About Alicia Stiteler, M.S.W. Expertise I can answer most questions related to Conures and other small parrots: behavior related, nutrition, talking, training, parrots and children, bonding/interacting, "why the heck is he/she doing that", "parrot proofing" etc.
If you have taming/training questions...chances are I have already answered a question similar to yours. Please look through my old answers about taming/training before asking...you may get an answer alot faster!
I AM NOT A VETERANARIAN SO IF YOU ARE CONCERNED OR HAVE A TRUE BIRD EMERGENCY, PLEASE TAKE YOUR BIRD TO THE NEAREST AVIAN VET'S OFFICE!!!
Experience I have raised conures, canaries, and love birds since 1992 and have had a lifelong passion for birds. Professional parrot owner!!!
Parrots - african grey is preferring another family member
Expert: Alicia Stiteler, M.S.W. - 6/2/2008
Question My son purchased an 8 year old congo. He took to him almost instantly. We have had him since oct. 07. The past 2 weeks the bird wants the affection of my husband and prior to this he would attack my husbands hand if he went near the bird. Why would he switch preference? He just gets so excited when he hears his voice of hears him coming up the stairs. We have relocated the bird to upstairs due to construction about 4 months ago but the bird has been in my sons room. We had a boxer that passed recently who the bird showed affection to and he even imitated his bark. I'm just trying to give you a feel for the events in our home so you may better be able to find reason for the birds change.
Answer hi. thanks for your question.
birds in general usually choose one (sometimes two) humans that they "prefer" and can become aggressive with everyone else, including other household members. this is true for most parrots because they are flock animals...in the wild, your parrot would have one mate and one mate only for life. this goes for captive birds too. they tend to choose one human with whom they will become very attached to and either ignore or outright attack anyone else. i have this issue with my sun conure and most parrot owners will tell you the same.
while it sounds like there have been alot of changes in your birds life in the last 8 months or so (new home, relocating his cage, loss of the dog) it is common for a bird to "change" favorite humans for no reason at all. in fact, my sun conure can turn on a dime and "switch" favorite humans within the same day! for example, when he is alone with my husband, they will snuggle and carry on like old friends. however, as soon as my mom comes to visit, he turns very quickly and will become aggressive, intimidating, and will even chase my husband, then becoming very affectionate with my mom. its almost as if birds only have capacity to be affectionate with one human at a time though I'm sure that there are occasional exceptions.
i know this can be very frustrating. it is hard for me to see other people become close and bond with my conure only to find that he is aggressively chasing them days later. it is also hard for me when i know that guests and other household members cannot play with him how i can and i have to keep him locked up while they are around. unfortunately, it is just parrot nature and something that parrot owners have to deal with.
in the meantime, you may find that his affections will shift again and perhaps someone else will be in your parrots good graces next week. although you cannot really change their instinctive behavior, you should always let your parrot know that you are the boss and that biting/aggression will not be tolerated. when he is aggressive, return him to his cage and cover him for about 15 minutes. be consistent with this and it should convey to him that he will not be allowed out to play, even with his "favorite" person if he continues to be aggressive. i do not recommend hitting/flicking/spraying with water and suggest that when you do give him a birdie "time out" that you not react to his aggressive behavior with any screaming/yelling/shrieking (this usually reinforces the biting). a simple return to the cage should do just fine.
good luck and i hope that this helps. alicia
