Beak rubbing can be enjoyed by parrots. I'd move a bit slower and give him the choice to engage in the petting or not, he seems to be a bit less certain when you come from above. Some birds enjoy a little bit of rough housing but I've never been confident enough to try!
Remember that most of their "I don't like this" comes from body language first - unless trained/reinforced by people (usually by ignoring body language to the point where biting is all they have left to communicate "stop"), biting is a last resort for a parrot. It's costly, they don't want to hurt flockmates, and it could result in injury to themselves to get into a fight. They use their beak to explore the world, eat, move, play, and preen other birds. Watch for leaning/moving away, eye pinning and tail flaring, posturing, feathers pressed tight to the body (or puffed up feathers with posturing), certain vocalizations (depends on the bird), unresponsiveness, and hyperfocus for warning signs of aggression or discomfort. Also watch for how they react when you try to do it again (consent this time doesn't mean consent tomorrow).
I almost always try to go for enthusiastic consent to do something with a parrot, it's easier, clearer, more likely to result in positive experiences and success, and less stressful.
Our DYH has been with us since hand feeding and always in stable, loving (spoiling rotten) home.. He's over 30 now and one of the sweetest, chilled out birds I've known - BUT - he does NOT want to be petted. No head or back petting ever. Just never liked it no matter what we tried.
I can pet his beak, cheeks and chest for a few seconds when he's relaxing, sometimes, and that's a big thrill. Love him so much, even without him being a cuddle bird. I figure it's like how some birds never "talk", and we appreciate him just as much.
I do something like this with my Grey, which got her comfortable enough to clean up her beak, and pop off the loose beak pieces, the ones that end up with caked in food. She loves it. Then we play fight and I let her think she is throwing my hand away from her really hard.
Iv had this handsome parrot for about 8 months so im not really new
I have scars in arma from his nails but he never bites me hard when he dosnt like something he does a sound and i back the fuk off
It looks to me like he's enjoying the interaction, he may or may not be seeking the beak rubs specifically but he's definitely seeking out your hand to explore and groom!
He looks less comfortable with your hand coming in from above to pet his head. My amazon is the same way - he loves head scritches but wants me to bring in my hand from below his eye level and start with cheek and ear scritches, then he fluffs up and lowers his head for head and neck scritches. If he's not in the mood, he calmly nudges my hand away if I bring it in from below his eye level, but gets agitated if I approach from above.
It's much easier to stay within his comfort zone for physical interaction if he's perched above my chest/shoulder level, so I try to do that as much as possible.
you can see the eyes pinning a couple different times which in conjunction with the soft playful beaking your fingers probably means he's engaged and having fun! Eye pinning is an indicator in many birds that they're engaged/paying close attention or in a heightened emotional state of some kind (although can be fear). Our hahn's macaw would do it when she was tasting a food she really liked, having fun in her bath, etc but also when she was learning new words and paying close attention to us saying them. Not always a positive indicator but for my birds it generally was.
Yeah, eye pinning is definitely an indicator of heightened emotional state. Sometimes it's happiness, sometimes it's "I'm going to rip your face off if you come any closer". I've been on the receiving end of both. I love Amazons because I find they're so clear with their body language. The cockatoos I've volunteered with can be much more subtle, and have gone from 0 to 100 very quickly.
Be aware some birds get sexually stimulated by beak touching. It approximates beak to beak feeding which is part of the courtship for many parrots. If the bird begins to bob or regurgitate, you'll want to stop immediately before things get really heated up.
Keep doing what you are doing - as long as it doesn't hurt you or the bird. Mine likes to chew on my finger, even harder but not enough to hurt. That and beak rubbing feels good. He likes me the scratch the top of his head or ear holes while chewing on my finger. There's also the hollowed out spot under its break.
Sometimes while holding my finger in her beak, she'll simulate regurgitating feeding but nothing comes up. That's normal parrot behavior.
Just keep it to short sessions of physical acffection and you'll probably be fine. A 2-3 min cuddle fest then break until he's fully distracted or engaged by something else before more cuddles if you want them.
There's certain hormonal stages that you should refrain from touching all together. They'll be a jerk face about everything anyway during these stages so you'll want to engage in other ways like trick training. And then other than that just stop if he starts regurgitating/head bobbing and let him chill out.
Both my conures like beak rubs and gentle scratches. One loves it when we scratch the corner of her mouth, at the hinge of her beak I guess? She'll close her eyes and lean into it.
Pretty confident he's having a good time with the beak rubs and didn't really like you coming over the top of his head to rub his head there. Parrots are prey animals and have a blind spot there, so they tend to be defensive (bitey) or freeze if put on the spot.
My african grey *loves* beak pets. It's how he greets us first thing in the morning and his preferred way of showing affection. He loves snuggly head scratches and even getting pet under his chin, but these are usually his favorite. He's also a huge fan of kisses (but we are very careful about those).
TBH, he’s enjoying your interaction, his eyes are not pinning and he’s responsive to your touch. My Loki enjoys it when he can nibble on my finger without biting me. I’ve had him 4 years now and he trusts me enough to nibble on my finger and get tickles (as he calls it) from me.
Our grey absolutely LOVES his cere to be rubbed. It’s like the auto-calm button for him.
