Flying and attacking

[Jeans]

A few days ago Starry started flying at me when I would leave, but then it was to be near me and that was obvious. However, yesterday she began flying at me whenever I move and it is in an aggressive way. Claws out, beak open, heading for my head. I put my arms over my head and walk away but now she follows me and won't let up... It makes me afraid to even have her out.

Nothing in her diet has changed. Nothing really at all has changed. How do I go about solving this? I don't think I can clip her wings on my own so not an option. She went from being sweeter than ever yesterday morning, to biting me constantly and flying at me as well as biting whatever is near her when I whistle back to her... It is quite frustrating to be honest.


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[texsize]

I don't really have an answer for you, but I do have some questions.
What kind of bird are we talking about ?
How old is he/she?
It could be going into puberty and or hormones.
Is there anyone else in your household that your bird may have made more of a bond to ? If so it might start seeing you as a rival.
That's all I got. I am sure there are others who can shed more light on your problem.
texsize

 

[Jeans]

I don't really have an answer for you, but I do have some questions.
What kind of bird are we talking about ?
How old is he/she?
It could be going into puberty and or hormones.
Is there anyone else in your household that your bird may have made more of a bond to ? If so it might start seeing you as a rival.
That's all I got. I am sure there are others who can shed more light on your problem.
texsize

Quaker (I know they tend to have this issue)

She is 11 so I don't think it is hormones although I initially thought it may be something like that. Her cage aggression also escalated, it was already bad but is now worse.


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[Notdumasilook]

Have you got an avian vet nearby? 2 reasons... one, you can get them to do a wing trim. At this point, as much as I hate to do it personally, in your place I'd take away his flying privileges. 2nd.. a quick change to aggression like that can be related to illness. Bird eating normally and looking fine otherwise??

 

[Jeans]

Have you got an avian vet nearby? 2 reasons... one, you can get them to do a wing trim. At this point, as much as I hate to do it personally, in your place I'd take away his flying privileges. 2nd.. a quick change to aggression like that can be related to illness. Bird eating normally and looking fine otherwise??

Nearest vet is two hours away. She is acting and looking great otherwise. Feathers looking better than ever, eating loads, drinking. In her cage she talks and moves around and is generally active. I have read just about everything on parrots biting I can find, nothing works with her. When I do the earthquake or drop it doesn't work because she just flies off my hand and attacks me again. And plus usually she is in the air not on me so this doesn't work.


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[Notdumasilook]

Well hmm... All I can suggest is that you go thru some you tube vids on the proper SAFE way to trim a birds wings yourself... and see if you can find a friend to help out. Its a 2 person / 4 hand job even with a quaker size bird. This DOES seem to be a "protect the nest" instinctive thing going on regardless of age of the bird. Your other option is just not let her out of the cage for a while and see if it passes.
I'm one of those old fashioned (old) bird owners that doesn't put up with a biting bird. My way of stopping it is to restrain them briefly and shake my finger in there face telling them NO in a situation like yours... it usually just takes a few times but your bird is airborn and that makes it a tuff situation... at least until you are able to shut down her flying. Ive heard of an ABV issue making a bird suddenly turn aggressive like that but in an 11 year old bird..I kinda doubt it, unless that's not your only bird.

 

[Jeans]

I will try and clip them tomorrow. Keeping her in her cage isn't an option until her nee cage comes next week. I always put her back in her cage when she does this.

Yeah restraining really won't work because I can't exactly catch her.

I have a small blue parakeet and a cockatiel. But they have all been in the same room since I got them.

When I got home a few minutes ago, I let her out and she was being sweeter, but as soon as I put her on her playstand she is biting the stand when I speak to her. I think I will move her to new perches. Ik she is pretty territorial.

But I found a way to stop it! If I move her to the perch nearest me and don't leave that area without her. She won't fly at me. I am going to try it. Obviously only a band aid until her wings are clipped!


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[plumsmum2005]

Please give things a chance before clipping?

