experiences with people, or it trusts you because you've proven yourself trustworthy. Here is a great post about keeping the whole family on good terms with your bird:
The 60-40 Rule
While the girl writing the article was a circus performer at the time, I think it can apply to all parrot owners. Parrots are flock creatures; it's not good for only one person in the house to ever be involved with the parrot. In the last paragraph, Jamie says:

If someone is really hated in the house, like your spouse, have them do the good stuff to even out that balance again.

So I would suggest having your partner go through Michael's Taming Article and do the touch training with your bird. Then they can start to develop trust, but in a hands-off way. If your partner starts out with the bird in the cage, then there is no way for the cockatoo to attack him, so he'll be more confident during training sessions. Also, have your partner feed the meals and and offer treat rewards during training sessions (if you train the bird at all).

[GreenWing]

I've met male Sennies -- Tiki's brother, actually -- who preferred female humans.

Are you sure your cockatoo doesn't like men? I mean to say, is this bite of the foot the first instance? I mean, Tiki nibbles my toenails/socks and I'm her "mate"; she also has nipped me depending on her mood. It could have been nothing... I would see if your cockatoo bites/attacks other men before deciding...