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my sun conure agressive behaivor

21 16:15:44

Question
I have allowed my sun conure to be like one of the family.  It has sex with my clothes and frequently raps it's beak on wood.  Also pecks my finger with its beak.
My question is how to break him of biting me.  When he sees something he doesn't like, his feathers fluff up, his beak opens up, and he will attack objects in my hand.  It can be a cup, dish anything he doesn't like.  In addition to the item attack, he also latches on to one of my fingers, breaking the skin and drawing blood.  How can I get him to stop this behaivor?

Answer
hi. thanks for your question.  
i agree, it sounds like you have allowed your conure to become one of the family and perhaps this has contributed to some other less desirable behaviors. the behaviors that you are describing, such as the masturbation and beak rapping (the beak rapping actually sounds like he is regurgitating food for you, this is actually a birdie compliment and means that he regards you as a member of his "flock". these are behaviors that a bird reserves for his mate. since your sun conure is solitary, he has chosen you for his mate. conures are flock animals that choose a lifetime mate. in the absence of another sun conure, they will choose a human mate. this has its downsides including the aggression that you are describing. they will direct their aggression at others (visitors, other household members, pretty much anyone else) but they can also display aggression to their human mates.
as far as him biting you when he sees something he doesn't "like", you have to first understand why he does it. my sun conure will bite me extraordinarily hard in these cases...once he saw a helium balloon outside and drew blood on my neck, it was horrible.  he will also do the same when another person comes into the home that he is not familiar with.
when a conure does this, there are usually two reasons. one is that he himself is terrified of the object...it's not that he doesn't like it, but that he is scared of it (for all of their fluffing up and showboating, conures are really just little scared-y cats!). for some reason or another, the most random objects that don't even cross our mind as frightening can terrify a conure...this includes harmless things like cups and what my conure is most terrified of, the very "scary" spoon. when something scares a conure, he will lash out by biting at either the object or by displaying the fluffed up/open beak/ready-to-bite behavior.
the second reason a conure will will viciously bite you in the presence of an "scary" object is because he is trying to "warn" you. these can be the most painful bites that a conure can inflict and my conure has only drawn blood on me in these situations.  if he is scared of the object, he assumes that it is dangerous. thus, he needs to "warn you", his mate, that the very dangerous/scary object is close by (obviously, you are aware of it but he doesn't know that).  he is trying to tell you with all of his might (and bite!) that there is something possibly harmful in your vicinity.  my guess is that the bite is enough for you to drop or remove the object, so in a sense, his behavior is reinforced.  thus, it is more for the protection of you, his mate, rather than an aggressive action toward you. he may also do the same when someone unfamiliar comes into the home and you have him out with you (my conure will "attack" me when someone comes to the door! also a way to warn you that "stranger danger" is near).
the reason that i am explaining the behavior rather than suggesting how to stop it is to try and put it in perspective for you.  when you realize that he is only following his instinct (preservation of himself and his mate) to me it becomes a little more understandable.  i think it helps to realize what tiny little "wimps" sun conures are and how they are frightened of virtually everything, with only a beak and a bite for protection! also, realizing it is an instinct reinforces the fact that you may never really be able to curb the behavior.  when you have such a close bond with an animal, which is a wonderful thing, sometimes there are 'cons' that go along with it...to me, this is one of those.  
my suggestion would be, since you can't fix the behavior, to try and not put yourself in the position to be bit. i have a mental list of things i know he is scared of and will bite me over (it is a very long list that seems to get longer with time). although it is a hassle, it's better than being bit...so when he is out, i don't have any of those objects in my hands.  if you do plan to use a "scary" object, my suggestion is to put him away first. i also make sure that he is back in his cage before anyone comes over, lest i receive a 'stranger' warning bite (stranger is relative...he still bites me to warn me that my best friend of 15 years is at the door!)
i know it is time consuming and a hassle however when you look at it from his perspective, sometimes it helps.  i hope this makes sense and good luck with your conure! alicia