Why did my bird run to me and attack my feet/legs?

Question

Umbrella Cockatoo. He will not let me handle him unless we are showering. Normal routine, came home let him out of the cage ate dinner together, me cereal, him banana. As I went downstairs to give him time alone, I saw him climb down his cage and come across the floor watching me. So I went back upstairs and layed on the floor. He went back to his cage, came back down and ran at my feet and tried to grab a toe. He ran again and tasted my hairy legs and then bit my knee. He didn't bite too hard, but hard enough to break the skin. This is a behaviour I have never seen nor encountered or read about before. Any ideas?

Answer 1

With the information given it is difficult to say why he is acting this way. There can be many reasons.

How long have you had him? Does he get aggressive often? Did you change a routine? Did his tasting the hair on your leg tickle and cause you to jerk your knee back or move your legs making him feel as though he had to attack that big bad knee cap that was coming after him?

If your bird isn't used to the routine of you laying on the floor you may be seen as an intruder in his space.

By keeping your bird upstairs, in a higher location than yourself you are letting him believe he has dominance over you. If you normally allow him to have the upper floor in your home while you are in a lower location he is used to being the one who rules the roost as far as he is concerned and he may have decided that your going upstairs and laying on his floor signaled that you were intruding into his space.

He may have been playing with you and if you showed fear (when he tasted your leg hair) he pegged you as a weenie and decided to take advantage of the advantage he had and bit.

Cockatoos are very beautiful and very bright birds. Many people don't understand that these birds can have the intelligence of a toddler/preschooler. They not only learn to mimic language but they can string together familiar words in short, choppy sentences to relay meaning as well.

They need to be mentally stimulated, just as a human child would. They need to have something to do and they need play time and interaction. If your bird isn't getting this he may be taking it out on you.

If you only handle him in the shower maybe he isn't used to playing with you on the floor or (sorry if I'm wrong here but I'm assuming you aren't showering with your clothing on) maybe he isn't used to seeing your legs with the clothing you were wearing. It might seem silly, but if you change the way you are dressed you could look like a new person to your bird--that is until he gets used to the new "plumage" that you are sporting.

Keeping to a routine with your bird is good, especially if he is a teenager (and teenage cockatoos will often have to be retrained as they go through their terrible twos and such). Being the loving parent to a teen cockatoo can be stressful and there can be times when you just don't get WHY he is acting the way he acts. Stick with him and don't be mean or abusive in any way but do show enough dominance over him that he knows YOU are the one in charge.

You might have to move his cage to a lower spot and make sure that when you are playing/interacting with him that you are ALWAYS the one who has the higher perch.

Many people don't realize that by allowing your parrot to perch on your shoulder you are telling him that he is the boss. Any pet owner (pet meaning anything from dogs to birds and every type of pet between) has to be able to be the boss and be the dominant partner in the pet/owner relationship. It isn't being mean, it is showing your pet that he is safe and protected and he will love you more for it.

If your cockatoo is young you may not want to be on the floor when you play, this may just be signaling to him that he is the dominant partner in your relationship.

Play with him on a perch at the table, next to your chair, at your desk, or anywhere that he is no higher than chest height. This should stop the attacks and help him to feel more secure.

Umbrella cockatoos are very playful and very bright birds. They often talk well and they can be funny. A secure Umbrella Cockatoo will allow his owner to play with and handle him and will even encourage this behavior.

Answer 2

teritorial many birds get this way around their cage. he was saying 'get away from my private spot!'

Answer 3

Why didn't you just clost the cage door?!?

Answer 4

Ahhh welcome to the world of U2's ( Umbrella Cockatoo's)

I live with two of them and both go after bare feet-:))

Is a fairly common behavior with U2's although not so much

with other TOO's for some reason.

I doubt your bird meant to bite you knee though, he probably was feeling that hard thing/bone alittle too hard. Still, any biting tell him firmly, but kindly Nooo.

You need to work on handling your bird, the longer you don't the more he thinks he is the Flock Leader and you should be.

Cockatoo's need rules, but you need to understand they don't understand punishment such as yelling or anger.

They do however understand praise, be it verbal like Good Boy, or a small treat, pine nuts are good for this when working on behavior's with them.

These big Cockatoo's have the IQ of a five year old child, but the emotions of a two year old child, so think of this when training good behavior's, they are smart...and can be bratty.

Go here and type in Umbrella Cockatoo,

http://www.birdsnways.com/

then read and read to learn about these special birds, read about Diet, Male Hormones and Male agression as well as more so you better understand your bird and how he think's. Observe and observe him to know him better.

Those cheek feathers fluff up means emotional, some times good and some times mad, you need to learn to know your bird.

Provide him a big cage and lots of safe and fun toys. Even a bird stand for time out of cage fun too.

You can do yahoo.com and google.com searchs for bird web sites and also join acouple of yahoo's bird groups and share information on Cockatoo's.

Remember these birds are Exotic, which means they are full of instints for survial and breeding, same as the wild free flying Cockatoo's.

Instint tell's them to hide sickness in the wild, least they be the food source for prey birds. Learn the signs of sickness.

In the wild the Flock Leader leaves the sick or injured birds behind and also turns his back on flock member's that mis-behave or can't keep up.

Our birds understand this well, so they hide sickness and turning our backs on them is like punishment to them.

Example, your bird scream, you tell him nooo, he still screams. Turn your back on him and leave the room.

If you run to him you are reinforcing a unwanted behavior.

Go to birdsnways and you will learn much, which in turn will help you help your bird be more enjoyable.

Answer 5

maybe u taste good

maybe he decided he needed hairy leg cage carpet[in which case,he needs decoration lessons]