Attack Bird! My IRN is attacking the men in my house.

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SandeeS72
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Sep 12, 2011 8:03 am

Attack Bird! My IRN is attacking the men in my house.

Post by SandeeS72 »

Kiwi my 16 yr old female IRN has been attacking the men in my household unprovoked. Yesterday evening she flew across the room and latched on to my unsuspecting boyfriend's ear, drawing blood. She has flown across the kitchen and attacked my brother while he was getting a drink from the refrigerator, again drawing blood.
She has never flown at me and I haven't had a real bite from her in years. How can I get her to stop sneak attacking? Does she view them as a threat? They don't tease her or startle her. I don't understand what sets her off.
ellieelectrons
Posts: 2708
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: Attack Bird! My IRN is attacking the men in my house.

Post by ellieelectrons »

I've seen others report this kind of behavior before and wing clipping has solved the problem. If you don't want to do that then all I can think of is getting the men to try to build rapport with the bird by leaving the bird big treats. Perhaps you could scale back your interactions with the bird and let them do more? My guess is that this may be normal flock behavior, trying to scare away those your bird thinks don't belong. It's probably very instinctual. Is it breeding season where you are?

Ellie.
ellieelectrons
Posts: 2708
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: Attack Bird! My IRN is attacking the men in my house.

Post by ellieelectrons »

Hmmm. Just reread your post and realised Kiwi is 16. I guess if she has never had her wings clipped before you may not want to do that.

Ellie.
Melstar
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 14, 2011 9:28 am
Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Re: Attack Bird! My IRN is attacking the men in my house.

Post by Melstar »

My bird has an issue with my boyfriend as well. I think it may just be the behavior of the bird. He doesn't bite him though as Eddie hasnt ever bitten anyone **knock on wood**...Its just me and my boyfriend in the house as well but he really doesn't like him. He gets very flighty whenever he walks by his cage. He hasn't done anything mean to him to make him scared of him so who knows. I think birds just tend to get attached and territorial with certain sex's.
ellieelectrons
Posts: 2708
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: Attack Bird! My IRN is attacking the men in my house.

Post by ellieelectrons »

I still think that if your boyfriend is willing to put the time in the behavior should be able to be improved somewhat.

Ellie.
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