One-person bird??

[Ducatimom]

Ducati, seems to have developed a weird behavior around me that I'm slightly confused about. He's only let me take him out of the cage once, every other time he rubber necks at my finger when it's only a couple inches away. He doesn't seem to do this to my husband, which is why I was thinking he was becoming a one person bird. For this I thought I would just start with some basic target training with him to get spend more time together. I've tried holding a dowel and getting him to step up onto that then slowly moving it closer so he doesn't feel threatened but he looks at it rocking back and forth like he's trying to figure it out.

What is confusing is he does that, but he'll scream at me as soon as I come in the door from work, and if I'm not sitting in my spot on the couch, which is right next to the cage. Even if I'm 5 ft away from the couch looking out the window he screams at me. As soon as I sit down he gets quieter and just kinda chirps or goes back to eating his food. Does anybody know what that means?

 

[BoomBoom]

Do you have a sun / jenday? Most are known to be one person birds. If you see him start favoring your husband, switch your roles a bit. He can do the boring stuff like cleaning the cage, toys, dishes, changing paper, etc. You can do the fun stuff like treats, training, feeding his meals, playing, showering (depends on the bird), etc.

 

[Ducatimom]

He's a sun. I don't know exactly what my husband does with him. As far as I know he takes him out a little bit while playing video games. We've been on different shifts so there's nobody here for maybe a couple of hours.

I've been sitting next to him and talking to him, giving him treats, etc. I've gotten the screaming a little under control. I eventually just had to ignore him and then I'd give him a treat when quieted down a little bit. Eventually he got to where he didn't need a treat and I could just call to him through the cut out in the wall between the living room and the kitchen. Every time I did he'd move so he could see me better and flutter his wings.

 

[Birdman666]

Conures are pair bond birds, and they can overbond with one person. So, it's somewhat normal for them to have a preference, but they still need to be handled by more than one person, or they tend to start acting up and biting anyone who isn't "their person"...

"Step up and be nice anyway." He'll be back in a little while bird.

 

[morrjr]

My Sun is definitely a one-person bird: he won't tolerate being handled by my wife or anyone else in the family. My wife got her own bird, a Quaker Parrot, so she could bond with a bird.

 

[riddick07]

To avoid over bonding with my conures I tend to just take them out and drop them on the nearest person... they all like me best but have no problem going to other people and socializing. My parents tend to whine whenever I sneak up behind them and plop my sun conure on them

 

[Birdman666]

He's a sun. I don't know exactly what my husband does with him. As far as I know he takes him out a little bit while playing video games. We've been on different shifts so there's nobody here for maybe a couple of hours.

I've been sitting next to him and talking to him, giving him treats, etc. I've gotten the screaming a little under control. I eventually just had to ignore him and then I'd give him a treat when quieted down a little bit. Eventually he got to where he didn't need a treat and I could just call to him through the cut out in the wall between the living room and the kitchen. Every time I did he'd move so he could see me better and flutter his wings.

That is called "line of sight" screaming. Conures are generally the worst offenders. If they know you are there, but can't see you, they call (sometimes every two seconds) to make sure that you are still there, and still okay.

In the wild, it's how they keep track of their flock mates when they are flying around and foraging. That way no one gets lost or left behind. So, it's a wild instinct.

 

[Ducatimom]

Update: My husband was home today when I got off work and we think we came to the conclusion that he isn't really favoring anybody. He does bite my husband a little bit, he's just able to tolerate the bites a little more than I can. He did however, fly to my husband's shoulders every time I picked him up. Until he sat down. So with that being said we figured that he would fly to Will's shoulders when he was standing up because Will is a good foot taller than me and he wanted to be up higher. We have a glove here that I use at least until I get used the beak. I've started taking him with me when I do something somewhere else, unless I'm cooking or getting ready for work. He just went into the bedroom while I put the clean clothes up and he seemed to enjoy that.

His previous owner taught him to give kisses and he'll give us some kisses every now and then. Sometimes when we ask for it and sometimes we don't.

So for right now I'm just spending time with him and feeding him some treats while he's on my shoulder so he starts to associate that as a good place.

 

[RavensGryf]

Hey Birdman, just curious if the Amazons and the "Amazon-Lite" Pionus are considered 'pair bond' birds? I think though Raven likes hubby more, he isn't necessarily crazy about either of us to be honest. He "likes" us, but could probably take us or leave us lol

Also, I'd imagine that Poicephalus are pair bond due to the fact that they are naturally inclined to be one person birds. Though they can be very cuddly, they are so independent in comparison to other species who bond close with one mate. They won't necessarily call after you or be persistent about it anyway. So maybe still pair bond but not as assertively passionate as a conure? Lol

 

[BoomBoom]

Update: My husband was home today when I got off work and we think we came to the conclusion that he isn't really favoring anybody. He does bite my husband a little bit, he's just able to tolerate the bites a little more than I can. He did however, fly to my husband's shoulders every time I picked him up. Until he sat down. So with that being said we figured that he would fly to Will's shoulders when he was standing up because Will is a good foot taller than me and he wanted to be up higher. We have a glove here that I use at least until I get used the beak. I've started taking him with me when I do something somewhere else, unless I'm cooking or getting ready for work. He just went into the bedroom while I put the clean clothes up and he seemed to enjoy that.

His previous owner taught him to give kisses and he'll give us some kisses every now and then. Sometimes when we ask for it and sometimes we don't.

So for right now I'm just spending time with him and feeding him some treats while he's on my shoulder so he starts to associate that as a good place.

Your sun reminds me of mine! So cute! Keep spending good, quality time with him to balance out his one-person-bird tendencies.