Ask Lafeber

My Cockatiel doesn’t like me

He bites me sometimes but not hard I can barely feel it and sometimes especially during the morning when you go past his cage he gets annoyed and start hitting the cage as if he saying back off recently I told him to stand on my finger and shoulder but only in a small room he doesn’t want to get pets it but he doesn’t want to come we have to chase him around his cage he hasn’t learned to go back in his cage on his own but he does stand on the door and then we come with his bowl he stands on it and then we put him in his cage by the way he’s only six months old

Hi Mia,

He sounds like a nice bird, but he is wary of you. I think you need to have a better understanding of bird behavior and body language. Since you are unsure of him, it makes him wary of you. Cockatiels are prey animals, so they do not like to be grabbed from behind. It’s normal for him to be territorial around his cage. You need to go back to basics to work on earning his trust and then teaching him to step up. You might want to try teaching him to step up on a stick or perch. Always move slowly around him and don’t reach for him, especially from over his head or from behind. Make sure his cage is not right next to a door or entry. He needs to be able to see people as they approach his cage. It can startle a bird if someone walks into a room and their cage is right by the entry. At 6 months, he is still learning. Just be patient with him and give him time. It isn’t that he doesn’t like you, but you don’t understand him and he doesn’t understand you. I’m going to give you some links to our training and behavior pages. This information will be very helpful for you to better understand him and know how to work with him.

Teaching Your Bird

Pet Bird and Parrot Behavior

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda