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Re: Just starting to bite
Posted by Elle Mott on 7/11/11

On 3/07/11, alexmiota wrote:
> I have a 3 year old umbrella cockatoo. When I got her 3
> months ago she was very sweet and I could trust her. Now
> that my wife has been taking care of her during the day
> when I am at work she has taken to biting me sometimes
very
> hard. She can be a real sweetheart but then turn into a
> devil bird and I would very much like to deal with this
> problem before it gets worse. Is there anything I can do
to
> keep her from acting this way toward me. I have never been
> afraid of birds but this one now makes me uneasy. I am not
> afraid of her but have to be on my toes and watch her like
> a hawk now that she has gotten unpredictable with me
It sounds like your cockatoo has reached sexual maturity and
has bonded with your wife. The problem with parrots I find
it that for some reason they decide they like a male or a
female person and usually only that person can handle them.
I have been working with all different species of parrots
for over 25 years. I have never found parrots to be a pass
around pet like you see at Theme parks. I think for those
purposes they use very young had fed babies and as they get
alittle older they must be replaced. This probably gives
people a false perspective about the true nature of parrots.
I doubt you're going to change this behavior. We've had
parrots that came to our sanctuary as babies and from the
start decided they only wanted males to hold them or
females. You are correct on protecting yourself from the
bites of the parrot because a cockatoo can cause serous
injury with their sharp beaks. In a home environment, I
would recommend keeping flight feather cut to prevent the
parrot from flying at you and attacking. Parrots don't nip
they bite with their powerful beaks. Don't get me wrong I
love parrots for all their qualities but ultimately you have
to respect them for the wild animals that they truly are.

Posts on this thread, including this one

• Just starting to bite, 3/07/11, by alexmiota.
• Re: Just starting to bite, 7/11/11, by Elle Mott.
• Re: Just starting to bite, 8/15/11, by Jeff Reed.
• Re: Just starting to bite, 2/16/12, by LESA Ryea.