Shoulder Friendly Birds?

[The Outlaw]

My vet tells me feed pellets. I don't do that either.

[Dustin]

My budgie and quaker are allowed on my shoulder pretty much anytime. The main thing i pay attention to when they are on my shoulders is so they dont steal my earrings.
We dont allow the macaws on our shoulders any time Every once and a while them will get past my defences and get on the shoulder, but they are quickly removed!
But like everyone has said it is how well you know/trust YOUR birds!

Dusty

[basketbagley]

Originally Posted by Tiki

All of mine are small birds and very shoulder friendly. In fact they pretty much consider me one big play gym as they like to play with my hair and walk all over me!

Mine too Tara!! Everyone laughs at me cause I'll have a budgie on my head and the other 3 running around the rest of me!!! Tink has taken to sitting on my knee while I'm at the computer so no one will "take his spot!" LOL!

I love it!!

[poi_lover]

I let my senegal on my shoulder all the time. However, I no longer allow my meyer's on my shoulder because I have been bitten several times. She is the type that likes to hold on and not let go! I've even had small pieces of flesh pulled from my fingers before. Once she punched a hole through my fingernail. She wouldn't let go of my fingernail, either, I ended up shaking her off. She is actually doing much better now, but occcasionally she is still a stinker with me. She got better after working with her in a separate room, where she couldn't see Daddy (AKA the chosen one).

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by FeathersNFur8

Tiki, I had to laugh when I read this. I just said these exact words this afternoon, as I seem to be Kady's favorite perch and toy.

Nice to know we are good for something, huh?

[Alyce Johnson]

In our house, it totally depends on the bird, your own relationship with her and the specific circumstances (how the bird feels that day, who else is around, where you are etc).

We have 3 tiny green cheek conures. One of whom I will not let on my shoulder.
The other 2 are fine on the shoulder, the head, where ever. And these birds are so small, you can put all 3 on one index finger (plus maybe one foot spilling off onto your actual hand. Tiny birds.)

But this one - the "Senior bird" of the flock - she's 10+ yrs old and a re-homed special. She has bit me badly too many times, inc taken a chunk of flesh out of both my nose and chin on separate occasions and has bit my lip to the point of bleeding many times - and all of that was lunging from my hand, when I got too close and brought my face "into range" of her tiny but sharp little beak!

When I drop her off the hand for biting my finger (she always draws blood) she then attacks my toes! I currently have 2 tiny festering bites on my left index finger, right now. And that's pretty much not unusual.

She's vicious (to me). But totally loves and adores my husband!
So, she can be on his shoulder anytime. But never on mine.

On the other hand, we have a macaw who is "my" bird. I let her on my shoulder and even let her groom my closed eyes - when my husband is not there. I dont let her on the shoulder when he's around, or when I'm out in public, because I dont know how she might react. She's very territorial at times, when he is around. But i trust her totally when it's just us 2.

But of course, if she was in a bad mood or not feeling well, was tired, or some such thing, I wouldnt put her up there. I also dont put her up there (or let her groom my face) when the TV is on - because a loud noise from the TV might upset her - who knows.

If you had told me a year ago I'd have a macaw on my shoulder *ever* I'd have thought you were crazy. But I just happen to really love & trust this particular bird. And I think I'm pretty good at reading her, so I tailor our behavior together accordingly. When she's tired or upset, I'm way more careful!

But still, I accept that I'm taking a risk. And I already have a big scar on my arm from when we were just getting aquainted so I do know what she could potentially do to my face. (Since she's blind and my eyes are recessed I think it's way more likely I'd get a flesh wound from Berta, than lose an eye. Probably.)

We also have a new amazon, and I'm experimenting with letting him on the shoulder from time to time. He's not territorial about us humans (yet) as he's still not sure this is going to be his "real" home. Or maybe it's just that his last owners kept him in a cage with virtually no contact at all for 22 years! So, he's not so sure about us yet - he's still deciding.

I mostly only let him try the shoulder thing with him when I'm with him alone, and in similarly calm circumstances as described above for the macaw. Only I'm really careful about what I do with him up there (no sudden moves etc) and how long he stays (as in not long). And I only try it when I've had prior success (as in within the half hour or sooner) with him behaving well with me. He's been good so far... But it's definitely a risk. He's way more of an unknown.

He likes it though, because he feels really secure up there (on his own footing and able to fly away if frightented) whereas he feels vulnerable and subject to my whim, on the hand. He's another re-home special but with a whole different set of issues. I feel like I've made progress just trusting him and letting him have time to be around me in neutral ways he feels safe about. Like sitting on my shoulder or on the back of the couch, behind me so that he can just get the feel of being close to me, without me being able to harm him. That's why I've risked it, and it does seem to be working.

It seems to be a safety thing with him, rather than a dominance issue. He tends to flap away (to the ground) when startled, rather than staying to bite. He only nips once in awhile when he's in his cage. And he has improved a lot in that dept. But his cage is really all he has to call his own, so I understand that he would be defensive of it, given all the recent upheaval in his life. I dont think it means he's inclined to bite, at all. And he doesnt bite or nip at all, when he's outside the cage, nor has he ever even come close to biting hard enough to break the skin, in any situation, even when totally freaked out.

He's warming up to me and talks to me way more than he did at first, so I think it's working. But - as I said before - I'm taking a certain amount of risk. He isnt huge (395 grams lilac crown) but his beak is big enough to probably take out an eye, no problem.

So, you have to kind of decide for yourself from moment to moment if you feel OK in your gut about giving it a go. Because the truth is, you could get seriously injured - Not just an unsightly scar, but something functional.

Also it depends on who you are, as a person. Some women would just die if they had any little permanent boo boo on their face. I almost lost a leg once, though, so I have huge scars and a visible limp and very little self consciousness left, as a visibly disabled person. So, if a bird was to leave a scar on my face, I would be upset about it, sure. But it wouldnt cause me to have some sort of personal crisis.

On the other hand I really *really* like having both of my eyes!! So - you just have to decide how much risk you are willing to take. As to who I am where risk is concerned: I almost lost my leg in a rock climbing accident. And now, since I cant to that anymore, I scuba dive. I am not especially risk aversive, as a person, although I'm not a thrill seeker either.

So, a lot depends on you. If you cannot be comfortable with the knowledge that you're *taking a risk* the bird is surely going to pick up on your discomfort and you've just way raised your chances of something going wrong. You really have to be OK with any risk you take, or you will be way more likely to have an accident. (Panic, not lack of air, is the #1 killer of scuba divers.) No bird is ever 100% safe, even just on your hand.