IndianRingNeck.com

hi everyone,

just hoping i could get some info on whats up with my 4 month old baby IRN Kai.

a few notes on his tameness: lets me handle him easily, touch his wings, tail, beak, head, back etc. I can hold him around the wings and torso, lift him up or turn him on his back, as well as holding his beak, opening and closing his wings and holding his beak (not without the occasional squawked complaint of course but he doesn't try to bite) he has unclipped wings but i do trim his toenails, and he lets me do that very easily (sits on my hand while i clip them) knows how to step up and is currently doing some harness training.

now here is my issue: alot of the time, he is just fine with stepping up onto my hand. he is always good with coming out and going back into the cage. the problem arises NOT ALL THE TIME but SOMETIMES when he is on an object outside pf the cage eg. bench, lounge, tabletop, human head and i try to get him to step up off it onto my finger. his eyes will pin and he will bite hard at my finger, drawing blood half the time! until i can eventually get him on my finger and then he is fine again? i've noticed it mainly occurs when trying to get him off high places like tops of bookshelfs, cupboard doors, my cockatiel cage top and especially peoples heads-which despite all our encouragement to the contrary he loves to do.
otherwise he is almost always perfectly behaved ( apart from the usual ringneck antics hehe) and i am just so sad and frustrated as a birdy mummy because i just don't understand why this is happening i thought maybe it could be a form of bluffing but i don't know...
please if anyone knows why this could be happening or how i can fix it please don't hesitate to share
thanks, emma xx

He Doesn't Want to obey! He wants to do his own thing!, he is biting you as his way of saying "back off". I don't think it's angst biting because he is so tame otherwise.

Hi,

There are a few things that can cause a parrot to bite instead of step up... The basic reason they bite is because you have ignored the subtle signals that they gave you to say that they don't want to interact that way at that moment. If you listen to the first warning signs and back off, then they don't follow through.
The other point to consider is why should the bird leave the comfy perch and step up? Is there something better for him if he steps up? If he leaves his nice spot are you going to turn him on his back or lift his wings, which you mentioned he doesn't like... or are you going to give him something nice that he does like?
If you have a strong history of positive reinforcement for stepping up, it is amazing how birds will hang from their beaks so they can get their feet down to the tip of your fingers when you ask them to step up from high places that you can't reach! They need to know it is worth their while though.

thankyou both for your answers. InTheAir, the only reason I will ever force an interaction that he doesn't want is I absolutely need to get him to put him back in his cage or remove him form someone's head (sadly not all people are a fan of having a bird on their heads)

The positive reward is a good idea. Should've thought of it already!

A head is a nice safe place to land when you are an indian ringneck. They can quickly learn that it is more rewarding to land on a shoulder, if they are rewarded for it. It is also a bit easier to land on a head than a shoulder, especially for the young or unco. Both of my birds find my small sloping (and sweaty) shoulders challenging over summer, especially as i like wearing little singlets with no fabric for them to grip on. I have some bird shirts that are cheap tees cut to tank top style, which gives a secure landing spot without me roasting too much. There are a variety of reasons a bird will choose to do something, we have to work out what and why and then create an environment that induces the behaviour we wish to encourage.
R+ and create an environment that sets them up for success.

Do not reinforce anything. I have a 3 year GCC and a ring neck. What I have found best is if they illicit a response from you they will continue this. The green cheek so much that he even says owwie when he's about to bite...that is my wife's doing. Our IRN will never bite anyone. Even if he was to bite just go along with it as painful as it seems. Any response such as no! Will trigger their brain to do it again because they get the reaction out of you. They think it is a game. Thy get their way and will continue in such until behavior is modified. You are in the critical time right now. If you can bypass all reactions in this stage and perhaps direct attention elsewhere they may not carry this trait with them. For the green cheek it is too late. My wife thought it was funny and made it a game to him. I am the sole handler of my ring neck and the only negative behavior I have is he tries to get under your fingernail with his beak and I simply put him back on the cage without drawing attention to it AT ALL. Direct the attention elsewhere. Any further negative behaviors I have I don't discipline. He goes back to the cage. Never close the door or put them in timeout just simply put them back. Time of year can also influence. Mating season brings out the crazy in the GCC. My ring neck is 10 months and pretty soon he will hit another milestone in his maturity and the time will come to figure out another plan of attack but for now all is calm... Knock knock...haha. Sort if I was repetitive.

