Is your bird a bully too?

[b.a.]

Milly has been a part of the family for over a month now, and he is very comfortable with us... maybe a little too comfortable sometimes. I have 3 daughters, the oldest (ages 5 & 7) absolutely LOVE Milly and are all over him. But my youngest, who's 3 y.o., is really not interested in him and is scared of him for the most part, because he's already nipped at her. Well! Milly, for some reason, LOVES Natalie, my 3 y.o. Whatever she's playing, he's wants to play with too, whatever she's eating, he wants her food too, etc. It was funny at first, but now he just looks for her and goes straight to her. Doesn't matter if I'm around and doing the same thing or if we already share food w/ him: he wants to be on her or picking at her clothes/toys/food. Natalie is getting a little better, and isn't so scared anymore, but she still doesn't want to play w/ him or hold him. So I always have to watch him when they're together. Do you think this is because he can tell she's scared and he's being a bully? Or does he really like her??? Any suggestions? I'm already just trying to keep them separate and all the kids are always supervised around Milly. Thanks in advance :)

[b.a.]

P.S.
Does anyone's bird butt up their head to yours? Mine started doing that to me this week: he pushes his beak on my cheek. Not sure what he wants. To snuggle maybe? It's cute. Just wondering.

[RicosPoppy]

I have a 9 year old son who Rico loves to torment. Likes to bite his ears, chew holes in his favorite pokemon cards, steal his lego pieces etc. etc.

I don't allow any unsupervised out of cage time, but normally on the weekend when Rico will spend a large part of the day out of his cage, my son will be outside, or confined to his room with the door closed so Rico can't bother him.

I find it all very ammusing of course. How my little devil bird can bully my son. My son loves Rico, but only when he is in his cage. :lol

I have younger nephews that will come by but I always keep Rico in his cage for his own protection. I really have a hard time trusting anyone with Rico besides my wife. But especially kids. This is something I probably will never get over but that is fine with me.

[Mandolin]

Well i can't really comment on the first post because i don't have a lot of experience with that sort of thing, but as for the head butting, Kameko does it too. She does it for kisses. One of her favorite game is for us to giver her a kiss on her beak then she pops her head forward at us to get another kiss, she does it over and over and over. It is really cute actually.

[BarbieH]

I love the head butting. :) It's sweet, but I think my birds do it for grooming reasons. Gracie only does it to Tim, so she can rub the top of her head on his beard hairs. Sammy only does it to me, and only when he is still wet from bathing.

[Janie]

BA, I don't know what to tell you about whether Milly really likes your daughter or is trying to bully her but,.......I think she likes her! :D My birds steer clear of anyone they don't know or don't like. Oliver is a family bird and gets along well with me, my hubby and both sons but Big Boi and Shy do not consider anyone in the family but me as part of their flock. If I'm gone, my hubby can get close to them and get them to step up and the same with one of my sons but the other son, :lol, no way. It's his fault though cause he expected them to automatically like him the way Oliver did when we adopted him. Heck, Oliver is a pretty laid back little bird and tends to go with the flow (or to anyones finger or shoulder) but BB & Shy expect to be wined and dinned and my son won't put forth the effort. His loss! :D My kids are much older than yours, 23 and 20 so they aren't afraid, just a little cautious! :D

Love the little cheek butt story! Oliver does that, too. They others don't.

[Angelwing]

I think Milly probably does like your daughter, as well.

Trixie doesn't bully humans, just the other birdies. She especially picks on poor little Laharl, so they usually aren't out together.

Basil LOVES rubbing his whole body all over me. He's a super cudley bird, who really enjoys his neck rubs. Milly probably wants to snuggle as you 'preen' her.

[butterfly1061]

Oh I love being beak-butted :D Daisy does this to me if I don't feed her fast enough :rolleyes: Daisy's my bossy lovie and she thinks I'm here on this earth to do everything for her. Of course I do, but I won't tell her it's because I want to :lol My other lovies don't do this. Oh, wait, Piper has a couple of times - too cute that little Piper-baby! Right Lori ;)

[Z28Taxman]

Well i can't really comment on the first post because i don't have a lot of experience with that sort of thing, but as for the head butting, Kameko does it too. She does it for kisses. One of her favorite game is for us to giver her a kiss on her beak then she pops her head forward at us to get another kiss, she does it over and over and over. It is really cute actually.

