Need some help and some changes or we're gonna lose this bird

We got Oz, a 1.6 lb male umbrella cockatoo, in May of 2009. He was hatched in November of 98, we hear, and we have no idea how many homes he's had before us. His previous owners said we were his 4th. They said he likes women better than men. We're two women here.

We were crazy about him from the start. He went through a couple of months of major insecurity from being separated from his previous family ( he bit the woman so hard on the face that she says there's nerve damage from it, but "he's a sweet little guy", they just couldn't handle him anymore. She told me a few days after we took him, that her husband left her. May have been that. ), and we held him and petted him and loved him and got him over it.

We made him part of our flock. ( we have a shoulder tame lovebird, two tiels and now a canary ) We even sprung for a 5' x 5' x 7' aviary for him ( still paying the credit card ), so he could be in there without feeling so cooped up, when he's not out with us. He loved it.


We dont get the impression he's ever had it this good before. We even sold his old dome style smaller cage.

Around this time last year, we got an Aviator Flight Harness for him and it was easy to get him into it ( I'm the one who learned how, and always gets it on him. ) , and I started taking him out for my 2 mile up and downhill walks in the neighborhood here, just west of Denver. He loved it and would be all peaced out afterwards and get lots of scritchies, and go to sleep more easily that night.

When I first took him out, I realized that he may have never been outside for walks before. Maybe the only things other people took him out of the house for, were visits to vets and to send him away with someone else when they got rid of him eventually.

It was very happy for me, that I could take him out for these walks, I enjoyed it much more than just taking walks by myself, and he brought smiles to all the people around the neighborhood. It was like brightening up everyone's day, including mine!

He enjoyed the fresh air and sunshine. In the summer I always take walks around 6 PM so it's not as hot, and have never taken him out when it was much below 60 in cooler weather. There was a gap there in the winter months when it became less frequent because of the lack of warmer days.

We also started taking him, last fall, to the monthly bird club meetings, first on the harness and when the weather got too cold, in the Wingabago. He enjoyed those too. We called them "bird parties" and he would see all the other birds.

Then this spring we started taking him to the lake park with us too, and walking around the 1 mile trail there. He loved that too, and got to see all the people, dogs and geese there.

In other words, we've poured a lot of love into this little guy.

But suddenly around May, he started not wanting to put the harness on so much.

He's never really liked the harness itself that much, but has gotten into it, after a little playing, so he could "go outside for a walk". It would usually only take me a few minutes to get him into it.

But about 2 1/2 months ago, he started getting a little snappy when I'd try to put the smaller loop part over his head, then start evading it by turning his head sideways, and finally bite me ( often hard enough to draw blood ) , which always gets me really frustrated and hurt and upset, then I put him back in his aviary.

But this has been getting worse and worse in recent weeks until we can barely get him outside anymore, and we were enjoying it as much as he was, so we've lost a lot of enjoyment from him now and we dont know why. We're both hurting from this though.

And after being bitten ( biting the hand that loves and feeds you, as it were ) I don't feel like spending so much time with him after that either, I feel hurt.

I tried it again today and sat him on the back of the chair, and as soon as I lifted the harness up, he leaned out, ready to bite, with his beak open. I tried for about 5 minutes and finally gave up after he drew blood from my index finger.

He's also been in a weird matey kind of mode for the last 2 months too, more with Jennifer than with me. She says he's gotten frisky with her hands while being petted. With me, he goes on my lap and ducks his head way under and fluffs his neck feathers and lets me scratch him there on the back of the neck, for quite awhile, but none of the apparent mating with my hands.

So does anyone have any ideas on how we can "get our bird back" and stop this behavior, so we can all be happy here again?

It has me wondering if this kind of thing has caused him to be moved from home to home a lot more than we were even told about, like maybe every year or something?

Because how much can people handle when they put this much into a bird and things are going great then all of a sudden this happens?

Have you tried a treat reward/bribe with the harness?

