Bhodi Langauge

[FoxersArtist]

For those who do not know, we are curently fostering an Umbrella cockatoo, sex (at this point) unknown but we are starting to lean more toward female. Bhodi has been through 6 homes in the past few years.

Yesterday after observing Bhodi, we came to the conclusion that since Bhodi seems to want to be near Andy, he must prefer Andy. Now, bare with me as I'm sure I will be saying some things and taking them back later as this bird is a learning process for us. Today it is clear that Bhodi does not like Andy. He has been suckering Andy in and then going for the kill each time they are near each other.

At this point we are quite sure that Bhodi is a very possessive bird. He has a reputation for biting frequently and with little to no warning. Bhodi has bit us both several times since his arrival a few days ago. The difference is that he bites Andy very hard and he bites me very softly (lucky for me, right? Poor Andy.) Almost every situation where a bite occured or nearly occured Bhodi felt that something he wanted was being taken from him. "That is mine and if you wont let me have it, i'll bite you." He did this when Andy got in between him and the couch, when I got between him and his cage, when his previous owner got between him and a favored toy, or just plain because he wanted something and couldn't have it. Andy was holding him this afternoon and Bhodi clearly wanted to be put down. He got that same fire in his eyes and Andy quickly put him down before a bite occured.

Also, unlike many birds, the floor is a major trigger for Bhodi. Once on the floor a full display is almost instant and you can be certain of a bite when trying to step him up. Check out this body language...crest up, tail fanned, back flattened, wings out, and just look at that strut! Andy's shoe will now fear for it's life. Excuse the mess, it's laundry day. :)
http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa154/Foxersartist/Birdy%20Videos/?action=view&current=Attack.flv
-Anna

[FoxersArtist]

PS: And if it isn't clear, this video shows what NOT to do with a possessive bird. We made the mistake of putting him on a chair with stuffing, with toys (which he has a hystory of being possessive with) and Andy (whom he is clearly not fond of) was sitting near enough to encourage an attack. This bird is going to teach us a great deal and we are really enjoying the oppertunity.
-Anna

[Anne-Samantha's Mom]

gorgeous birdie though...if anyone can solve the issues though I am sure you can..poor bodi..that is way too much bouncing around from home to home..no wonder the poor thing has issues...poor bodi...hugs Anna and Andy...

[Chrissy and Flock]

I can sympathise with the shoe issue, Casper hates white tennis shoes. With good reason I might add, her first owner would throw his tennis shoes at her when she screamed. Needless to say mine stay well hidden when she is around. :)

[Dot]

I do not let my Scarlet on the floor during "the season." If she somehow gets there, I run to the closet faucet, turn on the water and cup my hands under it. I tell Fergie, "I have water and I am not afraid to use it." I think I may have dumped water on her once and as she was shaking her head trying to figure out what happened, I reached down and picked her up. She had forgotten she was in attack mode.

[Larry, Baby and Me]

Anna,

What makes you think Bhodi is female???

Watching one video does not tell me the whole story - so what I am about to say might be off base...

Comparing Bhodi to Baby - if Baby were in that same situation of toys - and falling off the desk - she would react and act the very same way as Bhodi did. I did not see any "unusual" aggressive behavior in Bhodi... just normal Umbie stuff in the vid.

I recommend - I will change that --- I more than strongly recommend that you folks always have shoes on when Bhodi is out of his cage. I NEVER let Baby out of her cage until I first put my shoes on.

Second - strong recomendation -- keep the towel handy at ALL times - drape it over your shoulder if you have to. You don't want to go looking for a towel when you need one.

Some times Baby will be a real snot - I can see it in her attitude for the day - hour - whatever... it is during those times I have the towel with me.

I don't consider Baby an agressive bird... I consider her an Umbie that "can" get agressive at times... and I consider her an Umbie that can get viscious at times -- out for the KILL... I mean that very seriously. I have seen her on a few occasions out for the KILL and capable of carrying it out.

In your vid -- I saw some agression - but nothing major.

Need more vids please.

[FoxersArtist]

Anna,

What makes you think Bhodi is female???

Watching one video does not tell me the whole story - so what I am about to say might be off base...

Comparing Bhodi to Baby - if Baby were in that same situation of toys - and falling off the desk - she would react and act the very same way as Bhodi did. I did not see any "unusual" aggressive behavior in Bhodi... just normal Umbie stuff in the vid.

I recommend - I will change that --- I more than strongly recommend that you folks always have shoes on when Bhodi is out of his cage. I NEVER let Baby out of her cage until I first put my shoes on.

Second - strong recomendation -- keep the towel handy at ALL times - drape it over your shoulder if you have to. You don't want to go looking for a towel when you need one.

Some times Baby will be a real snot - I can see it in her attitude for the day - hour - whatever... it is during those times I have the towel with me.

