Great news and confusing discovery

So Iago has disliked my wife from day 1 (going on 4 years) and will freak out if she even gets near his cage. The end of January was extremely hectic for us and because of this he was not given very much attention. All of a sudden Iago loves my wife. He lets her take her out of his cage, give him treats, give him scritches, kisses and he walks all over her. He loves her now out of nowhere. Neither of us know what happened. Just like a switch flipped!

Now for the confusing discovery. I feel horrible about this but it took my wife asking about why birds have leg bands after he warmed up to her for me to notice. I responded with what they mean and told her to look at Iago's on his left leg. Nothing there. His band is completely gone and we cannot find it anywhere. It is a closed band so I don't think he would be able to chew it off and there are no lacerations or bruising on either of his legs. We are convinced that Iago was swapped out with a different birb....

I guarantee I would know if somebody swapped my conure for another in the same species. Their behaviours would be different, their vocalizations, the subtle physical details (like the cute little dark mark on my birds left foot, or the shape of her beak, or, or, or...) and I've only had her for 2½ years. You've had yours for 4.

You said, "The end of January was extremely hectic for us and because of this he was not given very much attention", and that's likely the key. Your bird used to get all the attention it wanted from you, and when that well briefly dried up, your bird looked to your wife to fill the gap.

What about the leg band mystery? The most plausible explanation is it simply fell off.

I'm sorry, but I'm confused. How is it even possible that he was swapped? Did you drop him off for boarding somewhere, for example?

I agree with flyzipper. There's no way that you could swap my bird and for me to not know. Unless all aspects of his behaviour, favourite foods, play style, favourite perch, vocalizations, etc. changed then I am not sure why you would suspect he was a different bird.

I know he wasn't swapped out, that was just a joke noting such a drastic change in behavior. Iago is the only Sun I know that had a fully yellow trail feather growing in upside down, haha. These hectic times have also happened in the past and he still didn't like my wife afterward. We aren't questioning the sudden change, just embracing it to the fullest.

I didn't think closed leg bands could be slipped off a fully grown bird after they've grown into it. Still baffled that we haven't been able to find it

Is it possible that your vet removed it? I've been to a couple of avian vets and both of them were anti band. The first avian vet I ever took Tootsie to after I adopted her didn't even ask me, just got the vice grips out and took it off. Her's was an open band since she was an import and probable wild caught.

No. This happened in the last month. Last time he was at the vet was 6 months ago and he's never left my sight while there. It must have somehow slipped off, I just didn't know that was possible with an adult bird

Iago said:

No. This happened in the last month. Last time he was at the vet was 6 months ago and he's never left my sight while there. It must have somehow slipped off, I just didn't know that was possible with an adult bird

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my guess is the band was simply not tight enough. All my birds poke at their bands when they are preening their feet so he mustve just got the right angle to slip it off, or he got it stuck and it came off forcefully. If there are no scars or wounds I'd say it'll be ok. It's not like they have to have them. My perry didn't have one when I adopted him although I wish I at least had it.

Just have a good check that it hasn't worked all the way up his leg over his knee and got stuck under his feathers. That's really weird though! Pretty much the only thing leg bands are designed to do is not fall off!

Iago is living up to his Shakespearean name, isn't he???
Trickster!

Iago is definitely living up to him name, both Shakespearean and Disney. I've looked him over thoroughly an no band in sight. He used to play with it every now and then but nothing rigorous enough to make me think about it. Oh well! He's still my happy and healthy bird!

Wow. I have never known a closed band to come off a bird.
Gee, even if the vet removed it, I would hope he'd offer it to you for your records or even as a keepsake. I still the Rb's from 1984!
This is a real puzzle to me!
Has anybody else known of a disappearing band? Well, besides Iago, of course!

How old was Iago when you first got him?

I've read that many parrots will bond with the human raising them when they are a baby as they consider that human to be their parent. Then as the parrot reaches maturity he looks to bond with a "Mate" who is different from their parent. This is often perceived by the human that the parrot has "flipped" their bond, and that's not entirely accurate. It's just instinctive for the parrot to seek an attachment to a mate who is not his parent.

From what I have read, the "Parent" human can certainly regain the full strength of their initial bond with time, love and patience, the same way the earned the bond in the first place.