Jardine Behaviour

[Parrotlet]

I went to see a Jardine the other day as we are thinking of getting a second parrot as 'my' Meyers is totally bonded to my boyfriend so I'd like to have one of my own to handle!

Anyway he seemed very sweet, let me handle him, showing no nervousness or aggression but wanted to know what a couple of behaviours meant. At one point he moved his head from side to side in a robotic movement when holding eye contact with me and also bobbed his head quickly when I petted him. Is this excitement or some sort of display?

 

[Grraarrgghh]

Depending on his age, the bobbing can be either begging behaviour (mimics the feeding response baby birds show when they take food) which is usually a sign of interest or contentment (or hunger lol), or courtship behaviour (when they are past bird puberty). If courtship, it can also be followed up by the bird regurgitating food on/at you.

 

[Parrotlet]

It looked kind of playful to me, I don't think it was regurgitating as they usually mince their heads around more. The side to side movement looks like something my friends Caique does and I've no idea what that means, he's kinda nuts but I was surprised to see it in the Jardine as they are an African parrot rather than the Caique from South America.

Just hoping it wasn't aggressive but he didn't seem like it.

 

[Parrotlet]

Oh yeah I forgot to mention he is 10 so not a baby. I was really surprised by how laid back and friendly he was with me being that I'm a total stranger.

I went to see another Jardine who was a similar age and he was extremely aggressive, I didn't even dare handling him, he puffed up and ended up biting his owners lip (displacement biting I think).

 

[Parrotlet]

Well I went back for a second visit and ended up taking him home.

I had a 3 hour drive home with him in the car where I've figured out he particularly loves soppy love songs with female vocals lol

He isn't nervous in the slightest and didn't flinch with my dogs jostling around. He definitely seems to like me, lots of head bobbing and he even regurgitated this time as well as doing that side to side head swinging which I think is him showing off.

He is very funny and when you kiss him he pushes his beak up to you and makes kissing noises or blows a raspberry lol

 

[Parrotlet]

Just another little question on behaviours.

I was petting him last night and he made what sounded like a growing/purring noise when I stroked his wing, is this an aggressive noise? He's made no attempt to nip me so far and is extremely gentle with that big nose of his.

 

[Lump]

My Meyers does that noise when I'm petting him too. I think it's their happy 'purr' which sounds similar to their growl apparently.

 

[thekarens]

Congrats on your jardines! They are great birds!

 

[Parrotlet]

My Meyers does that noise when I'm petting him too. I think it's their happy 'purr' which sounds similar to their growl apparently.

Oh that's good to hear. I saw the first flash of aggression today when I talked to him while he was eating. He puffed up and bashed the bars with his beak.

Talking of eating he is sadly very picky, he rushed over to the premium parrot low sunflower seed mix I put in, scoffed the few sunflowers that were in it and threw everything else put... Definitely needs a bit of work there.

 

[Parrotlet]

My god I can't get over how soft this bird is. He has been snuggled up to my face rubbing his beak on my cheek nearly all day. So far he is allowing my boyfriend to hold him with no issues but I suppose that might change as he is definitely softer for me.

He has also decided to try loads of different foods besides the sunflowers instead of just flinging it all over like a hooligan!

Absolutely love him, someone must have socialised him really well in his younger years too as he goes to anyone with no fear at all.

 

[Parrotlet]

Ok a very strange development. At first he seemed to favour me and was friendly with my boyfriend too but would choose to be with me. Anyway a few nights ago he insisted on being on my boyfriend and was being super cuddley and flirting with him, even did the skirt dance thing. Then after half hour or so he bit my boyfriend really hard. Then the following day my boyfriend said he bit him randomly when he got him out of the cage, he also went back to cuddling me all day and ignored my boyfriend. Then again tonight he decided he adored my boyfriend, was rubbing his beak up against his cheek and regurgitating. Then seemingly out of the blue he nailed him and for the rest of the night decided to randomly fly at him and attack or stalk him.

I'm really puzzled as to what's going on, his behaviour indicates he really likes my boyfriend (he was more affectionate to him than he usually is with me) but why is he going psycho at him, he has never shown aggression towards me.

 

[RavensGryf]

Pois are "typically" one person birds even when socialized from a young age. The genus just seems to be a bit more 'hardwired' toward this tendency than the South American species for example.
Pois in general also tend to be quick to get freaked out, or change moods within a second, quick to displacement bite... To an extent, I'd say get used to it lol! Those Pois bite hard, and Jardines beaks aren't small!

