fury

New member
Aug 10, 2022
5
6
Parrots
Reeses - 4 Y/O Jenday Conure
Hello, this is my first post on parrotforums, but I felt like it was neccessary to ask this because I'm not sure what to do ... (Hope I'm doing this right lol)

I've had my Jenday for about 4 years now and I raised her from a fledgeling, she(I think she is a girl, though nobody knows for sure)'s always been rather feisty, but over the years has grown more so, and she now attacks, chases, and bites strangers and other animals, like my dog and my sibling's pets, when she would cuddle with strangers and was well-behaved around other animals as a baby.

Recently, her behavior has seemed to change overnight, as she has begun to attack my sister who she used to enjoy cuddling with before, and she has become OBSESSED with my mother, who never really took a liking to my parrot and usually regards her as quite annoying/wants nothing to do with her.

I have always been my bird's favorite person, and spend as much time with her as I possibly can, however, she pretty much ignores me now whenever my mother is around. I also have no idea what has suddenly caused my bird to become so aggressive, especially towards my sister, which she actually flew at her and started to bite her incessantly (did not draw blood, but bit hard). Nothing's really changed in our lives that I can think of that would cause her to act this way.

From a quick google search, it says that a bird's hormones can sometimes cause odd behavior, however, it's summertime and rainy where I live, not spring, and she is now 4 years old which is somewhat past the threshold for the extreme outbursts which tend to start at 2-3 years old for conures from what I've seen. She has never behaved this way towards my sister or my mother ... Perhaps she is a late bloomer? I don't know.

I'm just not sure what to do, I am no longer my bird's favorite person and I can't get her to stop attacking my sister and obsessively following my mother around. Any advice would be appreciated and I will gladly answer any questions, thanks!
 

HeatherG

Well-known member
Apr 25, 2020
3,893
6,966
I think this is “hormonal” behavior.

I think your bird has chosen your mom to develop a bird crush on. In lots of regions of the globe, rainy season is breeding season, too.

I wonder why she picked your mom? You may never know. I’m really sorry your bird is being so aggressive though; it must hurt you and your sisters feelings (and skin).

Clearly you can’t allow your bird to bite your sister or chase your other pets and bite them. My sis had a Quaker who did this; unfortunately, she laughed and encouraged it (sis is kind of a bully) and the chasing got worse.

My Quaker used to open her beak st my husband but she was not allowed to bite or chase anyone. It can be hard not to laugh at a tiny bird chasing a big person, but it’s important not to laugh. That encourages the problem and makes it worse.

All I can say is that I wouldn’t allow my bird to chase and if she did she went back in her cage. I told her to step up and I’m sure I may have had to pick her up in a towel at times. But biting and chasing is not ok! Beaks are sharp and hurt!

I’m not sure what to suggest now (it’s 3:30 am) but I hope others will jump in. I am sorry your bird is being flaky.
 

T00tsyd

Well-known member
May 8, 2017
1,256
862
UK
Parrots
Green cheek conure - Sydney (Syd) Hatched 2/2017
Is your mother in the house more than anyone else? If so does she interact with her during the day? Do you and your sister hug (or any physical contact) your Mum in front of the parrot? Who feeds the other pets and who cuddles or pets them in front of the parrot? I would imagine that this could be a sign of jealousy. Perhaps you could give us some answers to help us find possible reasons.
 

wrench13

Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
Parrot of the Month 🏆
Nov 22, 2015
11,383
Media
14
Albums
2
12,567
Isle of Long, NY
Parrots
Yellow Shoulder Amazon, Salty
To start off you should be taking the steps to minimize ( note minimize but never eradicate) hormonal behavior.
No touching anywhere but the head
No dark hidey places
No access to anything like nesting materials
Low or reduce food that are sugar bearing , like corn
12 hours of solid quiet sleep
Ignore any masturbation actions

Hormone season is influenced by lots of factors and by all means is not the same every year. Some years it can be very light, others no so much and the changes in your parrot can be significant. Its important to not let hormonal behavior become permanent behavior. A good time to start bite pressure training, and biting in general, best addressed by the SHunning method; both can be found here on the forums.
 
OP
fury

fury

New member
Aug 10, 2022
5
6
Parrots
Reeses - 4 Y/O Jenday Conure
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #5
I think this is “hormonal” behavior.

I think your bird has chosen your mom to develop a bird crush on. In lots of regions of the globe, rainy season is breeding season, too.

I wonder why she picked your mom? You may never know. I’m really sorry your bird is being so aggressive though; it must hurt you and your sisters feelings (and skin).

Clearly you can’t allow your bird to bite your sister or chase your other pets and bite them. My sis had a Quaker who did this; unfortunately, she laughed and encouraged it (sis is kind of a bully) and the chasing got worse.

