'Aggression' in corellas

[Betrisher]

I've just been watching a video on YouTube in which the author states that his corella is 'aggressive' because it 'latches on and bites'. I just thought I'd put it out there that 'latching on and biting' is absolutely normal behaviour for a corella because that's what they do all the time in the wild. It's perfectly normal for them to hang by beak and claws from tree branches, power lines, TV antennae and peoples' limbs. They're very strong for their size, too, so it hurts when they do it on the person handling them!

Since having Rosetta, there are plenty of behaviours I'm seeing in her that are *not* common to the SC2s and Galahs (both of which I've kept in the past). She has a different personality and expresses it differently, largely through her beak and claws and not really with aggression at all. In fact, she's the first bird I've ever owned (and I've owned a few) who is so very beak-oriented. She 'leads with her beak', so to speak and seems to get all her feedback and pleasure from it.

She's *much* more sensual too and gets great pleasure from 'beaking' things of all different textures. She loves rubbing against fabric and wood and glass and will roll over and over on the carpet, sticking her beak and claws right into it and grabbing clawfuls.

She's very nesty at the moment and spends a lot of time trying to burrow into things (notably the feed bin, where she rolled in her pellets justforkix!) She loves getting underneath fabric or cardboard or burrowing into someone's shoe and, once in there, will make the most disturbing shrieking noises (just like wild corella mothers in their nest-holes).

The main thing she does, though, is to hang on to me one way or another. That means she either sits on my wrist or shoulder (she's not allowed much time on my shoulder, although she steps down every time I ask her to) or hangs upside-down off my plait or, unfortunately, some other tender part of my anatomy. This morning, she got a good beakful of my bum and hung from there. Ooooo! Did that *smart*!!!

When 'Setta first came, I took these grabbings as mortal aggression and was very scared of her. Now I know better and I can see she's only doing what corellas do: she's hanging on, preferably upside-down. So, one of our best toys is a length of knotted rope. I hold it stretched out between my hands and 'Setta gets ahold of it, flapping like a mad thing. Eventually, she swings downward and hangs, flapping and shrieking and having the *best* time! Once, she even picked up the rope and brought it to me as if to ask 'Can I hang now?'

She has another knotted rope in her cage as well as a circular swing. She hangs from both of these and tosses her wooden dumbbell about from the hanging position, volleying it as if she were playing on the net in a set of tennis. I don't know how she can stay upside-down for as long as she does, but she *loves* it. I can't wait to set up her new cage with a six-foot rope for her to swing from and a big looped rope for her to hang from.

So yeah. All this is stuff I'm finding out about corellas as Rosetta settles in. If the filthy weather would only calm down, I hope to spend a day or two soon in a local park where I know there are corellas nesting. I'd like the chance to watch them more closely in the wild, now I know what I'm looking for. In forty-degree-plus heat, though, I'll be parked beside the aircon until further notice.

 

[Anansi]

Trish, I hadn't heard of this propensity of corellas to latch on and hang by their beaks, or at least to any extent beyond other 'toos in general, but I love the approach you've taken of working around that tendency instead of butting your head against hard wired instinct. Instead of trying to make her stop biting and latching onto things, you are giving her more appropriate things upon which to exercise her beak.

Deflection versus outright blocking. For anyone who has taken martial arts, this principle is huge. Straight blocking takes far more strength and energy, whereas deflection only uses a fraction of the defender's energy along with much of the striker's inertia to achieve a similar end. (Sorry, got martial arts on the brain as I've been going over self-defense with my sons, but I do think the metaphor particularly fitting.)

 

[noodles123]

Try to remove her access to any nesting materials or hollows/boxes etc. You don't want her getting even more hormonal and that will stimulate hormone production.

 

[Betrisher]

Try to remove her access to any nesting materials or hollows/boxes etc. You don't want her getting even more hormonal and that will stimulate hormone production.

O yes! That was done in the first week, once I'd twigged that hormones were exploding out her ears. I had to move her feeder because she managed to make that a 'sexy space' by climbing onto it and thus reaching up to her perch from beneath to rub her back on it.

It's *truly* amazing how obvious the hormonal behaviours are, once you know to look for them. I'd go so far as to say every ritualised or stylised behaviour 'Setta does is hormonally produced (and she does a *lot* of those!). Luckily, her cage is right by my desk, so as soon as I'm aware of her doing nesty things, I can distract her with a chat or a song or a quick targetting diversion. It seems to be working.

