Flying aggressive in your face LSC

[Bird woman]

Wow! This is a new one for me. Patients doesn't even begin to describe what I've had to dig down deep for It's going to be a toss up if I run out of blood or patients first. This little guy has got me pretty confused. I'm 90% percent sure his behavior is dominance oriented as there's a lot of running around beak tapping and chasing and jumping on the other birds except Rickey my big mollucan. This guy has no fear and seems to be establishing the whole house as his area. This morning my face got it pretty bad. He steps up and down on command and knows his name and what no means.He will let me scratch his head and under his wing apprehensively but the housekeeper can handle him a lot better. He seems to have taken a real shine to her but also not with out scars. When she went to bring him over to his stand and asked him down down he jumped at her face , missed and bit clean through her ear , just like my face this morning. He will slam his beak on the floor run around like a maniac twisting his head like he's possessed with his Mohawk straight in the air. Pretty soon he settles down and goes back to persewing my mollucan, which seems to be the only one he respects and considers the head honcho around here. When he gets put in time out , Rickey will sit next to his cage until he's let out. Right now as I write Rickey has gone into Lilly's bathroom ( my other mollucan) and is playing kissy face with her and Nigel is pissed outside the door pacing slamming his beak saying baby baby hi hi. Now that is Lilly's play area and her toys are in the tub and I don't usually allow anyone else in there as she needs a safe space of her own. ( kind of a delicate flower girl) but she invited Rickey in so I let Rickey go in there now. (Nigel is jealous I'm sure) when Nigel runs after me you can tell when he's going to be aggressive cause he puts his head down and comes at you like a locomotive I never run , just turn in a circle to keep him in front of me so he can't bite telling him no no and if he doesn't stop off to time out. This flying in my face is a new thing and he's fully flighted . So far I was able to duck and he would get tangled in my hair which when I bend over hits the ground , so I just stay like that until he climbs out. Then off to time out!!!! He always asks to get up when I'm in the chair and I always lift him up with my foot which he climbs on all the time when he wants up. Now always pants and slippers on as out of the blue he will start biting my shoe. Makes it pretty hard now that this face lunging has started , he has delivered some pretty crippling bites. Any help would be appreciated or a tough babysitter in my area so I can go heal before tackling my little nigies neurotic behaviorol problems again. BW

[Pajarita]

Hmmmm, I think it's just a matter of time and, possibly, hormones too. He (as well as the others) needs to find his 'place' in the flock and establish relationships among themselves because, obviously, you cannot be the chosen one for all of them at the same time. In the meantime, I would just avoid getting bit. Whenever I had a large bird going after me all the time, I would simply eliminate all physical interaction and wear something to discourage him. I have worn a corn broom tied to my back with the 'broomy' part sticking out above my head, bath towels tucked around my waist and hanging all the way down to floor, etc. Basically, anything that would make me look bigger and/or scary. Oh, a pool noodle wrapped around my neck worked wonders for a real mean male amazon that would fly out to bite my face -I always thought it was the resemblance to a large snake that did it. So, start experimenting with different stuff and see what makes him think twice about approaching you.

[Bird woman]

Well my bloody face seemed to make him stear clear I let him look at it while my face was pouring blood and calmly told him he was a bad boy. He's playing grab ass with Rickey right now and has pretty much left me out of the game since this morning. I'm pretty sure the hormone thing is playing a part in this to , he's been wanting up in my lap but I'm not letting him . He seeks his reflection out in everything , stove , stainless dishes . Stereo , pans under stands etc. maybe he's full of himself and thinks he's the cock of the walk! BW

[Pajarita]

Well, I never tell them they are bad in a calm voice - not if they had just bit me! I actually tell them in an angry, loud voice.

[Bird woman]

I've read that if you yell or get excited that it does the opposite, I do make my voice and face pretty stern and he seems to understand I'm not happy cause the demon possession dance immediately starts after getting scolded. Are you able to view the video clip I sent you , if so I'll take a short video of the demon child in one of his rages. BW

[liz]

Myrtle flew at faces for a long time. There was one time she hovered in front of my face so she could slap me with both winds. She also liked to fly into the back of Aunt Betty's head to make her scream. Thank heaven she grew out of that phase.

