Things to be aware of?

[kimberleyanddarren]

Hi All,

Yesterday I bought a blue ringneck and he (I dont know if it is he or she btw) is a lovely baby, very friendly and will step up easily however he is still a bit nervous about me touching his back or neck or feet.

My Question really is about body language. I am wondering what body language I should watch out for from my bird and also what my body language should show. I read somewhere that if you turn your head away from them they will know your not happy? I have read a lot of things, just wondernig which ones are true and i should be aware of.

Thanks!

P.S. if anyone has any hints/tips they wish they had known when they first got their ringneck, they would be much appreciated!

 

[ann]

welcome and congrats on your new parrot! If his eyes pin, which is when they pupils get bigger and smaller rapidly, it means he is excited or angry. its best to let him be when he does this. if he crouches down, raises his wings slightly, and cranes his neck toward you with his beak slightly open, he is preparing to bite. if he turns his back to you, he is disinterested or wants to stop the interaction, and its best to respect their wishes. If he is eye pinning, standing tall, slightly fluffed, wings slightly raised, and struting back and fourth, he is a little wound up and over excited. Its best not to handle them when they do this. when his feathers are tightly pressed against his body, and he is standing tall and looking around, he is alert and possibly scared. If he is looking up at you bobbing his wings and appears to be trying to get closer to you, he wants to step up. If he fluffs his feathers out, he could be happy or angry. if he fluffs when you are sitting with him relaxing, hes happy, if he is fluffed by his cage or perch and his beak is open slightly, and hes standing tall, hes angry. if he is in the corner or cage floor tired and fluffed up. he is sick and needs to see a vet. when he lowers his head and slowly scratches it with his foot while his head fluffs up, he wants a head scratch . for your body language, just move slowly and gently, and dont make direct eye contact for too long untill he trusts you more. hope this helped, i would just take it slow and don't pet him places he is uncomfortable with. you could gently touch his back, neck, feet, and if he tolerates it, give him a treat. good luck and congrats !

 

[Detharmy]

i heard they do go through this hormonal stage in their life. which can be a pain. they'll lunge and bite you for no reason. during this period u gotta distract them with lots of toys. thats from what i heard. i have a ringeck. had him since he was 5 months old. i never had a problem with him. but then again all birds are different. just watch out

 

[Remy]

Honestly, I learned mostly through trial and error, and I have the scars to prove it!

Eye pinning (AKA "crazy eyes"), weird poofing of feathers, weird flattening of feathers, slow strutting, flattening feathers down and holding wings out from sides a bit, shaking up and down (or back and forth) really fast, violently chomping things, banging beak against bars of cage... Puck did all of these things and more when I was in danger of being bitten, and I had to learn to be VERY vigilant, in case he got overstimulated somehow, haha. He would even make cutesy noises to try to lure me over to get bitten! He was a sweet bird other than his crazy moments. I miss him. :-(

Some things are more obvious, like if they run away, or try to get away, they don't want to be handled.

 

[kimberleyanddarren]

Thanks for all the great replies so far.
S/he is opening his mouth as if to bite me each time I go to stroke him on the back or back of the head. So far I have been stroking him anyway because I didnt want him to learn that biting would work - is this the right thing to do? Btw i should add he doesnt actually bite me, just makes the motion like he is going to.

Also, he has started doing this thing where he kind of rolls his tongue to the tip of his beak and makes a cute almost humming/tweeting sound. He is usually sitting on my arm, on one leg, feathers fluffed when he does this - is it a good sign?

Thanks

 

[Detharmy]

since he still a baby he is going to see how far he can push you. whenever he does something you dont like, for instance a bite firmly say NO and distract him with a toy or something. and a baby bird is like a little 2 yr old human baby. babys like to grab everyting with their hands. Baby birds are the same way, but instead of using hands they use their beaks.

 

[kimberleyanddarren]

Thanks, are there any particular games he might like which will be fun for him? So far, he isnt to keen on taking food from my hand which is making things a little difficult!

 

[Detharmy]

Thanks, are there any particular games he might like which will be fun for him? So far, he isnt to keen on taking food from my hand which is making things a little difficult!

i dont play any particular games with mine. i just use hand toys, also known as foot toys. i'll set him on the table and mess around with a little toy and he'll usually join in lol. he'll throw it up and down and even kiss it lol. he loves his bell. he'll grab it and say "give me kiss" then he'll make the lip kissing sound and he'll say "thankyou" hahaa

 

[lene1949]

Ringnecks get a period of 'bluffing'... It's a stage where they'll pretend to attack.. The best thing is to ignore this, and after this stage is finished, he'll be a wonderful pet...

