Birds bite.
It is one of those inescapable facts of life like death and taxes.
Bigger birds bite harder. Also true.
The rescue kept saying what a sweet bird Jules is. I’m sure that’s true. Right now, though, she is a very pissed off and stressed sweet bird. I’m still calling her a sweet bird because I know this is tough on her and even though she has bit me over and over she has refrained from breaking the skin.
Last night she didn’t want to eat. She took a bite of a cucumber slice I offered her. If I tried to touch her, she’d bite. She doesn’t have a great “Step Up” command. That’s not good. That’s the bird equivalent of a dog’s recall command. If she is out of her cage and something happens and I need her with me Right Now, she better step up on my hand when I say so. No questions asked. This is especially important in a house with predators. We’ll be working on that.
Trying to get her to step up last night went like this. I put my hand in the cage and said, “Up.” She bit and fled. Repeat. Finally she did a few half hearted attempts and I called it good. This morning was the same thing. I finally caught her against her will and made her come out for a visit. She was shaking so hard but eventually settled down enough to walk around on me and play with my hair. She tried to get tough and acted like she was going to bite my face but she didn’t mean it. I blew air at her and she stopped. After she was comfortable I put her back in the cage while she was still having fun.
This evening I was going to work on Up again. I put my hand in the cage ready for the assault and she lowered her head but didn’t bite! She let me scratch her neck and pet her. I think we’re on our way to making friends.
You can tell she wants to be involved because when you walk through the room if you ignore her, she’ll call to you. If you initiate the conversation, she’ll ignore you. I think she’s playing hard to get.
