Is this a sign of sexual maturity?

A Parrots reproductive organs are on their backs under the wings so I would think touching them there could send the wrong signals.I understand what Mario is saying but there is good touching and bad touching even if it is accidental.That article is written by an award winning author Mattie Sue Athan She seems to know Parrots. She wrote the book "Guide to the well behaved parrot" it has been amazon.com's best selling bird care book.

Yes, you are correct Mario. I believe its been about a month or so now. My daughter already knows not to put her fingers in or even near her cage. When we first brought her home, we where [laying with her on the floor, she was doing great, until my daughter came in the room. It was like she ran to my daughter and jumped at her face, and yeah she got bit on her cheek and nose. The bit was not too bad. I think it scared her more that anything. But from that day on..... when I have her out my daughter stays in her room. God love her....shes scared to death of her now LOL!!! she told me shes afraid that Baby is going to get out of her cage at night and eat her!! Baby has learned to open her food door by watching me open it. So now I have it tied shut!! Shes very smart. And SO sweet with me. I can do anything with her. I can flip her on her back no problem, we beak wrestle, she likes to sit like under my neck up against my chest. She will sit there all day if I would let her. And with my husband she don't like him either....lol!! But is starting to let him touch her feet and sometimes her beak. But I know she has had to of bitten him at least 6 or 7 times (bloody bites) we actually thought she broke his knuckle the last time she bit him.But he don't give up he goes right back to her to show her he's not going to let that bother him. Have you ever heard of "Shaming" a bird? If not it's when they do something that you don't want them to do , like biting for instants....you would turn your back to them for a few seconds then try to do whatever it was you where trying to do with them in the first place. Thats what my husband was told to do , and I really think thats helping with her biting him . She will take a peanut from him instead of going straight for his finger now. But anyway, I don't care what anyone says...I have seen her playful side, her loving side, And I think we are making progress with my husband......SLOWLY! This my first feathered baby...so I'm learning Thank you for the offer, I will keep you in mind.

Hello,

The one thing that I also see is that you just got this bird if I am correct. Every bird has a so called honeymoon period and this is no different. A bird that is moved from a home to another will act out. You have the trust of the bird right now. A bird that is scared or upset will be a little more to deal with. Any bird that has just been moved will also look to see just what they can get away with. You need to set some basic rules for the bird and be very consistant with the rules. U2 are a great bird to have but they can also be very nasty at times. Like all Cockatoos they are very good family birds and they will generally go to any one at any given time, but if a Too has been mistreated in the past they will not be very trusting of humans. A bird of this size can do alot of damage to a human if they are nippy or just out right nasty. Please watch out for your daughter with the fingers a bird of that size will do a lot of damage to a little finger such as her's. I am not trying to scare you in any way I think it is great that you rescued this bird but PLEASE watch the little fingers. A U2 has great power in the bill and even though it is not as much as a Macaw or a Mollucian it will be a real nasty nip when they are cranky. Well with that being said you need to have some questions answered and if you would like you can call me and I would have no problem going over them if you would like. This goes for any one I will post my number for all of you to call me with any questions. I do this for a load of other people. Please fell free to call me at (727)458-2250 That is my number and please dont hesitate to call me for any reason.

Thanks Mario

Thank you for the encouragement! I have been told everything from I was crazy to I was stupid! I guess the U2's are the "worst" of the bird world. I don't think so, I just think that she has been mistreated and has some issues that we are working on.

Sounds like you are doing great with your baby and really trying to learn more to take the best care of her you can. I wouldn't worry too much about her acting excited by you, like the others said, just try not to encourage this behaviour or she'll be more confused. She'll still need lots of love and I'm sure you'll be there to give her this and everything else she needs.

She does not have a leg band. The guy I got her from said he ordered her and a male from CA when they where babies. My brother has the male (no leg band either) we where told they both where 3 years old as of right now. I really don't know. I have read SO many different things about too's. I'm really just going by what I was told and what she is doing. Everybody keeps telling me to watch her body laungage. I don't want to provoke anything so, thats why I'm seeking advice. We have a vet appt this Saturday so hopefully she can help me to. I feel I took her out of a bad environment, So therefore I'm trying to give her a good environment. This is definitely a learning experience for me.

