Biting Behavior in Parrots

From Alyson Burgess,
Your Guide to Pet Birds.


All too often, people that own young parrots wake up to find that their sweet baby bird has turned into a lunging, biting, aggressive little monster! If this sounds like your feathered friend, then don't give up hope -- many birds exhibit this sort of behavior during adolescence.

It's called the "bluffing" stage, and while many parrots go through it, a few species -- most notably Indian Ringneck Parakeets, Senegal Parrots, and Macaws -- are more prone to bluffing behavior than others.

The hallmarks of bluffing are lunging, nipping, biting, hissing, and a general resistance to interaction. Birds can enter into this stage seemingly overnight, and generally when they are between the ages of 4 months and one year. serves to make a parrot even more withdrawn and antisocial.

The best way to deal with a rebellious young bird is to continue about your routine, completely ignoring the bad behavior. This does NOT mean that you should neglect your bird -- he or she should still be socialized and handled every day. The key is to understand that the bluffing stage will pass, and that you shouldn't take your bird's behavior personally. You will be lunged at. You will be "cursed" at (hopefully in parrot language), and you will probably be bitten a few times. It does not mean that you are a bad owner or that your bird does not love you -- but it does mean that you should pay close attention to the way that you react to your pet's behavior. Your bird sure will! To make sure that you and your pet make it through the bluffing stage with your relationship and bond intact, keep these tips in mind when confronted with your bird's bad behavior:

• Never scream at the bird. It will only encourage his undesirable behavior, as birds do not see loud vocalizations as negative.
• Try not to pull away from bites. This can be hard to do, especially since those beaks can be so painful, but if you can keep your cool and actually push into a bite rather than jerk away from it, the parrot will soon learn that biting gets him nowhere.
• Never strike at your bird. Aside from being extremely dangerous, it is pointless as the bird cannot see this behavior as a consequence of his actions.

Patience is a virtue when dealing with a bluffing bird. Depending on the individual, the bluffing stage can last anywhere from a couple of weeks to a few months. With plenty of work and positive reinforcement, however, you will find that your angry little bird will eventually be nice again -- and it will be worth all the aches and pains that come with avian adolescence!

Ruby did this and still does sometimes. When she does it I just go right in and kiss the devil out of her! Then she usually laughs. Silly macaw! I just figured I really didn't care if she bit me. I have never heard of anyone dying of a bird attack. She has drawn blood a couple of times, but I survived. Now she knows that I WiLL CALL HER BLUFF!! And she is going to get a good all over kissing so now she never really does it! ha! Just tell me who wins the silly war????

Pi'ere is doing this to me, started it 3 days ago. Just after I put him in the avairy. I go in there and he makes a point of getting right into my face. He comes up behind me and grabs my ponytail and pulls and pulls.
Or he lunges at me and tries to grab my fingers.

I have let him play with my ponytail. I am a bit hesitant about his grabbing my fingers though. Kinda freaks me a bit and I draw back.
I am very wary when I go in the avairy at the moment.
I am not sure of him, I don't know him well enough.