now here is my issue: alot of the time, he is just fine with stepping up onto my hand. he is always good with coming out and going back into the cage. the problem arises NOT ALL THE TIME but SOMETIMES when he is on an object outside of the cage eg. bench, lounge, tabletop, human head and i try to get him to step up off it onto my finger. his eyes will pin and he will bite hard at my finger, drawing blood half the time! until i can eventually get him on my finger and then he is fine again? i've noticed it mainly occurs when trying to get him off high places like tops of bookshelfs, cupboard doors, my cockatiel cage top and especially peoples heads-which despite all our encouragement to the contrary he loves to do.

Building on what others have said, I think at these times your bird prefers to stay where he is over to step to your hand. You must accept, fundamentally, that your bird has preferences as well as instincts. At these times, when you ask him to step to the hand, you are asking him to give up something he prefers and, possibly, to move to a place of decreased security just because you prefer something else. At such a time there's not much in it for him. If you then miss or ignore his pre-bite signals and persist in requiring him to step to the hand, he may feel forced to escalate to biting. Understanding that I'm not there to see it happen, I still strongly feel this is at the root of what you're experiencing.

Understanding this concept that your bird has preferences as well as instincts which he must obey, you are placed at a crossroad. You may follow your current course of sometimes disregarding his needs in favour of guiding his activities to accommodate your preferences, or you may form a strategy that helps you get what you want while simultaneously accommodating what Birdie wants. While you are considering this, please also note that as your bird matures he may become less willing to accommodate the intimate handling he now allows. It would be in your very best interests to note his discomfort signals (such as the eyes pinning and probably some change in the way the feathers are held about the neck and head) and to respect his objections (such as that "occasional squawked complaint" you mentioned) as well as rewarding him heavily when he is happy to comply. In this way you might ward off an escalation in your problems.

One of my favourite training tools is that of teaching a behaviour that is incompatible with and preferable to the behaviour you don't like. An easy example of this would be for a dog who jumps up and puts his feet on your guests. You train (condition) the dog to sit on command, every time you command, and to remain sitting until you release him. Then, when guests arrive, you simply ask the dog to sit. He cannot sit and jump at the same time. The reliability of this trick is dependent on how well you trained your dog.

For the bird who doesn't want to step to your hand in certain situations, I would suggest training him to fly to your hand (or some designated spot) upon command. You should train (condition) him well using positive reinforcement. He will come to you when what you offer is more rewarding than what he has.

For the bird on the head, how lovely would it be if, as your bird prepares to fly to someone's head, you could simply say "Birdie! Go Home!" and thus divert him to fly to his cage instead. Wouldn't that be nice? Or, maybe you could instead call him "Birdie! Over here!" as you hold up your hand for him to land on. Maybe you would prefer him to fly to a place you indicate by pointing instead, as "Birdie! Go there!"

I hear you saying that's a lot of work and you need results right now. Consider that the head is an attractive spot due to its relative height and easily gripped surface. If you lower the head and raise the arm, there is a fair chance Birdie will adjust his preference accordingly, especially if the hand holds a treat and is easy to land on. Before my bird learned to fly to my hand, he did want to land on my head. I allowed this initially because, hey, he was flying to me of his own choice. It would be counterproductive to discourage such an overture. However, once the bird learned to be on the hand (actually, the wrist), I discouraged head landing by quickly stooping down as he tried to come in for the landing. However, at the same time, I strongly encouraged him to fly to the hand. Now my bird never lands on my head, and he usually flies to my hand upon invitation. I am sure his hand-landing compliance would increase if I cared enough to practice it more. It should be noted that I try to be at least a little aware of what Birdie's up to, and so am frequently forewarned when he is thinking of coming to me, and I hold out my hand to make the choice easy.

I hope I've given you some thoughts to consider that will help you solve your problem. Simply recognizing that your bird has preferences and will make choices is a fundamental step. Realizing that you can make the "right choice" the bird's desired choice depending on how you present it is another.