I'm not a fan of harnesses myself, I find anything that touches a bird's back stimulates the desire to breed, and aggressive behavior, and (especially in males) a resistance to being in any way restrained, no matter how familiar and comfortable. I've seen breeding-mood males (who are quite friendly during breeding) absolutely tweak out when put in a travel carrier.

It's entirely possible that if you make it "ok for him" to not go on your walks, and pick him up right after your walk with a treat reward, that he will begin to want the treat reward sooner than after your walk and decide to go along with it.

Best of luck, and huge kudos to you for taking on a cockatoo with such a history. I honestly find the cockatoo beak to be the scariest of them all, and I'm sorry you're hurting. When I got my OWA, I had to do some grooming on him and I felt like I broke his trust when he lunged at me. Things are getting better now - subtle changes, slowly, that's how it works best for me.

Birds have their hormonal seasons. This is part of life with a bird. Do not try to force him to do the same things he did in the off season, adapt and grow with him.

You can do things such as controlling the light cycle to minimize or shorten these hormonal periods, but they WILL come periodically - quite likely every year.

Parrots are not like other pets. They do not follow our lead and adapt to the situations we provide them with - we must follow their lead and adapt with them. A relationship with a parrot is ALWAYS changing, this can be the most rewarding thing in the world if you can accept that, or the most frustrating if you don't.

"So does anyone have any ideas on how we can "get our bird back" and stop this behavior, so we can all be happy here again?"

Wait.

If he does not want to go for walks now then don't take him for walks now.

Birds are so much like humans, we have phases that we go through and stages we outgrow.
Perhaps your bird has "outgrown" the harness "stage" or does not like it anymore.
AD is correct, if he does not want to go for walks, then don't take him.
We do not like being forced to do something, birds are exactly the same.
Please don't get me wrong, I am not accusing you of forcing the bird, to do something, if a task is not being enjoyed, try something else.

There could well be a connection with him being frisky and not wanting the harness, my advice will be to leave it and try again in a few weeks or so. Aussie's Dad gave some excellent advice about reducing daylight time, this should speed up the process. Don't leave it too long though as he will become unused to wearing the harness.

Whatever the outcome, you have done a wonderful job with him to date so don't despair. If all else fails you can use the travel cage for visits outside.

naomisarah said:

Have you tried a treat reward/bribe with the harness?

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Yes, didn't do a thing.

I'm not a fan of harnesses myself, I find anything that touches a bird's back stimulates the desire to breed, and aggressive behavior, and (especially in males) a resistance to being in any way restrained, no matter how familiar and comfortable.

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But he enjoyed it for so long, even got to the point where he barely noticed it being on.

I've seen breeding-mood males (who are quite friendly during breeding) absolutely tweak out when put in a travel carrier.

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One of those dog and cat carriers is what they used at his last place, to take him to the vet and give him over to us. When they put him in there and carried him out to our car, he cried out in a way that I hope I never have to hear again. It was an emotional crying wail, that almost sounded like "NOOOOOO! NOOO! NOOO!....". Before that, I never knew that these birds were capable of such emotions.

It's entirely possible that if you make it "ok for him" to not go on your walks, and pick him up right after your walk with a treat reward, that he will begin to want the treat reward sooner than after your walk and decide to go along with it.

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I get the impression that if I just let it go, he will just let it go and not want to do it again, which is weird because he enjoyed it so much. But, you know, this is about the time of year that we did the harness thing before and he started liking it. I wonder now, if we just let him get over the breeding season stuff, if maybe that will change again in the right direction.

Best of luck, and huge kudos to you for taking on a cockatoo with such a history.

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Thanks, but we all have history, it's just a matter of working with what we have. We heard from this last family that he doesn't like men because his first owner was an abuser who, when Oz would squawk, would rake a broom handle across the bars of his cage. What an...well I wont say it here in this family forum.

But I've noticed gender preferences in birds for adoption at the club, and it seems to go along the lines of who horribly abused them in the past.

