Allowing them on the shoulder?

I have allowed my BFA to be on my shoulder...I’ve read it’s not good to do this ? Usually he just wants to roost but If I look at my phone he will nip at me on my ear or face...sometimes I don’t do anything and he will do this? Should I break this shoulder habit ? He constantly wants to be on me...I know that’s probably not good either is it? It hard to get anything done..lol...I love it mostly but he would be on me 24/7 if I let him. Any help is appreciated!

Shoulder privileges must be earned to prevent potentially serious and in some cases life-threatening damage. An untrustworthy parrot can permanently scar your face/neck and help fund a plastic surgeon's retirement fund! A vicious bite to a jugular extremely hazardous. All of that said, many of us are absolutely comfortable with birds on the shoulder if tame and absent aggression. I am "wearing" two at the moment! You must properly assess each bird based on history and temperament.

The nip you describe is likely jealousy, wanting absolute attention. It may be possible to train away such behavior with a gentle "NO" and immediate removal.

Amy has shoulder privaledges . He mostly just sits there but in 31 years I have had my share of nips on my ear so if we are in the house he is either on my hand or I carry him about on his perch stick.
He's a weirdo. His most favorite thing in life is when I take him for "adventures" in the car. He MUST be on my shoulder so he can see the world as it goes by. Al (Saltys Dad) had given me a real nice pvc pipe/perch that I would bungee cord to the passenger seat and the poor bird would strain his neck and head and make whimpering sounds coz he couldn't see out the window,then he'd walk across the center console to climb my arm to get onto my shoulder.
Once there he is a totally different bird. He'll mumble in Amazon speak,preen my beard,GENTLY nibble my cheek and make all sorts of gurgly noises at me. He only does this when in the car. I think he really believes this is OUR special time together and he behaves perfectly...his way of saying THANKS for a fun time Dad.


Jim

Yep, shoulder privileges' are earned, not a given thing. Believe it or not, your BFA may just be defending you from the cell phone, as in the wild, one parrot may give the other a little nip to get them to fly away from the scary new thing. I suggest you start to desensitize him to the presence of the phone, gradually. Leave it out, close to his cage or playstand, gradually moving it closer and closer to him. Let him see you talking on it, a lot.

My big boy Bingo would ride my shoulder quite a bit if I let him.
I have only received 1 or 2 painful bites on the ear. The last one being so painful and out of the blue I reacted badly. I reached quickly for my ear with my hand not even thinking about the bird. When hand encountered bird with more force than should have been used I lost some ground on the trust issue.

It was about a month before I would let him back on my shoulder.

Biggest problem is it’s very hard to see body language when your bird is on your shoulder.
Everything in slow motion.

With Bella my AG I always tell her where I am going so she has the option of flying off if she wants.
Bingo doesn’t fly. Cuz of that I think he is more likely to bite if he preceves danger.

Aaaa, the great should discussions!

As stated so very well above, an Amazon on one's should is a very dangerous place as we have limited vision of what they are doing and/or how they are reacting to the World around both of you.

Bites Happen! Any number of reasons from an accidental slip to being down right mad at the World (hormonal) response. Because, we cannot see them one really doesn't know.

For me, the guide that I use is: Will the Amazon 'Step-up' without question /hesitation when I request it, always happens! This is part of the 'earned privilege,' which is also covered above.

The 'Hot Three' of the large family of Amazon species are well known to be heavily effected by the rage of hormonal chemical flow. It is important to understand that they have ZERO control of when or extent of the chemical flow. Since your BFA is part of that group. It becomes your responsibility to know when they are most likely effected and to what extent.

Amazons are amazing creatures, filled with love and joy! And, IMHO, there is little better than an Amazon pulled-up-tight to my neck whispering sweet nothings in my ear!

Know your Amazon! Trust, but,Verity!