My take is she is p$ssed at something right now and showing you in a way she can. If you take her wings away she will be really p$ssed at you. Just sit and think through what has gone on over the last few days prior to this happening?
My other alternative is it is a kinda bullying behaviour, bullying you! She wants you to stay put when she is out of her cage. Think why would she? You can always wear a towel around your neck to pull up over your head as protection or wear an hoody if you are fearful.
Probably a need for some training to be done, if you engage her she may just forget about trying to beat you up. Remember not to show any fear and be assertive, you are flock leader!

 

[Jeans]

Please give things a chance before clipping?

My take is she is p$ssed at something right now and showing you in a way she can. If you take her wings away she will be really p$ssed at you. Just sit and think through what has gone on over the last few days prior to this happening?
My other alternative is it is a kinda bullying behaviour, bullying you! She wants you to stay put when she is out of her cage. Think why would she? You can always wear a towel around your neck to pull up over your head as protection or wear an hoody if you are fearful.
Probably a need for some training to be done, if you engage her she may just forget about trying to beat you up. Remember not to show any fear and be assertive, you are flock leader!

I hate wing clipping, I really really do but I am also bad at handling situations where something is attacking me. I will give her a few weeks, if it isn't resolved by September I will have no choice because somebody with no bird experience will be watching her.

One of my ideas is that she is upset over her schedule being messed with. Honestly that is my best guess.

Part of it may be that she is p$ssed that I haven't been spending as much time with her. But I think that is very unlikely.

I have been having to wear vey thick gloves when handling her and I can feel the bites all the way through them. It makes me shudder. Gosh I hope this goes away soon with my aid. I decided no more out of cage time until it stops.

I will be sitting in front of her cage daily and starting from the very beginning with trust training!

Thank you for the advice


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[SirEdwin89]

Please give things a chance before clipping?

My take is she is p$ssed at something right now and showing you in a way she can. If you take her wings away she will be really p$ssed at you. Just sit and think through what has gone on over the last few days prior to this happening?
My other alternative is it is a kinda bullying behaviour, bullying you! She wants you to stay put when she is out of her cage. Think why would she? You can always wear a towel around your neck to pull up over your head as protection or wear an hoody if you are fearful.
Probably a need for some training to be done, if you engage her she may just forget about trying to beat you up. Remember not to show any fear and be assertive, you are flock leader!

I hate wing clipping, I really really do but I am also bad at handling situations where something is attacking me. I will give her a few weeks, if it isn't resolved by September I will have no choice because somebody with no bird experience will be watching her.

One of my ideas is that she is upset over her schedule being messed with. Honestly that is my best guess.

Part of it may be that she is p$ssed that I haven't been spending as much time with her. But I think that is very unlikely.

I have been having to wear vey thick gloves when handling her and I can feel the bites all the way through them. It makes me shudder. Gosh I hope this goes away soon with my aid. I decided no more out of cage time until it stops.

I will be sitting in front of her cage daily and starting from the very beginning with trust training!

Thank you for the advice


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I mostly just wanted to chime in about your first statement in this post. Don't feel guilty or bad about struggling with handling the attacks from a personal standpoint. Beaks hurt, and it is human nature to protect our faces, it's completely natural to have a negative reaction to anything flying *at* your face. And I know how easy it can be to let them get in to your head once they start inflicting any bad bites, it's something i'm struggling with myself with one of my Too's.

I know one of the most helpful pieces of advice for me, was taking a step back from the situation until *my* nerves had a chance to steady themselves back out. As great as it can be, parrot intelligence is also a damning trait, they pick up on everything. It's amazing how much I noticed my nervousness (even when I thought I was hiding it) was affecting Ely, and as long as *I* was nervous, every bit of progress with him came to a screeching hault. I could see it in his eyes, that he could see it in mine.

I can only imagine him sitting there saying "yeah, you are telling me everything is okay, but you don't look like everything is okay, why is something not okay, there must be something scary, we should leave now! *bite bite bite*"

 

[plumsmum2005]

Please give things a chance before clipping?

