Every time I take him out my B&G has to be on me... if I'm lying down on my side/back/stomach, if I'm sitting or standing on my shoulder. If I take him off he pretty much always walks/flies straight back, unless he's eating or chewing something. Is this normal? I'd like for him to be able to come out of his cage and just be with me, not on me the entire time.
Blue and Gold always has to be on me
- Thread starter G3ck0
- Start date
chris-md
Well-known member
- Feb 6, 2010
- 4,360
- 2,146
- Parrots
- Parker - male Eclectus
Aphrodite - red throated conure (RIP)
Welcome to parronthood!! They are clingy little children!
OldmanDiscarded
New member
- Mar 9, 2017
- 12
- 0
- Parrots
- Blue Crown Conure, Hans Macaw, Jenday, Blue and Gold Macaw.
Sounds a lot like your bird has bonded to you. B&G's are lovable, snuggly velcro birds. How old is your bird? if he/she is young he/she could just be feeling a little insecure and needing to feel close to you. As the bird gets older you should find he/she will happily roost on a good perch but he/she will still remain on the clingy side.
EllenD
New member
- Aug 20, 2016
- 3,979
- 68
- Parrots
- Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
My 6-7 month old Senegal parrot is doing this now, I've had him since the first week of December and he immediately was clingy, just like all of my birds are, or at least were when they were young and they first bonded to me. My female cockatiel has remained very clingy (which I find unusual for cockatiels in my experience), my green cheek conure is extremely clingy (normal and expected), and 3-4 out of 7 budgies I bred and hand-raised from 2 weeks old are like this, the other 3 are tame and loving but do not always have to be attached to me. My male Quaker parrot grew out of the clingy period, he is very loving and tame and loves to hang out with me and my other birds, but he does not always want to be on me like the other birds. But my Senegal parrot is VERY clingy, more so than any of my other birds, he is on me as soon as I open his sleeping cage up in the morning. I actually have to put him inside his cage with his food and shut the door so he will eat. If he knows his cage door is shut and he can't get out he's fine, he doesn't scream or whine or call for me, he'll go and eat when I feed him, play with his toys if I have to put him in his cage for some reason (they are all usually out whenever I'm home except to sleep at night or if I'm cleaning or doing something where I can't supervise them), but if that door is open he immediately jumps out onto the perch attached on the outside of his cage above the door, and he either jumps directly on me if I haven't already walked away, or he flies and finds me and is on my shoulder. He likes to cuddle in my hoods if I'm wearing a hoodie, lol, otherwise he's on my shoulder, in my lap, or hanging off of me if I'm doing something or walking around (with a cockatiel and green cheek conure right behind him). He just never ever takes a break. He can't just sit on his cage top and play or play on the massive PVC play gym I built them that has probably 20 toys, ropes, ladders, and chains attached to it. He's on me or he's not outside the cage, that's just how it is. He may still grow out of it, as he is only a little over 6 months old, and he might not, it might just be his personality.
I have always taken this behavior as a sign that my birds are bonded to me very closely and they want to be in my flock. My Senegal is my first experience with the bond being so close that he just absolutely has to be on me at all times if he's out of his cage, but it's the same flock principle, just to a bigger extreme. If you think about birds in the wild or two domestic birds that are bonded you'll see that this behavior is completely normal for them, it's just how birds are! Look at the behavior of most bonded pairs of untamed birds, or bonded pairs of breeders; they are always sitting right next to each other (usually pressed against each other), always preening each other, climbing all over each other while playing, etc. In fact, if I look at my bonded pairs of budgies that live in my large, indoor aviary on the top floor of my house, they are the best example of bonded pair behavior. I stopped breeding budgies a year ago and my pairs were in very large, stacked breeding cages. When I decided to stop breeding them I built a very large, almost room-size aviary in my spare bedroom, and I made sure it was not only massive but that it also had numerous perches everywhere, dozens of toys, some multiples so each pair had their own if it was a popular toy they all liked, and basically set the inside of the aviary up so that each bonded pair had their own little area like they did in their breeding cages. And so there are 10 budgies in my aviary that you rarely see interacting with each other, only with their mate, who they are touching 24/7. Even my Quaker parrot and my green cheek conure, both males so not a mating pair, but rather a very close pair of birds right from the day I brought the Quaker home. They very rarely get on the play gym in my living room with all the toys on it, they would much rather sit alone together on their T-stand on the other side of the room, and are always touching each other, sleeping pressed against each other, preening each other, the only time they aren't pressed against each other or climbing all over each other is when one of them goes to their individual cage to poop, or for a drink or to eat. So it's just very normal, instinctive behavior for birds, it's just how they interact with their chosen mates.
