Bird attack

[Leafstem]

I got a sun conure a month or so ago and she was the absolute sweetest thing to everyone in my family (excluding my four year old sister--she does not like small kids). However, in the past week or two she has become increasingly more aggressive towards my family members. She has very aggressively bitten my two sisters (with one is was a bit of an attack but I stopped it after the first bite). And my brother just loves my birds so he bonded with this sun conure but just a few minutes ago, she attacked him. She didn't hurt him physically (thank goodness) but he was extremely upset and definitely emotionally hurt. I think she's chosen me as her mate and I'm just wondering if there's a way I can stop this before it progresses even further.

 

[JLcribber]

I got a sun conure a month or so ago

You're going to have to give us a lot more to go on than this. Where did this bird come from? How old is she? How do you know it's a female? What do you know about her history?

Aside from all that you can consider the first month a honeymoon period. Birds will not start to show their true character until this period ends.

I'm assuming you don't have much experience with birds? The truth is the bird is exhibiting perfectly natural behaviour according to its instincts. The biting/attacking is the result of the rest of you not respecting Flock etiquette which you may not even realize exists.

The way to change/stop this behaviour is for all of you guys to become more informed about what's going on and changing your behaviour and the way you handle this bird.

Here is a good place to start.

Site Name - Articles - Behavioral - Sex And The Psittacine

 

[msplantladi]

First congrats on your family member. Thank-you so much for seeking out advise, shows you care and want to learn. Yes as JL stated the first month of owning a new bird can be very deceiving. Body language of a bird can tell you a lot. You have to learn to recognize certain things so you know when they are getting ready to attack, pinning of the eyes is a good one , Or antsy dancing is another good one. etc. Be a sponge and soak up all the knowledge you can. I would back off on that many people handling her. What ages are the siblings? what is the routine for your bird? what sort of diet is she on? How much sleep is she getting?......yes all these thing play into her actions. There are a lot of very experienced bird owners here , they are a wealth of information. Hope to hear from you.

 

[sunnysmom]

It could be hormones. Can you give us more info?

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Congratulations on your new bird! In addition to more information, we would love to see pictures of her!