What does this behavior mean?

[ravvlet]

Hey all you cool amazon experts;

After an unfortunate accident involving a blueberry, an excited parrot, and a trip to urgent care (everyone was ok; she chomped a finger and we wanted to do our due diligence) we haven’t let the kids around Sammy much. However, our youngest is home sick and keeps invading my partner’s office where Sammy resides. Today she saw my youngest and started doing this:

Other than being very cute, what does this mean?? I’m assuming she’s just asking for attention - which sadly we can’t let the kiddo give her; for one, she’s scared of her now and for two, it’s just not safe. Kirby has always been fantastic with the kids, he’s very good about keeping his distance when he isn’t interested in attention and only comes down to join us on his lower playstands when he’s amenable, but Sammy is very unpredictable.

 

[HeatherG]

She is making happy noises and regurgitating for someone she likes. Presumably your child.

 

[ravvlet]

She is making happy noises and regurgitating for someone she likes. Presumably your child.

That’s what I thought, but good lord Sammy, I do wish you’d shower this kind of affection on someone who is old enough to receive it! She’s five. She’s also the one who got the chomp. It was through the cage bars when she was trying to give her a blueberry; something she’s done before (giving treats through the cage, not blueberries specifically) with supervision. We were working on trying to reward Sam for staying calm and not flaring up around the kids. Unfortunately it did not work out as intended; hindsight being 20/20 a blueberry was a crappy choice for a treat; you can’t safely grab an end that’s far from the parrot when it’s a round object!

 

[HeatherG]

Your daughter is very very exciting to your parrot, and that’s part of why she got bit. Some birds can only handle being so excited before they bite someone, probably whoever is close enough and not really the cause of the bite.

For example, I know Jasper loves me, but if he is startled by some object or happening. BuT I still get bit because I’m the only person he can reach.

IMO

 

[wrench13]

Salty does this on occasion when we are training, specifically when its time to put his harness on (We practice this almost every night). He is not overly fond of doing it, sometimes refusing the request, which we respect. I take that action to be "I am emotionally engaged with this" and either good or bad, because he sometimes also does this for me and my son Erik, who he really likes a lot. So an indicator of strong emotions in play? Disconcerting in the least to see, especially the first time. Connected to regurgitating but no food material is actually deposited.

 

[ravvlet]

Your daughter is very very exciting to your parrot, and that’s part of why she got bit. Some birds can only handle being so excited before they bite someone, probably whoever is close enough and not really the cause of the bite.

For example, I know Jasper loves me, but if he is startled by some object or happening. BuT I still get bit because I’m the only person he can reach.

IMO

Yes, we actually had a local well known parrot trainer come over to work with us on how to get her to STOP being so excited about the kids, and I have the notes somewhere (in typical me fashion I seem to have misplaced them) but I cannot remember how she suggested we do it!

That’s exactly what happened with the blueberry. I felt so, so awful - we had been having me give her treats to create a positive association/reward her for not tail flaring and similarly freaking out when I came into the room, and the kiddo asked to participate and I just didn’t think it through.

 

[ravvlet]

Salty does this on occasion when we are training, specifically when its time to put his harness on (We practice this almost every night). He is not overly fond of doing it, sometimes refusing the request, which we respect. I take that action to be "I am emotionally engaged with this" and either good or bad, because he sometimes also does this for me and my son Erik, who he really likes a lot. So an indicator of strong emotions in play? Disconcerting in the least to see, especially the first time. Connected to regurgitating but no food material is actually deposited.

Yeah, she definitely gets overexcited with the kids. We had a trainer come over to try to help us with it and I’ll have to dig up the notes she left us, but it seems so impossible because she gets so worked up so FAST. We are a loud, hyperactive household, so all our pets tend to take after us, haha (don’t ask about the pug, he’s almost as bananas as I am), so this is something we just generally struggle with. Something is always going on and it’s always EXCITING.

For example - as I am typing this, my kid is telling me something exciting that happened to her in Minecraft, and Kirby has picked up on this and is shouting excitedly in Kirblish, while in the background my online class critique is going!

We haven’t really truly been able to integrate Sammy into the “family” or public spaces because she’s just a big gal and when she gets overexcited, she can FLY, and I have some safety concerns, heh. She gets tons of out time in my partner’s office where she can be away from the kids, Kirby, and the dogs (who she cannot stand LOL). But I feel bad and feel like she should be more, I don’t know, integrated than she is.

 

[SailBoat]

Very important point missed!!

We are in the mid to late Amazon Hormonal Season and interpersonal relationship building needs to be handled with great care, especially with any of the Big Hot Three! As you are seeing Sammy's normal ramp-up time is much faster during this period.

While you are looking for the notes from the trainer, also review the very important Amazon Forum Thread: Understanding Amazon Body Language as Sammy is clearly tell, but the Humans are not hearing!

 

[ravvlet]

I feel I should add again our kid is fine, it didn’t even leave a mark on her finger, the urgent care techs all chuckled because it was their first parrot bite of the year apparently. She is considerably more cautious around the birds now but that isn’t really a bad thing. I do wish it hadn’t happened and take full responsibility but I am not a perfect person and I make loads of mistakes, heh…

Very important point missed!!

