suddenly, my mom is the fave

[Chihuahua]

this doesn't bother me too much though i do miss my orion cuddles, suddenly he decided my mom is The Best Ever and flies to her when he gets the chance. he treats her like he used to me, rubbing his beak and head all over her face, hiding in her shirt. preening etc. he still does this to ke but ONLY if she is not around. this is very strange because he used to lunge and nip if she tried to touch him at all, and now he even calls for her if i have him and she goes out of site. he is just totally in love. he even nipped me pretty good when i was trying to take him off of her. even stranger is that she has never spent a ton of time with him until now. she only ever held him for a minute if i had to do something that would be unsafe for him or cause some issue or inconvenience for me, such as feeding the dogs, using the bathroom, picking up a blanket or towel etc. she was always slightly nervous of him because she never had anything bigger than a budgie before and does not like getting nipped, and he can be a little nippy. fortunately she doesn't mind him too much and seems pleased in fact as getting a parrot was her idea to start with, when i was looking into getting ducks. but he was always intended to be my pet and while i don't mind this, i am just really confused as to what changed to make him so obsessed with her. it was pretty much overnight. any ideas?

edit: just fyi he is four and a half.

 

[Wolf]

Sometimes birds change who their favorite human is and no one really knows why, much less when this may occur. Who takes care of them, spends time with them or even who does or doesn't like them do not seem to have any bearing on this happening. Some species do this more often than others and despite this change of events, there is still the possibility that he will change back to having you as his favorite human person.

 

[Aubrey]

Aww!

 

[JLcribber]

He grew up.

Site Name - Articles - Behavioral - Sex And The Psittacine

 

[Wolf]

It could be that, but Sun Conures usually do this by their second or third year and this one is 4 1/2.

 

[Chihuahua]

He grew up.

Site Name - Articles - Behavioral - Sex And The Psittacine

he was four when i got him and i have had him for six months. not likely.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

It could just be he has been flirting with you for years and you did not take him up on his offer of sex and mating, so he is going to try to seduce the other female in the flock, your mom. Until we can ask them questions and get answers from them, we will never know.

In my cockatiel flock, I have two more cocks than I do hens. The spare cocks take turns flirting with me and change which ones is active about every two weeks. They also make the rounds of the hens who are not yet bonded.

 

[Chihuahua]

how could he be flirting with me for years when i have had him six months?

 

[JLcribber]

he was four when i got him and i have had him for six months. not likely.

6 months is just about right for a honeymoon period. Very likely.

He did not "choose" you. You chose him and you are what he started out with. You provided a good start over and he is/was obviously quite happy. Providing that it takes a good 6 months to a year for a bird to truly feel secure comfortable and at "home", that is when its attentions start to turn towards procreation. And that is when they will choose.

It doesn't matter what happened in the past. He is in your world and a new world now. Having only had him for 6 months you have not experienced an entire "season" with him and seen what hormones do to him.

 

[Monica]

They say that parrots mate for life.... yet some birds within captivity tend to "change favorites".... I wonder how much this "changing favorites" has anything to do with their behaviors in the wild.

 

[Chihuahua]

I was referring to the fact that you said he grew up lol. he is pretty much mature already. hormones i can believe. i hope gabby b continues being my buddy at least. good news is they are getting more attention now because one of them is on my mom and one on me lol. i don't mind much, i am glad my mom can be included

6 months is just about right for a honeymoon period. Very likely.

He did not "choose" you. You chose him and you are what he started out with. You provided a good start over and he is/was obviously quite happy. Providing that it takes a good 6 months to a year for a bird to truly feel secure comfortable and at "home", that is when its attentions start to turn towards procreation. And that is when they will choose.

It doesn't matter what happened in the past. He is in your world and a new world now. Having only had him for 6 months you have not experienced an entire "season" with him and seen what hormones do to him.

 

[Chihuahua]

gabby p and orion are on rotation by the way. i use towels with miss gabby to help her stay warm while we go from bird room to trailer to house in this cold weather and of course orion is a towel enemy and will attack me for having one, so after a couple hours i put him up and take her out. she likes the towel

 

[lexalayne]

My daughters sun conure suddenly would go to anyone except her. Then after a few months she turned her attentions back to her. Why? Who knows. We play the cards we're dealt and you seem to be playing them very well. My daughter was crushed there for awhile.

 

[Chihuahua]

Just occurred to me while I was thinking that this honestly works out. I wanted a cockatiel and had wanted one for years. My mom wanted something colorful. I obliged and found Orion on CL. Well he decided to be hers and now I have a cockatiel coming in the next couple days. I also have Gabby B who is awesome. So I guess it evened out lol

 

[Chihuahua]

and just as suddenly, he is actually paying attention to me again.. going between me and my mom. who knows...m

 

[Yoshi&Reza]

Yoshi does this often. He loves me and is my shadow when my son is gone. When my son comes home, the rest of us are to be attacked! But, if I get him out the cage first then he goes after everyone else until he flies to my son's head. Then we are the bad guys again. It is work trying to figure it all out!