Dance ritual

[maria-mar]

Goya has been doing this thing where he/she dances around my hand moving head up and down. Goya will then climb into my finger and bite HARD. I'll place him in my shoulder, he'll just come down and repeat all again, over and over. If i take off my hand refusing to take part he will respond with an aggressive squeak, giving me "the look".

It's like a ritual, except i don't have a clue what he/she wants!
What is my bird trying to say?

[linda040899]

The display is what males do to attract the attention of a mate, in this case....you (human mate). When you ignore the advances, the bite is to catch you attention. Spring is in the air and the hormones they are a-flowin' :omg: About all you can do is protect your hand by maybe covering it with something so you don't get bitten. Another option is a spray water bottle. A bite = being squirted with water. It will get a message across, that's for sure!

[maria-mar]

Oh my, now i'm flattered x)

But i read here that lovebirds can't understand punishment. Isnt water spraying a way to punish him?

[linda040899]

No, not really. The object with the water bottle is to use it immediately after the offending behavior. That gets the message across right away that the behavior just exhibited is unacceptable. What gets lost in punishment translation is delay in time. That's why it's not understood. The spray bottle is action/reaction.

[maria-mar]

I see, thank you so much.
I'm going to wait for a while, maybe his behavior will stop (or he chooses something else other than my hand for a mate), if not i'll try the water spray.

Is this behavior male only or females can do it too?
It's funny that on my last post i was asking about a traditionally female behavior. These little creatures really are mysterious!