Frequently asked questions about behavior

Q. Why is my bird plucking or losing its feathers?

A. There could be many reasons why a bird might be plucking or losing his/her feathers, listed below are some of them.

• Polyoma and psittacine beak and feather disease may result in feather loss.
• Parasites like scaly-face-mites, red mites, feather mites or lice can cause irritation.
• Spraying your bird with lice and mite spray has been proven to cause feather plucking.
• Giardia is a protozoan parasite and can cause self mutilation.
• Bacterial and fungal infections may cause skin irritation resulting in feather loss.
• Vitamin A and other dietary deficiencies can contribute to skin/feather disorders.
• Behavioral causes like self mutilation could be caused by dominance factors, boredom, territoriality and mate-bonding. All of these factors can result in frustration-grooming, which often becomes obsessive, turning into a vice, causing self mutilation and feather damage or removal.
• Attack by cage mates or other pets (cat, dog or rodents).
• Skin irritation could be cage trauma, insect bites or stings, topical application of inappropriate ointments or improper wing trim.
• Chronic exposure to tobacco smoke, cleaning products or toxic substrates.
• Chronic liver, kidney, GI, respiratory disease, feather cysts, tumors and injury may also result in feather loss.
If your bird is plucking or losing its feathers, it must be seen by an avian vet immediately. It will be up to the avian vet with diagnostic tools and the bird owner, with information on environment and history to put together these clues and find a cause and or remedy.

Q. My female is plucking, does she need a mate?

A. You need to take your female Cockatiel in to see an experienced avian veterinarian for a check up to
address the plucking. Contrary to popular belief, it is very unlikely that your Cockatiel is simply plucking due to stress or loneliness. Plucking is actually most often related to an actual medical problem which may require treatment. Plucking can be related to things such as bacterial infections, heavy metal toxicity, nutritional deficiencies, fungal infections, viruses and hormonal problems. Plucking is often just a symptom of another problem. Mickaboo has had a lot of birds who have been pluckers and have been diagnosed with one of the above problems. Once we treated the underlying problem, the birds usually stop plucking. If your birds have an infection, for example, adding new birds to the "flock" without treating the resident ones will be putting the new birds at risk.
The good news is, if your birds are plucking due to a health problem, there is a chance your birds will stop plucking once the health problem is resolved. The plucking can actually be a good thing if it alerts the owner to a health problem before it gets really severe so it can be resolved before getting out of control. If your birds were allowed to pluck for a long period of time before addressing the health problem, however, the plucking can become a habit (like nail biting in people) and continue beyond the resolution of the health problem.

If your females are plucking due to hormonal problems, it is unlikely that just pairing them up with a male will solve the plucking. This is something best discussed with your vet as there are treatment alternatives if hormonal plucking is diagnosed. Giving your female tiel a companion may be a good idea for her in terms of companionship, however, it shouldn't be done with the goal in mind of stopping the plucking. Not only could the plucking continue, but it may get worse and/or she may begin plucking the new bird. We have seen this happen. If your bird has a bacterial infection, for example, and is treated, not only will you have a healthier bird, but you may have a fully feathered one, too Please consider a thorough health check before adding any new birds to your home.

Q. Do Cockatiels and Parakeets get along well enough to live in the same cage?

A. Budgies and Cockatiels can get along but it depends on the individual bird. After proper quarantine, you can start with putting them in separate cages side by side so that they can get used to each other. After a minimum of a week with them side by side you can see how they get along out together in neutral territory (on a play gym or on your finger together). If they seem to get along OK, you can then try them in the same cage, but make sure you watch them very carefully the first couple of days and separate them if you see any quarrels. It is rare for tiels and budgies to fight, but if they do they can really hurt each other so make sure that when you put them together it is during a time (maybe a weekend?) when you can monitor them well for the first couple of days.

Ironically, it is usually the budgie that gets feisty with the Cockatiel if anything. Budgies tend to be more aggressive than tiels, despite their smaller size. Also, make sure that you have plenty of food and water bowls for the birds. If you have two birds, it is good to have two food and water bowls, if you have three birds, try to have three food bowls and two water bowls, etc. This will minimize the concern that one bird will "hoard" the food and/or water. Sometimes, the birds will not necessarily fight, but one will keep the other from food or water. Birds are like people in that some get along and some just don't It is just going to be important to monitor them closely in the beginning.

