Conure Seeks Me Out To Attack

Hello All,

I signed up for this forum to try to get some assistance with a behavioral issue I'm experiencing with my girlfriend's Green Cheek Conure.

But first, some back story. I own a Peach-Fronted Conure and 2 budgies, and my girlfriend moved in with me a few months ago, bringing her Green Cheek and a Sun Conure with her.

At first, the GCC was very sweet with me. It would fly to me wherever I was in the house and let me scratch his neck and hold him. Seemingly, out of nowhere, it started biting, and biting hard!!! And I'm not talking about a peck to assert dominance... He pinches skin, then rips it off violently. In multiple quick attacks.

He will perch on my girlfriend's shoulder and be sweet with her for a while, even give her kisses. But after a few minutes, he inevitable starts biting her too.

It's a different story for me though... With my Peach-front, I am aware of her signals that she is aggravated and will bite if I approach her. But with the GCC, whenever he is not in his cage (either by escape or because my GF has him out), he will fly around the house until he finds me, then immediately dives at me, biting my neck, face, ears, arm, and doing some serious damage to my fingers as I try to grab him off of me.

I have no idea what to do anymore. I don't feel like he is being territorial (unless he believes my entire house is his territory). He doesn't give any kind of warning that he's about to be aggressive. He just sees me, and goes in for the kill. It's at the point that I am afraid to be in the same room with him. I hate to say that, because I know they detect that and it makes it worse, knowing that you fear them.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.

How old is the bird? It is possible/likely he's hormonal and he DOES think the whole house is his territory and your GF is his mate. They will mellow out in time, and the key seems to be enforcing boundaries. If he's in hormone mode, first try to calm things -- less fruit and fat, more veggies. More consistent and longer sleep/dark time by covering the cage if needed. Don't touch the bird in a "sexual" way, like under the wings or around the back.

Then do directed training; clicker/target even trick training. Try step ups and time outs. You give all the treats, GF does the stinky stuff like nail trimming.

Be patient. This too shall pass. And remember, you have shoes bigger than this bird. There's nothing it can do to really damage you. You are the flock leader, so it's your job to make the rules.

In this case I would have the wings clipped. And then work with and socialize the bird. My amazon will occasionally land on my husband and bite him and then fly off, or she will lunge at him if she is on top of her cage and he walks past. I was told to have her clipped for her behavior. I really want to keep her flighted but if she keeps it up, I will have to clip her. I don't like the idea of clipping but if for their safety or ours, I will. Good luck!

Thank you for your quick response, Phlox. The GCC will be 3 in October.

In terms of the training though, I'm not sure how to start that. As I said, once he sees me, he attacks. He doesn't seem to care if I have treats in my hand or not, he just goes straight for biting me. He gives no "warning" and does not wait for me to approach him... he just attacks on sight.

Thanks, 4dugnlee. My girlfriend and I are both against clipping the birds' wings... but if you think it will help, I'd be willing to try anything to make sure we all get along.

Does anyone else have an opinion about clipping the wings to prevent these attacks?

I think clipping is okay if all else fails, but I'd start with limiting out of cage time. At 2 1/2, this bird is at PEAK of hormones. They don't call it terrible twos for nothing.

Try interacting through cage bars first. You can do target training with the bird still caged and you in control, but if that doesn't work, I think clipping is acceptable for a while. I'm a proponent of flighted birds too, but I also think a happy bird is a flock member, not a flock leader. Right now, this little guy is trying to be the boss. He needs you to be the benevolent leader instead (or your GF, but a person needs to be in charge. At my house, its me.)

But this is normally a hard time. A lot of birds lose their homes during bird puberty. Sometimes, all you can do is wait it out and do your best to try to get boundaries and good manners reinforced and the lousy behavior ignored.