This is one of the things that sometimes makes me feel like people just aren't meant to own these birds. Like they had one parrot for adoption who was about 40 something years old and was missing an eye and was kind of spacey, they think because someone may have thrown him into a wall in his past. I wish I could get my hands on whoever treated the bird that way, and I know martial arts. People like that disgust me at having them as members of the human race.

I honestly find the cockatoo beak to be the scariest of them all, and I'm sorry you're hurting. When I got my OWA, I had to do some grooming on him and I felt like I broke his trust when he lunged at me. Things are getting better now - subtle changes, slowly, that's how it works best for me.

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Thanks Sarah.

I pulled this off another forum I am on and thought it might help with your problem....

Hormonal Behavior in Company Parrots

First Aid Hormonal Behavior in Birds:

All parrots will get hormonal at times. This is a normal natural process. The challenge, however, is greater with some parrots than with other species.

Amazons, for example, go through a stage that is difficult to handle for many but the most experienced amazon owners. Species such as Lilac Crowns and Mealies are less excitable than other amazon species during the breeding season. Females are usually calmer than males during the breeding season. An attack by a hormonal male can be vicious and will not be limited to one bite. The time of aggression varies with the individual bird. It usually appears between the ages of 5 to 12 years. During this time there will be one to two years in which they will be very aggressive. Once they go through this, they generally settle down with little or no aggression shown when they are not hormonal and some aggression when they are.

Bird owners may find that their pet all of a sudden turns on them and favors another family member. Dr. Jill Patt describes this being similar to a wild bird leaving its parents and choosing a mate.

She suggests the following ways of dealing with your pet bird choosing someone else as its mate ...

1. Understand that this is a natural behavior.


2. Have the family member the bird has picked limit their interaction with your bird, spend time with the bird when that family member is absent, and ensure that only you are the one to provide all favorite treats and activities.


3. The environment can also be altered somewhat to attempt to reduce breeding behavior. Limiting the daylight hours to mimic a winter sun will often help.


4. In some instances, the vet may prescribe drugs that balance out a pet's hormones.


Identify hormonal signals, such as:

1. Birds acting overly sexual in response to being petting (especially on the back or wings).
2. Hormonal feather plucking (most often occurring on the chest or between the legs)
3. Frequent regurgitating of food, panting, crouching down with wings dropped.
4. Increased shredding of paper or toys and increased chewing
5. Nest-building or nesting; hiding in dark areas or holes and/or actively searching for them (potential nest sites)
6. Aggression / protectiveness of chosen nest site
7. Possessiveness of favorite human (or bird companion) - while being extra aggressive toward others.
8. Increased vocalization
9. Females especially may show an increased interest in cuttlebone or other calcium sources, as well as protein rich foods like egg or meat.
10. Masturbating


Triggers of Breeding Behavior:

1. Extended hours of light. Lengthening days and increased amounts of artificial light will cause a bird's reproductive organs to increase in size which in turn triggers a significant increase in hormonal activity.


2. The availability of a suitable nest site and nesting materials. A suitable nest sites may, in your pet's eyes, include ordinary household items like cardboard boxes, areas behind cushions on the couch, even shoes. It is best to discourage them from claiming those as nests. Nesting material can be paper or a favorite blanket.


3. Availability of a mate (can be you, another bird or an object, such as a favorite toy)


4. Diet: Levels of fat and/or protein, as well as starches in the diet. Warm, wet food (nestling food) also encourages breeding behavior.


5. Perceived sexual petting (i.e., stroking the bird's backside or near the vent)


Hormonal behavior is perfectly normal and a pet bird should never be punished for this natural behavior. However, there are ways to minimize hormonal / sexual behavior in birds:

* Stick-train your parrot. This is very important. You don't want to handle a hormonal parrot, as they can bite very hard. T-perches are great. They are difficult to find. Years ago I bought one over Amazon that I absolutely love -- it has a long handle, so I can retrieve my parrot from high-places. These perches look like a "T" -- with the upper "line" being the perch for the parrot to step on, while the lower part of the T - the vertical line - is the handle. This way, the parrot can't easily get to your hand. If you use just one simple straight perch, they can move over to your hands and bite. It's easy enough to make such a "T" perch yourself. Home Depot basically has the parts that my perch is made from. The manufacturer simply attached a short perch to the long one. Stick-training is a natural process. Simply pushing the perch against the parrot's tummy will prompt them to step up. Always accompany the action with the words "step-up" or "get up" or "up" - whatever you like. This way the parrot knows what is expected.


