How do you know if a bird has picked you?

[matt57]

What are the tell-tale signs that a bird has picked you?

[vle1170]

Well I have had 2 birds pick me since I got interested in birds. The first one was a blue fronted amazon. i was the only person he would talk to, the only one that could stick my hand in the cage, and the only one that could get him out. If anybody else came around he would shut up and try to bite them. So in my opinion he picked me but I never got to bring him home :(
My Petey was only a few weeks old when I believe he picked me. I went to visit the baby birds to start to get to know them, and his 3 sisters, I picked them up one at a time to check em out and let them check me out, but they wanted NO part of me at all, they kept fighting to get away even though they couldnt fly yet. When I picked up Petey, he curled up on my chest and lay there looking up at me, I could scritch his head, his chest, his wings, could give him kisses on his head and top of his beak.
Whenever I would try to hand him off to the lady raising them, he woudlnt go, he would wobble back up my arm. So I fully believed he picked me.
Its just a matter of watching the reaction of the bird as opposed to other birds and how that bird reacts with others.

[Ashling]

It's the bird that you feel a connection with and who seems to have an affinity with you. When I went into a bird supplier, there were two baby lorikeets on the stand. One was all over me, exploring, giving my kisses, chattering and preening my eyelashes. The other would also explore- with his sharp little beak, all over my skin. Although Ashling was the most dirty, scruffy looking baby- it's the personality that counts :) So I took her home.

[Flappuccino]

I've seen this happen twice. Once to me and one just the other day.

My bird picked me at a bird show. I never liked gcc's, but as I was walking by, the most beautiful baby caught my eye. The breeder handed him to me and we were in love. I called and asked my hubby, and he said no. I was heartbroken. My brother-in-law went back and told the lady, who had seen the way Chino and I had bonded throughout the day at the show. She was heartbroken too, and Greg came back out WITH THE BIRD! She said he belonged with me and just gave him to me. Hubby couldn't argue with a gift!

A few days ago, I took my brother-in-law to a breeders place so he could pick up a sun baby. We had all agreed it would be the youngest she had. However, when we got there, a totally different baby, a couple of weeks older, decided Greg was it. He was calling to him, craning his little neck around to follow Greg. Instant connection. Since he's a SUN conure, Greg named him "Tanner".

Yep- you'll know it when your bird picks you!

[lola31]

well when i first started thinking about getting a bird as a pet it was because i was "picked" by a little cinnamon green cheeked conure in a pet store. i named him Ike but due to timing and financial issues i couldn't take him until i returned from a holiday i had planned and the store wouldn't hold him for me.
Ike shared a cage with a very nippy and nasty little clutch mate and i would most definitely have taken Ike over the nippy one but fate intervened and when i returned from my holidays Ike was gone so rather than wait for an opportunity for another little bird (they are few and far between here) i decided to take home the other little conure who i thought hated me. all she ever did in the store when i went near the cage was nip me but when i got her home thanks to some good advice from the board members here and perseverance within a fortnight we had seriously bonded, she LOVES me and i love her back, i honestly don't regret for a moment that i have pepper instead of Ike (though i worry for him from time to time) i honestly think that watching the change in her has been more rewarding than if it had been love at first sight, when i first got her she would just perch on my hand or shoulder but wouldn't let me scritch her anywhere but her head, if i touched her wings at all she bit hard but now as soon as i pick her up she practically lays back in my hand, she will let me tickle her under her wings and everything. she trusts me implicitly now and its been great. she steps up well, she can wave and shake hands she can talk though not very clearly and chooses to do so when she thinks no one is listening and she pretty much poop trained her self, if she's perched on me she doesn't like to poop on me so she gets a little fidgety and waits until i hold her over a paper towel.
so i guess what i'm saying in a very long winded way lol is that if you don't feel an instant connection its ok you can always build a bond.
phew i'm done go rest your eye's

[Tiffany]

Booger picked me as well. I went to a bird fair in April of 07. I was walking around looking at all of the birds when a little bitty baby cockatiel caught my eye. He was in a brooder with a bunch of Quakers. The breeder told me that I could hold the baby cockatiel if I wanted to. I decided to. As I was going to put him back in the brooder, he jumped out of it and landed on me! I had made the decison earlier that I was not going to buy another bird. I went to put him back and he jumped out again landing on the floor. Needless to say, he went home with me that day.

[matt57]

those are actually great stories...... I guess I had the same expirience, but now i'm not so sure. Basically what happened is that I had gone to see a breeder, and decided I wanted to hold the green cheeks. while every other green cheek ran away, this one stood still and waited for my hand! as soon as I was close enough, she jumped on, and ran up my shirt to snuggle in my collar, only coming out to give kisses to my ear and preen my hair. So now I have been back there a couple of times, and she seems to be fed up with me (I think). every time I take her out now, she immediatley flies onto a perch above me, she just chews and just looks at me. If she's close enough for me to grab her she'll come down no problem, but she does tend to nibble when she does. She's only about 8 weeks. am I just crazy? do gcc's do that? what do you think?

[lola31]

well gcc's do tend to be nibbly from what I've seen, and it could be that she 's picked you or she's just a cocky little so and doesn't have any fear which can be a good thing depending on what kind of bird you'd like to have as a pet, if you feel especially drawn to her though then i'd say go for it!

[SisterBlue]

Our G2 picked us. We were shopping in our large, local exotic bird store. NOT looking for another bird - just buying some food and toys, etc. Hubby stopped at a large playstand to scritch the birds. There was an IRN, a couple of G2's, and a CAG.

Everyone got scritched, and one of the G2's just kept goofing off to get hubby's attention. He spent some time on hubby's hand getting scritched. Finally we wandered off to the toy section. I heard this little pitter patter...stopped to look behind me...and there's the goofy little G2, cruising along behind us on the floor following us around. Hubby picked him up and put him back on the stand in the middle of the room so he wouldn't get stepped on.

We walked over to the other side of the store, and within minutes, I hear little feet behind us again. Sure enough, there he is, looking up at us from the floor again. The folks at the store said they'd never seen him do that before!

We actually left without the bird, but when we got home hubby told me he couldn't stand to leave him there and could we go back to get him! So we did...and Remington (Remy) joined our flock. :)

-SB

[matt57]

thats the thing though, now i'm not sure what to think of her.