Q. My Cockatiel isn't very tame, how can I tame and train him/her?

A. Are your Cockatiel's wings clipped? If not, that would be the very first and most important step. Even
if they are, he will still probably thrash within the cage when he sees the towel. Some birds don't take well to toweling and (since they are all individuals like us) sometimes you have to work with some birds differently. If he is really scared of the towel and you are afraid he will hurt himself running from it, it may be better to work with him gently by talking to him gently through the cage bars and trying to get him to come out onto a perch instead of using a towel. The only thing the towel is good for is getting the bird out of the cage. If you can get him to come out more peacefully and with less potential for injury, that is always best.

Once the bird is out of the cage, more training can begin to get him less afraid of human handling. Everything must be done gradually and in steps. In other words, the first night you try talking to him you can't expect him to step up onto the perch. You will need to gain his trust before you can go to the next training level. It will be up to you to decide when he is ready to offer the perch. Once he seems comfortable enough for you to stick the perch in the cage and offer it to him, he will probably not step up onto it right away. You may need to offer a treat simultaneously to get him to see the perch as a positive thing. Once he gets used to seeing the perch, and realizes it's not going to hurt him, he may step up onto it.

The next step then will be to take him into another room where he can't see his cage and work with him to go from the perch onto your hand. As we mention in the Taming and training page of our Reading Room, these sessions should be short and always rewarded at the end with a treat. Is your bird on a pelleted or seed diet? Are there any real favorite foods you are aware of? If not, start working on finding those for rewards. Also, you can try offering him a mirror as an incentive to step up (some birds — especially males — will go anywhere for a mirror). Every time you are victorious in getting him out of the cage, work extensively as possible on the step up routine. That is the key. If you can get the bird used to the step up command, that will help in getting him out of the cage and anywhere else. How does he come out now? Does he come out on his own? If so, that's fine, just use the time he is out to work on step up and always try to get him to step up from the cage before giving up and allowing him to come out on his own.

Q. My Cockatiel bites me when I put him back in his cage, what can I do to stop the biting?

A. If your Cockatiel only bites when he is being put back in the cage have you considered using a perch to put him back in when it's time? When you do this, make sure you have a favorite treat to give him as soon as he gets back inside. Whistle and tell him what a "good boy" he is when he goes back in. Is he on a pelleted diet? If so, a piece of millet spray will be a very welcomed treat for good behavior going into the cage. If he is currently on a seed based diet please read the Feeding your pet bird page of our Reading Room to get ideas on changing his diet to a healthier one. One of the many benefits of the pelleted diet is that birds can be rewarded with seeds and it is a true reward since they aren't used to getting them on a daily basis.

Don't rush any diet changes, though, and remember diet changes must happen gradually and carefully (birds can and will starve themselves if they don't like the food they are offered). You must take one thing at a time. If you decide to change his diet, you will have to probably hold off on the major training until you make some headway on the diet change. If your bird is on a seed based diet and you wish to work with the behavior change before working on the diet, try to find something he really likes (millet, popcorn, cereal, Nutriberries, wheat bread) and use that as a reward every time he goes back into the cage. If you can make "going home" a pleasant trip for him, he will be less likely to be grouchy when put back.

Once you notice that he is becoming more pleasant about going home, you can gradually start putting him back with your hands rather than using the perch. Also, if he likes mirrors, you could try putting him back while holding a small mirror in front of him to keep him distracted. Let him have the mirror for the first few minutes inside the cage and then remove it (if you find it makes him unsocial or aggressive which happens a lot when birds have unlimited access to mirrors in their cage).

If the bird bites you while he is on your hand, you can try the "earthquake" technique. What this means is that you gently jerk your hand (not enough to knock the bird off) so that the bird loses his balance immediately at the time you feel the bite. This, hopefully, will cause the bird to associate the losing balance feeling (which they don't like) with the biting and, over time, cause him to stop biting. Another thing you can try is to gently blow in the bird's face when he bites. They generally don't like this and, again, it must be done immediately at the time of the bite for the bird to associate it with the biting action. These things can work but must be done quickly and over a period of time.

