Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 5/12/2006

Question
Thanks, Chrys,

I think you are right, there just hasn't been enough time.  I guess my main concern is his pecking toward my face when he is on my shoulder (no hands invloved).  I'm not quite sure why he does this.  He goes to me willingly, then will try to peck me.

If you have any further advice, I would love to hear it.  Your insight is greatly appreciated.  Warmest regards, Carrie

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Followup To
Question -
We have a cockatiel that has been with us for four months now.  He has bonded beautifully with my husband, nuzzling with him and generally behaving wonderfully towards him.  With me, it's another story.  Occasionally he acts in a loving way with me, but more often he lunges and will peck at me when he is on my shoulder.  Although my husband has been able to physically spend more time with our tiel, we have always both been gentle and affectionate towards him. How can I begin to help our bird be more affectionate with me and not so testy.  He is also very afraid of hands, even outside the cage.  (He is about three years old and came to us as a lost bird.)
Answer -
Hi, Carrie.  Thanks for posting.

Most parrots tend to bond with one person, however, they can be friendly towards other people.  It depends on how they were socialized as babies and what experiences they've had during their lifetimes.  Often times, parrots will peck at their humans when the bird is sitting on their shoulders if the human puts his/her hand up to the bird because the bird takes this action as a move to put the bird back in it's cage or remove the bird from the shoulder.  The bird doesn't want to go back in the cage or be removed from the shoulder so it pecks at the hand in hopes the human will leave s/he alone.  

Lots of parrots are afraid of/leary of hands.  Even handfed parrots can have a fear of hands depending on their experiences during their lifetime.  An example is parrots that are sold out of a pet shop.  A pet-shop parrot is poked, proded, etc., by pet shop customers on a daily basis and these birds tend to dislike fingers/hands.  This fear can also occur in parrots who were once not fearful of fingers/hands, but become fearful as a result of things that happen later in life.  I have tame parrots who are 10+ years of age who won't allow me to pet them and who have a fear of my fingers/hands for some unknown reason.  Evidently, something has happened in their lifetimes before I acquired them for them to have this fear.  Some gradually come around when they realize I mean them no harm, but others never come around...it just depends on the individual bird.  Parrots have excellent memories and tend not to forget bad experiences in their lives.  

You really haven't had this bird for very long in the grand scheme of things.  I suggest you give him some more time to get used to you.  You state your husband is able to spend more time with the tiel than yourself...this is one reason why the tiel has bonded more closely with him than you.  Try spending more time with the tiel, perhaps asking your husband to step back a little for a while and both of you spend equal amounts of time with the tiel.  If your husband usually feeds the parrot/cleans the cage, etc., you try doing this for a while to see if your tiel becomes more bonded with you.

Come back if you need to.

Chrys  

Answer
Hi again, Carrie.  I'm not sure what you mean about your tiel pecking toward your face.  Do you mean if you turn your head toward your tiel when he's on your shoulder, he tries to peck your face?  I have some parrots who do something similar to pecking my face, but they are usually trying to peck at my lips when I talk to them (lips moving) while they are on my shoulder or trying to pick at imperfections on my face...parrots like to pick at blemishes, scabs, etc., on skin.  I've also have some parrots who like to peck my nose or pick at my eyelashes...don't know why except that it might be their way of preening me.  If you can give me some more details about exactly what the bird is doing, I might be able to help out more.

Chrys