* Decrease the amount of light your bird gets everyday. Ensure that your pet is getting 11-12 hours of darkness per night. Limiting the amount of daylight and / or artificial light the bird receives. If you cannot sufficiently darken the room the bird is in, then put a dark cover over the cage.


* Increase level of exercise, in the way of flying or foraging activities.


* Book Adjust the Diet: Avoid feeding foods that are high calorie or high fat when your companion bird is hormonal. They trigger the "abundance" cue that say it is a good time to provide for babies. Limit a bird's access to starchy / sugary and high-protein foods during its cycle.
o Do not feed: breads, corn, sweet potatoes, beans, nuts, cheese, meats or grapes. If you feed a high potency, pelleted diet with a high protein content, cut back a bit on the amount.
o Do feed less stimulating food substances, like wheat germ and hemp seed. Offer instead more fresh vegetables, and some fruits.

I have the same issues with one of my birds...hang in there....it goes away as fast as it starts....Shorter days really helped us out alot!

Please be careful when copying information from the internet to here because of copywright laws. It is usually better to give a link to the site.

To Melissa: Try to remember birds are not out pets they are just a few generations from the wild. We do not own them, we are their guardians. Give them love, safety, enrichment and a roof over their head but do not try to get them to do something they do not want to do or you will have a bird with behavior problems.
There could have been something outside that your bird saw that frightened him very much and you were not even aware of this.
Good luck and enjoy your bird.

Auggie's Dad said:

Birds have their hormonal seasons. This is part of life with a bird. Do not try to force him to do the same things he did in the off season, adapt and grow with him.

You can do things such as controlling the light cycle to minimize or shorten these hormonal periods, but they WILL come periodically - quite likely every year.

Parrots are not like other pets. They do not follow our lead and adapt to the situations we provide them with - we must follow their lead and adapt with them. A relationship with a parrot is ALWAYS changing, this can be the most rewarding thing in the world if you can accept that, or the most frustrating if you don't.

"So does anyone have any ideas on how we can "get our bird back" and stop this behavior, so we can all be happy here again?"

Wait.

If he does not want to go for walks now then don't take him for walks now.

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Very good points, thanks. And I have been having problems with daylight cycles in there. The bird room only has a small window so almost all the light is provided by fluorescent lights over the cages. The problem is, matching the outside cycle but shifting it. For example, we have time to spend with them, usually from 5 in the afternoon until around 10 PM. We start the lights around 11:30 AM and keep them on until 10 PM. But the cycling is the challenge. I dont know how to control that and forget to mess with it to match the number of hours of daylight outside.

So what I'm thinking, is if we could get an appliance timer ( which is needed for the fluorescent ballasts, vs a incandescent timer ) BUT one that could be programmed to always go off at 10 PM BUT match the number of daylight hours in THAT particular day, and change with the seasons. THAT would be ideal, and I imagine it might be something that other bird owners would want?

madparrotwoman said:

There could well be a connection with him being frisky and not wanting the harness, my advice will be to leave it and try again in a few weeks or so. Aussie's Dad gave some excellent advice about reducing daylight time, this should speed up the process. Don't leave it too long though as he will become unused to wearing the harness.

Whatever the outcome, you have done a wonderful job with him to date so don't despair.

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Thank you.

I keep thinking that this might just be the best home he ever finds, but then I'm 62 and he's 11, so I hope not.

But we've tried so hard to make it the best home he's had so far, anyway.

Spiritbird said:

Please be careful when copying information from the internet to here because of copywright laws. It is usually better to give a link to the site.

