neoow

Alfie does similar when he's feeling particularly hormonal. He went through a stage last year where whenever I walked into the room he would start making similar noises, wings would be drooped and if I stood near his cage for long enough he would regurgitate food for me. So I'm guessing it's a hormonal/mating type of behavour? I'm no expert but if he started drooping his wings and making the noises I would back off from his cage (or wherever he was located) and give him some time and space to calm down. I also had to be careful what toys I gave him - anything small enough to be mistaken for an egg would set him off and he would get over excited and try and guard it/sit on it. Those kinds of foot toys were removed to discourage the behaviours.

I think for me it was the first parrot that I'd had hands on experience with. I was working in a pet store at the time and we had an African Grey in. I was fascinated. I'd already been working with smaller birds such as budges, finches, canaries, rosellas and kakarikis but the grey that was in really caught my eye. Whilst he was there we taught him to dance and say "hi". We would take him out of his cage on our lunch breaks to help socialise him before a family came along who wanted to buy him. It was sad to see him go. That set in motion a lot of reading and research to see if a grey was the right fit for me... and whether I was the right fit for a grey.... and of course I ended up with Alfie. Weirdly, the talking was never really a massive selling point for me. I do love hearing Alfie talk but he's not a big talker... not compared to some. The other parrot that caught my eye was an Eclectus called Reggie. We had him in from another store because they hadn't looked after him properly. We sorted his diet out, had him out on breaks and socialised him and he was such an awesome bird. If I were to ever get another bird I would seriously consider an eclectus if I decided against a second grey. His condition improved drastically in our care and he soon went home with a family after that. I missed him loads because I'd spent a lot of time with him on my breaks... he did like to try and steal my lunch instead of eating the healthy food I was offering him! 😂 Whilst I admire larger birds such as macaws, I know they wouldn't be a good fit for my home and lifestyle. I don't think I have enough space to fit a macaw as there wouldn't be enough space for them to fly/exercise enough. And then there's the noise and destruction too, which I imagine is much higher on the scale than with Alfie. So I think for me it was the fact I was able to get some hands on experience with the smaller birds as well as the African Grey and Eclectus that came through the doors. I think I mostly admired their intelligence and how much information they took in from the humans around them. Whilst I do like watching smaller birds I don't think I'd ever keep them myself. Not saying they're not intelligent or interesting... the budgies in particular were escape artists. There's just something I admire about parrots and something that hooked me in all those years ago.

I love the relationship that you have with your birds. If I tried that with Alfie I doubt I'd have much of a face left. He lost shoulder privileges many years ago!

I did ask my housemate if we could do video calls so Alfie could see and hear him whilst we're on lockdown. After that my housemate will likely visit every so often as we're close friends.

My housemate is moving out this month and I'm not sure how Alfie is going to take it. My housemate has been living here since I first bought the house nearly 7 years ago. He previously lived with us whilst I was renting for about a year as well, but had very little to do with Alfie during that time. Over the 7 years Alfie and my housemate have bonded. It took a long time but Alfie shows a lot of interest in him and will let him give him scritches through his cage and out of it. I think Alfie actually prefers my housemate over me at the moment. So I'm worried that he's going to take the move pretty hard. Similarly, I think the cats will find it hard too. They don't spend a massive amount of time together but Alfie does show a lot of interest in my housemate when he's in the room. It's not that we'll never see him again - he'll probably visit when the lockdown rules start being relaxed (whenever that may be) but obviously that's different to being here all the time. I always knew this day would come round eventually. It's going to take a while for us all to adjust. I only spent a year or so living on my own previously. I've always had housemates or was living with family prior to that. So it's going to be a bit weird to not have him around any more. Might take us all a little while to adjust!

It's a great feeling when you finally have some kind of breakthrough like that. Alfie has started flying to me again recently after mostly ignoring me for weeks and weeks. He's still not accepting head scritches from me when he's in his cage. But I'll take whatever I can get.

