Why is my 3yo conure flying away from only one person?

[moss]

My 3yo GCC has recently started flying away from and avoiding a family member, but he is still friendly and cuddly with the rest of us. We don't know why he is suddenly behaving like this, especially since that family member hasn't done anything to make him make him uncomfortable. Prior to the last two weeks, our GCC had no problem with and loved cuddling with that family member.
I have tried to find an answer to his behavior online, but they aren't very helpful considering he isn't a baby parrot going through an independent phase or stressed.
We don't want to force our GCC to hang out with that family member if he doesn't want to, we would just like to know an explanation to his behavior and how to mend the relationship between them.
Thank you!

 

[moss]

My 3yo GCC has recently started flying away from and avoiding a family member, but he is still friendly and cuddly with the rest of us. We don't know why he is suddenly behaving like this, especially since that family member hasn't done anything to make him make him uncomfortable. Prior to the last two weeks, our GCC had no problem with and loved cuddling with that family member.
I have tried to find an answer to his behavior online, but they aren't very helpful considering he isn't a baby parrot going through an independent phase or stressed.
We don't want to force our GCC to hang out with that family member if he doesn't want to, we would just like to know an explanation to his behavior and how to mend the relationship between them.
Thank you!

Forgot to add in original post: Nothing has changed around the house to make him scared. No furniture has been moved, no changes to appearance in family, etc. He is just avoiding and flying away from one family member, who he was always friendly to and hung out with lots before.

 

[clark_conure]

Id be interested in the personality of the person the bird doesn't like.

 

[hiriki]

Honestly, parrots are very fickle and they do hold grudges, I doubt anyone here will be able to identify the exact reason.

If this bird was very close to this person, it's possible that the bird is "breaking up." 3 yrs is a bit old for this to happen, but conures in particular, I've heard that when they reach maturity it's not uncommon for them to reject the person who raised them and who they see as almost like a parents, in favor of seeking out a new person to be more of a "mate."

If this person has been friendly with your GCC, but hasn't gone out of their way to be super close with him, then it's more likely that the reason is something less obvious. Maybe something this person did was upsetting--they raised their voice or moved in a way that seemed scary/aggressive, either on purpose or without realizing they did it... if this family member who's being snubbed is the odd one out in terms of gender, perhaps your bird has developed a gender preference (very common for parrots). Or, maybe they wore a red hat one day and your GCC has decided he hates red hats and therefore your family member is the devil . It's hard to know, but birds notoriously make mountains out of molehills.

Either way, you're now in the "regain trust" stage. Your family member will need to approach your GCC like a stranger, carefully respecting the bird's boundaries and always bringing treats so the bird will gradually associate them with positivity.

 

[moss]

Id be interested in the personality of the person the bird doesn't like.

Hello! The person the bird doesn't like was the first to bond with the bird when we got him, and has always been very sweet and gentle with him. In general, the personality of the person is gentle and caring. They used to cuddle every morning and afternoon, but not after the change.

 

[moss]

Honestly, parrots are very fickle and they do hold grudges, I doubt anyone here will be able to identify the exact reason.

If this bird was very close to this person, it's possible that the bird is "breaking up." 3 yrs is a bit old for this to happen, but conures in particular, I've heard that when they reach maturity it's not uncommon for them to reject the person who raised them and who they see as almost like a parents, in favor of seeking out a new person to be more of a "mate."

If this person has been friendly with your GCC, but hasn't gone out of their way to be super close with him, then it's more likely that the reason is something less obvious. Maybe something this person did was upsetting--they raised their voice or moved in a way that seemed scary/aggressive, either on purpose or without realizing they did it... if this family member who's being snubbed is the odd one out in terms of gender, perhaps your bird has developed a gender preference (very common for parrots). Or, maybe they wore a red hat one day and your GCC has decided he hates red hats and therefore your family member is the devil . It's hard to know, but birds notoriously make mountains out of molehills.

Either way, you're now in the "regain trust" stage. Your family member will need to approach your GCC like a stranger, carefully respecting the bird's boundaries and always bringing treats so the bird will gradually associate them with positivity.

This family member was very close to the bird. When we first got the bird, he and the bird were the first to really bond. Over time our bird gained a preference for someone else, but would always be up to cuddle with original family member.

This family member isn't an odd one out for gender, or even for age, since our bird doesn't care who is with him as long as he is getting some cuddles, and family member has not done an outfit change or raised hos voice.

I think you're right about being in the "regain trust" stage, because there has been little amounts of progress where after a while, the bird will willingly step out of his cage and onto family member's finger, but using treats and acting like a stranger sounds like a really good idea. Thank you!

 

[Chenetaqwa]

My 3yo GCC has recently started flying away from and avoiding a family member, but he is still friendly and cuddly with the rest of us. We don't know why he is suddenly behaving like this, especially since that family member hasn't done anything to make him make him uncomfortable. Prior to the last two weeks, our GCC had no problem with and loved cuddling with that family member.
I have tried to find an answer to his behavior online, but they aren't very helpful considering he isn't a baby parrot going through an independent phase or stressed.
We don't want to force our GCC to hang out with that family member if he doesn't want to, we would just like to know an explanation to his behavior and how to mend the relationship between them.
Thank you!

I don't know if this will help you or not ... I have 2 gcc 1 male and 1 female... both are around 3.5 years old... 4 months ago the female started to act afraid of my hand ... no problem sitting on my arm...shoulder .. back .. but not my hand ... and over a few days it got to the point she wouldn't come near me and getting her back into the cage was a problem....time to start over treating her like a untamed bird and now I can get her on my hand but its still not back to where we were 5 months ago ... funny part is it only took 1 month to tame her when i first got her at 9 months old... take your time and go at the birds rate... good luck

 

[moss]

I don't know if this will help you or not ... I have 2 gcc 1 male and 1 female... both are around 3.5 years old... 4 months ago the female started to act afraid of my hand ... no problem sitting on my arm...shoulder .. back .. but not my hand ... and over a few days it got to the point she wouldn't come near me and getting her back into the cage was a problem....time to start over treating her like a untamed bird and now I can get her on my hand but its still not back to where we were 5 months ago ... funny part is it only took 1 month to tame her when i first got her at 9 months old... take your time and go at the birds rate... good luck

Hi! The person who our bird is flying away from has been in the process of regaining the birds trust by putting safflower seeds all over himself, and there's been a lot of improvement. Patience is definitely key lol. The bird doesn't fly away from him as much anymore, and has started stepping up on his finger again. There's still some more time we have to spend until trust is fully regained, but approaching avoidant parrots like a stranger is the best way so far. Thank you!

 

[Chenetaqwa]