Every now and again, people write to me complaining that they have seen a photo of me with a bird on my shoulder. People tell me that I shouldn’t allow this. I’ve also had some negative feedback about perch location in some of my aviaries. Some of my perches are above my eye level. I am told that this is a terrible idea and very dangerous.
Now you’d think high perches and having a bird on your shoulder are completely different topics? I’m grouping them together because the reason for the complaints is identical. People tell me that having a bird on my shoulder or having it above my eye level gives the bird a superiority complex. Apparently my bird will think it is the boss of me? I’m told at best, the result will be that I have a difficult to manage bird; at worst I can expect to get badly bitten?
These people mean well in their warnings but they are using an animal behavioral theory that I would never apply to a bird. What they are referring to is ‘dominance theory’. It is a theory that is commonly used when training dogs. I’m sure you’ve all seen the “Be a pack leader” training articles floating around. In a nutshell, the theory is that there is a hierarchy in a wild dog pack. Your dog’s family essentially takes on the role of its pack. If you want to control your dog – you need to be the top dominant dog. Training is conducted accordingly.
Wild Galahs/Rosebreasted Cockatoos
If you saw parrots in the wild on a daily basis, you’d understand why I have trouble applying that theory to a flock. When you have 300 parrots together pulling up grass on a football field, believe me when I say there is no alpha male or alpha female. If there were, the alpha birds would have to constantly fight to maintain the hierarchy. It just wouldn’t work. There are only so many vicious fights, that they’d physically be able to cope with. Birds simply aren’t that stupid. They’re not going to take on 300 other birds just to be boss. The flock is pretty even in stature.
There are some roles within a flock structure that can sometimes produce behaviors that could be interpreted as ‘dominant’. There are adult vs. juvenile relationships. There are relationships related to mating (both bonded and sometimes competitive). In terms of a wild flock there may also be one or more birds acting as a lookout while the flock feeds or sleeps. The lookout role will rotate, so that the entire flock gets a chance to feed and sleep. Sometimes as humans, we’re tempted to classify behaviors relating to these roles as ‘dominant’ because a bird appears to gain an advantage with these behaviors. That temporarily bossy bird however, may well be the next lookout – it doesn’t mean that they think they’re the boss.
Wild Rainbow Lorikeet challenges a Galah for the highest perch (and the lorikeet wins).
I think people try to apply dominance theory to birds for a number of reasons. We do see what can be interpreted as dominant behavior in our pet birds on a regular basis. Birds happily clonk each other over the head to get something that will fill a basic need. A high perch provides a feeling of safety and they will bite to maintain that feeling. Similarly, a shoulder can seem to be a safe and difficult to reach spot. They can choose to bite to stay there.
That’s where the danger comes from. If you are in a situation where you think it could be difficult to remove your bird from your shoulder or a situation that might frighten your bird, I’d be very wary about having that bird on your shoulder. My birds are only allowed on my shoulder when I am sure they are happy and comfortable and I know that I can get them off safely.
Anyone want to guess why I can't wear a lace bra at the same time as handling Morgy my galah?
As it happens, I do have a bird that is very likely to bite me if it stays on my shoulder for too long. I’ve talked before about how birds use light to communicate. My little musk lorikeet Otto goes through lightning fast colour changes, which are often too fast for me to catch. He does not seem to understand that I do not have a 360-degree range of vision like him. If he is on my shoulder, I can’t clearly see him and will miss seeing his colour changes that are warning me that something might be frightening him. His level of agitation increases if I miss (or from his perspective ignore) his signals. In that instance he’ll bite to stay on my shoulder (where he feels safe) or bite to make me move somewhere where he feels safe. Needless to say, I prefer to handle Otto on my arm so that I can see him more clearly and monitor any colour change.
One person wrote to me that their avian vet has warned them that if they encourage their birds to be on their shoulder then this will cause their bird to become hormonal and uncontrollable. That did confuse me for a while, as it was a well-respected avian vet that they were talking about. I suspect that it isn’t quite what the vet meant though. I don’t think the vet meant that sitting on a shoulder is the cause of the behavior; I think he just meant it’s not a safe place for a hormonal bird to be managed.
Merlin telling me he wants my earring... (it's ok, my ear survived)
A bird could find a shoulder a desirable location to perform unwanted hormonal behaviors simply because that is a difficult location for the human to be able to remove them or interrupt them. The bird feels safe and for want of a better way of putting it – the bird goes for it. The human will undoubtedly get bitten if an over-enthusiastic bird is interrupted. That could be dangerous and so I’d caution against allowing a hormonal bird free reign on your shoulder.
Merlin jumps on my shoulder any chance he gets, while Morgy prefers my hand.
I don’t feel guilty for putting photos of myself with my birds on my shoulder out there for anyone to see. I don’t believe my birds think they’re the boss of me as flocks aren’t hierarchical. I don’t believe the practice triggers hormonal behaviors in my birds. That said, it doesn’t mean that I always think it is safe to have them there, as there are occasions when any bird will bite to stay on a shoulder or on an above eye level perch. The real trick is to learn when it is and isn’t safe.
If you have issues with birds biting or with hormonal bird behaviors I’d encourage you to do some training with your birds. Do the research on bird biting, do the horrormones course. This will give you the building blocks to communicate with your birds and interact with them safely. Learn the real triggers for those behaviors and learn your bird’s signals. Bird behavioral theory and dog behavioral theory are different for a reason.
Mel Vincent works as an animal rehabilitator out of Australia.
