my bird's personality

Scarlett, my female Eclectus, is my first bird, and I've had her about two months. She doesn't behave in any way like any birds I've ever known.

She doesn't like being patted in any way. She's fine to be touched - but doesn't take any pleasure in being patted. If I try, she'll first try to move away, then open her beak toward my hand, then growl, and if I keep going, bite me.

She's not interested in being with me just to be with me. She'll fly to me immediately if she suspects I have food, and stay with me as long as it seems likely I will continue to give her food (if I give her nothing for a while, she flies away). She'll always fly to the kitchen first thing in the morning when I let her out and gather her bowls to feed her, and try to eat her breakfasts while I carry her back.

She is very quiet. She never makes a sound except when the vacuum cleaner is on or she is in the bathroom while one of us is having a shower, when she will chatter incessantly. She has never screamed or shown any other sign of wanting attention.

She won't play with toys. I hung some cat balls on string in her cage, but she only uses them to wake me up if I'm late in letting her out in the morning, or if she's had to be put in her cage during the day because we were both leaving the house at the same time. She looks extremely angry and attacks them savagely, and makes the growling noise that means she's really angry. She's ignored everything else I've tried to get her to play with.

When in the right mood she is exellent at her tricks, but I don't think she feels she is playing or performing ... she is just desperate for sunflower seeds, and knows doing these things gets her lots of them. I have tried to wean her off needing a reward everytime she does a trick, but as soon as the sunflower seeds slack off she stops doing that particular trick reliably or at all.

All other birds I've known have wanted to be with their owners every opportunity they can, and scream if they are gone too long, squawk and chatter and squeak and whistle all the time, and eagerly play with any toys they are given. My boyfriend's sister's galah loves headscratches and asks for them constantly by dipping his head at you and fluffing up his crest. If you say, "Scratch scratch!" he will immediately dip his head eagerly, expecting a headscratch.

Are all eclectus females like this or do I have a weird bird? Am I treating her wrongly somehow to have her not really be friendly? Can I change anything I do?

I do not have this kind of parrot but here is an article that seems good. ECLECTUS PARROTS

Hi Quantumcat.....
I am a guardian to an AG Mishka, never had a eclectus parrot.
Some species are lovable cuddly birds, yet each bird differs.
One AG I had previously loved to be cuddle and patted. Mishka dislikes both intensely. Yet I am able to stroke her wings for hours.
How old is your bird? A bird needs time to settle down, and get used to all the new surroundings, and the new family. Rather let him come to you, in his own time, when he feels more secure, and starts gaining your trust. A bird requires lots of your time. A bird thrives on love and attention. If you are going out, leave the radio on, stops the birds from being lonely, and thinks someone is close by. Perhaps there is not enough interaction, let him be included in more everyday activities, EG when you shower, let him join you. When you watching tv, let him sit on your lap, or on a playpen, if you have one. Keep talking, chatting and playing with him. When putting the bird back in the cage, spend a bit of time playing with him and his toys. Try changing them around in the cage, in that way, he will think he has new toys.
Make sure he is on a proper diet, eating fresh fruit and veggies, pellets, and nuts. The list is endless........
Hope this was helpful

From what I've read about Ecclectus parrots, they're kind of aloof. How old is she? You haven't had her for very long so it may take time before she's really comfortable with you. And if you aren't her first family, she may have some baggage that she's dealing with.

Also, remember that birds are individuals. There are general personality traits with each species but these can vary significantly in individual birds. So, there's no guarantee that her personality is going to be similar to other parrots you've known.

Of our two birds currently living with us, their personalities are completely different. Jade is the extrovert and clown, but she is a shameless cuddle-monger. Max is much more introverted and introspective - even for an Alexandrine. He doesn't like to be touched - at all. But he wants to be with us, even if it's just in the same room.

Finally, congratulations on adding Scarlett to your family. Female ecclectus are, imo, one of the most beautiful parrots out there. I think patience and time will help.

antoinette said:

Hi Quantumcat.....
I am a guardian to an AG Mishka, never had a eclectus parrot.
Some species are lovable cuddly birds, yet each bird differs.
One AG I had previously loved to be cuddle and patted. Mishka dislikes both intensely. Yet I am able to stroke her wings for hours.
How old is your bird? A bird needs time to settle down, and get used to all the new surroundings, and the new family. Rather let him come to you, in his own time, when he feels more secure, and starts gaining your trust. A bird requires lots of your time. A bird thrives on love and attention. If you are going out, leave the radio on, stops the birds from being lonely, and thinks someone is close by. Perhaps there is not enough interaction, let him be included in more everyday activities, EG when you shower, let him join you. When you watching tv, let him sit on your lap, or on a playpen, if you have one. Keep talking, chatting and playing with him. When putting the bird back in the cage, spend a bit of time playing with him and his toys. Try changing them around in the cage, in that way, he will think he has new toys.
Make sure he is on a proper diet, eating fresh fruit and veggies, pellets, and nuts. The list is endless........
Hope this was helpful

Click to expand...