 

[noodles123]

LOL---so true (in many cases).
When my sister visits, she is like a bird hormone alarm because I will hear her saying, "chompy chompy" followed by an exasperated "UGHHHH" when Noodles lifts her wings and looks up endearingly...and then tries to crawl into armpits, laps and even knee bends lol.

 

[Betrisher]

Rosetta actually dove into my *bra* and was bent on settling into my Bottomless Pit (ladies know what I mean), which is, unfortunately, big enough to hold her. Just. All I could think was 'What if she bites me while she's in there???'

Another excellent reason for target training.

 

[noodles123]

LOLLLLLLL- Noodles tried this once as well (much to my dismay--mostly because I was like...seriously?!!). Fortunately, my "pit" is more like a mostly vertical plain, which quickly lost it's appeal when she realized she would be falling through my shirt!

 

[riddick07]

Ivory plays with her beak but isn’t a biter. She knows not to use pressure just like all the other birds in the house. But I would say she uses her beak more than most cockatoos I’ve met. Folger is just issue central so not a good example of the species lol. He knew that his beak made people go away and back off plus he had all that anger, fear, sadness built up. He doesn’t really use his beak more than other birds expect in those aggressive/defensive type displays. He latchs on and grinds in like an amazon. But yeah just not a good example of the species with him because of his history.

 

[Betrisher]

Ivory plays with her beak but isn’t a biter. She knows not to use pressure just like all the other birds in the house. But I would say she uses her beak more than most cockatoos I’ve met. Folger is just issue central so not a good example of the species lol. He knew that his beak made people go away and back off plus he had all that anger, fear, sadness built up. He doesn’t really use his beak more than other birds expect in those aggressive/defensive type displays. He latchs on and grinds in like an amazon. But yeah just not a good example of the species with him because of his history.

I wish you could see the wild ones flying and at play! They're quite unlike the other Australian cockies and spend a *lot* of time socialising and chatting to one another. The best thing I've seen them do is to flock in our street (about two hundred of them), parking on the tv antennae and the power lines. They sounded like about a thousand older ladies cackling away and chastising all the people walking beneath them. Of course, most of this was done from the upside-down position with pairs and threes and fours of them apparently competing for who could do the most revolutions. They reminded me of gymnasts swinging around the high bar.

If you find a nest-hole, you can nearly always hear the parents 'speaking' to each other in the most curious low-pitched screech that sounds like a death-rattle or ravening zombie. I was pleased when our local council, rather than chopping down the old branch-dropping gum trees in the parks, fenced them off and left the trees with good nest-holes for the birds. That simple act saved the wild corellas in this area. I'd love to know who the intelligent person was that made the decision so I could thank him.

 

[Scott]

Trish, your powers of observation are only rivaled by your wonderful writing style! Kudos for seeking understanding of Rosetta's ways rather than forcing conformity!

 

[Scott]

I wish you could see the wild ones flying and at play! They're quite unlike the other Australian cockies and spend a *lot* of time socialising and chatting to one another. The best thing I've seen them do is to flock in our street (about two hundred of them), parking on the tv antennae and the power lines. They sounded like about a thousand older ladies cackling away and chastising all the people walking beneath them. Of course, most of this was done from the upside-down position with pairs and threes and fours of them apparently competing for who could do the most revolutions. They reminded me of gymnasts swinging around the high bar.

If you find a nest-hole, you can nearly always hear the parents 'speaking' to each other in the most curious low-pitched screech that sounds like a death-rattle or ravening zombie. I was pleased when our local council, rather than chopping down the old branch-dropping gum trees in the parks, fenced them off and left the trees with good nest-holes for the birds. That simple act saved the wild corellas in this area. I'd love to know who the intelligent person was that made the decision so I could thank him.

Seems you have front row seats at a circus! What I wouldn't give to view cockatoos in their natural environment!

 

[riddick07]

I remember seeing some videos of them and they seemed extremely social. I always thought it would do Folger good if he and Ivory got along. But something definitely broke in Folger from his life and he can not be near other birds without fear. If they even just fly by he flinches and panics. And they definitely can’t be sitting near him quietly either. If he could accept a flock I think it would totally change him but I know it’s not possible for him. He mostly just wants to sit quietly and observe from a distance and comment occasionally!

Ivory isn’t big on Folger either but I think that’s more because Folger is weird. I think if he was more like her they would get along just fine.