Max hates...

[Maxie]

...my dad ...lol

I have a question about Max's behaviour. My dad doesn't pay much attention to Max. He gave Max a chance when we first got him but after one good bite from Max, my dad has kept his distance...lol.

Everyone else in the family pays a lot of attention to Max and he loves us all. Lately, the last couple of months, Max will fly to my dad, sit on his knee and look at me or whoever else is in the room, if I say "No Max", he'll fly away. He'll do it five or six times and then I have to take him away.

Well, today, when no one was around at that moment to tell him "no", he flew to my dads knee, (this is what my dad said), looked at him and then ran to his hand and bit really hard on his finger. (LOL...I actually find it hilarious but my dad doesn't).

My question is, why does he do this only to my dad?

[bird-brain]

I honestly don't know the reason in Max's case. But it happens often and it is usually a case of jealously or gender bias. My lovebirds consider all of us equally beneath them. Lol. My Princess Parrot, Remy, hates men. He almost immediately flogs and bites both my adult son and my husband hard enough to draw blood. He met my daughter for the first time Christmas Day and loved her. I had warned her he might bite and she accused me of making it up so she wouldn't steal him. He was so sweet and affectionate with her. Lol. With my blue crown it's all about jealousy. She is friendly to anyone unless I am in the room paying attention to them. It's supposed to be all about her, ya know, when it comes to me.

Is your dad the only adult male in the household? Is there something happening when he bites your dad that he could possibly see as a reward? Do you take him to another room and spend one on one time or anything like that? Does your dad give a big reaction and everyone laugh or anything that Maxie may find amusing? Also, keep in mind that parrots explore with their beaks. It may simply be motivated by curiosity as he doesn't know your dad as well because he's kept away from him.

See if your dad would be willing to give Maxie a treat now and then. If he's going to fly over to check him out anyway. A millet spay from your dad will be far more interesting than his fingers.

[Maxie]

I honestly don't know the reason in Max's case. But it happens often and it is usually a case of jealously or gender bias. My lovebirds consider all of us equally beneath them. Lol. My Princess Parrot, Remy, hates men. He almost immediately flogs and bites both my adult son and my husband hard enough to draw blood. He met my daughter for the first time Christmas Day and loved her. I had warned her he might bite and she accused me of making it up so she wouldn't steal him. He was so sweet and affectionate with her. Lol. With my blue crown it's all about jealousy. She is friendly to anyone unless I am in the room paying attention to them. It's supposed to be all about her, ya know, when it comes to me.

Is your dad the only adult male in the household? Is there something happening when he bites your dad that he could possibly see as a reward? Do you take him to another room and spend one on one time or anything like that? Does your dad give a big reaction and everyone laugh or anything that Maxie may find amusing? Also, keep in mind that parrots explore with their beaks. It may simply be motivated by curiosity as he doesn't know your dad as well because he's kept away from him.

See if your dad would be willing to give Maxie a treat now and then. If he's going to fly over to check him out anyway. A millet spay from your dad will be far more interesting than his fingers.

Thank you so much for all your insight!
Your birds sound like real characters! I love how each parrot has their own personalities ��

Well, I think I can rule out the gender preference because he loves both men and women. After my dads surgery (he broke his hip in a bad fall and had a hip replacement) he's had a very difficult time walking so we do spend a lot of time caring for him, helping him walk, etc. So, maybe Max is jealous with all the attention my dad gets? It also could be like you said...he's curious to see what he's all about because he doesn't pay much attention to him.
Before my dads fall, he would feed Max treats when Max was in his cage. Sometimes, when we're having dinner (of course Max eats with us ) I'll give my dad a few sunflower seeds to give Max and he always takes them from his fingers cautiously.

I just don't get why the hard biting if he wanted to just check him out? It's almost like he's saying "why don't you play with me like everyone else does?" Take that! Lol.

Thanks again for all the info! We'll see how tomorrow goes ��