New to IRNs - Is this normal, will it get better??

[AussieParrots]

I've just finished hand raising my first clutch of IRN. I have not raised them before, although I have raised many other species.

They are ready for new homes now, and I've folded and started a relationship with one of the babies and I'm thinking of keeping him for myself.

He's a lovely bird, will often sit on my shoulder and sing to me as he practices his adult noises. I do believe he's starting to bond although I've kept a distance between us until I decided for sure whether to keep him or not.

However, I just needed to confirm a few things - whether his behaviour is a baby stage or just how it is.

1) He can be skittish. Despite heaps of handling during the feeding and after phase he and his brothers can be skittish. They get frightened very easily by stroking etc even though I've done it since they were two weeks old. He even gets frightened if I pick up a book or magazine (while he is on my shoulder) and will do a kamikazi jump off (his wings are clipped). Is this just a matter of trust building or are IRN skittish by nature?

2) He can bite. Often he will bite my finger as I'm trying to remove him from my shoulder, which I understand as he doesn't want to go back to his cage etc. BUT, he sometimes bites my ears (is it ok to reprimand him with a sharp word and a gentle push away??) and sometimes if I have him sitting on my hand he will reach down and bite my fingers. OVerall, he can just be a bit pecky. Is this normal IRN behaviour? will it get beter? How do I reprimand him without making him aggressive? I've been correcting him the same way as a cockatiel or a Quaker, but I've read about IRN becoming aggressive through correction, so I need to know the correct way to do this.

3) Will he change personality (hopefully become even more human orientated) once his brothers are sold?

Overall, he's a sweety, but I'm not much into birds that constantly bite. Baby stage I can understand. Bluffing I'm ready for, even the occasional bite is expected of parrots, but constant bites or not being able to trust the bird not to bite my face etc is not something that I want to take on....

I'm not inexperienced with birds. I've been working with both domesticated and wild birds since I was a small child. I'm more than capable and willing to train if in the end I will have a loving friend. Biting itself, if it is temporary, does not bother me, I'm more than happy to work through it...

Any advice??

Prue

[Melika]

I don't think you can tell what will happen in the future based on current actions. Frankly I never trust a beak near my face regardless.

It's a relationship built over time, as you know with your other parrots, and personalities can change. I'm sorry I don't have a better answer for you.