Some of the reasons why many professionals are against birds are because:
- Shouldering your birds leads them to think they are dominant to you
- You can't see your parrot's body language
- Your bird is very close to your face
With my birds, Blossom is not allowed on my shoulder right now because she doesn't come off when I ask her to. My basic rule of thumb is that my birds can be on my shoulder if they come off the first time I ask them. For instance, if Kiwi or Edward puts themselves on my shoulder, they step up whenever I ask them.
Blossom has some difficulty understanding personal space. Although Blossom has never bitten me and loves being very close to me, she doesn't like or understand why sometimes I don't want her up there.
Currently, my shoulder training right now is literally just going to be avoiding her near my shoulders. If she does end up on my shoulders, I target train her to come off. Luckily, Blossom has been very good at listening to my cues.
If you have a bird who either bites or refuses to get off like Blossom, there are few techniques that you can use to target train them. Some helpful tips are:
- Hold your bird's feet firmly if they try going up your arm
- Offer something to keep your bird busy, like a favourite toy, so they don't get distracted and go on your shoulder
- Stick to a routine. If you "every so often" the only target train them, your bird may have difficulty understanding its boundaries
I hope these tips can be helpful for you and your birds!
