GCC sitting on shoulder

Hi. Could anyone give me some advice? I know that allowing a parrot onto your shoulder is not advised but how do you avoid it? Is it ever ok to allow it? My GCC will make a bee line to my shoulder as soon as he steps up onto my hand and then once he is there, I can't remove him (asking him to step up) without him biting hard. I can block his access to my shoulder with my hand but he is so persistent I spend all my time doing that! How do I go about resolving this? Thank you.

My understanding is that allowing the parrot on your shoulder is only a problem if you are worried about the parrot biting you. If you aren't worried about that, there's not really any problem with it.


Personally, I let Yoda ride around on my shoulder all the time. I just had to stop wearing earrings. Yoda rarely bites and he loves my shoulder and I love him there, so it's all good.

Not sure where you heard this but I have my bird on my shoulder all the time! It's where he likes to be when he's out of the cage. You can certainly allow your bid to sit on your shoulder.

But my bird is tame and he must step up when I ask him to to be allowed there. Being on the shoulder should be seen as a privilege. SO a bird that bites - not allowed on the shoulder. A bird that won't step up -- not allowed on the shoulder. You can get him a place to play, on top of his cage, on a stand, but if he's going to be on you, he should be stepping up for you. Have you tried enticing him with a treat?

yuko(my GCC) LOVES sitting on my shoulder and (barley ever) will use my hair to climb onto my head! though is he gets bored he will fly onto another object or climb down my arm. i think having your gcc on your shoulder is perfectly fine c: hes about 5 years old and theres never been a problem with it. he's only pooped on somebodys shoulder around once or twice in his entire life but only because it was an accident. so dont worry about that either. only once did it make it on the actual shirt haha

Either don't allow your parrot on your shoulder at all until you are feeling safe that it won't bite you when you ask it to step up or try getting your parrot to step up on to a perch (like one from the cage type) from your shoulder to avoid the bite as long as the biting issue only extends to trying to get them off your shoulder. If they start to bite face and neck, don't allow on your shoulder.

Thank you all for the replies. I have always allowed my GCC on my shoulder as he loves the ride and it allows him to come with me around the house etc so it's good to know it's ok. I had read somewhere that it wasn't advisable to allow a parrot onto your shoulder as it can give them the impression they are more important than you (being at the same level) and could result in aggression, BUT this was not something I necessarily agreed with. I'm finding out there are many other reasons for such behaviour. I will use the perch to get him off to go toilet etc and see how that goes in terms of biting. I'm trying to learn as much as I can about how I can be better for him as I don't feel that I'm the best 'parront' at the moment

You might be thinking about "dominance" aka "alpha" type behavior... which, IMO, is a label to describe a behavior when people can't get an animal to cooperate because they don't know how to train the animal *NOT* to do the undesired behavior.


I have not problem with my birds on my shoulders or even being above me. My birds are also flighted.


If you have trouble getting a bird off of your shoulder, then what favorite treat will they do anything for? Will they step up for it? Or perhaps learn to walk "down" your arm (arm held level) for said treat?

agreed with Monica here, many people talk about parrots 'dominating' when they're above eye level but it really is nonsense. At most parrots are more confident which shows up the problem areas in their training more. Dominant or alpha behavior is a trait more associated with predator/pack animals which as we're all aware birds are not. Heck my home has a balcony room upstairs and my conure would constantly sit up there (roughly 11 feet above me) but would still come to me if I called to him so he definitely didn't think he was any more in charge up there than he did on the ground floor

Like others have said if he bites you when on your shoulder then remove the privileges until they behave, myself and a few others look at the shoulder as a reward for them when being well behaved and trustworthy

I also agree with Monica and LT. This dominance thing about being higher than you or whatever has never been and issue for me either. My birds live on my shoulder and never once have I noticed any negative behavior that they didn't already display happening on my shoulder. In fact my problem child , Finley, actually behaves better on my shoulder than anywhere else.

I have my green cheek on my shoulder all the time and he is quite well behaved and steps up. I guess I did a good job I am sure you can achieve this as well.

Goldenconure1 said:

I have my green cheek on my shoulder all the time and he is quite well behaved and steps up. I guess I did a good job I am sure you can achieve this as well.