Hi,
She is a year old, she's almost never alone (I'm a student, boyfriend works from home), won't play with toys, only interested in us if she is getting food or free transport, for breakfast she gets an apple, a kiwi fruit, a handful of grapes, a handful of peas, some fortified millet, sunflower seeds as rewards, and shares our lunches and dinners. She is very confident: she demands what she wants, she goes wherever in the house she wants, and is the boss of the cat. I think what HRH Di said is probably right, she's just aloof. It makes me sad she doesn't want pats, but that's what the cat is for I guess! I was hoping I was doing something wrong and could get her to like being patted.

Quantumcat said:

Are all eclectus females like this or do I have a weird bird? Am I treating her wrongly somehow to have her not really be friendly? Can I change anything I do?

Click to expand...

Hi Quantumcat

I think she's just a typical Eclectus. I've had an almost 6mth old female eclectus, Shadow for almost 2 months now. Although I knew Eclectus have a reputation for being aloof I was quite surprised at how aloof she is, especially after caring for an affectionate, attention-seeking Galah. Like Scarlett she's not keen on being pats and would rather just sit on my arm or lap.

Although she has lots of toys she doesn't play with them much either. She comes to work with me almost every day, she usually just sits on my desk on her playgym occasionally going to her food bowl but that's about it, today was the first day I actually saw her playing - my clients must think I'm crazy because I got quite excited. I had to move my phone and credit card machine because she had a ball stepping on them so they'd light up, she knocked over my pen holder and threw eveything on the floor, pulled out all my business cards then went back up onto the playgym for a sleep - phew energy exertion.

I thnk Scarlett sounds very clever not "performing" unless a treat is on it's way.

Although Shadow is very slowly bonding it's all on her terms. She will also at times growl if she doesn't want to be picked up, esp when on top of her cage. My husband has pushed on and has been bitten. I back off a little until she "un-puffs" talk in a reassuring voice and go in very slowly with either a perch or a closed fist (so there are no fingers to get). If she shows aggression I back off again and repeat the process. She responded really well to this and now never gets agressive with me - I think it's a trust thing.

I think it's important to give them time and remember they are not domesticated like dogs or cats.

Hi Mel,
Thanks for your post! It seems my bird is just typical.

Hi
I own a 10.5year old male SI eclectus (tobi) who isn't a cuddler, but allows me to pet his head without a problem.

After much repetition, I am able to lift each wing and spread it...I do this so that the vet wouldn't encounter problems if he need to do this.

I feed Tobi Roudybush crumble pellets (25% of diet), sprouted seeds, apple slices, carrots, brown rice, broccoli, shelled nuts(sparingly) , leafy greens, some boiled egg (occasionally), sweet potato. I don't feed him sunflower seeds. Hmmm, I think my birdies eat better than me ;-)

Tobi doesn't play with toys, although he uses one of them to let me know he wants to get out of his cage. It happens around 715a every morning--clack, clack, clack! Funny bird!

I agree with Mel...It takes time to build trust with your new FID.

BTW, you mentioned a cat that lives with you and your boyfriend. Is Scarlett supervised while she is outside her cage?

Check out this website www.birdtricks.com
An informative website is www.landofvos.com

Hope these will be helpful for you

shshen said:

BTW, you mentioned a cat that lives with you and your boyfriend. Is Scarlett supervised while she is outside her cage?

Click to expand...

Yeah - the loungeroom is combined study/loungeroom so I spend most of my time there, and the default place for Scarlett is on top of her cage next to the desk. She usually follows me to the kitchen when I go there, and the cat, if awake and not outside, follows me around too. Sugar (the cat) would never voluntarily be within 2 metres of the bird alone (The bird came close to breaking her tail and giving her a ragged ear on their first meeting!). The bird gets put away at night and when neither of us are home.

Oh, and I do have two questions. It is starting to get quite cold here, about -5 celsius at night outside. Can she cope with it getting down to about 8 or 9 degrees at night? If not, will covering the cage with a blanket be enough? Or should I be leaving the heater on?

Also, she has no manners when we try to eat dinner - she continually tries to climb onto the plate and is very annoying. How can I teach her some manners so I don't have to put her in her cage at dinner time? I don't mind giving her some of my dinner if she didn't expect it as her right!

Sounds like Scarlett has things under control