We are in the mid to late Amazon Hormonal Season and interpersonal relationship building needs to be handled with great care, especially with any of the Big Hot Three! As you are seeing Sammy's normal ramp-up time is much faster during this period.

While you are looking for the notes from the trainer, also review the very important Amazon Forum Thread: Understanding Amazon Body Language as Sammy it clearly tell, but the Humans are not hearing!

The encounter was accidental this morning I promise! The blueberry incident happened over the summer. We have been trying to avoid doing too much to excite her because we know it’s that time of the year. She caught me by surprise this morning.

 

[HeatherG]

That’s what I thought, but good lord Sammy, I do wish you’d shower this kind of affection on someone who is old enough to receive it! She’s five. She’s also the one who got the chomp. It was through the cage bars when she was trying to give her a blueberry; something she’s done before (giving treats through the cage, not blueberries specifically) with supervision. We were working on trying to reward Sam for staying calm and not flaring up around the kids. Unfortunately it did not work out as intended; hindsight being 20/20 a blueberry was a crappy choice for a treat; you can’t safely grab an end that’s far from the parrot when it’s a round object!

In the future, maybe try a long carrot. Or a blueberry in a spoon.

 

[JimsBrother]

That's a mating dance. Amy does it when Beebs climbs on his cage.

 

[HeatherG]

That's a mating dance. Amy does it when Beebs climbs on his cage.

The bird is actually regurgitating and ready to feed someone. But you are right that it can have to do with mating because parrots do this with “birds” they might want to mate with. It is a very friendly overture.

 

[ravvlet]

Haha, of course my 45 year old parrot would decide the five year old with minimal interest in parrots is “the one”. We get to take her in for a nail trim today, and my partner is her handler but doesn’t drive so we are all going. Gonna be a long car ride!

Well, nevermind. Can’t stop sneezing. Had hoped coffee would cure it but I’m running a fever haha. Esme has bravely volunteered to try to convince her highness with birdy biscuits that nail trims are the bees knees.

 

[PrimorandMoxi]

Sorry some of you may have heard this before.
I had a thirty something year old RLA Abba who one of her previous owners apparently must have taught her to sit on perch and let you trim her nails. Cause she'd let me do it!
It was so sweet and the easiest thing to do.

This is terrible, but when my teenaged RLA, Primor is in season I can trim a couple of nails at a time, when he goes into those honking and flapping breeding displays.
He is so out of it, he doesn't seem to register what I am doing and never bites.

 

[SailBoat]

Sorry some of you may have heard this before.
I had a thirty something year old RLA Abba who one of her previous owners apparently must have taught her to sit on perch and let you trim her nails. Cause she'd let me do it!
It was so sweet and the easiest thing to do.

This is terrible, but when my teenaged RLA, Primor is in season I can trim a couple of nails at a time, when he goes into those honking and flapping breeding displays.
He is so out of it, he doesn't seem to register what I am doing and never bites.

In Season, WOW!! Some People have all the Luck!!
So, how did you learn she would allow that!!
We are on the down slope of the Season as our DYHA turns from a mass murdered into his kinder /gentler self.

 

[PrimorandMoxi]

Abba was so gentle and bonded to me that I just tried it one day and she offered her foot and let me.

Primor I noticed when he is specifically in that moment of ecstacy he does not have much control over his body and puts his foot up as if to say "take me, take me"
So i grab his foot and trim like two nails, any more than that and he will snap out of it and bite.

 

[Beebee0221]

Hey all you cool amazon experts;

After an unfortunate accident involving a blueberry, an excited parrot, and a trip to urgent care (everyone was ok; she chomped a finger and we wanted to do our due diligence) we haven’t let the kids around Sammy much. However, our youngest is home sick and keeps invading my partner’s office where Sammy resides. Today she saw my youngest and started doing this:

View attachment 46881

Other than being very cute, what does this mean?? I’m assuming she’s just asking for attention - which sadly we can’t let the kiddo give her; for one, she’s scared of her now and for two, it’s just not safe. Kirby has always been fantastic with the kids, he’s very good about keeping his distance when he isn’t interested in attention and only comes down to join us on his lower playstands when he’s amenable, but Sammy is very unpredictable.

Regurgitation. He must like someone a lot

 

[ravvlet]

We managed to get half her toenails yesterday, and are hoping to do the rest today. Her highness objected considerably but she came to us with long nails and they seem to grow really fast! We had them trimmed but they’ve already come back. I am not sure if Kirby doesn’t have this problem because he goes to the vet so often (so it just gets taken care of) or if his just don’t grow as quickly.

 

[HeatherG]

I just added a pedicure perch in front of Jasper’s food dish and it SEEMS to be grinding down the needle points of his nails. He is not a fun bird to clip.

 

[ravvlet]

Sammy has sores on her feet from her old cat kennel set up she was in that only had a 2x4 as a perch (to those who have not followed her saga that was before we got her haha), so we don’t want to use those. Makes sense for Jasper though, and I’m glad it works!