Cockatoos Behaviour Problems

Question
Hey there,
I'm doing a assessment at University and i have picked cockatoo's behaviour as my subject. I am hoping you would please be able to answer my question.

Is there anyway to stop cockatoo's from chasing and biting you?

Thanks,

Rachel Gleeson


Answer
Hi, Rachel.  Thanks for posting.

The first thing you need to determine is why the Too is chasing and biting to begin with.  Once you determine the reason, you can work to change the behavior.

However, you must be aware that Too's, as well as other parrots, tend to bond to one person in a household.  A parrot might chase/bite others as a way of "protecting" the person the bird is bonded with.  Example, I have an amazon parrot that is bonded to me.  If he perceives (from the bird's point of view) someone close to me/coming close to me as a threat, he will try to chase the "threat" away from me, thus, trying to protect me, as though I were his mate.  This might include biting the perceived threat.

Often times, this behavior can't be changed/stopped...it's natural.  However, you can prevent the bird from chasing and biting by not allowing the bird access to the floor/ground so that it can't chase someone and bite (restrict it's roaming area).  Otherwise, whomever the parrot is chasing/biting needs to stay clear of the parrot because as long as the parrot is bonded to another person, it may perceive all others as threats to this relationship.  Sometimes, this negative behavior can be prevented to begin with by proper socialization of the parrot when it's a baby and as it's growing up.  In other words, handfeeding baby parrots allows them to imprint on humans when they are young.  As they progress in age, allowing them to be around, handled, etc., by many different humans can help prevent this type behavior.

Come back if you need to.  Thanks.

Chrys