I don't consider Baby an agressive bird... I consider her an Umbie that "can" get agressive at times... and I consider her an Umbie that can get viscious at times -- out for the KILL... I mean that very seriously. I have seen her on a few occasions out for the KILL and capable of carrying it out.

In your vid -- I saw some agression - but nothing major.

Need more vids please.


Larry,
I hope you did not misunderstand. I honestly don't see Bhodi as an agressive bird. I see him as a possessive bird which is what I think I said. If he was agressive, he would need to be re socialized. This bird is very social but he is easily triggered and becomes very possessive of things in his environment. We are wondering if Bhodi might be female as he has been displaying some nesting behavior that looks female to me, but we may never know for sure unless he is sexed.
-Anna

[Uncle]

Gotcha.

I am online this evening as Uncle - watching other things - so please forgive me for being Uncle. I don't want to log in and out.

I wonder if the male Umbies display the nesting behavior. Bonnie might have some input with her Chicken - male M2.

Possessive... I wonder if that is all bad at this stage with Bhodi? He might need a few things to call his own... just a thought.

I usually try to put a human child's face on the birds... and it usually works with trying to figure out their psychi.

A kid that has been kicked around might pick up a toy - any toy and say it's mine don't touch. Something to call his own. Even what he calls his own is everything in the sandbox.

Just a thought.

[FoxersArtist]

Gotcha.

I am online this evening as Uncle - watching other things - so please forgive me for being Uncle. I don't want to log in and out.

I wonder if the male Umbies display the nesting behavior. Bonnie might have some input with her Chicken - male M2.

Possessive... I wonder if that is all bad at this stage with Bhodi? He might need a few things to call his own... just a thought.

I usually try to put a human child's face on the birds... and it usually works with trying to figure out their psychi.

A kid that has been kicked around might pick up a toy - any toy and say it's mine don't touch. Something to call his own. Even what he calls his own is everything in the sandbox.

Just a thought.

I believe that just like kids, birds should be accepted just the way they are. If bhodi is feeling threatened by something or many things, accepting and acknowledging his feelings will be theraputic to him. At the same time, as a parront, it is my responsibility to try to identify the source(s) of the upset and work to turn things around so that bhodi feels less threatened and can enjoy life! I hope that makes sense.
-Anna

[Uncle]

That does make sense.

I have learned a lot from you... and I will continue to do so.

Thanks Anna.

[FoxersArtist]

That does make sense.

I have learned a lot from you... and I will continue to do so.

Thanks Anna.

Hey,
I have learned more from YOU than you will ever know. Nothing in the world could match the knowledge you have given me about birds! You challenge us to set our standards high and because of you, our own flock is happier, healthier, and safer than they ever would have been without you! Thank you, Larry for all you are and to everyone else for always being such an awesome sounding board for each of us to learn from!
:dancered:
-Anna

[too&me]

That is why we are here! We can share knowledge, observations & ((hugs)) making us all greater together than we could be as isolated individuals or pairs trying to work it out by ourselves. We are a flock of caring & knowledgeable sharing.

[Evelyn]

Anna -

Bhodi is beautiful. I may have to take back at least half of my claim that my U2 Gyro is the most beautiful, smartest U2 in the universe.

I will be very anxious to see how Bhodi progresses. In case you don't remember Gyro, an approximately 9 year old male U2, is my heartbird, but I just can't handle him. He stalks me and attacks me. I'm afraid of him and he knows it and takes full advantage of it. He lives most of the time with a friend of mine with whom he is a dollbaby.

I want more than anything to have him with me all the time, or to be able to at least hold him and cuddle him once in a while. He's such a cuddlebunny with others. When I first went to look at him (he was about 6 at the time), he stepped up for me right away, walked up my arm, and laid his head against my face. When I got him home, though, the first two days were perfect--then on the third day he started attacking me. He would fly in my face, chase me, bite me on the back of the head, and he bit me twice on the face, hard--though not bad enough for stitches. He gave me a black eye, though, and took a little chunk out of my face. After that, I was terrified of him, and he got really viscious. I would have to have somebody distract him at one end of his cage so I could change his food and water bowls at the other end. He would lunge at anybody who got close to the cage.

I got him a bigger cage (old one wasn't bad, but he could escape from it, even with locks. I had locks on it so he couldn't get out, so he took the top off by unscrewing the bolts. I finally found one he couldn't take apart. It was really big, and he seemed to be more satisfied in it.

A woman who worked upstairs, and another woman who was a client, and a third woman who was a legal assistant could all handle Gyro, so he got out of his cage most days. He eventually got so I could pet him through the bars of the cage. I even taught him to turn around when I said so, so that I could pet him on the other side. But I still had to be careful because he would bite me if he got a chance.

