I have a 4 month old GCC. I got him about a month and and a half ago, so I know he might still be sussing me out. His name is Leo and I love him so much already (if he is in fact a he, heck if I know &#128514. I got him fully tamed and weaned. He’s very sweet and playful. And loves scritches and kisses (always with puckered dry lips to avoid giving him any of my saliva bc I know it’s toxic to birds). He never screams or makes a fuss when he is in my hand or when it’s time to go back into his cage. He takes naps in my hand often, or somewhere on my body while I’m doing school work or just chilling. Often, if I move my hand from him, he’ll immediately rush to get right back in place. But recently whenever he’s not in my hands, like perched on something or just minding his business somewhere around the house (he’s out of his cage almost all the time except to sleep and to eat whenever he wants) and I reach to either touch or pick him up, he flies away immediately. This only started about 3 or 4 days ago. The first day it happened I made the mistake of trying multiple times to get him and he kept flying away (I acknowledge that I should have just left him alone but I do also want to add that when I was trying to get him, it was never in an aggressive or threatening way). After that day, if he flies away just once or twice, I’ll let him be. I might try again a little later and he’ll do it again or he’ll be hesitant but compliant. It’s been making me extremely sad and I even cried about it last night (ridiculous, I know lol) I just don’t understand? Is he scared?? When he is in my hand, never by force, he’s so calm and makes those little happy noises or sleeps or cuddles up and will stay there for as long as I’ll let him and will even rush back into my hand immediately after I move it to do something, so I’m confused maybe he is scared of me sometimes??? Maybe he just likes his alone time lol??? I try to do everything on his terms and his terms only and ever since this flying away stuff started, I will only use a blanket or towel to gently acquire him when he absolutely has to go back into his cage. Is that bad? Nothing major has happened and he’s very healthy. I’m just confused. I’ll of course respect that sometimes he just doesn’t want to be handled and I’ll never force him or get angry with him for it but it does make me a little sad, especially bc it is out of the blue.. I’ll also add that I do notice that he’s coming into his personality a tad bit and playing with toys and exploring the house (wings are not clipped he free flies and the house is bird proofed) without being clung on to me more so maybe it’s just he’s a growing boy that doesn’t want mommy to constantly be with him lol?? Am I overeating? 😭

I would say you've done a little damage to your trust by trying multiple times to get him. Sure it may not have been in an aggressive or threatening way from your perspective but from your birds perspective? Larger than me being that instinct says is a predator chasing me around my home. Using a towel or blanket to catch him isn't going to help with that trust. I strongly suggest that you look into target training as he sounds pretty independent. Still I'm no expert so maybe someone with more experience will have better advice.

Oh how I wish I had just left him alone! I realized immediately after I stopped that I had done something wrong even tho I wasn’t being aggressive (from my perspective :/) Do you have any advice on how to build back some of that trust that might be lost? I feel like he still trusts me a little, at least enough to sleep in my hand and near me and preen himself and eat from my hand so I’m glad he doesn’t completely hate me. I really regret trying to get him after he made it clear he was just trying to be left alone :/ I also used the towel method bc I’ve seen some videos and read threads that the softness of the fabric clams them but I’ll stop doing that if it’s not good! I’ll just give him some space and time I guess.
thank you for your feedback!

In anything you do when you interact with your parrot, always ask yourself "Is this trust building or trust busting". Because in order to have a good relationship with us, parrots have to trust. You can't force a parrot to do anything. Training, training and training is the order of the day and the first thing is teaching step up. That must become almost a reflex action, when you request it. How you get there does not matter. Target training or what ever.

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Oh! I forgot to mention that he is already trained to step up and does it with ease. When he doesn’t want to step up, I leave him be. I heavily want to stress that I do everything in my power to do things only with Leo’s consent. I made a huge mistake in continuing to try to acquire him after he showed signs of not wanting to be bothered. I’m really wondering if this trust can be earned back and in what ways I can do that. I’m beginning potty training with him later on, if he permits lol, and I think that’s a decent start for future training sessions.

Thank you for responding!

sounds like hes a good little birb that likes you allot,so dont panic. buuuuuttt, you should respect your birbs personal space. if its not mendatory to pick him up , dont chase the little guy.
start working on your relationship with training, it will deffinitly strangthen the bond and can realy improve some behavioral issues. keep training short and fun, because if hes not having fun its just not worth it.
good luck!

What treats does he like? Syd will do anything for sunflower seed and with him it solves any arguments. eg getting in his cage I just have to open the seed tub and he goes in by himself but he does always get his treat. Call it bribery if you like but it does 2 things for me. He knows what behaviour gets the treat and I can pretty much guarantee compliance thus making any situation manageable. You need to be very consistent. He won't be a baby for long and in a years time when he becomes a hormonal lunatic you will have needed to get him in a place where you understand each other and have trust both ways. He is young enough to trust again and I don't expect there are many paronts who have never done something wrong. If you go to him and offer your hand do it really slowly sometimes they panic just because something looks a bit different from last time. Don't worry.