I really don't know what to do'

[Cheeky beaks]

Pedro has started to pluck his chest feathers whenever I hold him. He does what I call a long and loud love chatter and then pickes his feathers out. He doesn't do it any other time just when he's on my. First the chatter then a quick pluck and back to chatter and pluck. I haven't been letting him on me as it dosn't matter if I pet him or just let him sit on me. He has a 1" wide strip removed from the breast bone. What should I do. I really miss out time together. Joan

[KimBear]

It could be that for some reason Pedro feels a connection between the feather picking and receiving attention, but there might be more to it than that. To be on the safe side, you might want to have him examined by a vet just in case there's something more physical going on. Sometimes when something's not right, a sudden change in behavior is the only clue our parrots will give.

In the meantime, try bathing Pedro, playing games, trick training, etc. before cuddle time. If you can direct his attention to a task, he should be too focused on that to pick.