Reading bird behavior

[Pampa]

I have two conures. Pampa a BCC and Pumpkin a Peach Front. I have only had Pumpkin for a couple months and have went very slowly introducing them. For the most part they ignore each other. On occasion they have postured with each other making threatening jestures. Only twice I have had to separate them and both times I was able to have Pampa step up without incident. Tonight Pampa was approaching Pumpkin, threatening to bite with his foot up reaching out towards Pumpkin. I knocked at Pampas tail to distract her unsuccessfully so I just put my hand out and Pampa readily stepped up. What does the foot thing mean? Can they ever be friends?

Thank you.

 

[ChristaNL]

Good question... I do not know.

My 2 socially inept greys have been sharing me and my house and even sometimes a cage (it has a devider which I have to use about 1/2 to 3/4 of the year because they are testing each other sometimes and I do not trust them not to hurt each other).
I keep trying to do group-stuff with them -> we all shower together and sometimes I cook a parrotfriendly meal and they get to share a bowl, if they like we hang out on the sofa in the evening, they can get scritches or just sit.

After 2 years of this they starting to not stress out in the "Oh mY Gawd it's moving"-way if the other one moves about for a bit.

But they are definitely defensive (yup the raised foot you described) and still very wary of each other. And they have seem to have no clue how to preen another and truely chill together parrotstyle, so even if one is brave/trusting enough to ask for scritches the other one just stands there looking like he/she is completely at a loss what to do...
(and then after a while the one asking for scritches gets impatient and maybe even annoyed -> and shows it! Usually by beaking the other a bit too forcefull and forcing the other back and away.)


or it coud be the parrotway of saying:
https://boldomatic.com/content/prod...ity=95&design=original&color=white&size=16x16




It does not help Japie sometimes divebombs the other parrots (he rediscovered flying and he is pulling out all the stops now - he just loves it). Appie is a far better flyer than he is but seems to have been trained (previous owner??) to stay put ...
Lucky for him he saves those surprises for special occasions- so no hard decisions needed (sofar anyway... never say never around a parrot )

 

[EllenD]

The "foot thing" could be any number of things, he could have been trying to step on top of Pumpkin, he could have been wanting to use his foot to grab-onto Pumpkin so he could bite him, it could have been a defensive/protective gesture, or it could just have been an unconscious movement that he did while trying to bite/attack Pumpkin and wasn't even aware of...Either way he is obviously the aggressor in the situation, and that makes sense since he was there first, and as far as he's concerned it's "his house", you are "his person/people", and it's not at all uncommon for a bird who has been the only bird for some time to act this way whenever a new bird is brought into their territory, as they are extremely territorial and protective of things and people they are bonded to...

There is no way to know if their relationship will ever improve as times goes by, but chances are that they aren't ever going to be "friends". It might happen sometime down the road, but doubtful. It's most-likely all up to Pampa, as he is the aggressor and the dominant bird, and the one who's territory has been invaded. If Pumpkin responds to Pampa's aggression in an equally aggressive way, it's most-likely just as a defense and not because Pumpkin wants to actively attack Pampa; however, it's equally possible that if Pampa had accepted Pumpkin into his "flock"/territory from the start that Pumpkin may have not accepted this anyway, but as it worked out, Pampa is defending his territory and protecting his people from this new bird that he is not accepting...

There is never any way to know how two birds are going to react to each other, or how they are going to get along. They are very much like people in the way they form relationships and bond with other birds, or the way that they don't...Probably what you're best-case scenario is going to be is that someday Pampa stops being actively aggressive and accepts Pumpkin as a member of the "flock" and simply tolerates Pumpkin being there and interacting with you and living in his territory...but it's unlikely that he is ever going to be "friends" with Pumpkin...