I understand that having your bird constantly stuck to your body can be very annoying at times, especially if you're trying to get something done or especially if you're trying to take a nap. The only time I really, truly get annoyed with my Senegal parrot is when I'm on the couch watching TV and I decide I want to lay down and take a nap. I try to put him on top of his cage, on the play gym, on a T-stand, etc. but he will just fly back to me on the couch. My last ditch effort is usually trying to put him on the top of the back of the couch so that he's still right above me or next to me on the arm of the couch, and usually what happens is that I'll lay down on my side, get comfy, and just as I'm starting to fall asleep he'll waddle his feathery butt on down and get himself comfy on my side somewhere, usually on my hip bone, or if he's in a particularly clingy mood he'll actually climb up onto my pillow either behind my head or right in front of my face, or he'll squeeze himself against my chest under my chin. Then he falls right to sleep, and I'm too nervous that I'm going to roll on top of him that I can't sleep at all and end up laying there with him while he naps
.
I actually take his behavior as a compliment, and I think that's the way you need to think of your macaw's clingyness too. He has chosen you as his mate and he's treating you in the very same way he would treat his avian mate if he lived in the wild. As a very wise and educated member on here, SailBoat, always says, "Remember, it's never the parrot's fault, it's always the person's fault", and this is very, very true. Even though our birds are domesticated pets and they (for the most part) have been born in captivity, they still retain all of their wild instincts, and since we have made the decision to bring them into our homes and our lives and they have been given no choice in the matter, then it's our responsibility to adapt our lives to fit their instincts. Yes we of course train them to curb bad or dangerous, aggressive behaviors, and yes most of our pet birds have been very domesticated and actually do think they are humans, or that we are birds, but it's inevitable that a bird will eventually pick a mate for themselves and will closely bond with that mate and treat them just like they would be treating their mate in the wild.
The bottom line is that if you are doing something that requires your full attention or something that may potentially put the bird in danger, then you absolutely have to put your bird back in his cage. That's for his own safety and for yours as well. And if you're working from home or doing something where you have to concentrate then you can try to put your bird on a play stand or play gym next to you, but if he continually climbs back onto you and you can't get your work done, then you'll have to put him back in his cage until you are done. But if you're watching TV, reading, on the computer, etc. or it's a situation where your bird has been locked inside his cage all day and needs to be allowed out, then just try to remember that your bird loves you, he thinks of you as his chosen mate, and he wants to be close to you. He's not wanting to constantly be sitting on you or climbing on you because he's trying to annoy you or bother you, and I'm always afraid that if I don't allow my Senegal to sit on me when I'm not doing anything pressing or dangerous for him, I'm going to eventually alienate him. Now I live alone, I have no kids or spouse, so I'm the only person here able to bond with my birds, play with them, etc. But I've heard many times about a bird choosing a mate when they are first brought home, and they actually end up switching mates at some point because their original mate was either not home as much as the other person, or the other person tolerates their affection better.
