African greys

Question
Are african greys prone to biting?

Can they cause seriuse damage if they do bite?  

Answer
Hello.  Thanks for posting your question.  No, african greys are no more prone to biting than any other bird.  Depends on how a bird has been socialized/raised since young.  Birds bite in order to defend themselves against what THEY perceive to be danger or a threatening situation.  Notice I said what THEY perceive...not what you or I would perceive to be a threat.  Birds also bite or threaten to bite when they do not want to do what you want them to do or when you intrude in their personal space (such as inside their cage).  Birds do not always want to do what we want them to do when we want them to do it!  They are intelligent creatures and have minds of their own.  Just because you might want Polly to show your friend that he can perform this great trick right at the time Polly needs to take a nap can result in Polly refusing (biting you) to do what you want!  I'm not saying you shouldn't make a bird do what you want it to do...you should be in control in most situations.  However, you also need to respect the bird, i.e., if it's normally the bird's nap time when your friend is over, don't be surprised if/when the bird doesn't cooperate.

Bird bites can be severe and cause serious damage depending on where on the body the bite occurs (this is one reason a lot of people don't allow birds to sit on their shoulder...too close to the face).  A bird the size of a grey has several hundred pounds of pressure per square inch in their beak.  One thing I've learned over the years is to never pull back from a good bird bite or you'll end up with more damage than if you had pulled back!  This is because when a bird bites, the shape of it's mandibles results in the skin tearing and folding under versus tearing and skin folding up/back (it will be sorer longer).  Greys, amazons...this sized bird and up.....can take off a finger if they want, but they rarely go this far.  

I hope I've answered your questions adequately.  If not, please let me know.  Thanks.