Falling for attention

[Laurie]

Last week while I was at work and my husband was home, he said that Klaus fell off his perch and it was a little traumatic (lots of wing-flapping and Klaus fussing). Scott picked him up and comforted him for a long while, then gave him treats to get him back in his cage because he had to get to work.

Klaus has now learned to get attention by falling off his perch. He has several in his cage, and one sits kind of low (maybe 1-1/2" from the cage floor). So the low one is the one he "falls" from, then flaps to see who he can get to come a-runnin'!

I just can't believe how smart these birds are! :laugh:

Do your birds have a little trick they play to get your attention?

[KatB]

Oliver makes a "cluck" noise, sounds like a human clucking his tongue -- does that make sense? Since the only other sound he makes is a "peep", I get really excited when he clucks and appear to repeat it to him, hoping to encourage him to make sounds other than "peep". Today he started making a new sound, similar to a human clearing his throat. I don't know where that came from, but I'm hoping it's another stepping stone towards talking.

[judygram]

Laurie, they are real smart and it does not surprise me that a grey would do this for the attention, for look what it got him the first time.

 

Kat, I am sure Oliver probably heard someone clear their throat and it does not take but once for them to pick up on a sound. My Josey does a lot of noises that I can't identify but I am sure she heard them and is repeating them. Josey does a lot of that clucking you talk about, is probably a grey thing.

[Makena]

Makena lays upside down in his food bowl and flails about helplessly when he wants out :lol: :lol: :lol:!!

 

It is really pathetic :silly: :silly: :silly:

[ziggy]

Greys are very very smart they will push your buttons to see what they can get away with. He sounds like he is sooooooo depribed of love. Dont they all. It really is pathetic at times but so cute!!!!!

[Kibibi]

That's very funny Makena. I'd love to see that video :laugh:

[loviechick]

Red says Come ERE NOW:laugh: :laugh:

 

Zsa Zsa however has learned that when she bangs her beak on the side of her seed skirt that I come in there to see what she's doing. Works everytime!

[Laurie]

Funny stories, guys! Thanks for sharing...

[Makena]

I was just able to get a video of Makena acting helpless in order to get let out of his cage. I have no idea why he goes upside down in his food bowl, but that is what he does. I put him in his cage about 5 minutes prior because he bit me. Apparently he doesn't like to be disciplined!!!

 

This time the monkey actually got his talons caught in his own feathers... :pinch: :pinch:

 

[Kibibi]

Very entertaining video. That is very strange behavior. My grey freezes like a deer in headlights whenever I get a camera anywhere near her. Klaus seems to be performing for the camera

[birdmom]

Wow well this is just a suggestion for ya,

(btw this is the funniest video of a parrot i've seen);

 

I found that if I put them in their cage as punishment for biting, then whenever they want to go back in there, you have trained them to bite you. (fyi I'm not a perfecct birdmom, nor a wild animal trainer. But to correct biting I always use timeout in a different room (the neutral room) in a small travel cage that I use for timeouts. By travel cage I don't mean a crate, I mean a cage about 20 X 18 X 30" high. This way their own cage is never used as a reward or punishment. I learned about the neutral room in Sally Blanchards book.)

 

If we correct behaviour by putting them into the very environment they feel safest in, it may confuse them and not serve as a punishment, if they like their cage and feel safe there. EG: so now when Makena wants back in his cage, he may bite you ---since he now knows that is what will result. I just keep a small travel cage in another room, away from the room they are in. That is the room I use for toweling or correcting. Any room away from the room they live in is a neutral room, becuz it isn't in their perceived territory. They do take correction better in neutral places. eg, the bathroom could be a neutral place, or the laundry room, a spare bedroom.

 

See? hope this helps, joanne PSSS GREAT VIDEO!!!!<br><br>Post edited by: birdmom, at: 2007/12/16 05:56

[judygram]

That was a very funny video Kristin, glad you could capture that and thanks for sharing it with us, it sure put a smile on my face when I watched it.:laugh:

[danmcq]

Laura - That is a funny story of what "Pain" a Grey will go through for attention. Help, Help oh Help, I just fell and inch and a half ......somebody save me :-)

 

Kristin - Makena is too cool in that video. It seems Makena is in love with the food and just can't figure out how to get close enough to it. :-) Quite the acrobat you have there!!

[Laurie]

Yes, Dan - I think it had something to do with the extreme measures Scott went to in order to comfort the little guy ... and then treats on top of that! Whoo-hoo, no wonder Klaus has tried so hard to make it all happen again! :laugh:

Cool video, Kristin - that's hilarious!

[Nychsa]

Oh my Laurie I'm going to remember that! I think if I saw Bella fall on her back I would completely over react and give her every reason in the world to do it again and again!

[ziggy]

Ziggy looks at me and just flips in the air onto his back and wants me to rub his belly. The funniest thing I have ever seen from a bird that wants attention.

 

Kristin great video he is a nut that bird of yours HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!

 

Ziggy comes up with something on a daily bases to shock me. He is such a clown this bird.

[danmcq]

LOL Mario - I would love to see a video of Ziggy doing that!! :-)

 

Ok, now I really need to work on getting Dayo to be comfortable laying on his back. He will only stay in that position for about 15 seconds tops and then wants up.