The Complex Behavior Behind the Parrot Bite

Parrots behavior is commonly misunderstood by people who have them as pets. Parrots have complex behaviors which are a little harder to understand than peoplle’s, or that of a dog. Parrots are intelligent, beautiful and entertaining birds. Nowadays, parrot care and behavior books and videos can be found everywhere and seem to be the new main branch in the pet industry.

Parrots bite when they play.

Out of curiosity, a parrot must investigate the surrounding objects and environment. As every being has its own way of investigating, parrots use their beak. It is the caregivers duty to let the parrot know how far it should go in the investigation and how it can play or bite by what they say and how they react.

Aggression for territory delimitation

It is a parrots instinct to protect its territory from intruders. In the wild, parrots associate in pairs and protect their nesting territories. They do the same thing in captivity, the only difference is that they associate the caregiver as a flock member and defend the territory together against intruders. The best way they can fight the intruders is by biting.

Parrots bite when they are afraid.

Biting is also used as a defense mechanism by the birds. This comes from instinct, too. In the wild, a bird that fears something can always fly away, but in captivity, the birds are sometimes denied the ability to fly away so they can retaliate only by biting.

Biting as a form of communication.

Many birds may learn to bite as a way to ask for something, for something to eat or for peace. This kind of aggression has many forms of expression. Maybe some parrots find out that a light bite on the owners hand will be responded with a piece of food the owner is eating; other parrots may try to say by biting that they want to be left alone. This kind of aggression can become a habit. If the parrot gets the desired effect from the bite, it will most likely repeat it.

In a relationship between a parrot and their owner, things may be a little more complicated than other relationships between humans and pets because of the instinct of the parrot. The parrot will never do something it doesn’t want to and there are not too many ways to force them, not even in the wild. The relationship must be based on understanding and communicating because birds are very receptive and they show as much compassion as they receive. A person should learn to read the parrots language, their ways of communication, the way they move and the way they react to things or actions. It is important for the human not to be dominating in the relationship and to work things out by treating the parrot as an equal not as an object.