He didn't have the quality of life with me that I thought he should have. He was handled only a short time each day during the week, and none on the weekends. My friend with the indoor aviary offered to take him with the understanding that I could visit and take him home if I wanted to. He loves her and she loves him. I do visit him, and have taken him home a couple of times, with no improvement.

Susan Freidman finally convinced me that it was best for Gyro to stay with my friend and for me to find another bird. I acquired three other birds (a LSC and an E-2, and a CAG), all of whom I love, but they are not Gyro.

I guess the point of this is that I hope you might be able to offer some advice that would let me bring Gyro home and work with him to get him to trust me and be happy with me. If anybody could do it, you could.

I realize the biggest problem is my fear of Gyro, but I don't know how to get over that. I'm not afraid of my other birds, but two of them are smaller than Gyro, and the E-2 is such a sweety. He has never offered to bite anybody. The LSC and the CAG bite occasionally, sometimes hard enough to hurt, but they don't scare me like Gyro does. They bite because of something I did or didn't do. I think Gyro bites because he can and he enjoys bullying me.

Any advice other than to leave him where he is happy? I can't really explain why I love him so much. Any other bird who reacted to me the way Gyro does, I could give up without regret. But Gyro is really a most unique bird. He's the most intelligent bird I have ever seen, and the most "tuned in" with humans. He's beautiful, of course, but I wouldn't care if he looked like a plucked chicken.

Sorry for the length. I get carried away when I talk about Gyro.

Evelyn

[Patty, Linus and Co.]

Anna, It is amazing how comfortable toos are on the floor. All my others have always been weary there. Toos have no ideas how small they are. My daughters too was a foot attacker - I only wore steel toed boot around her. It's a problem though, isn't it? Since they won't stay perched, they always wind up on the floor.
Linus's former owners actually encouraged a good foot chase. When they were here recently, it's one of the first things they did with him (till I stopped them...this is Texas, we wear flip-flops here). For whatever reason, he has been good about it with me.
Linus is also not allowed on the back of the couch or my shoulder because of dominance issues.
Good luck Anna. At least she mind being toweled.

[FoxersArtist]

Anna, It is amazing how comfortable toos are on the floor. All my others have always been weary there. Toos have no ideas how small they are. My daughters too was a foot attacker - I only wore steel toed boot around her. It's a problem though, isn't it? Since they won't stay perched, they always wind up on the floor.
Linus's former owners actually encouraged a good foot chase. When they were here recently, it's one of the first things they did with him (till I stopped them...this is Texas, we wear flip-flops here). For whatever reason, he has been good about it with me.
Linus is also not allowed on the back of the couch or my shoulder because of dominance issues.
Good luck Anna. At least she mind being toweled.


Patty,
I have seen plenty of birds chase people on the floor but what I hadn't ever seen was such an INSTANT reaction once Bhodi ended up on the floor. Bam! and he was off like a racehorse. He didn't even have to think about what he was doing. I agree with a previous post that if I had fallen off the desk like that i would have been just as upset, but his sheer speed was rather impressive. We will be avoiding the floor at all costs.
-Anna

[FoxersArtist]

Evelyn,
If I were in your situation, I would see if I might be able to go over to see Gyro at least once per week. Ask your friend who has Gryo to help you. Have her take the bird out of his cage and together try to find a neutral area of the home where Gryo wont feel defensive or hormonally triggered. If you can find an area where Gryo can sit peacefully without trying to attack you, you may be able to work with him. Sometimes the bathroom is a good room for this. Have your friend do all of the handling. Do not try to touch Gryo but simply sit next to him and talk to him. Butter him up, offer him treats, offer him some of his favorite toys to play with (if he is not possessive of toys) and anything else that might help him to realize that you are trying to make peace with him. You cannot be expected to suddenly have no fear of the bird and birds have a way of knowing that you are afraid even when you are trying to hide it. In that respect, it is important that you do not put yourself in a position where you are going to be afraid of the bird, ei. holding him or touching him. Small activities with Gyro will help boost your confidence levels and his trust.

Once you feel that you are confident enough to handle him and he seems calm enough to be held (this may take months of consistant work) step him up in that neutral area. Don't attempt to step him up from his cage or from his new "mommy" as Gyro will likely feel invaded. Other than having his new owner handle him where she is needed, try o spend time with Gyro by yourself.

I think this could do wonders for your relationship with Gyro, though sometimes parrots just simply decide that they do not like a certain person and there is no changing their minds. I think that giving it a try is certainly worth it. Don't take Gyro home again until you are both secure and confident in one another. Once you get him home, make things as familiar as possible. If you have chosen your friend's bathroom to work with Gyro, start your relationship at home in your bathroom. Don't force anything on him and take it slow. Parrots have their own time frames and pushing them will only set them back.

I hope that is helpful. Let us know what you decide to do. If all else fails, at least Gyro is with someone who really cares for him!
-Anna