moluccan cockatoo

Question
Hello!I have 4 years old male moluccan cockatoo.His name is Coco.Last 2 months Coco is acting strange.He bit my boyfriend at least 10 times.His biting is worse and worse.I don't know what to do.My boyfriend doesn't like Coco anymore and he's afraid of him.I think Coco likes him,because Coco likes to be pet from my boyfriend.Coco would spend hours with my boyfriend ,when he's petting him.And than suddenly Coco would bite him for no reason.
Last time he bit him,when my boyfriend was sitting in the chair and Coco jumped on the chair and bit  him in the ear.His ear was bleeding very bad.Can you please help me?

Answer
Coco is at an age when 'toos come into a full on maturity. Whether male or female, aggressiveness is a side effect and when your boyfriend reacts in a negative way, Coco knows who is in charge (Coco is!).
 Birds never, ever bite for no reason. It's just that humans don't always "speak bird" and can't tell when the bite is coming.

When Coco's eyes 'pin' or 'flash' (rapidly go from small to large and back again), he's trying to tell you to back off. Always use caution when a bird's pupils are small or flashing like this. We simply walk away and give them a few moments to collect themselves.

Never react to a bird with aggression or yelling. They will never understand this and may be learning that it's acceptable, or that you're dangerous (or both). In any case, it deteriorates the relationship, it doesn't strengthen it.

If petting involves touching below the bird's shoulder area or under their wings, as much as they might seem to like it, it could be construed as a mating touch and what you think is aggressive biting may actually be mating biting. Remember, birds can spar pretty freely with their powerful beaks and not hurt each other. They don't understand that we're so sensitive (and breakable!).

Coco may be trying to impress your boyfriend with this behavior, or trying to drive him off (from you).

Finally, Coco may be seasonally cranky. When daylight hours change both in spring and fall, hormonal changes occur as well.  

Try to adjust Coco's sleep time so that he has a solid 12 hours every single night of 'sleep'. That means dark or subdued light, low noise and no disturbance. We house our birds in another room altogether for nighttime and it may be your solution too. He wouldn't need as big of a cage as daytime, just enough room to easily and fully turn around without touching any tail or head feathers to top, sides or bottom and able to stretch their wings out.  A rope perch is preferred, food and water and a 'snuggly'. A 'snuggly' is an old, clean sock or piece of blanket that hangs down where they can feel it against their wing as they sleep. We also make sure there's a cuttlebone or mineral block for beak frustrations and grooming.  You'd be surprised at how much of a difference this makes.

Meanwhile, don't let your boyfriend give up. Keep interacting with coco and just keep the time short, watch those eyes and when Coco does anything that's unacceptable, silently just stop the interaction and turn your back on him (the bird, not your boyfriend ) - wait a few minutes (15-30 minutes) and try again. If it happens again, repeat the silent treatment. coco will get the idea eventually. These ARE very smart birds

Take a look at us and more options here

 http://www.geocities.com/animalrelief_info/