Biting is a common problem with all bird owners, and although there are several solutions, most owners label the bird as “aggressive” and give up on it. Your bird doesn’t do something without a reason- you just need to find the cause of the biting to then find the cure. When a bird bites, pause- what is it biting for? Why does it feel the need to bite? 

 

THE CAUSE

 

Imagine a bird who suddenly became extremely aggressive. It lunged, screeched and attacked. The owners took the bird to the vet, with no success. Finally, the bird calmed, back to the sweetheart it once was. The cause: green nail polish. The wife had gone and got her nails painted and the bird was not a fan (we've heard this happen in the past!). Obviously, this is not always the case- often, the cause is simpler. 

 

Usually, it’s poking fingers. Many people squish fingers into the cage bars to pat a bird. The bird chases the finger as the person pulls away or it tries to protect its territory. The cage is the bird’s safe haven. It will protect it. The more fingers poke, the more defensive the bird gets and the more aggressive it becomes. Many owners hit their birds, which only encourages the behaviour and causes the bird to shy away, becoming anxious or fearful.

 

A lot of them time people push their fingers towards birds, before quickly pulling away (for example, when a bird steps onto your finger, they often use their beak to balance. Many people interpret this as them going to bite, and pull away). Birds can see begin to see this as a game, and will try to bite the finger when it comes near them again, resulting in an endless cycle of pulling away and biting. 

 

Other times it’s stress. Birds are extremely fragile creatures, both mentally and physically. A fluorescent pink shirt, a change in cage location, a new hair colour or style, a stranger, kookaburras in their line of sight, a messy cage, a lack of toys, too many toys, a scary animal, scary noises... all of these will stress a bird out. With stress, a bird becomes either retreats entirely or bites and become aggressive. Have you dyed your hair a bright colour, did you get yellow earrings, have you moved your bird’s favourite toy out of its cage? What have you done recently that has directly affected your bird, its surroundings, or how you look?

 

Try to remember everything you’ve done recently. Whether you got or wore new clothes, a new dog or moved your bird from the playroom to the kitchen. If you have children, keep a close eye on them and see if they are poking. Do you or a family member, unknowingly or knowingly, tease your bird by poking and pulling away fingers?

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BABY BIRDS

 

Do note that nibbling/biting in baby birds (around the age of weaning) is quite normal. When they move to their new home, stress is often the cause of any bites you might receive, but as they become more comfortable, they still tend to bite. This is usually a result of them testing their boundaries- if they bite, will you react? They're exploring what they can do with their beak- baby bird bites are very different to stressed, aggressive bird bites. Often, baby birds nibble for a while before grabbing your skin and holding for a few seconds or until you peel them off (rather than lashing out aggressively and biting your skin hard before retreating quickly). They then repeat this annoying nibbling over and over again.

 

Try blowing hard on your baby (though sometimes this doesn't work as a few baby birds enjoy the blowing, so check that your bird isn't sitting there going "ahhhh, that's nice" when you blow on it) or peeling its beak off and saying "no". Some people like spraying biting birds with water, but this can result in the association that water is bad so birds begin to dislike bathing, which isn't great. If the biting continues, put your baby bird away in its cage for 5-10 minutes (and tell it "no" so it slowly begins to grasp that what it's doing isn't good) before getting it out and trying again. Be persistent- it's just a phase and if you continuously show your baby that biting isn't welcome, the behaviour will fade away. Make sure when your baby bird bites, you don't pull away from the bite- this encourages the behaviour as your bird thinks it's a game.

 

A SOLUTION

 

There is no set solution except to alter whatever you’ve changed recently or to persist in being patient. If your new cat is scaring your bird, move them away from each other. If you like wearing that nail polish or shirt or shoes... you may need to ditch them or wear them when you’re out of the house. If your bird has to deal with poking fingers, move its cage out of reach.

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Your bird may take time to recover- especially if it’s been traumatised by hands. Form a stable bond with your bird before reintroducing hands. Offer your bird’s favourite food from your hand to show it that hands are good! Slowly show it that you aren’t scary. 

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Most importantly, make sure you are never pulling away and reacting to bird bites (by screaming, yelling etc.). When you go to pat or pick up a bird, commit to it. Even if it looks like it'll bite you, take the bite, don't react and continue on. The bird gets bored eventually, and stops trying to play because you no longer pull away and react when it bites.