So What's Tsali Thinking???

I need a bit of guidance, ideas, suggestions, and/or HELP!

Tsali and I have a good relationship -- at least I think we do. A bit of background.... He is my first and only bird and I am his primary human. He hatched on Valentines day 2015 and came home May 5, 2015.

He spends a great deal of his time outside his cage - his choice as I leave the door open most of the time during the day. He almost always keeps me in his field of vision flying from room to room as I move about the house. He spends a lot of time on my shoulder "helping" as I go about my daily household chores. I think we have a good relationship - he gets lots of scritches and we do a lot of enrichment activities together.

Tsali's favorite game is a simple targeting game where I put several items on the counter - wood blocks, beads, plastic toy parts, an unshelled pistachio, and maybe a pine nut. I point to an item and he will pick up the item and then I target one of the containers and he will walk over and drop the item into the target container I point to. He is always rewarded for "success" and I redirect him when he decides to test gravity by throwing the items on the floor :25:

He is generally good natured, most of his vocals are words with some really cool sound effects thrown in.. Very little in the way of "screaming" or squaking he doesn't pluck, he is a good eater, trys new foods, and isn't phobic. I take Tsali with me on errands so he gets to go "bye-bye" and he seems to enjoy the social aspect as long as there is no stranger touching.

SO he sounds like a PERFECT Grey - and for the most part I guess he is. However -- and there is always a however -- lately when he is on my shoulder he will randomly lean down and bump me in the face. He hasn't actually beaked me BUT he will bang me. Especially if I am doing something -- cooking, washing dishes, on the computer, etc. I'm not sure what is going on and I don't want this bumping to progress into something aggressive.

I have been around critters all of my life - lots of different types of critters - dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, rabbits, snakes, iguanas, raccoons, possums, and have been able to put their actions into context. Tsali's actions are just a perplexing puzzle.

Boy OH Boy do I love that birdie - I just want to understand so that I don't do something that might make a negative change in our relationship.

Smokey would bang my forehead with her beaky...I took it as an affection thing.


Jim

I know that often when I have Chicken on my shoulder and I'm doing things, she will gently grab at my face with her beak. Usually it's when she wants something, like if I'm doing dishes, she wants the water. I try to tell her no and move my face, but if she continues, I'll go out her on her stand or in her cage until I'm done. I'm not sure if Tsali is trying to tell you the same thing or not, but it's an idea.

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AmyMyBlueFront said:

Smokey would bang my forehead with her beaky...I took it as an affection thing.


Jim

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Thanks for your reply, Jim. He might mean the banging in an affectionate way, but I am definitely NOT feeling the love. Sometimes it hurts but it doesn't seem aggressive - at least not yet.

OutlawedSpirit said:

I know that often when I have Chicken on my shoulder and I'm doing things, she will gently grab at my face with her beak. Usually it's when she wants something, like if I'm doing dishes, she wants the water. I try to tell her no and move my face, but if she continues, I'll go out her on her stand or in her cage until I'm done. I'm not sure if Tsali is trying to tell you the same thing or not, but it's an idea.

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Sometimes I think it is because he wants something - especially if I am having a snack. I hate to impose human emotions on a bird - but I sometimes think he's jealous 'cause he isn't getting all of my attention.

I've heard of several parrots that have learned/been taught that beak touching or bonking is an affectionate thing. There's one in a shelter in NC who does it repeatedly while saying "Bonk bonk bonk" and they caught it on video.
Could be something he's seen and picked up on, like a kiss on the cheek thing. Nuzzling. Anything.

"The hooman touches face? This make hooman happy? I do this now. //touch// Why hooman not happy? //touch harder// HAPPY HOOMAN NOW PLZ"

Maybe he just wants your attention? By drawing attention to the poke you're probably just giving him what he wants.
"Pay attention to me hooman. //pokes// Yes. I touch face. Pay attention now. You look at me now- yes! I win! I good bird yesssss"

Teknogeddon said:

I've heard of several parrots that have learned/been taught that beak touching or bonking is an affectionate thing. There's one in a shelter in NC who does it repeatedly while saying "Bonk bonk bonk" and they caught it on video.
Could be something he's seen and picked up on, like a kiss on the cheek thing. Nuzzling. Anything.

"The hooman touches face? This make hooman happy? I do this now. //touch// Why hooman not happy? //touch harder// HAPPY HOOMAN NOW PLZ"

Maybe he just wants your attention? By drawing attention to the poke you're probably just giving him what he wants.
"Pay attention to me hooman. //pokes// Yes. I touch face. Pay attention now. You look at me now- yes! I win! I good bird yesssss"

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I think you might be on the right track. I don't like Bonk Bonk. I don't want to go bonkers. No touch harder - he needs to learn good touch, bad touch.

I agree Tsali is asking you for something and it will probably get harder only if you ignore it? Their ways of communicating are limited and Tsali has chosen this particular method whilst sitting on your shoulder. I think Plum used to do something similar.

Tsali just needs to use his words. I am compliant. For the most part, Tsali gets what he wants.

Salty bonks his beak into my ear when he wants scratchies. Not terribly hard, Its more like a hard nuzzle. But I think Tsali is trying to communicate something to you. You have to recognize that and figure out what it is he wants. My opinion.

wrench13 said:

Salty bonks his beak into my ear when he wants scratchies. Not terribly hard, Its more like a hard nuzzle. But I think Tsali is trying to communicate something to you. You have to recognize that and figure out what it is he wants. My opinion.

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I've been thinking about this a lot since my original post. I now believe that Tsali's beak bonking is due to jealousy - or the CAG equivalent. Apparently I am not allowed to do anything unless he is in a generous mood. In my limited experience, CAG's aren't generous. Anyway, I love my selfish self-serving birdie.

From the first day I brought Perjo home I would lean in and push ny nose against her beak and say "touch or ticklye my nose". I did this to get her to understand what a touch or tickle is.

Now 7-8 months later, she totally knows what that means. So when on my shoulder she rarely makes any motion that isn't relative to a soft touch, she';; softly bite my ear once in a awhile still, and THAT is the sign I know she is a bit riled up. So I get her down or get her singing.