Parrot Parrot

The Hormonal Hen: Ouch!

lovebird parrot

Sweet little lovebirds can turn nasty when hormones kick in

Sometimes you just get a hen who is determined to mate. The hen chooses you to be this “mate.” You are now the recipient of nasty bites whenever you get too close to another human being. Basically, your roommate, spouse, or other family member becomes a threat. The jealous little hen will bite you to make you move away from them. Sometimes the hen will become aggressive toward the family member and suddenly lunge out to bite them when they stand or sit next to you.

Obviously this is a serious problem and can make everyone in the home miserable. Continue reading »

Teaching Parrots to Talk

happy amazon parrot

Inca calls me by my name

One of the reasons humans love parrots is their ability to talk. We love their vocalizations (well, maybe not the screaming they are sometimes prone to), and we enjoy the feeling of communicating with these intelligent, beautiful creatures. Continue reading »

My Lovebird Is Biting

lovebird baby

Ouch! You know exactly what I’m talking about if you have a parrot that has started biting. We feel betrayed, shocked, dismayed. What did I do wrong? I am going to deal specifically with biting lovebirds, since this seems to be one of the most common problems out there. However, these tips can be applied to most any species. Continue reading »

Up! Up! Teaching the Step Up Command

amazon parrot steps up

Inca steps up

If there is one thing you can train your parrot to do that will improve and help maintain your relationship, it is to step up on command. This can be done with a simple verbal command like “Step up,” or as I use with my birds, “Up, Up!” The command should be used whenever you pick up your bird as it is a very simple and clear way to establish dominance in a gentle way. My amazon parrot now says “Up, Up” when she wants me to pick her up! Continue reading »

What’s That Noise?

Are You Inadvertently Encouraging Annoying Sounds and Screaming

A man wrote to me about an annoying sound his black masked lovebird had been making recently. The sound was not “natural” to the bird and sounded almost mechanical. It was a high-pitched beeping sound. He found the sound intolerable and had tried numerous ways of stopping the behavior, but the bird only persisted in making it. He tried ignoring the bird, but usually the sound annoyed him so much he would yell at the bird. I wrote back to him, explaining that sound could possibly be something from the bird’s environment that it learned to mimic. In fact, the way he described it, the sound seemed to be something like the beep a truck makes when it backs up.

Continue reading »

Parrot Gallery

Blue and Gold Macaw Eclectus Gloucester Grey Cheek (Pocket Parrot) triton2 amcinv gallery10 gallery5