My Quaker used to open her beak st my husband but she was not allowed to bite or chase anyone. It can be hard not to laugh at a tiny bird chasing a big person, but it’s important not to laugh. That encourages the problem and makes it worse.

All I can say is that I wouldn’t allow my bird to chase and if she did she went back in her cage. I told her to step up and I’m sure I may have had to pick her up in a towel at times. But biting and chasing is not ok! Beaks are sharp and hurt!

I’m not sure what to suggest now (it’s 3:30 am) but I hope others will jump in. I am sorry your bird is being flaky.
I thought so too, since she's never really acted this way before, and it was pretty sudden ...

Luckily my sister is pretty tough, LOL ... She just walked it off.
I do try to prevent her from chasing and biting people, by putting her back in her cage, but sometimes it's hard when I can't even have strangers or pets around her so I have to put her into another room alone and I feel kinda bad for her (time out). Sometimes my family does think it's funny and laughs, because she is so little and can't do much damage, which may cause her to do it for attention/the laughs as well.

I think I'm just gonna have to wait it out and see what happens, because she let my sister pet her this morning, but then tried to bite her again later on. Thanks for your response/suggestions ! It's very much appreciated...
 
OP
fury

fury

New member
Aug 10, 2022
5
6
Parrots
Reeses - 4 Y/O Jenday Conure
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #6
To start off you should be taking the steps to minimize ( note minimize but never eradicate) hormonal behavior.
No touching anywhere but the head
No dark hidey places
No access to anything like nesting materials
Low or reduce food that are sugar bearing , like corn
12 hours of solid quiet sleep
Ignore any masturbation actions

Hormone season is influenced by lots of factors and by all means is not the same every year. Some years it can be very light, others no so much and the changes in your parrot can be significant. Its important to not let hormonal behavior become permanent behavior. A good time to start bite pressure training, and biting in general, best addressed by the SHunning method; both can be found here on the forums.
She did have a box to play with awhile ago, which could have incited some hormonal behavior as it is pretty dark and hidey ... But I've since taken it away.

She does attempt to masturbate quite frequently, but I've tried to prevent this by putting toys/objects to block her from where she likes to do so (against spots on her perches/metal bars on the cage) Should I just let her do this then? I've heard it can make a bird even more hormonal ... I know it's also bad to discipline them for masturbation, but I've never discliplined her, just prevented it beforehand or distracted her from doing so

This is good advice though ! Thank you very much for your response and I will definitely keep it in mind for the future .
 
OP
fury

fury

New member
Aug 10, 2022
5
6
Parrots
Reeses - 4 Y/O Jenday Conure
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #7
Is your mother in the house more than anyone else? If so does she interact with her during the day? Do you and your sister hug (or any physical contact) your Mum in front of the parrot? Who feeds the other pets and who cuddles or pets them in front of the parrot? I would imagine that this could be a sign of jealousy. Perhaps you could give us some answers to help us find possible reasons.
My mother and I are both home all day or most of the day, my sister is still in school so she is usually out of the house. My mother will whistle to my bird or say hi to her but she's usually busy with something else to fully play with her etc.

My sister, mother and I do hug/talk/show affection infront of her frequently, and my mother is extremely loving with the dog infront of my bird and will always pet and play/talk to him while my bird usually screeches at him/whoever is petting him for the attention to be directed towards her , and my sister also has a pet rodent that my bird also has tried to bite .... (though I've always stopped her from getting ahold of the animal)

It's definitely possible that she's jealous, as I believe my sister was able to pet my bird on the head this morning, but wasn't able to without being bitten while my mother was around later today.
 

HeatherG

Well-known member
Apr 25, 2020
3,893
6,966
My sister’s OTHER parrot, a macaw, liked me the first time I visited and then figured out that I was important and a RIVAL and screamed horribly every time I visited thereafter. So I think this is what’s up with your bird. She’s jealous of her person or people getting attention and affection. It’s called “mate guarding.”

I am sure your bird is all sorts of jealous and confused. You can’t keep her from masturbating with her toys (my bird does that too) but you can keep her away from any boxes or dark shadowy corners and holes and you can cut her light to 12 hours a day. Cover her up well or turn lights off after that, or even bring the cage to a dark room.

My female Quaker got egg bound and we had to do a number of things to make her environment less encouraging of baby making: cut back hours of daylight, eliminate shadowy places in the cage, eliminate shreddable materials in the cage. She also needed Lupron injections to stop the hormonal response. I think that could be worth considering for your bird.

If your bird is overweight you could consider cutting back on rich foods, or especially HANDFEEDING of rich foods by your mom and you. That will help her body get back to normal, too. All of those things are signals to a female bird that it’s time to lay eggs and make a nest.

If you are in a city where a bird vet is available, it might be worth your while to bring your bird in for some professional advice on how to manage this.
 

Most Reactions

Latest posts

Top