What do you or your bf do when he bites? Do you tell him no? I'm not an advocate of ignoring the bite or the redirecting method with Poicephalus. He needs to learn bite pressure training for sure. of course he will still bite hard at times even after he learns this, but IMO and IME it's imperative to teach a Poi bite pressure training at least so he knows what he's "supposed to or not supposed to" do.

Start by using a cue word. My word for Griffin is "gentle" with a finger right over his beak. Say it calmly and relaxed, he should over a little time, start to get what you mean. He now many times will loosen his bite and nibble, or not go in full force. Notice I said "many times" and not "all the time" lol. He IS a Poi . At least he now knows what it means, and what makes him a good boy vs a bad boy.

A lot of the infamous Poi biting I truly believe, is more of an automatic 'knee-jerk' reaction that they just tend to have. Still, I wouldn't trade them for the world . Also, make sure he sees your or your bf's intentions (what you're about to do with him) as to not startle him into bite reflex.

I know he's still new.. In time you and your bf will start seeing more of his personality, his likes and dislikes, etc. For now I'd be careful when either of you are handling him, especially bf. If he's getting overstimulated (watch eyes pinning, standing tall and raising out feathers, etc) he most likely will bite. Even if he's overstimulated from having fun. Another thing, Poicephalus don't always have a lot of overt body language before striking. They're a species (genus) that is not real obvious to read many times, which can lead to more bites. I love the Pois though. My favorites.

 

[Parrotlet]

It doesn't seem to be a startle bite at all though and from his behaviour I'd say he liked my boyfriend more but now he is attacking him. Very odd indeed. He's been sat on me all night now with not even a nip. I could understand if he was bonded to me and was trying to warn my boyfriend off but he seems to display courtship behaviour to my boyfriend but then try to beat the **** out of him lol

My boyfriend reacted by putting him on the other side of the sofa near me and pushing him away when he started stalking him on the sofa. Each time he flew and tried to bite him, he just picked him up and put him back on my side saying "no bite". He did eventually give in and snuggled up with me.

Very odd little bird, it's like he can't make his mind up whether he loves or hates my boyfriend, I'm just glad he has not gone for me (yet haha). He has also regurgitated to me and is always rubbing his beak on my cheek asking for scratches but he's never done the little skirt dance for me.

 

[Parrotlet]

Oh yeah he does seem to have bite control, so for example if I move my hand suddenly over his head he whips his head around as if he's gonna bite but doesn't which is why I think the bites are premeditated. He seems extremely laid back otherwise and isn't even phased by my crazy Chihuahuas jumping up and trying to investigate him, he just ignores them even if they are right in his face.

 

[Parrotlet]

Definitely acting weird with my boyfriend again, slowly stalking him on the sofa. My boyfriend has blocked any attempts of him to get near as it's not clear if he wants to cuddle or kill him lol. He has been fine with me today, I got him dancing listening to cheesy songs.

 

[Parrotlet]

Just an update on our Jardine.

Well it turns out he does love my boyfriend just that little bit more, slightly more affectionate and cuddly with him, however with this comes horny skirt dance and sometimes random biting of my boyfriends hands. I think it may be frustration or just sometimes he gets freaky about males hands if my boyfriend moves suddenly. Oddly enough he will violently attack the cage bars if my boyfriend goes near but is fine once he is out. He's never shown aggression towards me though.

With me is is just steady though, he'll often hop between us on the sofa and snuggle up on my shoulder or try to pick my teeth (he's obsessed). He doesn't talk very clearly but says hello in the cutest voice ever. He's very into everything and likes to know what you're doing, also he is surprisingly well behaved for a parrot and if he tries to do something he isn't supposed to like chewing the remote he'll stop if you say no in a firm voice. Despite being a bit more mushy with my boyfriend he spends an equal amount of time with me and loves sitting on my shoulder bopping his head while we listen to music.

Overall I think he's awesome, the only negative is that he can poop for England. I've never known a parrot poo as much and he gives no warning, no backing up it just slips out (usually on you lol). I'm trying to catch him in the act and saying the word poop so maybe hopefully I can potty train him one day!

 

[Parrotlet]

Oh yeah I read a paper online saying female Jardine have brown iris with a little orange and males have orange red iris. Is there any truth in this?

 

[Mysterygirl]

Congrats. He sounds awesome. You should post some pictures.