Aggression in New (to me) Pionus

[tka]

Welcome to your new bird? Does he have a name?

In my experience, adult Pionus have the potential to be cage territorial. Leia will often allow me to mess around with her cage as long as I ask nicely. She has a weird thing where, if she's stomping around the bottom of the cage, I can scratch my hand on the paper, she'll come over for a headscratch, and then she chills out. I don't know how this happened so can't give advice on how to train it, haha. But it works for us. Kira can also be a bit unpredictable and especially hates anyone messing around with her toys and perches: if I want to rearrange her cage, it has to be done when she's shut out of the room or I will get bitten. I've taught her to "station" on a flat perch: she gets a nut to distract her so I can least sweep the cage floor without her interfering.

I personally wouldn't offer treats in the cage. It appears that even your hand offering somethng nice is enough to trigger the territoriality so I would avoid it. Every interaction is a learning experience so you don't want to make it a habit. Instead, only give treats when he's outside the cage.

Pay attention to what you're wearing and if you have anything on your hands. Leia doesn't like red, one particular blue plaid shirt and, as I discovered yesterday, a stripey tshirt. She was pissy with me all day until I got a hunch, took off the tshirt and then she was a sweetie again. Kira doesn't like my work lanyard and will fly over to attack if I put it on or take it off in her presence. They don't like my wife's nail polish and get funny about plasters.

With the head-fluffs, look at the eyes. An angry Pi will have a hard stare and maybe be more fluffed up around the eyes and beak. A happy Pi will have soft, contented or sleepy eyes and maybe be more fluffed up towards the back of the head and neck.

 

[TheBirds]

All my Pionus parrots were cage aggressive and it just depends on what mood they're in when you decide to open the door. Nerd trusted me completely so I could reach in and mess with him and he put up with it. I tried not to abuse the privilege. Lurch was very aggressive about his home and would just try to get me. when I upgraded him to a new much bigger cage he had more room to move away from me and make half hearted strikes but being new to him it kinda reset his attitude for a while, plus he knew he wouldn't get his food and water if he tried to bite us.
Dobby will usually allow us to reach in if he knows it's time to come out and he just doesn't really like to really BITE, he'll pop you if he's really mad but usually no full on try to draw blood thing.
Might want to see if all the triggered biting ceases when he's out on neutral ground instead around his house, it is their home as far as they are concerned so they'll defend it.

Thanks for the perspective, much appreciated.

FWIW, I don't open the door if he's lunging at it or seems aggressive. I'm clear in my "ask" - usually a step-up with a treat directing his head up away from my hand - and I wait until he's climbed up out of the cage and is facing me again before cueing. If it's a no, I back off and try again later. When he does it (which is almost always), he's very deliberate about raising a foot - and takes the treat very gently.

He's begun aggressively attacking toys in his cage on occasion, usually when I'm nearby (he can hear me but can't see me), like repeated strike attacks with a "KACK!". I ignore him when he does it, but it makes me wonder what he's trying to convey.

I'm also noticing he's begun posturing around my partner .. to the point where I put him away in his cage after it looked like he wanted to launch an air attack against him (gaping, tail flaring, fluffed up body, lower stance on the branch like he was preparing to take flight). These bigger beaks are no joke (*she says, as she looks down at her flesh wound from the other day*) - preventing, or managing, any more aggression is top of my priority list!

 

[TheBirds]

Pay attention to what you're wearing and if you have anything on your hands. Leia doesn't like red, one particular blue plaid shirt and, as I discovered yesterday, a stripey tshirt. She was pissy with me all day until I got a hunch, took off the tshirt and then she was a sweetie again. Kira doesn't like my work lanyard and will fly over to attack if I put it on or take it off in her presence. They don't like my wife's nail polish and get funny about plasters.

With the head-fluffs, look at the eyes. An angry Pi will have a hard stare and maybe be more fluffed up around the eyes and beak. A happy Pi will have soft, contented or sleepy eyes and maybe be more fluffed up towards the back of the head and neck.

This is all great advice! Funny you mention the colour red; he seems especially reactive when my daughter wears her red t-shirt. I had a hunch but hearing you say the same thing makes me think it's indeed a thing.

We've actually all made a LOT of progress in two months (!) since my last post. I'm more respectful of his space (and will wait until he's out to try and stick my hand in to retrieve/place something) and am finding it easier to read his body language now he's finally chilled-out.