To Melissa: Try to remember birds are not out pets they are just a few generations from the wild. We do not own them, we are their guardians. Give them love, safety, enrichment and a roof over their head but do not try to get them to do something they do not want to do or you will have a bird with behavior problems.
There could have been something outside that your bird saw that frightened him very much and you were not even aware of this.
Good luck and enjoy your bird.

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Thanks Spiritbird.

I know this will sound weird, but when I'm in there with him, after the lights go out, and helping him fall asleep by hanging out against the cage, and the two LED night globes are on with that dim pale blue light, I keep thinking of the night scenes in Avatar, and how little we know about these beings we live around, just like in that story.

This thread has gotten me thinking about some things. We met Rod Villamaire Rod V's Bird Planet when he was here for the RMSA - Rocky Mountain Society of Aviculture Spring Expo. He mentioned that parrots like nesting holes in the wild.

Now Oz has been looking under the dark closet door next to his cage, a LOT. It has enough space under it ( we have tile instead of carpet ) that he can get his whole head under it and he DOES. I couldn't figure WHY but just recalled what Rod said about them living in nest holes in the wild! He wants a nice dark nest hole!

Like I mentioned, he has a nice big aviary, 5' x 5' x 7'. I could build something like that, and hang it from the top for him, but it would have to be of something he wouldn't just destroy in 10 minutes. Has anyone done that?

Hi Melissa, I haven't read this whole thread yet. I will come back and do that. I just wanted to comment on your last post. Providing a dark close hiding place for your Too would not berecommended. This is going to put him into a breeding mode and be sexually stimulating. You will see territorial behavior and agression flare up.
I will go over this thread a little later today.

Well, personally, I think that birds are not actually that happy to go outside. We are talking a completely unfamiliar territory, out in the open (where predators can see them easily -birds either perch in trees or hide in bushes or tall grasses, you hardly ever see one in the open), without the security of a large flock around them (very stressful for them) and leashed to a human (so he cannot flee if he is scared). People think that the bird been quiet and looking around means he is enjoying himself like a kid in a zoo looking around in awe but, in reality, the bird is leery of its surroundings. I know that everybody who takes their birds out will disagree with me but this is MHO. But, even if I am wrong about this, your bird obviously does not want to go out and feels now confident enough to let you know this (the honeymoon is over). My advice is to forget about the walks. He doesn't like the harness (who can blame him?!) and he doesn't want to go out. Spend time with him on his own terms, doing things he likes to do and don't feel that this is anything personal against you. It's not. It's only that the has no other way of letting you how uncomfortable he is with the walks. And actually, the fact that he is biting you to let you know he is not happy is a good thing! It means he knows you love him and feels secure in your love.

As to him been hormonal, it must be that you are not keeping him to a good solar schedule because toos will start their breeding fall season as soon as they finished molting (which is what they are doing right now in the Northern Hemisphere -I don't know where you are located). See, the thing is that, contrary to what most people believe, just reducing the number of hours of light will not really work. Not in the long term (they've done studies where they have managed to bring birds into breeding condition with very few hours of light). Their internal breeding clock is set by twilight to which they need to be fully exposed so you need more than a little window in a birdroom, and putting the light on timers or dimmers doesn't really work very well (I know because I've tried it), especially with toos who have two breeding seasons a year, one in the spring and one in the fall, and are powerful biters which makes it essential to keep their sexual hormones on healthy levels.

I agree with Greycloud - touching the back, restraining or allowing them to "nest" which is any situation where they are closely enclosed and thoroughly happy about it during breeding season is NOT the way to go. You'll encourage him towards breeding, and once he starts breeding behavior in your home, it will be very, very difficult for him to stop, and I think that's what you're already dealing with. Giving him a next will exacerbate your current situation!

greycloud said:

Hi Melissa, I haven't read this whole thread yet. I will come back and do that. I just wanted to comment on your last post. Providing a dark close hiding place for your Too would not berecommended. This is going to put him into a breeding mode and be sexually stimulating. You will see territorial behavior and agression flare up.
I will go over this thread a little later today.