So that's a choice you have to make, but regardless of your home situation, the one thing that you cannot have happen is having your bird locked inside his cage more and more simply because he is closely bonded to you. Honestly you should consider yourself lucky, I do, especially when I read the numerous posts on here weekly, if not daily, written by people that love their birds dearly but for one reason or another their birds don't want to be near them at all, their birds are bonded with someone else in their home that doesn't even like the bird, they are constantly biting them and won't allow the person to touch them, won't even step up for them, etc. I've seen posts where the person has said that they cry all the time because they don't know why they lost the bond they once had with their birds, and they want nothing more in this world than to have their bird love them and want to be with them again. So I figure that I am a very, very lucky person, I have 4 larger birds that love me and that are closely bonded with me, as well as 7 budgies. That's 11 birds that I am privileged enough to be bonded with and loved by, 11 birds that I can easily handle, pet, scratch, and snuggle with just like I do with my dogs, 11 birds that make up my family. A lot of people want to have that kind of relationship with just 1 bird, and would give anything to have it. If the trade-off for me is having my Senegal parrot constantly stuck to me, and having to tolerate that at times when I'd rather he was doing something else, I'd say that's a pretty fair trade-off, and that I'm one lucky and very loved person.
"Dance like nobody's watching..."
I have always taken this behavior as a sign that my birds are bonded to me very closely and they want to be in my flock. My Senegal is my first experience with the bond being so close that he just absolutely has to be on me at all times if he's out of his cage, but it's the same flock principle, just to a bigger extreme. If you think about birds in the wild or two domestic birds that are bonded you'll see that this behavior is completely normal for them, it's just how birds are! Look at the behavior of most bonded pairs of untamed birds, or bonded pairs of breeders; they are always sitting right next to each other (usually pressed against each other), always preening each other, climbing all over each other while playing, etc. In fact, if I look at my bonded pairs of budgies that live in my large, indoor aviary on the top floor of my house, they are the best example of bonded pair behavior. I stopped breeding budgies a year ago and my pairs were in very large, stacked breeding cages. When I decided to stop breeding them I built a very large, almost room-size aviary in my spare bedroom, and I made sure it was not only massive but that it also had numerous perches everywhere, dozens of toys, some multiples so each pair had their own if it was a popular toy they all liked, and basically set the inside of the aviary up so that each bonded pair had their own little area like they did in their breeding cages. And so there are 10 budgies in my aviary that you rarely see interacting with each other, only with their mate, who they are touching 24/7. Even my Quaker parrot and my green cheek conure, both males so not a mating pair, but rather a very close pair of birds right from the day I brought the Quaker home. They very rarely get on the play gym in my living room with all the toys on it, they would much rather sit alone together on their T-stand on the other side of the room, and are always touching each other, sleeping pressed against each other, preening each other, the only time they aren't pressed against each other or climbing all over each other is when one of them goes to their individual cage to poop, or for a drink or to eat. So it's just very normal, instinctive behavior for birds, it's just how they interact with their chosen mates.
I understand that having your bird constantly stuck to your body can be very annoying at times, especially if you're trying to get something done or especially if you're trying to take a nap. The only time I really, truly get annoyed with my Senegal parrot is when I'm on the couch watching TV and I decide I want to lay down and take a nap. I try to put him on top of his cage, on the play gym, on a T-stand, etc. but he will just fly back to me on the couch. My last ditch effort is usually trying to put him on the top of the back of the couch so that he's still right above me or next to me on the arm of the couch, and usually what happens is that I'll lay down on my side, get comfy, and just as I'm starting to fall asleep he'll waddle his feathery butt on down and get himself comfy on my side somewhere, usually on my hip bone, or if he's in a particularly clingy mood he'll actually climb up onto my pillow either behind my head or right in front of my face, or he'll squeeze himself against my chest under my chin. Then he falls right to sleep, and I'm too nervous that I'm going to roll on top of him that I can't sleep at all and end up laying there with him while he naps
.I actually take his behavior as a compliment, and I think that's the way you need to think of your macaw's clingyness too. He has chosen you as his mate and he's treating you in the very same way he would treat his avian mate if he lived in the wild. As a very wise and educated member on here, SailBoat, always says, "Remember, it's never the parrot's fault, it's always the person's fault", and this is very, very true. Even though our birds are domesticated pets and they (for the most part) have been born in captivity, they still retain all of their wild instincts, and since we have made the decision to bring them into our homes and our lives and they have been given no choice in the matter, then it's our responsibility to adapt our lives to fit their instincts. Yes we of course train them to curb bad or dangerous, aggressive behaviors, and yes most of our pet birds have been very domesticated and actually do think they are humans, or that we are birds, but it's inevitable that a bird will eventually pick a mate for themselves and will closely bond with that mate and treat them just like they would be treating their mate in the wild.
