Help! Chico Is Eating Me Alive!

[DeputyMax]

My one year old cockatiel Chico is fully flighted and spends about 8 to 10 hours a day outside of his cage.
He has a bad habit of plucking any hair he sees on my body out with the exception of on top of my head. My arms, legs, mustache. neck, beard, any hair not covered that he sees he will grab hold of and pluck it out and it hurts a lot.
Summer is coming and I don't want to spend the whole time wearing sweat pants and long sleeve shirts, but that's the only way to keep him from plucking me.
Also, I don't want to keep him in his cage all day because he does enjoy flying and getting his exercise.
I gave him dozens of chew toys but he always goes straight for my arms or legs or face.
Any help you can give me to help break him of this will be appreciated.i

 

[Finchbreed]

Is there something that is harmless but tastes awful you can smear on?

 

[Aestatis]

How do you react? Are you stoic and he might not know it hurts, or maybe you yelp and it feels like it's a game? I've had birds do this, but they seemed to train out of it quick when I kept jerking away.

You could always be prepared to immediately place him on his cage or a playstand the second he yanks a hair art. You might have to be persistent and you need to get the timing right, but if he likes being on you it may be the motivator he needs to stop. You don't necessarily want to put him in the cage, but if that's your only option I would just leave him in there for a short time (30s - 1 minute) before letting him back out.

 

[Mizzely]

Can you keep some foot toys, small toys,or toy parts nearby? Then when he starts messing with your hair offer an alternative instead

 

[DeputyMax]

How do you react? Are you stoic and he might not know it hurts, or maybe you yelp and it feels like it's a game? I've had birds do this, but they seemed to train out of it quick when I kept jerking away.

You could always be prepared to immediately place him on his cage or a playstand the second he yanks a hair art. You might have to be persistent and you need to get the timing right, but if he likes being on you it may be the motivator he needs to stop. You don't necessarily want to put him in the cage, but if that's your only option I would just leave him in there for a short time (30s - 1 minute) before letting him back out.

I've tried both. When I remain stoic he pulls a few out then goes on his merry way. If I jerk away he just looks for another place to start plucking.
I'm guessing he likes the reaction and continues to pluck my hair looking for the reaction. The problem with ignoring him is gets about 10 or 20 hairs out before he leaves and like I said, it hurts.

 

[DeputyMax]

Can you keep some foot toys, small toys,or toy parts nearby? Then when he starts messing with your hair offer an alternative instead

I do keep a lot of small chew toys next to me and I put a play stand next to me. I tried putting him on the stand when he starts but he just jumps off and goes straight for my arms or legs again. Unfortunately once he makes up his mind I seem to be the only toy he's interested in.

 

[Shezbug]

Without any drama you simply need to redirect your bird to do something else as soon as the problem behaviour starts, or even better, before it starts.
Will take quite some time to retrain new acceptable behaviours but with consistency your bird will eventually stop, the biggest issue here is that you need to be more persistent about it no longer being acceptable than your bird is about it being done.

Any giving in or drama regarding stopping it will become the new game/habit.

I’d suggest adding something fun and ok for your bird to do while on you such as making a bird toy necklace or similar.

 

[Aestatis]

I agree with @Shezbug, sometimes you really gotta be persistent + calm. To be fair, it can be really hard in practice, especially with your sort of situation! You might have to redirect your bird hundreds of times a day at first. Sometimes animals will increase the unwanted behavior right before they're about ready to stop doing it. So, don't get discouraged if you feel like the frequency is going up.

 

[DeputyMax]

Thank you for the advice. I'll start tomorrow when he comes out of his cage. In the meantime I'll see what kind of gadgets I can come up with to distract him.
Again, thanks for your advice.