Haha that's brilliant. Alfie has learned to cough, sneeze, 'blow his nose' and sniff.

I think this is true of any animal- how many hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, guinea pigs, fish, cats, dogs, parrots, reptiles etc etc are bought on a whim and then abandoned because they're too much work? Some will buy them for children and then wonder why the child loses interest or stops cleaning up after the pet. Others will see a pet in a film, a book, in a pet store or at a friend/relatives house and think that they want one themselves, without doing research or putting the effort in to learn about their care. My first job was in a pet store and I sold animals to people knowing that the child would probably lose interest or the adult hadn't done enough research. We had leaflets we handed out which was a basic care guide but all too often people would buy the smallest cage, stuff the leaflet in their pocket and think they knew better. Or maybe even went in with the attitude "it's just a hamster" or "it's just a budgie" as opposed to "this is a living breathing animal that deserves the best care and attention". I've seen posts where people will allow their small animal or bird to suffer and die of illness because they see it as a throw away or starter pet. They have the attitude that 'a new one will cost me £10 whereas the vet will be expensive'. I will be the first to admit that for a time I was failing to provide enough attention for Alfie. I got him when I was 17 years old. I fell in love with parrots whilst working at that same pet store. I did loads of research and reading and spent all my savings on Alfie. I thought I knew best and I thought I could provide a good environment for him for the rest of his life. I thought I had life all mapped out as you do when you're 17. But life is tougher than that and it's guaranteed to change. I started a career in IT and worked my arse off, which meant I was putting longer hours in the more I progressed. I was trying to study for a degree at the same time. I lived with housemates who didn't like Alfie and the layout of the house didn't work either. I spent less and less time with Alfie to the point I considered rehoming him. But I couldn't do it to him. He didn't ask for any of this. So I figured I would try and re-prioritize everything. My housemates moved out and I shuffled things around. The house still didn't work so when I moved into my own house I made sure the layout worked and he was the centre of attention. I have spent years working on and rebuilding our relationship and trust and I don't always get it right- but I'm trying as hard as I can to provide him with the life he deserves. And I'm glad I made that choice because I don't think I could have forgiven myself if I had rehomed him.

I love the photo of Huey peeping out over the top of the drawer!

It has been absolute carnage here due to idiotic panic buying. I've never known anything like it. However it does seem to be calming down somewhat now. Shops put in fairly hefty restrictions and reduced their opening hours to give themselves chance to restock the shelves. They also opened early for the elderly/vulnerable and also have dedicated times for NHS/health workers to shop. They're also restricting how many people can be in the store at any time, so you have to queue outside (keeping in mind social distancing guidance) and go in when told. I went today around 1pm to grab a few bits of food. We only bought what we needed before the lockdown and so we were getting towards the end of our supplies. Thankfully I was able to find everything I needed today. I did forget a few bits but I was trying to get in and out as quickly as possible so stupidly didn't take a list. But we have enough of what we need. Alfie has a mix of pellets, seeds, dried fruit and dried veg. He rarely eats fresh produce and usually launches it with gusto across his cage. So he's fairly happy with what he has for now. I've seen others who have use dehydrators to create bird food and as far as I'm aware there's no issue with that? I buy in dried fruit and veg for Alfie as I have such a small kitchen. Otherwise I'd make it myself.

I assume it depends on the bird. Alfie loves to to shred boxes and magazines and will spend many happy hours doing so. And whilst he's shredding boxes, he's not shredding my furniture, so it works for me. I have never seen any mating/nesting behaviours triggered by him shredding magazines and boxes. The only thing that had triggered a response are some foot toys- usually small ball shaped toys will set him off as he seems to think of them as eggs. Needless to say, he doesn't get those if he's feeling hormonal!

I'm glad you're both on the mend and recovering.

That's great news, glad the issue is sorted!

Brilliant! I've also seen similar but with two macaws side by side.

Love the photos! Especially the messy beak! Hope things are settling down ok with your new addition. I would love to see/hear more about them all!

