I know first hand that Diamond, a tame Pionus chalcopterus, will sometimes respond to having his head and neck scratched in an interesting manner: he may make "panting" or "huffing" noises unique to this activity, lean his forehead or beak against my hand, and half-close his eyes.
I'll add to Ryan's answer by pointing out another use of preening: peeling the cover from newly-grown pin feathers.
How to (safely) pet
It's important to read body language correctly. Just as in Manderan it's funny to call your mother-in-law a mountain horse, you must learn the distinction between "scratch my neck" and "stay back or I'll bite". The ruff is raised normally as a signal of aggression.
Bring your hand up to his level wrist up and fingers trailing down in a relaxed posture. Make sure he sees it, without startling him. Human hands are not "natural" to non-domesticated species, so give him a few seconds to process. Higher thinking is slow and an optional "mode" so to speak. If he wants to be petted, he'll engage or remain neutral and undisturbed.
Diamond has learned through consistancy that a natural but superficial agressive signal is understood as "give me space", so a horizontal body position with beak in-line like an arrow (the "T-Rex position") and a slight (symbolic) darting motion means you should withdraw. But he may change his mind in a few minutes now that the subject has been raised.
The general points are:
- understand his body language
- be consistent in your own actions and associated meanings. They're learning a pidgeon with you (pun intended), not like dogs that intuitively know humans,
- give hime time to "think".
- develop a routine
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