Skwawk
Strolling the yard
- Joined
- 1/23/16
- Messages
- 87
While I haven't had experience myself(no TAG yet :'0), I've seen a few people(3 or 4, at least one with an Amazon and at least one with a CAG) here mentioning a certain behavior of their birds. This behavior is the bird putting its head down for a scratch, but when you reach over they lift their head up and bite you. From what I heard, it seems that the bird is playing a game.
But then, reading one of the books I have gotten on Greys, I saw a little infobox on the side labelled 'The Sucker-punch'. And it was about this exact sort of behavior: the bird acts like it wants a scratch, but it then reaches and bites the owner. So named because it catches the owner off-guard, it hurts, and it leaves the bird the victor.
But I became a little worried when I read the next part. Apparently, this is no game. The bird is testing your leadership. Every time the bird bites you, its trust in your ability to lead goes down. It demonstrates that you are not guiding the relationship; so it must be the bird. And if it realizes you fell for the trick once, it will try it again. And every time you repeat it, the bird learns that you don't learn. The bird doubts you more and more. This may result in(depending on the maturity and personality of the bird) a lack of cooperation or aggression; or confusion, fear, and stress(possibly also leading to aggression). Developing birds can be stressed if they perceive they are more in control of the relationship and the flock than you are, as they aren't ready for the role themselves. If the bird seriously doubts your ability to lead, they may refuse to cooperate, or even step up. Obviously, these are extreme cases. But even their mild forms are undesirable.
So what to do about it? Well, avoid it. But that doesn't mean giving up scratching the bird. When the bird actually puts its head down for a scratch, it closes its eyes. When the bird is going to bite, it will have its eyes up, watching you. Don't reach for the bird if its eyes are open! Instead, try to distract it by talking to it, waving your hands; or just wait a minute or two until the bird is calmed down. Try going through a step-up routine to reinforce cooperation. Reward the bird for calm, docile, non-aggressive behavior. Whenever the bird puts its head down for a scratch(and its eyes are closed!), reward it not just with a scratch but with praise. Once the bird learns you are no longer falling for the trick, it will probably regain its faith in you and may stop completely, for a while. But keep your wits about you, for when it tries it again.
Some additional notes:
Never punish a bird for biting you, like this or any way. The bird associates the punishment for you. This may actually encourage biting, due to fear. And fear bites are much more painful, and harder to cure, than testing bites like the sucker-punch. It is far better to show the bird what to do, and reward them for doing that. That way, they know what to do instead of the bad behavior, instead of just knowing not to do it but not knowing what to do instead(once again, this can lead to stress).
And also, if the bird does bite you(for any reason), don't immediately pull away and cry out in pain. Once again, this casts doubt upon who is guiding the relationship. Instead, press your finger into the bird's mouth(this surprises them), say 'let go' calmly but firmly, and then slowly withdraw your finger. It is best to stay away from the bird's beak in situations where it might bite, or if it is showing that it plans to bite(pinning it's eyes, raising its shoulder feathers, small lunges, hyper-vigilance, etc. Take a look at a guide to avian body language here).
Just wanted to put this out there. Many bird owners may not realize what 'the sucker-punch' means, and allow it to continue. Hopefully this will cure it, and nip any confidence problems in the bud. This could also, hopefully, educate a some on what to do with biting in general. Ignorance may well be the biggest barrier to a successful relationship with a parrot.
If anyone has any qualms, corrections, additional details, etc; name them! After all, none of this is from my own experience, just a book.
But then, reading one of the books I have gotten on Greys, I saw a little infobox on the side labelled 'The Sucker-punch'. And it was about this exact sort of behavior: the bird acts like it wants a scratch, but it then reaches and bites the owner. So named because it catches the owner off-guard, it hurts, and it leaves the bird the victor.
But I became a little worried when I read the next part. Apparently, this is no game. The bird is testing your leadership. Every time the bird bites you, its trust in your ability to lead goes down. It demonstrates that you are not guiding the relationship; so it must be the bird. And if it realizes you fell for the trick once, it will try it again. And every time you repeat it, the bird learns that you don't learn. The bird doubts you more and more. This may result in(depending on the maturity and personality of the bird) a lack of cooperation or aggression; or confusion, fear, and stress(possibly also leading to aggression). Developing birds can be stressed if they perceive they are more in control of the relationship and the flock than you are, as they aren't ready for the role themselves. If the bird seriously doubts your ability to lead, they may refuse to cooperate, or even step up. Obviously, these are extreme cases. But even their mild forms are undesirable.
So what to do about it? Well, avoid it. But that doesn't mean giving up scratching the bird. When the bird actually puts its head down for a scratch, it closes its eyes. When the bird is going to bite, it will have its eyes up, watching you. Don't reach for the bird if its eyes are open! Instead, try to distract it by talking to it, waving your hands; or just wait a minute or two until the bird is calmed down. Try going through a step-up routine to reinforce cooperation. Reward the bird for calm, docile, non-aggressive behavior. Whenever the bird puts its head down for a scratch(and its eyes are closed!), reward it not just with a scratch but with praise. Once the bird learns you are no longer falling for the trick, it will probably regain its faith in you and may stop completely, for a while. But keep your wits about you, for when it tries it again.
Some additional notes:
Never punish a bird for biting you, like this or any way. The bird associates the punishment for you. This may actually encourage biting, due to fear. And fear bites are much more painful, and harder to cure, than testing bites like the sucker-punch. It is far better to show the bird what to do, and reward them for doing that. That way, they know what to do instead of the bad behavior, instead of just knowing not to do it but not knowing what to do instead(once again, this can lead to stress).
And also, if the bird does bite you(for any reason), don't immediately pull away and cry out in pain. Once again, this casts doubt upon who is guiding the relationship. Instead, press your finger into the bird's mouth(this surprises them), say 'let go' calmly but firmly, and then slowly withdraw your finger. It is best to stay away from the bird's beak in situations where it might bite, or if it is showing that it plans to bite(pinning it's eyes, raising its shoulder feathers, small lunges, hyper-vigilance, etc. Take a look at a guide to avian body language here).
Just wanted to put this out there. Many bird owners may not realize what 'the sucker-punch' means, and allow it to continue. Hopefully this will cure it, and nip any confidence problems in the bud. This could also, hopefully, educate a some on what to do with biting in general. Ignorance may well be the biggest barrier to a successful relationship with a parrot.
If anyone has any qualms, corrections, additional details, etc; name them! After all, none of this is from my own experience, just a book.
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