This morning as Parsley, my linnie, sat on my shoulder while I read the paper I thought what a wonderful bird she was . She was making cooing sounds and being a real doll. She started loud calling which usually means she wants back to her cage and it is time for fresh food.



I put her back in her cage and this is when the surprise happened.



She got nasty with me. She did her angry sounds and lunged everytime my hand got near and tried to bite. she even tried to bite meanly through the bars of the cage. Wow was I shocked. I have no idea what had her upset. I have had her a year and this is the first time I have ever seen her angry.

I'm sorry to hear that Parsley was upset this morning (I was thinking that I would read about a good surprise when I opened the thread!).

Perhaps she is growing up and was showing some territorial issues?

My other thought is that her loud calling was possibly misinterpreted - sounds to me that she was trying to convey something. Was there anything unusual that happened this morning around the time of her loud calls?

Sarah, I have thought the same as you. What was different. I can't seem to come up with anything. If it happens again I will certainly try to look for similarities. She is back to normal now being her sweet self. I can tell you this episode really did surprise me.

But I guess every woman is allowed to throw a temper tantrum at least once a year. LOl

And that's pretty good if a tantrum only happens about once a year

I'll be curious to see if she has another tantrum.

Sarah, there has been more different behavior. She went in the budgies cage, ate out of their dish, explored all around the cage. She has done this twice in the last 15 min. Normally she wants nothing to do with the budgies. Could hormones be raging?

The budgies are not reacting and there has been no interaction with the birds themselves.

Hmmm, that is interesting for sure. I'm not sure what that means that she's now all of a sudden in the budgies' cage and eating out of their dish.

Regarding the lunging that she did in her cage when you first returned her to the cage, the only thing that I can compare that to from my own experience is territorial behavior that Lulu presents. Generally early in the morning and in the evening right before bed she gets cage protective - she'll lunge and hiss if you approach her cage and most especially if we go into her cage and come near her/try to pick her up. She started doing that when she was around a year old, ie when she matured, and she has done it ever since. We respect her when she has those moments and of course we know how she is at those times of day.

I was surprised as well to hear this was not such a 'nice' shared moment.

1) One thought came to mind about maturity - she is a she? she might be thinking of laying? - I only ask as I have noted when this happens for the first time the 'animal's' tissues may be twinging & an unexpected bite might be a pain they interpret to be part of your interaction - did that make any sense? Can you check her abdomen for any swelling or a firmness? Any other behavior changes?

2) Laker has confused me a few times in the 2 years he's been with us. Sometimes it's a social thing = not getting the in depth interaction he wants [feeling neglected] & he can be a bit bitching until the protocols are run thru. [standing by him & chatting for quite a while & maybe not even asking him to do anything the 1st time] Then he's as sweet as pie.

~ Maybe she wanted to interact & was upset with you for misinterpreting & taking her back.
~ I would interact with her a tad more over the next few days & see if that's it.
~ Being in the Budgie's cage might be just being perverse or naughty but it might also be a trying to get attention. She likes her cage? - any new toys in there?

OMG You all are going to think I am sooooooo stupid. Jac's comment about new toys turned a lightbulb on in my head. I think I may have found part of the problem. Yesterday I was straightening things up and I came across this stuffed partridge Xmas tree ornament. It clips on to the tree so I decided to clip it on top of Parsley's cage. Maybe that is why she didn't want to be in her cage since that thing was looking down on her. And maybe that is why she has been in the budgies cage.

I have removed it and so we will see what happens.

That's why we have forums like this - sometimes it jogs our memories. Let us know how she is over the next few days.

Hey, that sounds like a possibility! The only experience I have with female birds is with Quito, my Green Cheeked Conure. She is prone to crabbiness and rarely wants physical contact, other than she'd like to be on my shoulder all the time. Wants to be with me, but doesn't usually want to be touched, and also gets very huffy when I turn the TV remotes upside down so she can't pick at the buttons! She'll get all puffed up and start charging around just itchin' for a fight. She gets over it quite quickly though.