I am USUALLY against wing clipping, and I make no secret of it. However, there are times when it is the best action. In this case there are several factors, starting with the bird's age. He is an adult, so his mental development involving flight has already been solidified so clipping his wings will not damage him in the long run like it does with young birds. Also, the members of the household are not safe, and that is not ok. Yes you need to start training him, but every time you allow him to bite you you are in a way TEACHING him to bite you. I suggest at least a light clip. This should not be permanent, but if gives you the time between now and his next molt to get things figured out, while taking a significant amount of the day-to-day stress out of your home, which is important for the emotional health of your relationship AND your birds! I would trim him just enough that he is no longer "flying around" but can still get a little bit of lift. Be sure that you use this time to remedy the problem, not just be relieved you are now safe.

As for the training, yes, start with target training. Some of this can be done while he is in his cage. There are numerous articles all over as well as videos. Barbara Heidenriech is an expert in parrot training and anything she writes is worth reading. Birdtricks.com is a rather irritating organization in many ways with a lot of BAD techniques, but they do a really good job of introducing target training if you want to look them up. Just be aware they send a million emails and sometimes sell really dumb products.

I would also do everything in your power to calm your little guy's hormones. Start with no petting, only scritches on the head and neck. Back stroking, underwing touching, etc can all be interpreted as sexual advances. Both you and your gf need to NOT do these things. Also, no snuggly huts or boxes for toys, not dark spaces, no soft food. Limit his daylight - make SURE he is getting a full 12 hours of absolute darkness and quiet. The long days that we humans make with our electricity can mimic spring time, and spring time means BABIES! So be very strict about bed time for birdy.

Ok, diet. I mentioned no warm soft food, but there is more to it than that. Many behavioral problems, not just in birds but also in people, can be directly linked to diet. Be sure your bird is getting either a high quality pellet diet, or a fresh food based diet, not a seed diet. You know how cranky you feel after you eat junk food for a whole weekend? Imagine that being your whole life! So take a look at that as well.

Phlox mentioned out of the cage time, and they are right (phlox, I just realized I don't know if you are make or female). When being out of the cage is a privilege, they are prone to be a lot nicer to you, and also not to see your whole house as theirs. This was almost like a magic button with my GCC, Flick. With the wings clipped it is also MUCH easier to end play time and put him back in his cage. And if he bites you, play time is over. Make sure you act quickly enough for him to understand what caused the play time to end though. For example if he bites you, instantly say "no" or "no bite" and pick him up in your hand (like hold him around his body, or some way OTHER than the way you usually carry him, so he can tell the difference. Use this hold ONLY for putting him in the cage when he is mean), put him right into the cage, and walk away. Do this calmly and without emotion so that he does not get the idea he can "get a reaction out of you" but instead connects that biting means cage time. On that note, while you are using the cage for training you don't want to train him to hate the cage. I suggest you speed up the new toy rotation, and feed special treats every time you put him in the cage when he has NOT been bad. You really dont want to end up with a bird who feels punished every time he is in his cage.

Also, I forgot to mention the vet. When was the last time your bird saw a vet? Sometimes unexplained aggression is the first sign of illness, and all birds should see a vet annually, or after ANY sudden change in behavior, apatite, droppings, etc.

Wow SilverSage! This is great. I will share with my girlfriend and we will discuss your suggestions and come up with a consistent approach for how we handle the little monster

Thank you so much!

I will keep you posted on our progress.

Great info Silversage! Thanks...it helped me also! I am also against clipping unless there is danger to the birds or to the humans. I have not yet clipped Sassy for her behavior, and hope not to, but I will if it comes to it, as a last resort.

WYKjrb, I have no experience as far as raging hormones go...lol. My birds were both a little older when I got them so others can give you more advice/suggestions than I can. I wish you the best of luck with your GC. Keep us posted.

Simply put:

This is a pair bond bird. He has pair bonded with your girlfriend. You are a threat to that pairbond. That is why the bird attacks you. When your GF pays too much attention to you, instead of the bird, she also gets attacked.

It's a jealousy issue, and an overbonding issue.

The bird needs socialization training. Re-socialize the bird and it will get better.