A new fascination

[JamesC]

*sigh* Here we go again. Sidney, my kinda strange Senegal, has gotten himself a new obsession. My trash cans. Specifically the recycle bin. It is a beat up old plastic white Rubbermaid that has a flip top at about a 45 degree angle. Somehow, he has figured out that he can hit that lid and it will spin around and stay open letting him have access to all that "goodness" inside. And he gets very possessive over it when he lands on it.

Rosco, my "watch-bird" blue crown, will start sounding off whenever Sidney goes after that can. It is funny because it seems like Rosco knows that Sid is not allowed in there and feels he must raise the alarm. So I hear Rosco, go to the kitchen and find Sidney perched on the edge with the lid open. As soon as he sees me, he puffs up as much as he possibly can and starts going foot to foot & clicking his beak at me. In that mood, a nasty bite surely would be coming if I try to get him off of it. I have to take the top off and carry him still attached & clinging as tightly as he can back to his cage and carefully prod him off until I can get the top away. That sometimes takes a couple of minutes to accomplish. He is tenacious about not letting go. The past two days, I've probably had to do that at least a dozen times.

Getting new trash cans to match the kitchen in my new house has been on my list of things to get but further down on the priority list with all the other things that I need to get done. But getting a pair of stainless cans with lids he can't get open might have to get moved up if this continues.

There is always something with this bird. If there is one predictable thing with Sidney is that I can never predict what new thing he will obsess over that will drive me nuts as I try to keep him safe from himself! He is really a threat to my sanity at times!

 

[Terry57]

Sidney sounds like such a character! It's hysterical that Rosco tells on him.
Do you have anywhere you can hide the trashcan until you can replace it?

 

[JamesC]

I might have to move the trash cans to the garage. Just a few steps and out the door so it would be a minor inconvenience. Before I move them I'm trying a "scare tactic". When I know he is on the trash can, I come quickly stomping my feet, waving my arms at him and acting scary. It is having the result of him taking off back to his cage rather than me having to pry him off the lid. When he goes back, I praise him, allow him on my shoulder and we go to the living room.

I'd rather he stay out of the kitchen altogether so I'm going to try to consistently act the same way whenever he goes in there. He is allowed to be in there on my shoulder only. Maybe a little bit of mixed signals but hopefully he will get the point. I'm not sure how trainable he will be, though. He does not respond as well to training as other birds I have worked with. Very curious, independent and strong willed critter. I think he has trained me more than the other way around.

 

[SailBoat]

Lots of different species of Parrots just love getting a response from their Humans and the more crazy the better. So, being scary may only encourage your guy. Personally, I would move the trash can.

 

[BeatriceC]

"A strange Senegal". Isn't that all of them?

 

[JamesC]

"A strange Senegal". Isn't that all of them?

My first Senegal, Kelly, was the sweetest and most gentle and friendly bird. She was an absolute darling. When I saw Sidney up for adoption sponsored by a rescue, my experience with Kelly and first couple of meetings with Sid made me ill prepared for the little heck raiser that I was about to bring into my home 4 years ago. He was as sweet as Kelly was. That is, until I got him home. It didn't take long for his true nature to emerge and I have been playing catch up ever since.

I wonder at times if I am the right person for him. Sometimes our personalities don't mesh all that well. And I can get a little frustrated with some of his behaviors. Lately, he has been stalking the Blue Crowns. With ill intent. I'm getting a little concerned that I might have to clip him in order to keep everyone safe. He has been molting so that might be a part of it so I take that into account. The worst of his personality traits have certainly been emerging the past couple of weeks.

 

[JamesC]

I should add that I'm not thinking of rehoming him. I adopt for life. The only way I would seriously consider it would be if I was absolutely certain that he would have a happier life in a different situation.

 

[BeatriceC]

"A strange Senegal". Isn't that all of them?

