Does anyone understand this behavior???

[CeeCeeNY]

Today was the 1st day since I brought my Grey home (on Sat) tha I left him alone to go to work Naturally I couldn't wait to get home to him! I made him fresh dinneras soon as I came home hen took cre of the dogs. When he was done w/ dinner I went and took him off his cageto watch TV w/ me on the couch. He started this very weird behavior, I'll ty to explain! He 1st kept reaching his foot out so I would take it and then he would vigorously rub his beak all over my hand while holding my finger w. his foot. Or take my fingerin his beak very gently and pull it towards him.. Then he would kinda jerk his neck up & down really fast and then shake his head, a little spit would come out... like he was trying to make himself puke? He was also makeing these little plaintive cries/moans... circling on my hand while crouching & holding is wings out. What is going on! Is he ok?

[JDS5607]

Sully did that for a few months after I got him. Are you handfeeding him at all? (sorry I can't remember how hold he is). The beak rubbing can often be him just cleaning his beak off after he eats

Pulling your finger towards him usually means they want to be pet, or picked up, and the head motion, is usually him trying to "share" his food with you (or, sometimes Sully will do this if he's eaten too fast and something didn't go down quite right. It's kinda gross, but harmless )

 

The cries are just him talking to you... unless he's being handfed (or freshly weaned) which could mean he's wanting some formula Is your grey doing this?

:sigh: I miss those honks It's just a baby thing

[Barbara2]

It means he loves you. He's trying to feed you. Some of this might be sexual mating behavior and you want to politely decline his advances. That's what I've heard from the other experts here.

[Dave007]

That's totally common for all baby parrots. The bird is reacting to you as if you were the hen. The *puking* is called regurgitation. Holding your finger is a common thing--he/she want to be touched (snuggled) as if you were the hen who's gonna cover him with warm feathers.

 

All of the rest of the behavior--crys, moans, circling all have to do with the above. Expect it to happen often. Pet or scratch but no touching vent area, under the wings against the body, lower part of the back near the tail and the breast area, especially the lower breast area.

 

 

 

 

Oh I see, you were referring to an adult parrot. It sounded like a baby parrot until I saw what you said in bird food area. in another area.

 

SO----if that's the case, since the bird is an adult it's best to remember to follow those rules as far as touching. Constantly petting or rubbing those areas will eventually lead to the bird seriously biting you when stopping that action. The bird likes to be sexually stimulated and doesn't like it to stop and he will eventually bite you when you're stopping and you'll never see it coming.

Edited August 9, 2011 by Dave007

[Pi_1]

I agree with the above post other than the part about not touching under the wings and/or the upper breast area. As far as the wings, I taught our Grey to "give me your wing". She'll hold one wing out, then the other and let me hold it and examine it and the underlying area. She has never gotten stimulated by it (I guess it may depend on the bird) and it was very helpful in saving her life the other day when I had to give her an IV to get fluids in her. I originally taught it to her to make things easier for me and the vet to get a look at her.

 

As far as the upper breast area, I guess it depends how low you're talking about, but I often pet our Grey at the area where her neck meets the upper breast and she has never become sexually excited by it. I also play with her by telling her "gonna get you" or "gimme that drumstick" and grab her legs, LoL. She then knows it's time to play and tries to fend off my fingers in a playful manner. I guess it can depend on the situation though. I'd never continue if she started to become stimulated by it.

 

As far as the grabbing goes, our Grey does that one foot grab when she wants me to flip her upside down. She absolutely LOVES to be flipped on her back. She will hold out the one foot when on my shoulder, wait for me to give her a finger, then flip and slide down my chest on her back like a slide. She also likes to be carried around upside down like a bat. She prefers being carried like that than sitting on my shoulder, and is far less jumpy. I'll carry her around the house like that and she loves it. I also swing her around like she's flying upside down and she has a great time. Not sure if this is common with other Greys but it's one of our favorite activities.

 

As far as the "chewing" goes, our Grey did this when she was a baby and she wanted me to feed her. She still does it at 2.5 years old, but now she does it as an affectionate thing. She gets my finger in the back of her beak and kinda chews on it softly, making little "hoo" noises. Your Grey is probably either loving on you or asking for food depending on the age.

 

As mentioned above, the crouching and regurgitating is sexual behavior and should not be encouraged. Our Grey used to do the regurgitating thing (not the crouching) when she was younger and I would just distract her and she would stop. She very rarely does it anymore. They will often hack up a whole nut or seed when doing this to "share" with you, LoL.

[CeeCeeNY]

Thanks everyone! He is 8 years old , that's what I was told. I'm trying to track down his birthplace via his leg band but not having much luck. Sooo I have a mute Grey that's a sexaholic??? grrrreat... I was able to make him stop by giving him the remote to play with. He holds out his wing a lot and wants to petted under it, on his body, I shouldn't pet him there?

[judygram]

He holds out his wing a lot and wants to petted under it, on his body, I shouldn't pet him there?

 

On a sexually mature grey like you have no you shouldn't be rubbing him under the wings or anywhere that makes him lower the wings and pant as that will only frustrate him and you don't want to do that. Keep the touching to the head and neck area for if you persist and get him all hot and bothered only to be unsatisfied, well you know what that's like and not something you want for him to experience.

[chezron]

Well, he sure likes you! I think he thinks he has a new mate. I just ignore obvious sexual behavior and come back to him when he is a little less crazy. They seem to become sort of "possessed" when getting sexual. You do not want to encourage it, because as Dan says, they can become violent when rejected.

[Cupid]

I think he loves you.