Well first things first... photos please! 😄 I don't have much advice for you I'm afraid, as I'm a single bird home. But I wish you and your flock all the best! I hope Morgan settles in quickly.

For the most part, I understand Alfie's boundaries and respect them. But he does catch me sometimes when he (seemingly) lunges at me for no reason. I am thankful that Alfie doesn't seem to bite as hard as he could do. He might leave a slight bruise but rarely if ever breaks the skin.

I'm glad you seem to have found something that's working! I can't touch Alfie anywhere except on the head and back of his neck but only when he allows it. He has to put his head down before I can go anywhere near him or I will definitely get bitten. Same for anyone else. I can sometimes get the bottom of his foot if he puts it up at the side of the cage- but I have to be very aware of what he is doing because he'll take exception to that and try and bite sometimes too.

Alfie has dumped the entire contents of his food bowl because I dared to put something new in his bowl - no matter how small! 😂 He ALWAYS knows when I'm trying to be sneaky with his food and trying to convince him to eat something new.

Thanks for all the wise words. I'm just letting Alfie come and go as he pleases at the moment. He seems quite happy as he's being quite vocal and he gets lots of exercise when he's out of the cage because he keeps flying round the room. He's fascinated by the 'new' cat tree (we got it in December) so keeps flying towards it but circling back... he'll do this several times in the evenings. He used to spend a fair bit of time on the old one and I think he's keen to do the same with this new one but has only actually landed on it once. He has his two shelves which are full of toys and paper/card to shred. I got him a new foraging toy and hung that near his shelves so he often grabs himself a walnut or banana chip from that. He's still good at getting in his cage to go to sleep - I have to use a perch to fetch him from his shelf (I'm a little too short to reach the higher shelf!) but he often steps up with no problem and climbs into his cage without issue. I give him lots of praise but have held off offering a treat in case he lunges at me. I want to ensure I am able to offer treats with confidence. I think if I approach whilst feeling nervous he will pick up on that and it's more likely to result in a lunge. I also (finally) got him a UVA/UVB light this week which he seems to enjoy sitting under. I don't think that will necessarily make a difference in terms of behaviour, but hopefully it will help beat the winter blues. (It's always very dull, grey and miserable here during winter)

I have watched this several times now and it never fails to make me laugh!

In good news- Alfie flew to me (by choice) this evening and perched on my knee for a few seconds. He was still in 'adventure mode' though so didn't stop long, wandered off down my leg and on to the sofa before flying back to his shelves. But hey, I'll take it... after being mostly ignored (or lunged at!) Please excuse my whining post. I was feeling particularly run down and exhausted yesterday so everything seemed a lot worse than it perhaps is. I know I just need to be patient and ride it out. I can also recite the type of response I would be giving someone else if they had posted a similar story! I just want a happy and healthy bird. If he hates me, so be it... so long as he's happy and healthy whilst hating me! 😂

I love it!!!

Seconded- probably best to get him to an avian vet to get it checked out. 😊

I assume it was a combo of all the upheaval of redecorating as well as the haircut, as they all happened within the same few weeks. My hair is super thick, super curly and totally unmanageable. 🤣 I have it short so I can deal with it easier and so I don't have to stress about it. I'd rather not grow it back out if I can avoid it because its so much hassle to keep it long. I had it cut short previously a few years back (similar length but a straightened style instead of curly) and didn't have these issues with him then. So I'm surprised if this is the only trigger. I just wonder if it was too much change/upheaval all at once? Either way, it all happened about a year ago and he did settle back down for a while before he started getting more distant. Coincidentally, 'BirdTricks' are doing a UK tour this year in July so I have signed myself and Alfie up to one of their masterclasses as they are travelling relatively close to where I live. I'm hoping they will be able to help out and give me some advice on how to repair and rebuild my relationship with Alfie. That's happening in July (all being well). In the meantime I guess I need to try and find a way to be less nervous around Alfie and hope he starts to tolerate me a bit more...!