Ditto will put his beak against the tip of my nose and make kissing noises. :cool:


He doesn't bully people at all, he loves to play with my nieces who are 9 and 6. And he's never met a stranger he didn't like. He's got to be the center of attention. :cool:

[graushill]

Hi!

I thought I would chime in and add my vote to those who said that Milly probably likes your youngest daughter, however misguided her efforts to endear herself to the object of her affection might be :). I think a lovie will usually avoid people he's scared/unsure of. Ditto would be an exception, but then he's a very sweet lovie.

I would say that if your daughter is scared of Milly, maybe the best thing would be to try to avoid having her come near your little girl, as things like biting are very hard to prevent. Lovies are I think natural little bullies, they don't mean to be bullies, but they are in the end, and some more than others. Maybe as your daughter gets older she'll learn to appreciate Milly better. Then again, not everyone "gets" birds, but chances are as she's growing in a home with other bird lovers that she'll be one too :).

Regards,
Gloria

[b.a.]

Really interesting to read everyone's response to birds & kids. I'm glad to know that Milly isn't the only one who picks on someone else, bird or human. So for now, I'm keeping them separated/supervised. I'm also trying to convince Natalie that Milly loves her and just wants to play with her; she's buying it, but she still doesn't want him around.

Dave, how come Ditto is so friendly? Any tricks you want to tell me? :)

I also think that Milly is butting my cheek because he wants to snuggle up under there, under my chin or under my hair. I've let him do that this week... but when I want him outta there he doesn't budge! He even fell asleep once and I startled him when I was trying to remove him. Pretty funny. Does this mean we're bonding?

[mjm8321]

Dave, how come Ditto is so friendly?

Hahaha, Dave's Ditto doesn't know he's a bird...he thinks he's a 48 gram, feathered human and hockey fan!!!!!!!!!!!

Ditto is a very lucky, spoiled bird that has lots of one on one attention. Lovebirds, or most any bird, thrive with this type of love and attention. I'm sure Dave can tell you his routine with Ditto that has made him how he is today.

[Z28Taxman]

Hahaha, Dave's Ditto doesn't know he's a bird...he thinks he's a 48 gram, feathered human and hockey fan!!!!!!!!!!!

Ditto is a very lucky, spoiled bird that has lots of one on one attention. Lovebirds, or most any bird, thrive with this type of love and attention. I'm sure Dave can tell you his routine with Ditto that has made him how he is today.

That's pretty much true. He's only ever been around humans. Although I do tend to act like a bird quite a bit.:lol He chirps and me, I chirp right back. If he gets hyper and bounces around, so do I. If anyone saw me they'd lock me up.:whistle:

[Phoebe]

Phoebs pushes her beak hard against my cheek to indicate a kiss, if she wants to bite, my fingers are the target.:eek:

[Cooper]

Hahaha, Dave's Ditto doesn't know he's a bird...he thinks he's a 48 gram, feathered human and hockey fan!!!!!!!!!!.

I don't think Cooper's warmed up to hockey yet. She startled into a flight across the room with freshly clipped wings when my fiance's team scored and he cheered.

[Z28Taxman]

I don't think Cooper's warmed up to hockey yet. She startled into a flight across the room with freshly clipped wings when my fiance's team scored and he cheered.

Ditto loves hockey. He's learning to sound like a referee's whistle and he goes nuts when the flyers score and those cruise ship horns that they have in the building go off. Plus he yells excitedly evertyime I say Go Flyers!!!!! :cool:

[Cooper]

Lol, I won't mention it to the fiance or I'll end up with nothing on the tv but hockey and a bird giving penalty calls. She already makes my alarm clock beep-beep-beep when I'm not paying her enough attention! :)