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Who told you parrots shouldn't be shoulder birds?
My GCC has only lived here 1.5 months and is attached to my shoulder. My previous GCC was from the time she moved in until I lost her at 19yo.
My current GCC even makes bedtime rounds with me. He knows the routines and which 2 rooms he's not welcome in already.

The shoulder is an earned privilege because a bird can inflict severe damage to the neck and face. That said, it is a position I aspire for all of my birds!

Four of my eight have unlimited shoulder access, sometimes one on each shoulder! I have absolutely no fear or concern they will abuse the privilege.

I would block him until he is trustworthy. Since he clearly wants to be with you and bites when you assert authority, I would not react to the bites other than walking him to a time-out location (if you must say something, say no in a neutral voice (or, "be gentle"), but it depends on the bird---some love any reaction). NOTE: If he were biting out of fear etc, this wouldn't work (because then he would be escaping and getting his way), but since he is clearly not afraid, I would say that time-out for a few minutes or so should work (maybe 3-5?---no attention during this time-don't look at him or talk to him). You could even set a timer. When the timer goes off, pick him up and repeat as needed. If you can pick a cage besides his for time-out, that would be ideal, that way he doesn't think cage=punishment. Soon enough, he will associate biting with removal from an otherwise good situation. Practice following step-up commands off of the shoulder----if he has a favorite treat, use that as a reward. In a pinch, try sitting on a couch or backing up against a wall to force him to step from shoulder to hand (DON'T SQUASH HIM LOL!!!-DO NOT LEAN AGAINST HIS BODY...)

pogoparrot said:

Hi. Could anyone give me some advice? I know that allowing a parrot onto your shoulder is not advised but how do you avoid it? Is it ever ok to allow it?:

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Who told you this? My GCC loves on my shoulder a good part of the afternoon! This is the first time I've heard this.

Ta-dah is a shoulder bird. If she is being a brat and won't get off my shoulder, runs around behind my back or bites. Well I have a secret weapon (not weapon!!!) It's a small American flag on a stick the tiny ones, I pick it up and very slowly move it towards her. Her response is to run down to the opposite hand, I then set down the flag and walk her to her cage it stand and give her a treat. I did this three times, now all I have to do is walk over so she can see the flag and down she comes no fuss!!!! I have never waved it or chased her with it, I just show it.the power of the flag!!

Well, just yesterday I was proven wrong! Goffins brothers Squeaky and Abby were on my shoulders and both were showing signs of hormonal squabbling. Chased each other earlier that day and were temporarily separated. They were reunited with not a hint of aggression. After a few minutes they began to agitate and I placed my hand between them, preparing to remove from the shoulder. Abby was not amused and gave me a displacement bite on the lower lip. Area is vascular and bled profusely for a while, but there was no tissue separation requiring assistance - just beak impression marks. In hindsight I was warned, and will heed the signs more closely. I do not consider Abby unworthy of continued shoulder privileges, but for now he will be the sole bird on a shoulder! (first time he's done this in his 20 years - he was born and hand raised in my home)

I agree, I don't know where you heard that letting your birds on your shoulder is "not advised", but that' totally untrue. It's only "ill-advised" when the bird cannot be trusted to not bite you. So as Scott has already said, the shoulder spot is earned by the bird, and taken away when they can no longer be trusted. For example, if your bird is normally allowed on your shoulder but one day, out of nowhere, he suddenly bites your ear, you immediately need to tell him "No Bites!" and put him right down on the floor, and then keep him off of your shoulder until he has shown that he can again be trusted...

However, there is nothing at all wrong with having trusted birds ride on your shoulder; all of my flock are shoulder birds, and my Senegal Kane has lost his spot a couple of times, but he finally figured it out after the last little incident.

having heard from people who never kept up to date with info Ellen it comes from people believing in 'height dominance' where these people believe a bird who is ever above eye height believes themselves to be in charge and they become aggressive and blah blah blah blah

the truth behind it is a bird at height is more confident in itself and any bad behavior at height shows that training is lacking in certain areas. I had some people tell me about height dominance and all that, I'd then show an image of my bird on his boing attached to the skylight roughly 10 feet above me and he was NEVER an issue!