Stop Landing on Heads?

[Ryiah]

Hi,
Our 3 month old Cockatiel keeps landing on our hands, which is very annoying and painful with his sharp claws - what are the steps we should take to stop him landing on our heads?

Just now we just say 'no' and immediately take him off our heads...is there anything else we can do?

Thank You

[sowilu]

I think its a young tiels habit of doing that. When Maxy was about the same age all she would do is land on our heads. But she grew out of it and when she does land on our heads she simply looks for somewhere else to land and gets off our head. On the other hand Nimbus is a little over a year and he still does it but I think he will grow out of it since he has started to land on our shoulder. I think they go for a place to land on us that feels more secure and that they won't fall off. I know with Nimbus he lands on our shoulder and has a hard time getting it right. I think the head is more of a "safe" place to land for them.

[Bonesy]

I personally duck or move my head to the side if Mikko comes down for a head shot, and if he gets on I tip my head forward to back until he flutters around me in circles and lands on a shoulder.

[Valo's Moirana]

valo lands on my head ALL the time.... it's a fairly large landing area which is hard to miss and therefore often preferred for uncomfortable fliers (which valo doesn't really qualify).
they have a tendency to land on the highest spot - you could try to offer your hand as a landing spot and present it higher than the head or right in front of your head. that might help.

[Ryiah]

Thanks for your replies, he usually does it without us expecting it, so our reflexes aren't fast enough to put a hand up. Hopefully he will grow out of it!!

I don't think it would be so bad if it didn't hurt as much, but when he lands it's like having needles dig into your scalp - really painful!

[2horse]

I have baby suns landing on the head all the time. His nails can be less sharp if he has a mineral perch available. Over time he will get better at landing and even if he does land on the head it becomes much lighter and no longer the gripping of nails, at the moment he is probably overshooting the runway and have to apply brakes.