Thanks so much everyone!!! My BFA is 1.5 years and I’ve had since he weaned. He’s a big affectionate 2 year old that hasn’t hit hormonal stage yet. I will take all this in !! I love the articles on this page about all the questions and good and how to read their body language!
He’s a big positive in my life ! Amazing bird!!

wrench13 said:

Your BFA may just be defending you from the cell phone.

Click to expand...

Meisha has taken my son's phone from him and tossed it on occasions. She's never done it to me, but my usage isn't near that of my son's.

Meisha is on my shoulder a lot. My right shoulder is the default when in a vehicle. She grips my collar with her left claw, forming a fist. Shoulder mount is quite common with daily activities as it free's me up to carry stuff. When leaving a room with arms full, she responds to instructions to fly to my shoulder. She's prompt sometimes.

Meisha bit me in the face about sixteen years ago. Warped hormonal aggression has curbed her access to the privilege. The issue is infrequent for me. My son has never experienced an issue with biting when on his shoulder.

My guy is about two, and enjoys being up there. I trust him, but I know s happens.

I can NOT remove him by hand, but he will immediately step off to get on his play stand, every time. Is this ideal? Of course not.

It’s just that having him chill out with me like this is such a trip that I can’t resist. Perhaps when I see him getting hormonal/aggressive in the future, I’ll cut back on the shoulder.

Ira7 said:

My guy is about two, and enjoys being up there. I trust him, but I know s happens.

I can NOT remove him by hand, but he will immediately step off to get on his play stand, every time. Is this ideal? Of course not.

It’s just that having him chill out with me like this is such a trip that I can’t resist. Perhaps when I see him getting hormonal/aggressive in the future, I’ll cut back on the shoulder.

Click to expand...

Just found this older thread when I was looking through the forum for insight on the great shoulder debate. My Amazon Gemi is around 30 yrs old and came to us 4 months ago after many years of living in an unhealthy environment. Gemi has shoulder privileges with me. The issue that I am having is that Gemi refuses to get off my shoulder when I need him to. When I try to move him from shoulder to playstand or cage, he goes from screaming “NOOO” to biting me to racing down my back and strategically locating himself where I can’t safely reach him. He is relentless. This morning I found myself peeling off my shirt… and him with it… in order to get him off of me. I don’t think that’s the recommended technique 😂. Gemi hasn’t gotten the memo that I have a needy foster bird and two BCCs whom I dearly love and those 3 also require my attention when I’m at home. It can’t be all about him all the time! Thank you for any suggestions.

lol!! Yeah, that’s a great example of a bird who should NOT be on your shoulder.

if your bird is target trained, instead of peeling him (or your shirt) off, simply try to target him off! If he’s not target trained, do that now. It’ll save your life one day.

Good news is that stepping up is nothing more than a trick, just like spinning or waving on cue. So it can be taught and reinforced. So unlike biting which warrants immediate and permenant banning, your situation CAN be resolved as a training issue.

Take him back to basics with simple step up training. That’ll help get your situation under control. Review YouTube videos, there’s a number of training videos on shoulder rushing and shoulder training. Birdtricks had a training series (with a macaw named Morgan I believe) and they had this very issue of refusing to come down, amongst others. They showed how they resolved it.

chris-md said:

lol!! Yeah, that’s a great example of a bird who should NOT be on your shoulder.

if your bird is target trained, instead of peeling him (or your shirt) off, simply try to target him off! If he’s not target trained, do that now. It’ll save your life one day.

Good news is that stepping up is nothing more than a trick, just like spinning or waving on cue. So it can be taught and reinforced. So unlike biting which warrants immediate and permenant banning, your situation CAN be resolved as a training issue.

Take him back to basics with simple step up training. That’ll help get your situation under control. Review YouTube videos, there’s a number of training videos on shoulder rushing and shoulder training. Birdtricks had a training series (with a macaw named Morgan I believe) and they had this very issue of refusing to come down, amongst others. They showed how they resolved it.

Click to expand...

Thank you. That is helpful.