14 comments
Birds
I think both theories have some merit to them. BUT, just like with people and children, it really depends on your bird and your relationship with the bird. Best to learn the birds “language” and respect it. slowly but surely the bird will learn some of your likes and dislikes and as trust builds between the two of you, the relationship will level out and you’ll get along great. They want affection and happiness too- they just go about it different. Be responsible, respectful, and PATIENT with your bird and it will settle down and be your best friend
My only problem with my Macaw riding on my shoulder is when she digs in to keep her balance. That’s her social life. When I walk the dog, Cheyenne insist on riding on my shoulder.
Mel, you are right on! As the species with the “biggest brain”, we have to regard each species individually in the way they interact with their natural world in order to appropriately interact with them.
I have two African Gray Parrots, Male and Female. I let them out of their separate cages for a couple of hours every day. The male is not as friendly as the female. the female lands on the top of my head all of the time and will not go on my hand or my shoulder. She is quite content to sit on my head. When I want her off I just move my head and away she flies back to her cage. I have also noticed that if I watch their eyes, I can tell if they are getting ready to bite. Their eyes will get smaller if there is something that they do not like.
The only reason I was given for not letting a bird ride your shoulder is the danger of having your eye pulled out. I do know of a person that that happened to when his macaw pulled his eye out BUT I dont know of the circumstances. I was only warned that this could happen. However, I do let my umbrella cockatoo, Icabird, sit on my shoulder, but not ride because he’s a little awkward up there. I enjoy letting him sit there and I hope he’s enjoying it as well instead of contemplating an eye for breakfast. just kidding. My goffins cockatoo, Joey, is the biggest problem (serious behavioural problems) but since I’ve been subscribing to this website, I’ve learned how better to handle her. We got her when she was 3 from an abusive owner and she’s 19 now. She rides my shoulder everyday and I actually do chores with her there. It isnt a problem. My African Grey, Beau, also sits on my shoulder but he will ride my finger like he’s been trained to do. I am careful not to let them look directly into my eye when they are on my shoulder just as a precautionary measure, but then, maybe I’ve been misinformed about the danger. I LOVE MY BIRDS.
My amazone sits on my shoulder very often and has never tried to bite me when I wanted to remove him. I can handle him without any problems, at any time. He’s a good bird.and it depends on the relationship you have with the brid :-)
Macy and I have a twenty one year relationship. He has ridden on my shoulders for only the past ten years of so. It took Macy a while to learn how to behave when he is on my left shoulder. I am right handed and it is easy to put him up on the left side of my body. I am in tune to the weight shifts which alert me to his sudden lack of confidence or his need to vacate. Macy rarely vacates on my shirts. I can feel the shift in weight which is a clue of an iminent call of the wild.. Macy sits quietly as I talk to neighbors. Macy sits on the shoulders of admirers as their pictures are taken. Sitting on my shoulder gives Macy confidence as instinctivly he feels more confident in high places.
My goffin cockatoo prefers to sit on my wrist and arm but he loves to get on my wifes shoulder to pull her hair. He just wants me to pet his head and face
all i know is i have a 5 year old b&g and he is so wired i would not dare let him sit on my shoulder. just a thought
I agree. I have no qualifications to agree, but I agree. I am new to this. I got a little rescue 3 months ago who was afraid of everything. Especially my hands. I got a full spectrum UV light and he as turned completely around in 2 weeks. He loves being on my shoulder and I love having him there. After reading this, I will no longer worry or stress over it. I have learned to turn my head when he lands, otherwise he nips the heck out of my ear or the back of my neck. He only does it once immediately on landing. When he does this, I look at him totally disgusted and mean and he reads my face and the next little ‘nip’ will be very gentle. I know that he never bites to be mean, and I don’t really consider it biting, just nipping a bit too hard. He’s a smart little pirate.
I have an eclectus parrot that is going to be one at the end of the month who spends half his day riding around on our shoulders and we don’t have any issues. He nips us on occasion and. He wants to be out back in his cage and we Haven’t been paying attention to his signals and is getti g frustrated. It is usually soft though sometime we need to remind him to be gentle. However when I was looking after an older eclectus male for 2 months they would ape d a lot of time on top of there cages trying to protect their territory. Also they seamed to get upset when one was forced to eat below the other though this could also be because they were more interested in wether the other had better or more food in there bowl or a bigger bowl. Sorry am pratteling on just wondering your thoughts.
Your birds are well behaved though…. domance isn’t just leader of the pack,with birds of diff specieies within one family may try to get on u higher to show ur the alpha bird in the group, I see mine do it all the time, if they are hormonal like u said they r more likly to bite period & if they r scare even in the wild they r known to bite thir partner to warn of danger…. even in some of the bird trick dvds it talks about not letting ur bird pirch above u or they will show dominance? So id say it depends on ur bird & eaither way a bird isn’t domesticate so u will get bet on occasion its unavoildable although mine are pretty well sweet & raised & have too many goodies that taste better than me but id jus say it depends on ur level of expierence & trust ur bird has in u & u in them….. I love them but I feel ur article is going back n forth….. also like in the wild the climb to the top for saftey & I have seen dominace in the wild as we’ll & seen some parrots fight sooo hard it scared me & saddened me…. just a thought Ryan & flock: apollo (cag), Thor (alexanderine), Loki (plum head)
Thanks for this great post—I was also told by my avian vet not to let my rescued cherry head conure sit above heart height as she would take it as a sign of being the dominant one. She had real issues, having had been abused for at least two out of her five years when I got her, and at first was a real hysterical monster. I used to get bitten a lot. But 10 years later, she is much calmer (as calm as a conure gets anyway!) and my shoulder is her favourite perch. I work at home, and she is only caged at night or when I go out, so it would be a bit difficult to keep her from flying over to me and cuddling into my neck even if I wanted to keep her “lower than my head”. If she gets nippy however, I either send her to her perch or onto my lap, and she seems to understand that I’m the boss and to settle down.
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