Baby bird behavior: Baby birds use their beaks to explore their surroundings. Young birds need to be taught boundaries. A young bird may not realize what pain its bite can cause. A baby parrot will think yelling is a fantastic response and it will actually reinforce the behavior. Biting may also be inadvertently taught when the new owner reaches his/her hand to pick up the baby parrot. The young parrot will usually reach toward the hand with its beak as a way to grasp it and climb on. If the owner pulls his hand back too quickly, the baby realizes that to get picked up, it better grab quicker next time. And soon grabbing can turn into biting.
Fear: 'Fight' or 'flight' are the common mechanisms used by animals. They may bite if startled or hurt.
Control or Dominance: Some birds soon learn that if they bite, they get what they want, be it the drama of seeing their owner dancing around and yelling in pain. Birds may also learn to bite to avoid doing something, such as being put back in their cage when they want to stay out.
Breeding behavior: For many species, sexually mature adult birds can become aggressive. They cannot help themselves! It is sometimes best to not handle birds that are in breeding mode. This time will pass within a month or two and may occur a couple of times a year.
Medical: If a bird does not feel well, they will often want to be left alone, just as we do. If biting starts in a bird who normally does not bite, or if you see other behavior changes such as eating or playing less, have your bird examined by a veterinarian.
Playing: Learn to read the body language of birds. They will often show you how they feel. For instance, they may show signs they have had enough play or 'outside' time and need to go back to their cage. If you do not recognize this, the bird may start to bite to signal he has 'had enough.'
Correcting aggressive biting:
The human needs to be seen by the bird as having a higher ranking. To start this, the parrot needs to be taught the STEP UP and STEP DOWN command, which is used to get the bird to move from the perch to the owner's finger and back to the perch, or from one finger to the other.
If the parrot has already been biting for some time, and the owner is wary of the bird's beak, training may need to occur in a totally new environment. The bird will be much less likely to bite the only human it knows when it is in an unfamiliar place.
Parrots respond to facial expressions and verbal praise. This type of positive reinforcement should be used when an appropriate response is given by the bird. If the bird responds inappropriately, raise your head above the bird's level and say "no" in a normal speaking voice.
Higher altitude means higher ranking to birds, so it is important that the biting bird should not be above the human's heart level while in or out of the cage. Do not allow these birds to ride on your shoulder. It increases their ranking as well as puts your face, ears, eyes, and lips at risk of a serious bite.
If a bite occurs, reprimanding needs to be immediate and effective. If the bird is on the hand, the owner can drop the hand a short distance to unbalance the bird. If on the arm, the arm can be rotated causing the loss of balance. The bird should never be made to fall, just lose its balance for a second.
Having the bird do 'step-ups' 5-6 times with a quiet command and a stern look on the owner's face, is also successful in reprimanding the bite. Some birds may need to be placed in a cage for a 'time-out,' but be sure this is not what the bird was hoping for when he bit you. Once the reprimand has been given, the episode is over. Do not continue to punish the bird, such as isolating it for a long period.