Never, ever hit a bird or even gently tap at him since this will cause him to become even more afraid of hands. Also, never use water to spray a misbehaving bird. Water should be an enjoyable experience and bathing is something we want to encourage birds to do. The bottom line is to try to make going home a pleasant experience.

A good source for information on bird behavior and biting is this Good Bird, Inc.site, which has Barbara Heidenreich's books and newsletters.

Q. My Cockatiel gets aggressive when he sees a cereal box, what can I do?

A. I, too, have a male tiel (Birdeeboy) who is sweet as pie until he comes in contact with a cereal box, soda can, or most any brightly colored container. He turns into Dracula almost immediately. The fortunate thing here is that his owner is smart enough to have identified what it is that triggers his aggressive behavior so that my hands don't turn into pin cushions when he goes into his frenzies. Your bird is also blessed with a smart cookie for an owner so that he isn't given away, labeled as "crazy," abused or shunned to his cage for what his owner may perceive as unprovoked attacks. In other words, your important work is done. You have identified the trigger. A lot of owners never learn to look for the triggers in aggressive behavior in pet birds and instead opt to take an easy way out, blame the bird for being "unpredictable" and then one of the above mentioned scenarios takes place.

Birds are, in many ways, still very "wild" as compared to our other animal companions (dogs and cats for example). Some of their behaviors must be accepted as part of their wild and wonderful personalities. Humans tend to laugh and show off their birds when they are found to be singing beautifully or prancing in a funny manner. Yet these same owners will shun their bird when they lunge at a hand coming at their cage for instance (protecting their "nest" or territory is completely natural for a bird). All of these behaviors are related to their natural personalities. They are simply being birds.

Now that you have identified the trigger (mirrors, certain toys) you have the upper hand. You can allow or restrict these items as you see fit. For example, when I am going to be out for long periods of time, I will give Birdeeboy his cereal box to look at. He doesn't even realize I am gone! He will sing and stare lovingly at it for hours. When I come back home, I (with gloves remove the object of his affection and, like magic, I get my sweet little Birdeeboy back. This can work to your advantage! Be careful, though, in allowing the bird access to his "trigger" for long periods of time as the aggressive behavior can become a more permanent part of his personality and become ingrained if this happens. For example, if you were to decide that he loved his mirror so much that you never removed it from the cage the bird may become "cagebound" (not want to leave the cage---his place of security) and could become antisocial and aggressive and need longer periods of socialization to get his pet quality back (however, I believe it is never too late to socialize a tiel).

Q. My Parakeet will step up but doesn't like her head-rubbed what can I do to further gain her trust?

A. In order to further gain her trust, you could try nightly sessions in a less familiar room (bathroom,
maybe, but make sure the toilet lid is down) away from her cage. Work on the "step up" routine to reinforce it. Talk to her softly and focus on her. Make this her "one on one" time with you. As time goes by begin to hold her closer to you as you speak to her. Be very careful that she doesn't nip your nose but try moving your nose closer to her gradually until you are able to gently rub her head with your nose. Once she gets used to that, you can wait until she is "tranced" enough to slowly move your finger up and have that take the place of your nose. You will be scratching her head in no time and she won't even realize it The first few times she comes out of her head scratching trance and realizes she is allowing you to scratch her she may very well jump away or nip, but in time she will realize that you aren't going to hurt her. I have found this to be a very good way to get birds to trust me enough to allow me to give them head rubs. Noses and faces in general are a lot less intimidating than fingers so it just seems to work out faster and easier. Just be very careful not to get bitten! It will take some time.

Q. How can I stop my Cockatiel from screaming?

A. It is very difficult to deal with a screaming bird but the problem can be dealt with if you have the right amount of patience and knowledge. First of all, if your bird hasn't been examined by an experience avian vet recently, it would be best to start there. There are many potential physical causes for screaming and these should be ruled out first (also, a good avian vet may have more advice on curbing the screaming if it is totally behavioral).

