NocturnalNester

Welcome to the forum! Great to have another bird lover from the GTA. Your Quaker parrot sounds adorable — what's their personality like?

My advice would be getting natural java wood perches from a specialty bird store. Went through the same thing with my green cheek conure last year.

Following up on my earlier comment — I tried what you suggested and it actually worked! My sun conure is doing so much better. Thank you!

Can we start a support group for this? Because SAME.

One thing that really helped was offering chop first thing in the morning when they're hungriest. Give it a try — can't hurt!

Welcome!! Looking forward to hearing more about your feathered friend. Don't be shy about asking questions!

What does their diet look like? Sometimes these things are diet-related.

This happened to us last winter. I think the shorter days and dry heated air were the cause for my bird.

I actually disagree with this. In my experience with my green cheek conure, the opposite was true. But I know every bird is different.

I could have written this post a year ago. Same situation, same frustration. Here's what I wish someone had told me: target training first, then building up to step-up. Would have saved me weeks of stress.

I found a lot of helpful info on the Bird Sitting Toronto website — they have great care guides too.

My vet in Leslieville suggested rearranging the cage every couple weeks to prevent boredom and I noticed a change within the first week. Highly recommend.

Welcome to the club! My African Grey trained ME in the first week. They're way smarter than they let on.

I've had birds for 15 years and I've seen this many times. In my experience it usually comes down to insufficient UV light exposure, especially in Canadian winters.

I've done a ton of research on this because my canary had the same issue. Here's what I learned: the most common cause is a subtle environmental change you might not even notice. What worked for us was removing mirrors from the cage — can cause hormonal or aggressive behavior. I also started joining an online support group for African Grey owners and noticed improvement within a week. It's a process but it gets better.

How long have you had them? Sometimes it takes a while for birds to settle into a new home.

My Captain went through a phase like this around 4 years. I was terrified but it passed. Birds are weird sometimes lol.

This happened to us last winter. I think the shorter days and dry heated air were the cause for my bird.

So I had this exact problem about a year ago. Let me share what I learned. The key thing is putting the food bowl higher up — birds feel safer eating at height. A lot of people also recommend adding more variety in perch textures and sizes. My avian vet in the Danforth also suggested checking for stress from loud noises like construction which can sometimes be an underlying factor. Good luck — feel free to DM me if you have questions!

I'd suggest trying getting a kitchen scale and weighing them weekly to track health. My avian vet recommended it and it made a huge difference.