My take is she is p$ssed at something right now and showing you in a way she can. If you take her wings away she will be really p$ssed at you. Just sit and think through what has gone on over the last few days prior to this happening?
My other alternative is it is a kinda bullying behaviour, bullying you! She wants you to stay put when she is out of her cage. Think why would she? You can always wear a towel around your neck to pull up over your head as protection or wear an hoody if you are fearful.
Probably a need for some training to be done, if you engage her she may just forget about trying to beat you up. Remember not to show any fear and be assertive, you are flock leader!

I hate wing clipping, I really really do but I am also bad at handling situations where something is attacking me. I will give her a few weeks, if it isn't resolved by September I will have no choice because somebody with no bird experience will be watching her.

One of my ideas is that she is upset over her schedule being messed with. Honestly that is my best guess.

Part of it may be that she is p$ssed that I haven't been spending as much time with her. But I think that is very unlikely.

I have been having to wear vey thick gloves when handling her and I can feel the bites all the way through them. It makes me shudder. Gosh I hope this goes away soon with my aid. I decided no more out of cage time until it stops.

I will be sitting in front of her cage daily and starting from the very beginning with trust training!

Thank you for the advice


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I mostly just wanted to chime in about your first statement in this post. Don't feel guilty or bad about struggling with handling the attacks from a personal standpoint. Beaks hurt, and it is human nature to protect our faces, it's completely natural to have a negative reaction to anything flying *at* your face. And I know how easy it can be to let them get in to your head once they start inflicting any bad bites, it's something i'm struggling with myself with one of my Too's.

I know one of the most helpful pieces of advice for me, was taking a step back from the situation until *my* nerves had a chance to steady themselves back out. As great as it can be, parrot intelligence is also a damning trait, they pick up on everything. It's amazing how much I noticed my nervousness (even when I thought I was hiding it) was affecting Ely, and as long as *I* was nervous, every bit of progress with him came to a screeching hault. I could see it in his eyes, that he could see it in mine.

I can only imagine him sitting there saying "yeah, you are telling me everything is okay, but you don't look like everything is okay, why is something not okay, there must be something scary, we should leave now! *bite bite bite*"

Great job

 

[plumsmum2005]

Please give things a chance before clipping?

My take is she is p$ssed at something right now and showing you in a way she can. If you take her wings away she will be really p$ssed at you. Just sit and think through what has gone on over the last few days prior to this happening?
My other alternative is it is a kinda bullying behaviour, bullying you! She wants you to stay put when she is out of her cage. Think why would she? You can always wear a towel around your neck to pull up over your head as protection or wear an hoody if you are fearful.
Probably a need for some training to be done, if you engage her she may just forget about trying to beat you up. Remember not to show any fear and be assertive, you are flock leader!

I hate wing clipping, I really really do but I am also bad at handling situations where something is attacking me. I will give her a few weeks, if it isn't resolved by September I will have no choice because somebody with no bird experience will be watching her.

One of my ideas is that she is upset over her schedule being messed with. Honestly that is my best guess.

Part of it may be that she is p$ssed that I haven't been spending as much time with her. But I think that is very unlikely.

I have been having to wear vey thick gloves when handling her and I can feel the bites all the way through them. It makes me shudder. Gosh I hope this goes away soon with my aid. I decided no more out of cage time until it stops.

I will be sitting in front of her cage daily and starting from the very beginning with trust training!

Thank you for the advice
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Hi, it could be for these very reasons, she has built a bond with you and cannot understand why things change. She will notice they have and see it as a change in you. If time is short make your time together count, talk to her whilst you go about your daily chores. Parrots hate being ignored. Remember she has very little in the way to tell you she is not happy. Please try and be a bit more confident to stop this spiraling downwards. Like your suggestion of starting from #1 again. Please do come back if necessary, let us know how it's going won't you?

 

[Notdumasilook]

I feel for you .. and wish I could help. I really despise wing clipping myself but sounds like its your only option. You can't be expected to jump through hoops with every theory changing yourself to MAYBE make the bird stop attacking you. Its probably not even something you did but more some instinct that just kicked in that lil birdies brain for whatever reason. I had a friend that had a bird for over 5 years.. got along just fine, until one day my bud came home wearing a brand new set of eye glasses.. yep.. that's the only change. The bird turned on him attacking him willing to fight to the death. Guy took the glasses off... but the bird still was wacky... the guy bought contacts... the bird STILL would go after him. The bird ended up being rehomed with another guy... that already WORE glasses.... and the bird took no issue with him and is just fine. . scratch your head over that one..???
Point is, ya might never be able to figure out the birds motivation, but don't be too quick to assign some human emotion to it. Birdie brains are wired differently with instinct being the major factor.