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Rod was saying that it was like an open ended cave hole or something. I didn't know that about the aggression, just thought he might like it for sleeping. I see that in the wild ( there was a Webshots photo of a bunch of amazons with holes in the side of a hill ) they do sleep in holes, but guess that's unfettered breeding mode then?

Birdamor said:

Their internal breeding clock is set by twilight to which they need to be fully exposed so you need more than a little window in a birdroom, and putting the light on timers or dimmers doesn't really work very well (I know because I've tried it), especially with toos who have two breeding seasons a year, one in the spring and one in the fall, and are powerful biters which makes it essential to keep their sexual hormones on healthy levels.

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That's another issue then. ( I'm learning a LOT from this thread! ). No twilight, in the usual sense, in that room. And I was wondering why he's such a drama queen when the lights switch off. He freaks. All the other birds just go to sleep but he gets all agitated for awhile and has to be calmed down. I put an overhead light in there, a dim yellow spectrum compact fluorescent, and usually turn that one ( when we're home ) which gives him some time with dimmer yellowish light, but even that doesn't seem to help the drama queen thing much.

He acts like he's really afraid of the dark and it takes awhile for him to get to sleep.

I even put two if these LED globes in there, so it's not totally dark, to prevent night terrors.

His previous owners said they just used to cover his ( smaller ) cage with a darkening cover, but that sounds scary even to me.

Just a note about the flight harness thing: The people who make these harnesses show videos of how much the birds seem to be enjoying being able to go outside with them, and Oz was apparently enjoying it, or why would he have been so peaced out afterwards. ( unless, I suppose, he was relieved to feel safe again? )

We live in a neighborhood that doesn't have eagles but does have some hawks, but I've been told that they wouldn't attack a bird like him because he's on my shoulder?

But I thought it was helping him, getting him some fresh air and sunshine.

Melissa2010B said:

greycloud said:

Hi Melissa, I haven't read this whole thread yet. I will come back and do that. I just wanted to comment on your last post. Providing a dark close hiding place for your Too would not berecommended. This is going to put him into a breeding mode and be sexually stimulating. You will see territorial behavior and agression flare up.
I will go over this thread a little later today.

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Rod was saying that it was like an open ended cave hole or something. I didn't know that about the aggression, just thought he might like it for sleeping. I see that in the wild ( there was a Webshots photo of a bunch of amazons with holes in the side of a hill ) they do sleep in holes, but guess that's unfettered breeding mode then?

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When not in breeding, they are in trees. That's the only way that's safe for them to sleep - on the ground is too dangerous. Yes, they sleep in holes - but your captive parrot will view a hole as an opportunity to build a nice secure nest!

I hate to sound like a total pessimist, but the folks who make the harnesses (and sell them and profit from them) have lots of footage of their trained birds enjoying the harnesses. Birds who have worn them from their first flight feathers, birds who work (by wearing a harness on camera) for treats. The birds in the photos are almost guaranteed NOT in any kind of breeding mood or exhibiting aggression, and also probably haven't been through the kind of life dear Oz has. Some birds do like them, when it's introduced early on or rewarded with the currency that the bird prefers (my OWA prefers walnuts, my old Eclectus preferred pine nuts, some cockatoos work for a scratch on the neck).

You're right about the danger from hawks and eagles, that's a very real danger we parrot owners face. Such a bright, noisy snack for a bird of prey! That's one of the many reasons that a lot of parrot owners keep them inside.

You're also right that Oz probably really enjoys being outside - but it's possible that he only tolerated the harness in order to get outside, and outside is stimulating so afterwards he was tired and satisfied with having gone outside. But the more you do it, the less exciting the outing becomes, the less likely he'll tolerate something he's mildly uncomfortable with.

My advice? Go for your walk with your other bird, but spend some time with your bird in cage outside each day. They feel safe in their cages outside, and you know that the danger from hawks and eagles is minimal with you sitting right there. Your risk of the bird getting away or being traumatized or lost or angry with you or all breedy afterwards are minimal, too.