The next thing I would do would be to try to determine if there is something that seems to set off the screaming. If it's a dog barking, try to work with the dog's behavior around the bird. If it's a doorbell, try "desensitizing" the bird to the sound by distracting him during the sound of the bell (ring it purposely to work on this) and offer him a favorite treat while the bell is ringing so that he learns to focus on other things while it's happening. Most of the time, people find that the cause of their bird's screaming is the owner themselves. Usually, the bird simply wants their favorite "flock member's" attention. The most important factor in curbing screaming is routine. It is going to be extremely important that you introduce some sort of routine into the bird's life. Birds scream for attention. If they know they are going to get interaction regularly (even if it's not a great deal of time) they are amazingly more well adjusted and less likely to act out by screaming. When your bird screams, he is saying "hey, mom, look over here... pet me, play with me, feed me treats ". If he knows he is going to get your attention daily at a set time, he will be less likely to be screaming for it when he sees or hears you .

You don't have to set aside a huge amount of time, just regulate the time you currently spend with him or add a block of time in the am and pm. Even 15 minutes will work wonders when it is regulated and kept up. Try to think about how much time you currently spend with him. Add all of the times he wins you over by screaming, the times you give him treats, the time you spend bathing him, feeding him, etc. Then, try to set times for these interactions to take place. You don't have to be extremely strict, just do your best. If you could spend 15 minutes of "one on one" time (time when you can scratch his head, talk to him and focus on him only) in the morning, that would even be good. Then, try to work it out to have him maybe share dinner with you or a shower. Even his "out-time" should be regulated so that it happens roughly the same time daily if possible.

Do not allow him in/out access on his own from his cage. You should be the one taking him out and putting him back and, when you do, try to regulate that time so that he gets to look forward to it. Try to figure out for you what is realistic for you to continue, and start a routine. If he is friendly to other family members, it will make it easier to keep up with the routine, because if you become busy, the other family member can keep up with his routine. This routine will take a while to produce results, but it will produce results. In the meantime, you want to refrain from reacting to the screaming if possible, covering him, yelling at him, spraying him with water or physically reprimanding him in any way. All of these things will produce exactly what you don't want... a neurotic, nervous and probably louder bird. If you come home and your bird is screaming his head off, wait for a quiet moment before you go to greet him. Try not to reward the screaming behavior by approaching him during that time. It is important to realize that he wants love and your time. You need to figure out a way to provide him with the love and attention he needs without giving in to his demands. The best way to do this is to provide the love and attention on your terms and with routine.

If you want to try the covering up the cage trick, only cover it for a five minute period, if it hasn't produced results in that amount of time, it won't and will quickly become abusive. If he does quiet down in the 5 minute time span, uncover him and give him a treat for his quietness. This will work much better than keeping him covered for extended periods of time. Also, while you are working on the routine, refrain from reacting to his screaming. If you have to remove him from the room, do so but do it quietly and business like. Once he is in the other room, listen for 5 minutes and (if you can) place him back in his regular space, praise him and give him a treat if he is quiet. If he isn't quiet, it isn't going to work and you should replace him in his regular room quietly and without acknowledgment. Spraying him with water will not only potentially cause a neurotic bird, it will also turn what should be a pleasurable activity (bathing) into a punishment. By screaming at him, you will most likely excite him and could cause him to become louder the more excited he becomes. Obviously, it is never, ever recommended to physically reprimand a bird. It is very easy to injure them with even the smallest of physical reprimands and it will only succeed in causing the bird to become afraid of you and potentially human hands in general---this is never conducive to training.

Also, in the meantime, try getting him some new, mind teasing toys. "Shredders" are a great toy for cockatiels and can be found at most pet stores which sells bird items. Also, toys made out of wood, suede and leather are favorites among tiels. You can try offering him a mirror as long as it doesn't seem to interfere with his tameness when you do. If he becomes nasty around his own reflection, you may need to remove or regulate the use of the mirror. The most important thing to remember is that behavior problems don't start overnight and usually aren't resolved that quickly, either. Patience and persistence are very important. For some birds and owners, getting a bird companion may be the answer.

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