 

[Jeans]

I just let her out for the first time in a week or so. She is worse than ever before and won't even let me come near her with my hand. I need to get her in her new cage but I'm so scared of her now.

She was acting sweet inside her cage until I opened the door and she started lungeing at me immediately what do I do!


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[Jeans]

I can't even walk in. She is guarding and sitting right inside the door waiting for me to come in. I really don't know what to do


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[Allee]

Have you been able to enter the room yet?

I'm sorry I'm late to this thread. It's very intimidating to find yourself alone with an angry quaker. Quakers are physically small birds, for that reason they are largely misunderstood, they are highly intelligent, they have an uncanny ability to speak, quite often in context. They can be opinionated and they tend to hold grudges. They are the only parrot species that build their nests with sticks, they are hard wired to protect their nest, that transfers to their cage, their personal space. They have a nasty bite when they feel the need to protect themselves. They are a little slower to trust than some species. Starry is an older bird, quakers often take it hard when they are re-homed, it takes most a while to adjust.

Some may advise you to clip your quaker's wings, I will not. I would never suggest anyone clip a quaker's wings, not even for training purposes. Let me explain, quakers are prone to plucking, in some instances plucking can escalate to QMS, Quaker Mutilation Syndrome, QMS can lead to death. Quakers are excellent pilots and they love to fly. Happy quakers are far less likely to come out of their cage and try to kill you.

I understand you are now afraid of Starry after being attacked. Starry understands that too, she scared you away, it worked, she'll do it again. Plumsmum mentioned wearing a hoody, I agree, protect yourself. Put the gloves away, most birds are terrified of gloves. Quakers are known for flying attacks, they aren't big enough to hit you hard enough to hurt you, learn to duck. Please don't confine your bird to her cage for such long periods of time, it isn't healthy for her, mentally or physically, she needs excercise and mental stimulation.

Put a perch on the outside of her cage, give her space and allow her to come out on her own. Quakers love human company and when Starry learns to trust you and feel comfortable with you, she will stop attacking. How do you respond when she attacks? Drama is a highly attractive reward. Try to keep your human emotions out of it, she is being true to her nature and doing her best to protect herself from what she perceives as a new and scary situation. Let her come to you, if she bites, return her to her perch with as little drama as possible. Let her come out of her cage before you clean it. It's great if you have a play area set up for her with water, food and toys, that way she has a safe place to be while you are cleaning her cage. Have you tried playing music for her or singing to her? Quakers love to mimic noises and they usually listen intently when a human talks.

Take a step back. The important thing is to find a comfortable routine so Starry feels confident enough to come out of her cage without attacking. You need to be able to clean, change out food dishes and get Starry to return to her cage with no bloodshed. This is not going to resolve itself in an instant, it will take time. Female quakers can get extremely aggressive during hormone season, that could be a possible reason for Starry's over the top aggression.

I wish you the best. Quakers can be a challenge but the rewards are more than worth the effort. Please let us know how things progress. Every bird is an individual, what successfully works for some may not for others. We are here for you and want to see you and Starry succeed.

 

[Jeans]

There is one pair of gloves she hates and another she adores. Which is another reason I wear them.

I hate leaving her in her cage! But she is territorial over my whole bedroom! She has a playstand and is territorial over that. Now in her new cage she is being sweet again and following me to he close to me.

She has a perch outside her cage and if she knows I am going to the door she goes straight to it!

All I do is duck and walk away. There is nearly always music playing in my room (softly) and I am constantly singing to all my animals.

Thank you for all the help! I know we can succeed and rehoming is never an option, so even if it doesn't work out super well, she has a forever home here. I have wanted her for years and I know we can be happy, it will take time and I am prepared for that.


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