I first brought home Lita, my Quaker parrot, at 11 weeks old, and she was the only bird in the house except for my 8 Budgies who live in a walk-in aviary and have separate out-of-cage-time each day with me than she did (the bigger birds don't interact at all with the Budgies)...So then I decided to bring home Duff, my female Cockatiel, when she was just 8 weeks old (fully weaned but just a tiny baby), who is the sweetest bird I've ever known in 33 years of owning/breeding birds. She's just the most docile, sweet little bird that wants nothing more than to get scratches from everyone she meets, she accepts all people, she has never bitten anyone even once nor attempted to, she lower her head for everyone automatically upon meeting them so they can give her scritches and she is just the most well-socialized, sweetest little thing in the world...and boy did Lita hate her with a passion!!! Lita actively tried to attack her every chance she got, and she would bite me if she was on my shoulder and I would even say the name "Duff"! It's the only time Lita ever bites me, when I touch Duff or say her name in Lita's presence, and poor Lita wanted so much to get Lita to preen her, it was sad...but that's just the way Lita is with her to this day...So then I brought home Bowie, my Green Cheek Conure, about a year later when he was 13 weeks old...And they took to each other right away, bonded pretty closely with each other, and Lita had absolutely no problem accepting Bowie into her house. To this day over 2 years later they play together each day, they snuggle with me/on me at night together with no jealousy issues, and they rarely have any fights or any problems at all, and are the only two birds I have no problem letting out together unsupervised.

So there is absolutely no rhyme or reason as to why birds accept other birds or people and others they hate and are aggressive with from the moment they set eyes on them...I've gotten Lita to the point that she now won't bite Duff because she knows she'll get a "time-out" and she won't get her treats for that night, what she does now if she happens to be able to get near Duff is she'll simply fly right to her and chase her off of wherever she's sitting, as if to make sure that Duff knows "I'm still the boss, this is still my territory, and even though I can't bite you or attack you anymore you're still not allowed to be on my territory when I'm around!" So I know they'll never be friends and I cannot ever trust them to be alone together unsupervised, but Lita can be in the same room with her out free if I'm there and she won't attack...but that's the best I can hope for...

 

[Laurasea]

Ta-dah bonded instantly with my new quaker boy, he took about a week to warm up to her. Ta-dah wanted to friends with Penny but Penn y was afraid, for a while Ta-dah would fly and attack Penny, but now they can be close one on each of my shoulders and no attacks. But they aren't Friends and can't get closer, they can eat out of a large casserole dish together, so that's good enough for me. Neptune puts his foot up a lot to hold his friend Ta-dah down so he can do his hormonal boy thing with her, he also likes to dominate her by putting his foot on her head. I

 

[Sunnyclover]

Finley often sits on his cage with one foot up and out. It's not the sleepy relaxed type of foot tucked in type of foot up it's different...like he's trying to reach out but there is nothing to reach for where he is. He just holds it there .. he's a bit off so who knows but if anyone has any clue what this means I'd also love to know. He will let me hold his foot if I want to and touch him and his foot so I don't think it's aggressive.

 

[Pampa]

Wow thank you everyone for your personal stories. I knew when I got Pumpkin it was a crap shoot whether or not they would get along. I feel lucky that Pampa doesn’t go out of his/her way to attack Pumpkin, just if they happen to be in the same place at the same time. I feel a little bad for Pumpkin, she is shy and gets nervous with handling but obviously wants to be close to me. Saying that clearly I need to work with her more.

 

[Laurasea]

Flock feeding really helps, birds are used to gathering in different species flocks around an abundant food source. I spread out food on my breakfast bar , different dishes of veggies, and some seeds then invite the birds while I enjoy my breakfast bif eggs, and I share those too. If anyone looks like they might be naughty I put my hand between them, or scope em up and move them to a bowl farther away. Anyway I think it's a great way to introduce new Parrots and to keep working on relationship's with parrot , being part of a flock and eating together ate powerful things, also the best time to introduce new foods.

 

[Pampa]

Laurasea that is a great idea. I will definitely try that.

 

[Terry57]

I have a Crimson Bellied Conure (Phoe) , and was given a Green Cheek (Jax) a few years ago. Their cages were side by side, and when Jax would venture over to Phoe's cage top during time out, Phoe would run him off and I had to keep a close eye on them because Phoe could get very aggressive. It took several months for them to get to know each other (always with close supervision) but eventually they became friends and are now practically inseparable.
Pampa & Pumpkin may never become close, but there is definitely a possibility they still could form a bond.

 

[Pampa]

Thanks Terry57. I have only had Pumpkin 2 to 3 months so it hasn’t been long and I a: not pushing anything. I will keep my fingers crossed.