Biting Senegal Parrot

Question
My daughter has a Senegal parrot. It was 8 months old when she bought it, now its 18 months.
For the first week it bit her badly as they do, then that stopped and she able to do anything she wanted with it. It bit other people though. Only friendly to her.
Now, rather sadly, this last two weeks it has started to bite her very badly. It has a very big cage and is only shut up in it when she goes out.It has a very good variety of food & toys.She gives it all the attention she possibly can.
My daughter wondered if, just if, they go through stages. For example if it feels the need to mate or something. She does not know if it is male or female. It's routine has not changed. There seems to be no apparent reason for this. The bird is not ill either.
I hope you can advise. If not maybe you could direct me to someoe who could.
Thanking you in anticipation.
Penny

Answer
Hi Penny,

Yes, birds do go through stages and can get moody. My green-cheek conure gets very grumpy with me every winter for no apparent reason. He does this like clockwork every year. I think he gets upset because of the cold weather and the short, dark days. Birds can also get hormonal which can cause them to behave in a more unpredictable way to us.

Here are some links to information/articles on biting in parrots... but my best advice is to give him a couple of months and don't get too discouarged. Keep it consistant, and try to train him to step up onto a hand-held perch, so that your daughter will save her fingers when he is in a bad mood.

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww5eii.htm

http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww12eii.htm

http://www.parrothouse.com/sf3.html

http://www3.upatsix.com/liz/articles/biting.html

http://www.quakerville.com/qic/biting.asp

I hope this helps.

I would also recommend the book: "The Beak Book" by Sally Blanchard. You can order it off of www.amazon.com or directly from her website at: www.companionparrot.com

-Maggie