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Doisy has stainless steel seed dishes in his cage which allow him to see his reflection. This has started to become a problem as he attacks his seed dishes with a very loud, piercing scream. Is there a way to break him of this behavior? He will also attack his own shadow with screaming. I don't reinforce the screaming by looking at him or going over to the cage or letting him out. Sometimes I even leave the room but there doesn't have to be somebody in the room for him to act up. There are also no set times for the behavior to occur. Should I just take the cups out and replace them with ceramic or plastic or should I cover the cage when he starts to scream? He's 6 months and comes out frequently during the day and I've also been teaching him simple tricks. Any advice would be appreciated as my husband is threatening to wring his neck and eat him.

hi impala,

well i don't have any answers about how to curb this behaviour, but i do have a fid who does the exact same thing. she goes wild when she see's herself in the mirror, pinning her eyes and trying to bite her reflection, she will even attack herself in the reflection on the showerhead when she has a shower. She's very tame with people, but doesn't seem to like other birds. i will be watching this thread hoping to get some advice on how to stop it.

ps - she also attacks our little laurikeet too, so she's not very bird social.

Remove the reflective items from the cage. The bird obviously believes he's looking into another dimension and seeing the evil version of himself.