The bottom line is that if you are doing something that requires your full attention or something that may potentially put the bird in danger, then you absolutely have to put your bird back in his cage. That's for his own safety and for yours as well. And if you're working from home or doing something where you have to concentrate then you can try to put your bird on a play stand or play gym next to you, but if he continually climbs back onto you and you can't get your work done, then you'll have to put him back in his cage until you are done. But if you're watching TV, reading, on the computer, etc. or it's a situation where your bird has been locked inside his cage all day and needs to be allowed out, then just try to remember that your bird loves you, he thinks of you as his chosen mate, and he wants to be close to you. He's not wanting to constantly be sitting on you or climbing on you because he's trying to annoy you or bother you, and I'm always afraid that if I don't allow my Senegal to sit on me when I'm not doing anything pressing or dangerous for him, I'm going to eventually alienate him. Now I live alone, I have no kids or spouse, so I'm the only person here able to bond with my birds, play with them, etc. But I've heard many times about a bird choosing a mate when they are first brought home, and they actually end up switching mates at some point because their original mate was either not home as much as the other person, or the other person tolerates their affection better.
So that's a choice you have to make, but regardless of your home situation, the one thing that you cannot have happen is having your bird locked inside his cage more and more simply because he is closely bonded to you. Honestly you should consider yourself lucky, I do, especially when I read the numerous posts on here weekly, if not daily, written by people that love their birds dearly but for one reason or another their birds don't want to be near them at all, their birds are bonded with someone else in their home that doesn't even like the bird, they are constantly biting them and won't allow the person to touch them, won't even step up for them, etc. I've seen posts where the person has said that they cry all the time because they don't know why they lost the bond they once had with their birds, and they want nothing more in this world than to have their bird love them and want to be with them again. So I figure that I am a very, very lucky person, I have 4 larger birds that love me and that are closely bonded with me, as well as 7 budgies. That's 11 birds that I am privileged enough to be bonded with and loved by, 11 birds that I can easily handle, pet, scratch, and snuggle with just like I do with my dogs, 11 birds that make up my family. A lot of people want to have that kind of relationship with just 1 bird, and would give anything to have it. If the trade-off for me is having my Senegal parrot constantly stuck to me, and having to tolerate that at times when I'd rather he was doing something else, I'd say that's a pretty fair trade-off, and that I'm one lucky and very loved person.
"Dance like nobody's watching..."
Mariar
Well-known member
- May 9, 2014
- 1,021
- 169
- Parrots
- Doolie,Yellow nape amazon(r.i.p.03/10/15)
Sissy,severe macaw(rescued on 03-16-15) chirpy,sparrow(beak less) jack,Jill,chase,fiona,finch, and tiger,sulfer crested(rescued 04/15/20
I can't sit or lay or stand anywhere with out sissy wanting to be on or near me. Shower time is no longer my quiet time cuz she has to be in with me. Sissy tries to reach out to mike my fiancé but he doesn't have the patience I do with her..severe macaws love to play rough...and I'm ok with it becuz she doesn't break the skin. I mean right now I'm standing in the kitchen typing and sissy is standing on my foot..yelling..peek a boo!! And "come on" and she taps my leg....no rest I tell ya!! I don't complain becuz one day she won't do it anymore and I'll miss it...no win here...its all normal
Last edited:
Most Reactions
-
626 -
266 -
232 -
189 -
172 -
112 -
110 -
72 -
71 -
52 -
O
51
-
49 -
46 -
39 -
38
