Can he ever be handled??

[ernz]

Hello... newbie here!

I hand fed (since 1 weeks old) a Nape... he was great until he became mature(4~ yrs.) and I remember reading about his maturity and why he became so mean! Fast forward 21 years and he's still meaner than ... well you know what I mean!!

Is there any fairly easy way to handle him again? I just manage to put up with him and get heavily assaulted(he will fly at me like an eagle - claws fully engaged!) 4-5 times a year when I get gutsy!

[Lori~D]

Letting it go this long and you not being in Charge? I doubt it - Thats a Loooong long time for him to be in charge and fully flighted. That bird is the boss of your flock. He is not "mean". Mean is a human term. He is flock boss because you have trained him and allowed him to be. Retraining him will take possibly years and dedication. You need the help of a professional or some books written by professional Avain behaviorists. This sounds funny but it would probably actually be easier to train him out of it in a new cage, new room, new environment and quite possible new person. I am by no means telling you to rehome him. Im just stating that how Bird behavior works is he fully believes he is Top bird in his flock and that position in the wild is only changed by a fight to the death or "put out" of the flock by a more dominant bird. If the Top bird is beaten by a new dominant bird it usually leaves, is killed, or is old and hangs on the sidelines.

[ernz]

"Mean" is really an incorrect term, normal(to them!) is more like it.
I have fed 7 other birds(I have 3... 2 different clutches) and they are all very easy going most of the time. Ernie(hence "ernz") is the only one that is this aggressive. I have come to accept his personality and frankly, have enjoyed(most of the time) the challenge of interacting with him.

We moved 2 months ago and I had to handle him and it was incredibly rewarding... he acted like he was my best buddy. I talk to him several times a day and he has a very vocal response(far more than the others) to the point I stop talking and he continues long after walking out of the room.

It's odd, out of all of my birds he is my favorite... I geuss because of his "spunk"!