Biting is not an arbitrary behavior. Parrots make a choice to bite - or not. Your parrot is trying to express something and is using his biting as a means of communication and control. Sometimes hormones kick in seasonally to contribute to a bit of "edginess" in birds.
Blow into your pet's face to hopefully distract him or her from biting. If your pet is sitting on your hand while biting, drop your hands a few inches – this will force your pet to focus on finding back his balance and he or she will usually release his grip on your finger.
A True Bite
Chances are that your bird is not trying to be aggressive, as biting is not a dominance behavior in birds. Biting among wild birds is usually only an act of self-defense, and not a "pecking order" signal, nor any type of punishment or social correction. The true bite is often lightning-quick and hard.
The transmission of saliva and other wound detritus of parrots through broken skin can cause significant illness if left untreated. Psittacosis—known also as chlamydiosis, parrot fever and ornithosis—is caused by Clamydophilia psittaci which has an incidence of 40 % in all birds [2].
Aggression in parrots can be a serious problem, leading to unhappy birds and even unhappier owners. Causes of aggression in parrots include territoriality, hormonal fluxes during adolescence or breeding season, stress, lack of mental stimulation, and dominance issues, to name a few.
Companion parrots may also bite as a reaction to something that frightens, confuses, or overstimulates them. Lots of parrots go into —overload“ behavior when they become excited. Confusion in response to mixed messages or inconsistencies from the human flock is also believed to be an important cause of biting.
This is called exploratory biting. Birds tend to explore with their beaks, and this includes your fingers or other body parts. Your fingers are very new and interesting to birds, so they are often eager to inspect them. Young birds usually outgrow this behavior as they mature.
Positive reinforcement is the best way to discipline a bird and you can do it by rewarding your bird's positive actions with his favorite snack or treats. You may also shower him with praise and attention when he's behaving well so he'll realize how he should act.
Parrots do have the ability to use human language when communicating with humans. Many parrots have shown conclusively that they can use our language to communicate with us.
It could be due to fear or aggression, or it could be territorial behavior. It's important to understand your bird's body language and behavior to identify the root cause of the lunging. If the bird is afraid, it's important to slowly and patiently build trust through positive reinforcement training.
The best thing you can do if your bird bites is to gently put the bird down—just like giving a time-out to a child having a tantrum—and walk away. Try not to acknowledge the behavior.
Fortunately for us, parrots usually do like to be touched. But the way parrots liked to be touched is just a bit different from the other pets in our home. The next time you have the opportunity to touch a parrot try the following tips. Try to avoid touching your parrot on the back, wings or tail.
A parrot that rapidly flips their tail is most likely happy to see you. A species like a caique might even start bopping along the perch. The more sedate, larger parrots show pleasure more discreetly. Another sign of affection is the parrot who flies straight to your arm before you have even called her.
The majority of parrot breeds enjoy vegetables such as kale, zucchini and shredded carrot, while their favourite fruits are papaya, banana and rockmelon. Never give your parrot chocolate, caffeine, avocados, fruit seeds, mushrooms, peanuts, onions or garlic.
More than likely, a parrot does not like being yelled at any more than a child would. Eventually, the bird finds the yelling humorous, which prompts even more bad behavior.
Parrots are very sensitive to our emotions, sometimes better than we are. Our birds are keen observers of our facial expressions, body language, tone and even energy levels and therefore we have to be cognizant of how our emotions can impact our birds.
One of the best sounds to get birds to scatter (and perhaps not to return) are synthetic sounds such as high-frequency, ultrasonic sounds. If you add in a frightening visual object such as an owl statue or scarecrow with shimmering tassels, the strategy becomes all that much more effective.