As others have said, don't touch the "hot zones" and don't reward the behavior.

I am a little curious, you said you have only had her for a few weeks...are you sure you have the right background info? U2's hit breeding age at 5-6 years of age, so yours really shouldn't be trying to mate with you yet if it is 3 years old. Check her leg band (if she has one) and see if there is a year stamp on it. Normally a band will give the hatch year and state it was born in on it.

I totally agree with you Mario, I will be honest with you, this is my first bird, (WOW! I know) My brother got me into this "mess" LOL!! I have only had her for about 3 weeks and know Absoulty NOTHING about birds. I have done ALOT of reading the past few weeks and we go the the vet this Saturday so I will have a list for her!! I know that she has not had a very good life the past few years the guy that had her wasn't very nice to her. But she is VERY LOVING with me. I have NO problem with her. It's only my husband and daughter that she has the problem with. I think with my husband being a male, she sees the guy that mistreated her. But anyway, thank you for the advice! This forum has been GREAT!!!

Hello,

Your Too is in the season and is looking for a little love. The behavior is a sign of courtship. A bird that is ready to breed will have alot of hormones flying and they will act out of the norm. I also read that article and Ihave to disagree with it. The under wing area had no baring on coutship at all. The areas that will stimulate a bird is the lower chest, the vent area, and the top of the tail. The wing area has no barring on the courtship of the birds at all and will not have any effect on the stimulation of breeding. There are a lot of articles that will give you some great advise but there are others that will actually be misleading. Good examples of that is do you believe everything you read? The internet, books, and mags are published by others that do not have all the facts in a row. If you believe everything that you read you would be very confused because there are so many articles and web pages that do not see eye to eye on what they are publishing. Most articles are made up of individual experiances and not facts. The best way is to live and learn with experiance and from others that have worked with birds for many years. You should have a list of questions and when you visit a AVIAN vet get them answered from them or from a good source of knowledge. This is only my opinion you make the choice what you should believe for yourself. Just remember there are many different views from people that have only had a small amount of bird experiance. There are to many conflicting articles that are published on the same topic.


Mario

See slowly but surely she is warming up! But let your daughter know not to be upset, normally large birds just don't like little kids. I know she's not 3 or anything, but they just think they are bigger than them lol. Stick with it! From the sounds of it you are making a little improvement every day, even if it's just touching a foot!

I have been told not to rub by her tail, and to honest with you when we first got Baby, I was rubbing under her wings. so I hope I didn't start something that I didn't know I was . On a better note, she is letting my husband rub her feet and beak. At first she would NOT even let him close to her cage

To be honest you can't stop the behavior, you can only not egg it on. Some of the things that can get a bird going is rubbing by it's tail feathers, or rubbing under their wings. I never knew that before but there was a bird article about it in Bird Talk magazine last month. I thought to touch a bird under the wings was good, meant that they trusted you, but was wrong, well in a way cause it makes them sexually frustrated and than can have all kinds of side effects good and bad, mostly bad. So try to stay away from these areas. And yes it does kind of describe what Molly our Quaker does to my husband Jessie, she will even try to regurgitate for him.

Thanks for the reply. I have heard that if they do start to show sings towards the "Chosen" owner, I need to try to stop the behavior. All this is new to me and I have no idea what the "signs" are. This forum has helped a bunch though

I know nothing about toos.... but that definitely sounds like what a grey does when they fancy a bit if you know what I mean

Oh, thank you. Sorry. I told you I was new to this.

Christy I moved your topic to the Cockatoo room. The forum feedback room is used for making suggestions on how to improve the forum.

I have a 3 year old female U2. She has been doing some weird things just in the last few days. When I hold baby , she gets in my lap and she dose this really weird hissing -shaking -ruffled feather thing. I don't take the hissing as being aggressive, shes still really loving with me its just really weird to watch, I don't know what she is doing. Then she takes her beak and rubs it all over me, my legs,arms and chest and she kinda like cries really softly kinda like a baby dose when they are really tired and is trying to "sing" themselves to sleep...I know it sounds weird but this is what she dose to me. Any clue????? Any help would be greatly appreciated