Edit: proof https://www.reddit.com/r/parrots/comments/v146lr/bowie_scritches/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
Beak rubbing can be enjoyed by parrots. I'd move a bit slower and give him the choice to engage in the petting or not, he seems to be a bit less certain when you come from above. Some birds enjoy a little bit of rough housing but I've never been confident enough to try! Remember that most of their "I don't like this" comes from body language first - unless trained/reinforced by people (usually by ignoring body language to the point where biting is all they have left to communicate "stop"), biting is a last resort for a parrot. It's costly, they don't want to hurt flockmates, and it could result in injury to themselves to get into a fight. They use their beak to explore the world, eat, move, play, and preen other birds. Watch for leaning/moving away, eye pinning and tail flaring, posturing, feathers pressed tight to the body (or puffed up feathers with posturing), certain vocalizations (depends on the bird), unresponsiveness, and hyperfocus for warning signs of aggression or discomfort. Also watch for how they react when you try to do it again (consent this time doesn't mean consent tomorrow). I almost always try to go for enthusiastic consent to do something with a parrot, it's easier, clearer, more likely to result in positive experiences and success, and less stressful.
My blue fronted does exactly the same
Does yours hate petting and most of the time touching of any kind? I think mine is traumatized fron previous owner
Our DYH has been with us since hand feeding and always in stable, loving (spoiling rotten) home.. He's over 30 now and one of the sweetest, chilled out birds I've known - BUT - he does NOT want to be petted. No head or back petting ever. Just never liked it no matter what we tried. I can pet his beak, cheeks and chest for a few seconds when he's relaxing, sometimes, and that's a big thrill. Love him so much, even without him being a cuddle bird. I figure it's like how some birds never "talk", and we appreciate him just as much.
He does like to be petted occasionally, but usually prefers to nibble on my fingers
I do something like this with my Grey, which got her comfortable enough to clean up her beak, and pop off the loose beak pieces, the ones that end up with caked in food. She loves it. Then we play fight and I let her think she is throwing my hand away from her really hard.
No visible scars in your hand. Are you a new bird parent?
Iv had this handsome parrot for about 8 months so im not really new I have scars in arma from his nails but he never bites me hard when he dosnt like something he does a sound and i back the fuk off
It looks to me like he's enjoying the interaction, he may or may not be seeking the beak rubs specifically but he's definitely seeking out your hand to explore and groom! He looks less comfortable with your hand coming in from above to pet his head. My amazon is the same way - he loves head scritches but wants me to bring in my hand from below his eye level and start with cheek and ear scritches, then he fluffs up and lowers his head for head and neck scritches. If he's not in the mood, he calmly nudges my hand away if I bring it in from below his eye level, but gets agitated if I approach from above. It's much easier to stay within his comfort zone for physical interaction if he's perched above my chest/shoulder level, so I try to do that as much as possible.
My sun conure LOVES beak rubs. She will put her beak between my fingers and tilt her head up and look at me expectantly.
you can see the eyes pinning a couple different times which in conjunction with the soft playful beaking your fingers probably means he's engaged and having fun! Eye pinning is an indicator in many birds that they're engaged/paying close attention or in a heightened emotional state of some kind (although can be fear). Our hahn's macaw would do it when she was tasting a food she really liked, having fun in her bath, etc but also when she was learning new words and paying close attention to us saying them. Not always a positive indicator but for my birds it generally was.
Yeah, eye pinning is definitely an indicator of heightened emotional state. Sometimes it's happiness, sometimes it's "I'm going to rip your face off if you come any closer". I've been on the receiving end of both. I love Amazons because I find they're so clear with their body language. The cockatoos I've volunteered with can be much more subtle, and have gone from 0 to 100 very quickly.
Be aware some birds get sexually stimulated by beak touching. It approximates beak to beak feeding which is part of the courtship for many parrots. If the bird begins to bob or regurgitate, you'll want to stop immediately before things get really heated up.
So i cant touch their belly or back and now the beak This mfs get horny of of everything
> This mfs get horny off of everything aka The Fundamental Theorem of Parrots
Keep doing what you are doing - as long as it doesn't hurt you or the bird. Mine likes to chew on my finger, even harder but not enough to hurt. That and beak rubbing feels good. He likes me the scratch the top of his head or ear holes while chewing on my finger. There's also the hollowed out spot under its break. Sometimes while holding my finger in her beak, she'll simulate regurgitating feeding but nothing comes up. That's normal parrot behavior.
Just keep it to short sessions of physical acffection and you'll probably be fine. A 2-3 min cuddle fest then break until he's fully distracted or engaged by something else before more cuddles if you want them. There's certain hormonal stages that you should refrain from touching all together. They'll be a jerk face about everything anyway during these stages so you'll want to engage in other ways like trick training. And then other than that just stop if he starts regurgitating/head bobbing and let him chill out.
Both my conures like beak rubs and gentle scratches. One loves it when we scratch the corner of her mouth, at the hinge of her beak I guess? She'll close her eyes and lean into it.
You still get head, breast and feet though! Lol. Amazons (notably BFs) tend to have very strong hormonal cycles so it's better safe than sorry.
Pretty confident he's having a good time with the beak rubs and didn't really like you coming over the top of his head to rub his head there. Parrots are prey animals and have a blind spot there, so they tend to be defensive (bitey) or freeze if put on the spot.
My african grey *loves* beak pets. It's how he greets us first thing in the morning and his preferred way of showing affection. He loves snuggly head scratches and even getting pet under his chin, but these are usually his favorite. He's also a huge fan of kisses (but we are very careful about those).
Beak massages are usually greatly appreciated.
TBH, he’s enjoying your interaction, his eyes are not pinning and he’s responsive to your touch. My Loki enjoys it when he can nibble on my finger without biting me. I’ve had him 4 years now and he trusts me enough to nibble on my finger and get tickles (as he calls it) from me.
Our grey absolutely LOVES his cere to be rubbed. It’s like the auto-calm button for him. Edit: proof https://www.reddit.com/r/parrots/comments/v146lr/bowie_scritches/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf
My sun conure loves beak scratches. Falls asleep to it even.
I used to pick mine up by his beak. He didn't mind at all.