how to overcome a fear of birds(i am not scard of birds)

hi,
if any of you know how to get a person over come there fears please tell me i am in great need of knowing! please tell me when or if you know. I have a family relitive who is scared of birds and i really want her to hold buzza(cockatiel) and she will refuse cos she is scared of them

so plz and if you do find out plz i'm begging plz tell me


ezza:64:

Okay, this is going to be difficult. I just want to prepare you for that.

She needs to at least stay in the same room and talk to the bird, and they can get to know one another. Another thing to try is to ask her to offer some treats to the bird, without taking the bird out (I would suggest spray millet, or anything that you know he likes). She needs to understand that if the bird likes her, she has nothing to be afraid of. If you care for an animal, you should be able to form a bond with it.

You should also ask your mother what exactly she is afraid of about the bird. This could help clear some things up for you, and we can possibly come to a solution faster.

I hope this helps, please keep us updated!

thanks for that i will try that. she can stay in the same room and talk to it if it is in a cage but when it comes to sticking her hand in the cage she gets all worked up and freaks out. at our gardons hear in hamilton there is a huge aviary and she can't stand the thought of going in there and it gets on my nerves so much. she won't even let me get the bird out without have the bathroom door locked cos she is scared it will fly out and do something to her. i thnk she would like birds better if they couldn't fly and didn't have beaks i think anyway i hope this helps and i will keep you updated on how it goes!!!

hmm that will be REALLY HARD my mum said that she would rather be scared of them then to have one on her shoulder and stuff like that:52:

Ezza, why dont you chat to your mom and maybe do some research on the internet so that you can show her why a parrot/bird needs to be handled and taken out of their cage. Is your bird's wings clipped? If they are you can also explain that he cannot fly and hurt her. Where is the cage placed? The reason Im asking is because if the cage is in a space where your mom works or goes to often she might become stressed because she is faced with the bird in her "space". Maybe once you have explained to her the importance of handling your bird you can have him in a corner where you can take him out and handle him without stressing your mom. You cannot change your mom's mind but you can make it work so that the bird can be taken out and handled by you without any tension. Dont try push your mom to get over her fear, rather get your bird settled and used to you first by spending time with him. Right now your focus should be on forming a friendship with your bird, you might find that your mom will see how great birds are by watching you handling the bird. I hope this helps...

Ecclipse well done, your reply is excellent, can't add more to it myself.
Ezza good luck, take your time, with your mom. Let her approach the birds in her own time.
Good luck, keep us update

Fear of birds is actually quite common. It actually has a name that you can check out in the link below. When people have a fear or phobia of something desensatization or a graudal exposure to what they are fearing occures over a fairly long period of time. There are medical professionals that specialize in this type of phobia. It would be difficult for you to do this yourself because it may be deep seeded. Hope this helps some.

Ornithophobia - Fear of Birds or Ornithophobia

i no thats what mum says she has a phobia it was just easier to write scared lol

hi ecclipse

the bird is ouside where mum does the washing. she has a great friendship with the bird it is just when it comes to touching the bird she will refuse straight away. the bird has just grown back it's wings so we will have to clip them again. she has had been scared of them since a kid. she whistles to the bird and talks to it. i will have to get her to start feeding it wich involes putting her hand in the cage instead of me so then she will realise slowly that there is nothing to be scared of hopefully. she will eather do it wch is about a 30% chance and saying no is about a 70-80% chance.

Thanks everyone for your help i will keep you updated on how it goes

i've heard somewhere that you can overcome a phobia but you will always still have it somewhere in you

I've heard that before, and it isn't always true. She could quite possibly get over this 100%.

Hi Ezza

My daughter is terrified of birds as well. We've had chickens and parrots in the house for about 5yrs now and last week was the first time she touched our baby Eclectus. until then she would scream and run away if one of the birds went anywhere near her - she said it was the beaks and flapping wings too. It probably didn't help that our Galah hated her and would hiss at her whenever she went near him!!

Just be patient, explain what your bird is doing and why. I like the idea of the spray millet like Parrotqueen suggested, she can pass it through the bars if they are wide enough, that way she can get close without crossing her fear threashold. The first time my daughter touched Shadow was when I was holding her against me with my hand over her wings so they wouldn't flap, the next time was when she was on her stand. Although she is still really scared this was a BIG step

Go at your Mum's pace.

hi mel,
my mum like she loves to go near it and all she just has a porblem when she goes to touch it she freaks out. out wouldn't even try do feed it she makes us do it. she cares for it and all though. she dosen't like the wings and beak