my senegal parrots behaviour

Question
My bird Trini this is his 3rd home, He is a good boy a little nippy at times, I had a question for you? When he puts his wings up like a heart shape( just lifted slightly from his body) what does that mean?? He is turning around in circles while he is doing this , He is so cute and if i ignore him while he is sitting on me he will come over to me and give me a little nip if you will so that i pay attention to him, I just need some tips and any info to stop him from biting.. Hope to hear from you soon, Faye

Answer
hi. thanks for your question. and kudos to you for taking in a "third hand" parrot.  
in regard to your senegal and his funny behavior...my guess is that he is doing that so that you will pay attention to him and come pick him up. when my bird wants to "go" (be picked up off of his cage) he will put his wings up like you describe and slightly hunch down. the walking in circles may just be an extension of this or could be because he is very anxious to be picked up! it sounds cute and i don't think it is a cause for concern.
the same can be said for the biting. birds want all of our attention all of the time...even birds who get tons of atention from their owners still want more.  the bite he gives you when he thinks you are "ignoring" him is obviously working for him or has worked in the past. when birds find a way to get our attention, they tend to "stick" to that method, even if it is negative attention!
even the most well behaved of birds will nip/bite occasionally. the important thing that determines whether or not it will become a habit is YOUR reaction.  with that in mind, i suggest you do not "give in" to his behavior and try not to overreact when you get a bite. i know this is very difficult because the bites HURT! but keep the jumping, screaming, yelling, any reaction to a minimum. birds are like children in that they will do things to get any kind of a reaction, negative or otherwise, just so long as they get a reaction.  so try your best not to react to the bite and keep doing what you were doing. he may become frustrated and even bite harder. my suggestion then would be to place him back in his cage. keep trying to reinforce that the biting will not "work" to get your attention and furthermore, will not be tolerated. when he bites, ignore him. if he keeps biting, put him back. this will be a difficult and possibly painful process (he will definitely protest...cover him for several minutes if he begins shreiking) but try and stick with it. senegals are smart and soon he should "get the hint" and be content to simply sit on your shoulder.
on a side note, be sure that you are spending as much time with him as possible, including time just focused on him (petting, playing, interacting). trust me, it will never be "enough" for him (birds always want more attention) but be sure that you are giving him the "quality" time he needs! good luck and let me know how it goes. hope this helps. alicia