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Followup To
Question -
Iv asked a few questions so far about taming my feathered friend... I spoke to a local bird breeder and i was told that taming a senegal parrot (which i own) is a loosing battle, and it really feels like it. He bites me because he doesnt want me any where near him and i cant ignore this. Clipping his wing did little aswell. He is also malicious and will bite my budgies if i do something he does not like. Im totally out of ideas with him and this is upsetting as i love him very much. Please give me any suggestions!
Answer -
Hi, Abby.  Thanks for posting.

Sometimes it's not possible to tame a parrot.  It just depends on why and how the parrot became nasty to begin with.  Obviously, the senegal doesn't trust you very much (or other humans as well I'm sure).  How long have you owned this senegal and how old is the parrot?  If it's a fairly new bird for you, it could be the bird hasn't had enough time to settle down in your home and get used to you.  Is s/he biting you when you put your hand in it's cage?  How does the bird interact with you when s/he's out of it's cage?  

Biting in caged birds is a learned behavior.  Somewhere along the line, your senegal has learned from humans that biting gets s/he what s/he wants.  S/he bites if/when s/he doesn't want to do what you want s/he to do.  When you pull back/pull away when a parrot tries to bite, this is teaching the parrot that you won't mess with it when it lunges at you/tries to bite you.  You have to be in control over your bird; not it in control over you.  Don't pull your hand back if/when it tries to bite.  Scold it when it does this.  However, you also have to respect certain things about the bird.  Most parrots don't like their humans messing around the inside of their cages.  Their cages are their personal space, their safety zone, their territory.  Allow your senegal to come out of it's cage before trying to interact with it.  Of course, you have to service the cage (feed, water, clean, etc.).  Go about your business inside the cage ignoring the bird as much as possible.  When s/he tries to bite, don't jerk your hand back.  Instead, make a fist...this hides your fingers and pulls your skin tight over the top of your hand and the bird can't grab skin.  Otherwise, wait until the bird comes out of it's cage to service the inside.  

Sometimes parrots acquire this type behavior from being in a pet shop where people can poke and prod the bird all day long.  This results in parrots biting and/or being nippy.  Parrots have to trust their humans before humans can be successful and taming them.  Was the senegal a handfed baby?  Handfeeding baby parrots helps tremendously in imprinting them to humans and making nice pets.  

Clipping both wing feathers results in the parrot having to rely on you to get them from point A to point B.  Although you may not realize it, having the wings clipped does have benefits.  Take your senegal into a room where it can't get to it's cage and a room that has nothing going on in it so you will have your senegal's undivided attention.  Put the bird down on the floor, the bed, the couch, etc., and just talk with s/he.  See if the bird will get up on a wooden perch.  Do this at least once a day over several weeks and see how far you can get with your senegal.  This process takes patience, time, etc.  Some birds come around quickly, some take months, some never do come around.  Your goal is to get the senegal to trust you, show it you don't mean it any harm, etc., etc.  ALWAYS reward your bird for positive behavior (when it does what you want, immediately reward it).  NEVER reward negative behavior (a look from you, your voice, covering the bird up, etc., is a reward to a bird).  You have to reteach your bird what is acceptable behavior and what isn't.  

The best pet parrot is a single parrot in the home.  You have budgies.  Perhaps the senegal is jealous of the budgies.  You most likely spend more time with the budgies than the senegal if the senegal is mean.  Perhaps this is why the senegal is biting you and the budgies.  Did you have the senegal first and, if so, was s/he as mean before you got the budgies?  Did you shower the senegal with attention when you first got s/he, then the budgies came, and they got more attention than the senegal?  Don't underestimate budgies either!  They can often be bullies to other parrots twice their size!  All of these things could be why the senegal is misbehaving.  Parrots also misbehave if their diet is deficient, if they don't get proper sunlight, etc.  I might be more help if I had more information (answers to the questions I posed above).

Come back if you want to.  Thanks.

Chrys   

  Both his wings are clipped... I got him from a pet shop as a gift when he was four months old as his previous owners didnt want him... I do not try and tame him when he is in his cage. I have had him for abou8t a month and a half whuch i know is not long but i need to know about these things. I got the budgies first... they were what gave me the passion for birds. i give them equal amounts of attention. He bites where ever he is although he will allow me to stroke his beak but then after 2 strokes will lunge to bite me. When he does this i push his beak shut to show he cant bite me. I try to spend as little time in his cage as possible as i respect this as his terrotiry. He will take food from my hands no problem. he gets on average 12 hours of light a day and is fed on mixed seed, peanuts, dried fruit and fresh fruit and veg. I make sure i do not over feed him though. He has a cuttle bone avaliable too. I reward with kiwi or banana. This is very much appreciated! Sorry about the lack of info before.  

Answer
Hi again, Abby.  You haven't had this bird long enough yet.  He's been through a lot in his young life.  I imagine he wasn't a handfed baby and if his previous owner didn't want him, I imagine he's been neglected a lot and not used to most humans.  He needs time, your patience, and tender loving care.  You need to show him, after he's had time to settle down in his new environment, that you will care for him, treat him well, love him, etc.  Right now, he has a bad taste about humans.  DO NOT push his beak shut like you mention.  It is not a good practice to discipline parrots this way.  He lunges and bites to get a reaction from you, so in forcing his beak to stay shut, you are actually reinforcing the bad behavior.  

The fact that he takes food from your hands without biting is an indication that food might be the way to his heart.  You should take advantage of this and use this to your advantage.  Bribe and reward him with his favorite food.  The best way to teach him is to take him away from his cage like I mentioned before and work with him.  Get him alone in a neutral room and just interact with him as much as possible.  When he does what you ask, reward him EACH AND EVERY TIME.  This is how he's going to learn what is and isn't acceptable behavior.  Don't get him into a situation where he has to decide to lunge and/or bite at you.  You might need to use a perch, stick, or other (instead of your hand) to get him from one place to another until he'll sit on your hand without biting.  Right now he doesn't trust you and you need to work at gaining his trust.  However, he still needs time to settle down in your new home.  

Since this parrot is still a baby, it's very much possible you can tame him down.  You just need to teach him right from wrong.  He's also at the age where he's going to try to see how much he can get away with around you, just like a human toddler.  You have to set the boundaries and maintain control over your parrot.

Good luck and come back if you need to.

Chrys