normal !! ....???

Rashed,

It sounds like he is putting his head down to have his head and neck scratched. It sounds very much like whoever raised him got him used to be tickled, which is really lovely.

If you stroke the top of his head very gently, or scratch the feathers on the top of his head and the back of his neck with your fingernails very gently, he will probably love it.

Joshua also likes to be tickled under his beak in the hinge of his jaw (the bald bit), so you could try that too.

You're very lucky, I think. Falaah sounds absolutely gorgeous.

Lidia ;D

lol thax 4 the info. and he like if some1 (thax lidia and thax tammy )

he looks funny

Remember, a bird's natural enemy comes from above. That's why it takes trust to pet then on their bodies. Animals in general protect their throat and soft under belly. This is because their enemies attack those places; it's instinct. Pet a domesticated animal (stranger) on its back then reach for the under belly, and see if you don't get bit. A wild animal will bond with you and love you, but you'll never take from it what it doesn't want to give. Sure, some are trained for entertainment but in a sterile environment for 8 or 10 hours a day. Fresh water, food, and a clean cage; talk to him like you would you best friend, and the personality will emerge. My wife "snorts" when she laughs real hard; we all have done that! Pete will act a fool atop his cage for attention then laugh just like me. I was at work and my wife heard him laughing she had to come in the office to see if I had come home. I just put words to the tricks HE taught himself. If he drops a toy, he'll climb to the floor to get it; climb back up saying "Get your toy and go home Pete". I went for a Sunday nap after cutting the lawn (1 acre); the birds nap also, and unless something scares them, they stay on their cage. Pete decides to come find me 3 rooms 65 feet away. I heard from the floor "I'm a good boy"; that’s what he says when he wants petted. I laughed 'til I cried, and then he said real loud, in my wife’s voice "and you think this is funny" which is her famous line when we have a tiff. My friends are amazed at the real "person" inside of a bird, but that's how I trained him, just forgot to tell him: this isn't your world, because he thinks it is.....!

LOOL

It's actually a good point about the chalk. Is it okay for a CAG to eat plain chalk? Joshua has from time to time. Well, not eaten it so much as pulverized it!

I read somewhere on some CAG site somewhere (can't remember where) about a woman who liked to pick up parrots and kiss them on their bellies! How scarred and torn up must this woman's face be?!

Preston, you're so spot on about the 'attack coming from above', thing, and that is why baby parrots play fight, rolling over and tumbling, exposing their bellies and defending and attacking. It's definitely not natural behaviour for them to allow a person to stroke their belly, but if there's enough trust, they will. On their terms.

Lidia