My first Senegal, Kelly, was the sweetest and most gentle and friendly bird. She was an absolute darling. When I saw Sidney up for adoption sponsored by a rescue, my experience with Kelly and first couple of meetings with Sid made me ill prepared for the little heck raiser that I was about to bring into my home 4 years ago. He was as sweet as Kelly was. That is, until I got him home. It didn't take long for his true nature to emerge and I have been playing catch up ever since.

I wonder at times if I am the right person for him. Sometimes our personalities don't mesh all that well. And I can get a little frustrated with some of his behaviors. Lately, he has been stalking the Blue Crowns. With ill intent. I'm getting a little concerned that I might have to clip him in order to keep everyone safe. He has been molting so that might be a part of it so I take that into account. The worst of his personality traits have certainly been emerging the past couple of weeks.

Kelly was the strange one. Senegals are awesome little birds, but they've got all the attitude of a macaw and a cockatoo combined into one little body.

Seriously, they can be very sweet to their chosen human, and anywhere from just at trouble maker to downright evil to everybody else. And their little brains are always cooking up new ways to get into trouble.

 

[SirEdwin89]

Hah, Sennietude can be quite the event. I guess I'm more fortunate than you though, see something can only be a threat to your sanity if you have any left, and mine is all long gone!

Your frustrations aside though, that really is a funny story. I love that you have a tattle tale in your flock, that's just too cute. I wonder if in his mind he is helping protect Sidney from the evil monster bin, or ratting him out to the coppers! LOL

 

[JamesC]

Hah, Sennietude can be quite the event. I guess I'm more fortunate than you though, see something can only be a threat to your sanity if you have any left, and mine is all long gone!

Your frustrations aside though, that really is a funny story. I love that you have a tattle tale in your flock, that's just too cute. I wonder if in his mind he is helping protect Sidney from the evil monster bin, or ratting him out to the coppers! LOL

He has been punching all the wrong buttons with me the past couple of weeks. I'll certainly be happy when he gets through this molt and goes back to being the "normal" trouble maker that he is. His current phase has not been fun.

As for Rosco, he seems to think of himself as the guardian of the flock. Always needs to know where everyone is at. He is a clever one and seems to understand the boundaries that have been set and raises the alarm if they are crossed. I appreciate it because he has warned me more than once that Sidney was up to something. It is funny cause I'll walk into the room after hearing the alarm, Sidney will be standing still as if he knows he has been caught and Rosco will be a couple of feet away strutting around all proud of himself.

 

[JamesC]

I have just about concluded, very reluctantly, that I'm going to have to clip Sidney. He has been doing his aggressive thing towards the other birds today but I kept deflecting him. But this time, he was on the floor and suddenly flew straight up to the play pen at the others and attacked Tootsie and took her to the floor. He was attacking with intent to injure. He had one of her wing feathers and his feet locked onto her. I slapped a shirt down on him and got him to let go of her and attack the shirt instead. Was able to get him back to his cage and dump him inside.

I've never seen him this aggressively nuts towards the others. Normally he has always been fine with them being in their part of the room as long as he was around or near me. I can't take the risk of him hurting my old girl. I'm going to try different out times first. Maybe I'll relocate his cage so that he is out of sight of them during the day when I'm not here. This is driving me nuts.

 

[JamesC]

I've been giving this a lot of thought and wanted to bounce this off you guys to see what you think. I have been trying to see if I could deduce a reason for Sid's recent behavior and see what I can do to mitigate it without taking his ability to fly. Looking at everything including my own behavior. I think that I have come upon a strong possibility: He is in nesting mode.

* Although it is nearing the end of Summer here, the room he lives in is getting brighter. It has plenty of natural light and now that the sun is lower in the sky, more of it is entering the room. We moved here at the end of June and this is the brightest room the birds have lived in since I adopted them.

* His interest in the trash can and defensive behavior over it. Possible he sees this as a nesting cavity. It would also explain him wanting to poke his beak under the cabinets in the kitchen and getting defensive about that activity too. Last week, he inexplicably bit me and latched on when I tried to pick him up off the floor when he was exploring.

* The heavy molt he is going through. I will have to read up on Senegal nesting behavior but I wonder if they molt and line their nest cavities with the feathers as they are getting ready to breed.

* His sudden stalking and attacking Tootsie and Rosco could be behavior meant to drive rivals out of his territory.

Now, I haven't seen any mating behavior out of him yet. There seems to be no interest in getting frisky with my hand so far. One of the reasons I think he might actually be a she is that he gets very insistent about that and is hard to distract. Very determined little bird when he is turned on.

His weight is good if a little higher than normal. Usually he is around 150g but he was 155g this morning.

So for the time being, I'm going to make a few changes here. They ain't going to like it but sure I don't need any injuries.

1. Separate out times for the birds. I will let them out in rotating shifts. Tootsie and Rosco out for a half hour or so then put them both in Rosco's cage and let Sidney out. Repeat through the day.
2. Relocate Sidney's cage. The living room is not quite as brightly lit and it has a darker feel since it has a dark hardwood floor. It still gets almost the same amount of sunlight, though. If he is being light triggered, hopefully that will dial back the behavior. And maybe if those two are out of sight a lot more he will be less inclined to stalk them. And I hope lessen his stress levels which I think are high currently. Mine sure are.
3. Hold off clipping his wings for now. See how he reacts to the changes and hope they make a difference in his attitude for the better. Clipping is the nuclear option to me.

If anyone has any thoughts on this or suggestions, I'm very interested to hear them. I want to puzzle this out to the best of my ability and get back the semi-sweet bird I'm used to and send this devil in his place back to the pit from whence it came.

Thanks!

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Sounds to me that you are on the right track Jim.. I know diddly squat about Sennies..but after reading what you have said..and you don't really know if "he" is a "she? The nesting thing,,thinking the trash can would make a good home..and attacking the others to "shooo them away" sounds plausible to me...molting and all..maybe a snip snip is in order..or waiting it out. tough decision there.

Good luck!


Jim

 

[GaleriaGila]

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease forgive me if I experience a bit of guilty pleasure at seeing another bird's ... ummmmm... challenging behavior! I'm always happy to know of any problematic behavior that the Rbird doesn''t have! Our trash is safe from avian territorializing.

 

[JamesC]

Well, day 2 of the new arrangement. Though I didn't get home until late so they didn't get much out time. Tootsie and Rosco are not helping things right now. They are wanting to hang out on me and predictably, Sid didn't like it. It was bedtime for them and I put them away for the night. The result, a very calm little Sidney sitting on my shoulder contentedly grinding his beak and blinking sleepily. Of course, it is bedtime for him too. But the change in behavior seems to be real. So I'll hold to this course of action for a while to see how he deals with it over time. If the darker room and distance from the others helps calm him down some, I'll be content with it. Hopefully he won't see them as threats coming into his "territory" instead of other birds around his place.

Sure wish this bird would start to mellow a bit with age. Next year he is 10.

And maybe I should get him for his yearly vet check. He is due. Though I haven't found a new vet around Knoxville, TN yet. There are a couple of certified vets at the University of Tennessee which isn't far from me but I didn't have a good experience at a teaching vet once and UT does not seem to be getting great reviews from people who took pets there. So I'm a bit hesitant.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Good luck. We'll be following you and dear Sid.

 

[Rival_of_the_Rickeybird]

I voted for clipping, lost. Two (wife, bird) against one.
Hang in there.

 

[JamesC]

I'm happy to say that I seem to be getting my normal semi-sweet bird back. Not sure if it was moving the cage & less bright daylight or if whatever was twisting his tail feathers into a knot went away. He is still an independent brat at times but at least I know how to manage his normal personality in a way that keeps everyone safe.

But I suppose now I'll have to sacrifice getting an end table on that end of the couch. Just not a good arrangement for being able to put one on each side with his home in the living room. Oh, well. We all make sacrifices for the birds.

I just need to figure out what perch he is spending his day on now and relocate his rough perch there. His claws have gotten needle sharp and are tearing up my skin.