The first thing to do is to find out why and when the parrot is biting. Then eliminate that cause and encourage good behaviour. Unfortunately, it is not that simple.
It must be remembered that parrots are still wild animals. Most of their behavioural traits are innate and important because they help them survive in the wild. For example, biting a threatening animal protects the nest and the chicks; attacking in flight takes down predators; and screaming when frightened alerts the flock to potential danger. The beak is the main tool of the parrot. Therefore, you do not want the parrot to touch you at all with its beak. A parrot exploring your hand or ear with its beak is a sign of attention to you, which is an encouraged trait. You just need to teach the parrot when it is unacceptable to pinch its beak.
Causes of parrot aggression:
Fear aggression is easy to recognise because a parrot will only attack when cornered or caught, and when given the opportunity to retreat, will do so. Territorial aggression. This is aggression that is manifested by, when a parrot wants to protect its cage, food bowl or nesting box from humans. It intensifies in spring, when parrots are getting ready to breed.
Territorial aggression is common in Quakers, Aratines, Lesser Macaws, Amazons and Jacos. Outside the cage, these parrots do not show aggression and are friendly. Some parrots become very attached to one partner and will attack other members of the family to protect it. This behaviour is common in Amazons, Macaws, Cockatoos and Quakers.
This behaviour becomes more pronounced after sexual maturity. This differs from other forms of aggression in that parrots actively attack or even chase the threatening family member. When a parrot learns that biting will get it what it wants. E.g. if I bite, it will pull its hand away from me/not come near my food This is more common in people who are afraid of parrots or have no experience with parrots. If you grab the parrot’s hand when it bites, it understands that this method works and will need to be repeated in the future.
How to avoid biting?
Hand biting is most stimulated by your strong reaction to the bite. the drama, scolding and shouting that are uploaded are the biggest stimuli for further biting. Because parrots see shouting as a way to communicate. Remember that aggression begets aggression, if you are aggressive with your parrot, it will be aggressive with you. The best way to suppress aggression in a parrot is to build a good and trusting relationship with the parrot. Your parrot should only associate your hand with good things. For example, a hand taking you to a favourite place, a hand taking you out of the cage, a hand giving you treats, a hand stroking you (only if the parrot likes it), etc.
If the parrot only shows aggression in the cage, allow the parrot to climb on the stick to remove it and put it back in the cage. And only clean the cage when the parrot is free to fly around the room.
Sometimes parrots rattle because they are too excited and energetic. In this case, put the parrot on an anvil and let it calm down. And next time, don’t let it get so intofeel and stop the games early.
analyse the situations in which the parrot is biting you. There may be different reasons (e.g. the parrot was scared of something or you moved too quickly). If, for example, you only want to pat the parrot on the arm when you are taking it to the cage to be closed, it will quickly associate the arm with negative emotions and try to bite. Therefore, in this case, get the parrot used to the idea that the hand can mean fun things other than caging.
Very often behavioural problems in parrots, such as biting, are only symptoms of a bigger problem, such as mistrust of the owner, stress, fear or territorial aggression.
Biting in the cage is sometimes encouraged by the presence of tents or hiding places in the cage. Often it is sufficient to remove potential hiding places from the cage to reduce territorial aggression.
The habit of playing roughly with the parrot can also encourage biting, as the parrot becomes too aggressive.
Learn to analyseyour parrot’s body language. As parrots usually warn you before they bite, many problems can be avoided simply by understanding your bird’s body language. If you don’t react to the parrot’s warning signals, it will bite suddenly and out of the blue without warning.
What should I do if my parrot bites?
The key to good behaviour is to IGNORE negative behaviour and ENCOURAGE positive behaviour.
Strangely enough, withdrawing the hand after a bite is the most likely to encourage further biting. The scheme is simple: the parrot didn’t want your hand near it so it bites, you pull your hand away, the parrot’s goal is achieved. Therefore, the next time you see a parrot wanting to bite, do not put your fingers close to the bird, but your fist (it is difficult to bite into a fist), and do not withdraw your hand, but rather keep it even closer. You need to understand that the parrot is biting to get you to pull your hand away. Therefore, if you grab the hand every time the parrot bites, it will understand that biting y