African grey problems

Question
I recently bought a 5 year old African Grey and when she makes a loud noise like a house alarm she says in a real nasty mean voice,  "SHUT UP!!"   "DAMN ROTTEN BIRD!"  "BE QUIET!"  "BITE ME-BITE ME!!".  She also won't have anything to do with my right hand, if I get it close to her she attacks it. On top of it all she attacks any vessel that has food in it if I am carrying it. Why does she have these behaviors?  Please help.

Answer
Hello Helen,

Greys are amazing in their ability to mimic any sound they hear. The more dramatic and exciting a sound, the more likely they are to repeat it. To teach your bird the contact calls that you would like to hear simply repeat noises that you would prefer. Use whistles, soft pleasing words such as "hello" or "good bird" throughout the day. When she uses her other words as a contact call respond with something you would prefer to hear. I have seen greys learn new sounds in a matter of hours, so this should be a quick process. When she makes the new sound give her lots of praise and rewards. Those old sounds should eventually be less interesting to her if you don't make a big deal about them.

Some birds do get trained to just one hand out of habit by their owner. Does she step up to your left hand just fine? If so, and using your left hand to hold her is not a problem, then this can be one of those bird choices she is allowed to make. Or you can do step up training sessions using your right hand.

For your last question, I would have to see the behavior you are experiencing in order to understand your bird. I recommend that you continue learning about parrot behavior and training. My website has several links to excellent parrot resources.

Here is a link to one of my past answers discussing step up training.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Parrots-1638/PLEASE-HELP-2.htm

Jennifer
www.feathesandscales.com