 

[Oedipussrex]

I think everyones covered the body language side of things. Its mostly a matter of getting to know your bird persoanlly as they dont all act the same.

Something that helped me figure out how pickle is feeling or what he is trying to communicate is to remember that birds are highly visual animals. Their eyesight is extremely good, and broad. And they communicate in many cases with light that we cant see, or barely notice. if they show off certain markings with the light in the room, or if they rotate their feathers ever so slightly so the light hits them in a different way, like making their colours shine brighter or darker on different parts of the body - this type of communication seems as obvious to them as facial expressions do to us, and they are likely to do this before they resort to more obvious signals.
And a lot of the time we miss it...

...Just something to think about, and see if you can observe.

 

[Alisana]

I personally would avoid back-stroking... the reason I say this is think of it from the parrot's perspective.

Food chain wise, they're prey, so they're expecting attacks from above. When your hand/shadow passes over the top of their head or over their back and makes contact with their back, it can scare them and make them feel threatened or anxious. Given s/he is young, he may not trust you enough to let you do this without that feeling. (Example - if a stranger raises their hand up, you might flinch away because you don't know if they're going to hit you, whereas a friend/family member might be doing it to give you a high-five. You can see the same flinching behaviour in abused dogs and even people. Our dog, we got from a farm when she was 6 months old, she's terrified of raised hands, but trusts us when we do it, yet flinches/slinks away or growls when strangers do it - we suspect that the previous owner may have hit her)

Back on topic:
Over time, s/he might get used to it, but for now, I would recommend avoiding it. A better method would be to hold your hand in front of him/her and ask "Scratch?" or "Tickles?" - you're announcing your intention and it can give him/her a moment to process what you want to do.

If s/he wants it, then they'll either lower their head or puff up in anticipation. Or pull away. If s/he pulls away, then there's your answer. When you go to scratch put your hand where s/he can see it and come from just below his/her eyeline and move your hand up from under the neck then around to the back of the neck. If you've ever dealt with horses, its a similar method they use when walking around the back of the horse (you start with your hand on their neck, and move it across their side, rump and back to the other side) to avoid being kicked. Your constant touch reassures them that you are the same person and they can keep track of where you are.

I use the same method myself when interacting with various birds - it works from the smallest parrots such as the little fig parrot up to your big guys like the macaws.

 

[Alisana]

To give you an example of the body language of a bird enjoying scratches or tickles, have a look at this video here

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft-M_pLfEvs]Double-Eyed Fig Parrot fluffing up for headscratch - YouTube[/ame]

You can see how the fig parrot is fluffing up and moving his head around to fully enjoy the scratch.

The Double-Eyed Fig Parrot is so damn cuuuuuteeee!!! It was my first time seeing one, so I was super excited that it let me scratch it.

Note: Video shaking is because of a sun conure who kept trying to steal/bite/hang off the wrist strap of the camera. My partner had been with the conure for a good hour by this point. I'm surprised his hearing was still intact.

 

[kimberleyanddarren]

Thanks for all the excellent replies. We are still working hard together and s/he is getting much more confident at stepping up and coming to sit with me however I am still finding it very difficult that he wont take any treats from me and so i havent got any real incentive for him to sit on me or do anything. At the minute he will sit for a few minutes on my finger or shoulder but will then fly back to his cage.

Does anyone have any other advice? Obviously i know this will be a long road and i cant expect him to be tame straight away, i know it will take a long time but i want to do the best i can to make sure this happens.

Thanks

 

[Lovelyloribeth]

Thanks, are there any particular games he might like which will be fun for him? So far, he isnt to keen on taking food from my hand which is making things a little difficult!

i dont play any particular games with mine. i just use hand toys, also known as foot toys. i'll set him on the table and mess around with a little toy and he'll usually join in lol. he'll throw it up and down and even kiss it lol. he loves his bell. he'll grab it and say "give me kiss" then he'll make the lip kissing sound and he'll say "thankyou" hahaa

Is there a video on YouTube?! I seem one of this exact thing!

 

[kcberto]

IRN's are a tricky bunch...very particular and incredibly loving to those they choose! Our Sky loves only one...and tolerates one other. The eye pinning has different meaning depending who is in her sight. Fluffed feathers on her head usually mean "watch out" but sometimes not. They are a "queen" breed and so very special. Take your time to get to know him and let him discover you. After all, it is their kingdom