The following is in response to our feathered community member Patrick.
Hi Patrick B,
I have a 27-year old Senegal. I was reading your post and thought I would offer a few suggestions to you. First, as Mitch said, try clicker training. It is basically positive operant conditioning. Birds do not understand the word “no” and yelling at them will teach them how to scream. So please give it a try.
Elena T. is concerned:
I have a green cheek conure named Rae and he’s about 2-3 years old.
I’m not sure if Rea is a boy or a girl but I got him from the pet store pretty early on so I’m the only owner he’s ever had besides the pet store workers.
He’s a sweet bird and my family loves him but recently he’s been biting me.
Chris M. seeks budgie advice:
Hello, I enjoy your site and your advice very much.
My wife and I just got our hand raised Budgerigar, the bird is very affectionate and spends quite a bit of time on our shoulders.
Recently it has started to preen us, the issue is that it’s preening can be painful as it will focus on skin imperfections or small folds of skin and nip quite hard.
Patrick B. asks
I have a 3-year old female Senegal parrot who has a nasty habit. She bites.
She bites for no reason and she is quite viscous, she also screams for no reason (even when I am sitting right next to her cage).
I’m worn out from all of this ……
Editors note: In the featured image above, Barney was obsessing with the other bird in the mirror as Catherine observed.
We have since blocked access to that part of the mirror and Barney has become far more social (less hormonal). Endnote
One of the reasons we are able to stay in business going up against the likes of Amazon and Chewy is that we answer the phone and can provide useful advice.
And although PetSmart and Petco will answer the phone on a national or store level, good luck with getting information about proper care for your white-capped Pionus.
There is been a definite uptick of calls and emails seeking advice for birds exhibiting bad hormonal behavior.
Sarah writes:
Hi Mitch,
I’m a 25-year parrot rescue and parrot care specialist.
In reading your blog about “Should a blind person care for a parrot,”.
I was reading the blind woman’s response and her description about putting styptic powder on a blood feather.
This might be an interesting topic for a Birdie Brunch!
Hello, I’m Laurie Cannon, who wrote to you about the possibility of adopting an older Green-Winged Macaw.
We didn’t do that, however, we did contact a breeder about a Panama Amazon baby.
She seemed almost horrified when she found out both my husband and I are totally blind.
Hi Mitch,
In my limited experience with biting birds, I can share what happened to work for me.
We have a bonded male and female S. I. (Solomon Island) Eclectus both birds got along well with us and others.
The female, Mia, would let me hold her, she would sit with me, she would step up when I presented my hand.
But if she perched too long on my hand or if I got up from sitting on the couch with her she would go after me and bite!
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Lori P writes:
I have a 1.5-year-old Green Cheek Conure.
We had bonded rather well until recently.
I have health issues and had gone several weeks without giving her much attention.
I didn’t think it would be a problem.
She didn’t act any differently.