Plus: he's learning to fly to me on cue! We had a couple instances where he was so eager for the reward that he actually flew pre-cue and caught me off guard, once landing on my chest - right near my face - and another on my forearm. I managed to contain the panic (what if he biiiites) and moved him promptly and we were all good. Phew. But he's getting so confident now that I don't need to wave around the reward excessively before he'll fly over. It suggests to me that we're finally starting to speak the same language. He's also no longer aggressive towards my husband, and even though he doesn't like my daughter's red shirt, we've successfully had her do some target training with him and even a couple of solid step-ups onto her hand.

He doesn't seem to be a big fan of toys though, I rarely see him chewing or engaging with them which is a pity because I have lots for him to choose from - and rotating through every few days does little to pique his interest. The only thing I can get him to really interact with is a foraging ball, which I stuff with crinkle paper and a nut, and thread a skewer through. He only gets that once a day as he also gets pieces of nut as a reward for target training or flying to me - and of course - I worry about his junk food intake! His pellets go in a foraging wheel so he has to work for those too.

Seeing him in his cage with nothing that interests him bothers me; I'm open to suggestions on things to try with him if anyone has any! (We also need a name. He earned himself the nickname "Screech" when he arrived because of his contact call .. and I hate that we still refer to him by that name! .. the other two birds have short alcohol-related names but I just can't seem to find one I like for him.)

 

[Finchbreed]

Wine?
For a name not for him or you to drink - though if you feel the inclination - don't let me stop you.

 

[Nostromo]

Just to chime in, I have two Pionus (blue head females) and both don't like me sticking my hands in their cages while they're in there. My younger girl hasn't hit puberty yet, so she tolerates it; my older girl will posture and lunge, but if I kind of cluck my tongue, pull my hand back for a second and then try again, she'll roll her eyes and go along with it. Neither one will really bite.

Both my birds are flighted, so there's rarely situations where I have to have them step up. Usually I just open their doors. I only clean or mess around with their cages when they're not in them.

 

[TheBirds]

Update: Moët is doing really well. He seems to be familiar with target training so we taught him a couple tricks (spin) and to wave; he's also very good at flying to me on cue. And no more aggression! I can reach into his cage to refill pellets etc. while he's in there.

So it took us awhile but we made it. Patience, patience, patience. And lots of positive reinforcement! I really enjoy his company, and it seems the feeling is mutual as he will occasionally make his happy sounds and scramble over to the nearest side of the cage when I walk into his room in the mornings. He's not particularly motivated to do a whole lot (perch potato is a very accurate description), so he's got two foraging trays now as well as a foraging ball - I'll put a half cracked nut in-shell inside and he'll spend hours trying to get chunks off of it through the little openings - and a foraging wheel that he has to spin to get his pellets. So food keeps him busy most days. He's destroyed a couple of toys, cardboard and balsa seem to be acceptable to him, so I've sourced more toys with those components (but of course, the most amazing new toy with nothing but cardboard and balsa he's just ignoring...).

Anyway, Pionus are awesome. The end.

 

[conurehrdr]

Update: Moët is doing really well. He seems to be familiar with target training so we taught him a couple tricks (spin) and to wave; he's also very good at flying to me on cue. And no more aggression! I can reach into his cage to refill pellets etc. while he's in there.

So it took us awhile but we made it. Patience, patience, patience. And lots of positive reinforcement! I really enjoy his company, and it seems the feeling is mutual as he will occasionally make his happy sounds and scramble over to the nearest side of the cage when I walk into his room in the mornings. He's not particularly motivated to do a whole lot (perch potato is a very accurate description), so he's got two foraging trays now as well as a foraging ball - I'll put a half cracked nut in-shell inside and he'll spend hours trying to get chunks off of it through the little openings - and a foraging wheel that he has to spin to get his pellets. So food keeps him busy most days. He's destroyed a couple of toys, cardboard and balsa seem to be acceptable to him, so I've sourced more toys with those components (but of course, the most amazing new toy with nothing but cardboard and balsa he's just ignoring...).

Anyway, Pionus are awesome. The end.

Thanks for the updates! Glad things are working well with you!! I'm working with Vortex, my WCP, on accepting stepping up on hands. Last time I tried, she literally chewed a chunk out of my finger. OUCH. She steps up on perches, to my relief. She's a sweetheart when she wants to be, LOL!

 

[Dartman]

Pionus can bite badly when they mean it. They hang on and chew like a feathered pit Bull Luckily most well adjusted ones are gentle and try to avoid biting.