Put your hand up to deflect your bird and be patient. Your baby will outgrow it.

[Bird woman]

He only does it when he's on my arm and not always , it's only happened 3 times now but third time was a charm. Hard to defend yourself when your one arm down and it's the right one at that. Things will be different today , going to slow things down a bit with the freedom thing and start a little target training and reward program for good behavior. Hate to cut in on the Rickey and Nigel grab ass time but that's the way it is. BW

[Pajarita]

I've read that if you yell or get excited that it does the opposite, I do make my voice and face pretty stern and he seems to understand I'm not happy cause the demon possession dance immediately starts after getting scolded. Are you able to view the video clip I sent you , if so I'll take a short video of the demon child in one of his rages. BW

I don't believe that. It makes no sense to me because, although there is no dominance factor in parrots, there is a strong sense of self-preservation and, when a bird attacks another one, if the 'attackee' is stronger, it will retaliate and make the attacker back out. As time goes by, the aggressor learns which birds he/she can make run and which ones he/she should steer clear of so I make myself into one of the birds that they better steer clear of. I don't really retaliate in the sense that I don't touch them but I do try to scare the crap out of them! I vocalize my hurt loudly (OWWWWWW!), tell them they are BAD BAAAAD BIRDS!!! then immediately start cawing real loud and use my body to loom over them (I stand as tall as I can and open and raise my arms) while, at the same time, I make my right hand into a beak (you know, putting the tips of all five fingers together) and make kind of like a hard pecking motion with it from above their heads (as if my 'beak' was trying to peck their heads). Then I tell them to "GO HOME!" (which means they are to go back into their cage) and put them in time-out for 5 minutes.

I know it's not the usual "Don't react" and "Ignore" advice you find out there but it has worked for me with all the aggressive birds I've had. Mind you, not that this means that they never again bite me because I still get a bite or two during breeding season if I don't watch myself but I think that is inevitable with mated pairs that are nesting.

[Bird woman]

I think this dominating factor is where you and I greatly disagree on. Through the years with mostly large parrots I have watched the pecking order be established with the cockatoos and Rickey clearly is the queen bee in the house and the first one to establish her dominance with any newby that has come into the flock and there are no exceptions. She is showing a greater desire to whip Nigel into shape and will whip him if she could catch him. BUT she will also put her head down and do that little beak and tough smacking thing they do with both there faces together. I have bird carriers in the bird room in case of fire that I have removed because Ricky will open hers up and keeps inviting Nigel in. All this indicates to me that the hormonal thing is going on with both of them and Nigel trying to establish territory , while Rickey is letting him know he's her guest as long as he acts the way she wants. WHEN I ENTER THE ROOM CHECKING UP ON THEM Nigel will try to chase me out and Rickey gets after him( everytime) and I'm not her bonded human , just her servant Mixing things up today Nigel is still in his cage and Rickey is sitting right beside it. They both ate breakfast beside each other in there cages ( Ricky's was open she had a choice). Nigel really has that beak tapping thing going on , sometimes very aggressively. This I think is him pretty much saying mine mine mine. The head twisting excersoist thing is just that , he's pissed and not getting his way and agitated. Maybe allowing him to have full run of the house after quarantine was a mistake and I should have kept him a bit more confined. This place even intimidates me at times. Don't know what I was thinking BW

[Pajarita]

Hmmm, I don't know about your theory of the reason for the head twisting thing (I call it "the head whip' and actually say: "Whip it! when they do it to make them do it again). Both my toos do it but not when they are mad, they do it when they are excited and trying to call attention to themselves -it's, mostly, a breeding display. Freddy does it when he is being a ham and Linus does it when he is being cute. In both cases, I heartedly celebrate their display - which seems to make them happy.