Heading for new heights

[Akdeniz1976]

Hi,

 

We have had our 9 year old Timneh for just over a month, he will come out of the cage with encouragement and once out away from his cage he will step up on to a stick ( some times he will bite the stick if he doesnt want to step up) In the evenings i open up his cage he climbs out and has a fly around then settles on to the settee.

 

The last few nights he has been looking at me and flapping his wings then he has been talking to me and i thought we had a good rapport going on.

 

This evening though he flew around the room and landed on my head it all happened quite quickly but i put my hand up in reaction to this and he bit hold of my thumb (thankfully not drawing blood).

 

I got his stick and got him to step up and he kept moving closer to my hand then flew to my head again but got off when my husband got closer.

 

Can some one explain what this behaviour means.

 

Thank you

 

Jax

[Dave007]

He doesn't know how to land at a specific place. One of the favorite areas for a bird to land is on the head. Sometimes, the bird will pull on a person's ear or bite an ear lobe when the person is trying to get the bird off. Never let a bird get behind you until you know what will probably happen. The owner usually has a knee jerk reaction, tries to get the bird off and many times that results in a bite. You need to watch him when he has ideas about flying around . When he gets more adept at flying, the next spot is the shoulder but that doesn't guarantee that he won't bite. Some birds are okay to land on the human body but mant aren't. Start putting your arm and hand out now that he realizes that he can go from point A to point B. Get into making your arm a good target. None of these things can happen overnight. You've had him for a month and he's pulled off his first surprise. It's simply a wake up call that at this stage of the game, you're gonna have to start learning his new habits because he's getting more assured in what he can do.

[Akdeniz1976]

Thanks Dave, initially in the first few weeks of owning him when i got him out i would stand up and face him, watch his every move, but I had become a bit complacent with him and openned the cage and sat down watching the tv, it certainly was a wake up call i wont be turning my back on our little fella anymore! I am glad you think it is more of a not knowing how to land at a specific place rather than an aggressive action (although the biting was not exactly friendly) I think he was just as shocked as I was!

[judygram]

Jax, why don't you introduce yourself in the welcome room and tell us a little more about you and your Tag.

[Tycos_mom]

Its obvious he's feeling more comfortable with you or he wouldn't of landed on you at all. I have a 5 yr old rescue and she is just starting to come around and its taken 8 months but now she step up on to a stick when she's on her cage and when shes away from her cage she will step up onto my arm we sit queitly in the living room and talk and them I usually take her on a little adventure around the house looking out windows and such and then we go back to her cage or play stand where ever she wants to go sometimes lately she just wants to stay with me and that makes me feel good she refuses to step up on to her cage or her playstand and looks at me as if to say i want to stay here with you so thats when I put a small stand beside where I'm sitting and she happily hangs out with me She sometimes will let me give her a little scritch before bed but she is still very leary of hands I really think someone abused her in her past useing their hand to hurt her she is scared of them and she's a pretty confident little thing she except new things easialy I give her new toyss and she just loves all of them right away I made her a pvc swing and playstand and the day after I put it next to her cage she was playing on it and readily climbed up from the playstand to the swing that hangs from the ceiling so she's a very brave girl except when it comes to hands and cameras she doesn't like the flash on the camera I think Mabie it look like the eyes of a hawk to her.