Bird "Dominance"

Let’s talk about people who cry bird dominance. “When a bird is on your shoulder, it’s head is level or high with yours. Therefore, the bird believes it is dominant over you and will bite your face.”

Do you want to know where this dominance thing came from? It came from WOLF pack mentality. I’m sorry... are wolves and birds the same thing? This started because people didn’t understand parrots, flock dynamics, and how to properly train a bird without using force way back in the day, and it “stuck” because we understand pack mentalities more than flock mentalities.

The truth is, parrots are not more dominant on your shoulder or up high. If anything, they’re more CONFIDENT. This is because birds naturally feel safer higher up, since in the wild flocks hang under the canopy high in the trees for safety, protection, and food. So, if they’re more confident, it shows when you’re training has fallen through and you need to work on things.

Birds do bite more on shoulders because we are unable to see and less likely to feel their body language shift to when they’re uncomfortable, and we all know when a bird of uncomfortable and passed their threshold, they will bite. Where do they have access to bite? Your face, your ears, your neck, your shoulder. All very sensitive areas, so even a warning bite can feel like the end of the world. Having the bird down on your hand or arm means the bird is within your sight line and you can watch and feel better to keep he bird comfortable.

So... should you let birds on your shoulder? Depends on the bird. Depends on the day. Depends on the environment. All of my birds go on my shoulder. Are they there all the time? Absolutely not. There are days when I’m like “no, Munchkin (double yellow headed amazon) is not coming on my shoulder cause he’s too over stimulated” but there are calm days when Alfie (moluccan cockatoo) hangs on my shoulder all day long happy as a bug! Gus (maroon bellied conure) is almost always allowed on my shoulder. I don’t think I’ll allow Crazy Bird (blue front amazon) on my shoulder.

Know your bird, know your comfort level, make your own decisions on what will be best for your specific bird and yourself.