Starry's new playstand!

Do you share a room with your sister? You know, it's possible that she's being territorial over you as well as her cage? Or is she territorial TOWARDS you? In either case, this can be overcome. The best thing to do is to interact with her away from her cage, which is what she's territorial over. Maya is exactly the same. At about a year old, she is starting to go for my hands when I enter her cage to change food or water. I speak to her calmly and, even when she really does nip hard, I don't react to the pain of it, continue to be calm and just go about the task at hand. Sometimes I will distract her with nutriberries in her foraging toy to distract her from my presence. Generally, when she is out, she is on her playstand with me, away from her cage, in the living room. This hugely lessens her territorial behaviour. When we are in the pet room (which is also my study) I sit on the sofa and give her the choice to come out. If she is in her cage, I wait until she steps up onto the top or out onto the 'porch' perch, which is her indication to me that she wants to come out.

If she is territorial towards your sister, try encouraging your sister to spend time with her away from her cage, giving her treats and talking calmly to her. Birds feel most comfortable with those who are comfortable around them. The likelihood is, it will take a fair few nips and lunges before she gets there. In my experience, Maya rarely bites REALLY hard unless I have ignored all her previous warnings. I have had a fair few bruises from her beak, but she has never drawn blood from aggression and I hope that's because I always pay attention to her body language and don't bother her when she clearly doesn't want to be bothered. When Maya gets overly nippy, I calmly, and without talking, return her to her playstand or put her on the back of a chair and ignore her for between 3 and 5 minutes. This gives her the time to calm down and, usually, when I go to pick her up again, she is sweet and friendly. Bribery also works a treat! When your sister comes home, have her give Starry a favourite snack through the bars of the cage and say nice things to her, even if she is not going to get her out. This will help Starry associate your sister with positive things like food and attention. She may never love your sister, but she will hopefully learn to tolerate her and even enjoy her company.

Quakers are flock birds, remember. They live in huge communities. If they were territorial, all the time, towards every individuals apart from their mate, life would be very hard. She is trying to dominate the space so that she can be top bird, but this is not the right way for her to fit into your family, so she has to be taught her place. That means that her territory has to be reduced to her cage and, to an extent, her playstand. If you or your sister give in to her territoriality, shout or make a fuss, it reinforces this behaviour. If you patiently ignore her protests, reinforce the good behaviours and encourage flock interaction, she will learn to fit in. You may have to start it from the other side of her cage bars, but it is worth the routine.

I have strict rules about how we deal with Maya when she bites. The other day, she bit David, and I said 'put her down'. Before he put her down, he looked at her and said 'that was bad! You're being a bad bird!' I said to him, 'no, if you do that, she gets attention and it reinforces the behaviour. If she bites, don't make a fuss, as far as you can, don't even react. Just step her up or grab her gently and place her back on the playstand, then don't look at her or talk to her or react to her at all until she is calm.' It's a learning curve for the whole family but, like dogs, birds are intelligent and, as a result, will push boundaries. You CAN do it! Good luck!