Sometimes the parrots have a better idea of what's best for them than we do, and that's the nature of birds, especially a cockatoo who's been through a lot in it's life, when cockatoos are particularly breedy-sensitive, too. You're doing a good job, and I think this will all pass in time if you take away any opportunity for encouraging breeding behaviors and don't try to force Oz into anything that makes him uncomfortable.

But, like I said - if you're set on using the harness, it's probably just a matter of finding out what reward is "good enough" for him, and using it in small steps at a time. I can help you do that, step by step, if you're interested, but I think the former options (reducing the desire to breed and only offering the harness if he actively wants it) are better for this particular special bird.

You're being very observant with him, and that's absolutely key, and I'm so happy he's got an owner who will do all the extensive research to help him like this. :-D

When not in breeding, they are in trees. That's the only way that's safe for them to sleep - on the ground is too dangerous. Yes, they sleep in holes - but your captive parrot will view a hole as an opportunity to build a nice secure nest!

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I see.

I hate to sound like a total pessimist, but the folks who make the harnesses (and sell them and profit from them) have lots of footage of their trained birds enjoying the harnesses. Birds who have worn them from their first flight feathers, birds who work (by wearing a harness on camera) for treats. The birds in the photos are almost guaranteed NOT in any kind of breeding mood or exhibiting aggression, and also probably haven't been through the kind of life dear Oz has. Some birds do like them, when it's introduced early on or rewarded with the currency that the bird prefers (my OWA prefers walnuts, my old Eclectus preferred pine nuts, some cockatoos work for a scratch on the neck).

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I see. Yeah, since we quit feeding him peanuts, walnuts are his fave too.
( an avian vet said peanuts are bad for them, because of alfatoxin, that they're seeing too many pet parrots with liver damage because of peanuts. But peanuts used to be his favorite. )

You're right about the danger from hawks and eagles, that's a very real danger we parrot owners face. Such a bright, noisy snack for a bird of prey! That's one of the many reasons that a lot of parrot owners keep them inside.

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Yet I was just talking with someone from the club, who said that a few people are free flying their bigger birds around here. Sounds risky though.

You're also right that Oz probably really enjoys being outside - but it's possible that he only tolerated the harness in order to get outside, and outside is stimulating so afterwards he was tired and satisfied with having gone outside. But the more you do it, the less exciting the outing becomes, the less likely he'll tolerate something he's mildly uncomfortable with.

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Possible.

My advice? Go for your walk with your other bird, but spend some time with your bird in cage outside each day. They feel safe in their cages outside, and you know that the danger from hawks and eagles is minimal with you sitting right there. Your risk of the bird getting away or being traumatized or lost or angry with you or all breedy afterwards are minimal, too.

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I mentioned the new aviary we got him, and we sold that old California roll-around cage, so this one aint going outside.
62"x62" Large Walk in Aviary Bird Cage - Walk In Aviaries by Bird Cage Mart

Sometimes the parrots have a better idea of what's best for them than we do, and that's the nature of birds, especially a cockatoo who's been through a lot in it's life, when cockatoos are particularly breedy-sensitive, too. You're doing a good job, and I think this will all pass in time if you take away any opportunity for encouraging breeding behaviors and don't try to force Oz into anything that makes him uncomfortable.

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Ok, well thanks for that.

But, like I said - if you're set on using the harness, it's probably just a matter of finding out what reward is "good enough" for him, and using it in small steps at a time. I can help you do that, step by step, if you're interested, but I think the former options (reducing the desire to breed and only offering the harness if he actively wants it) are better for this particular special bird.

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I just shortened the lighting hours by 1/2 hour a day so like has been pointed out in another post here, maybe he just needs to get past the breedy stuff and then he'll feel like going again. I'll be more patient now that I realize it's not personal and it's him.

You're being very observant with him, and that's absolutely key, and I'm so happy he's got an owner who will do all the extensive research to help him like this. :-D

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Thanks for that. We're fortunate to have the web nowdays, with a wealth of knowledge, and forums with such nice people like you all, where we can ask advice.

I was pretty down in the dumps about this when I posted it, but am feeling MUCH MUCH better now, thank you!