George the African Grey

Question
Hi there, its me again!

George went for his wing clipping and the vet said he was a lovely healthy bird.  He did say to keep an eye on him as there is a sign of him biting his feathers.  Over the last week i have kept a close eye on him and have not seen him do it but i have found 2 ends of his feathers on the floor.
What can i do to make him stop this i am now getting worried.
He still growls loudly at me when i go close to the cage or clean him out and he still wont take a monkey nut from me.  Ive been trying with monkey nuts as these seem to be his favourite but am getting nowhere with him. Mind you he like my 6 month old puppy and even whines like a dog now.
Kirsty

Answer
Hi, Kirsty.  I'm glad your Grey had a successful vet visit.

Parrots do things like this for psychological reasons or medical reasons.  If there is no medical reason for him biting his feathers, i.e., he doesn't have some type of illness that causes him to do this, then it's psychological.  Greys are VERY intelligent parrots and MUST have sufficient mental stimulation every day to keep them happy or they resort to behavior such as biting feathers, plucking themselves, even mutilating themselves.  

Sometimes feathers can break off when birds play, especially young birds, so be sure this isn't the cause of these feathers breaking off.  If he's actually biting them in half, there's a psychological reason he is doing this.  You need to find out what this psychological reason is and it's not easy to figure this out in a parrot!  Be sure you provide enough mental stimulation for your Grey during the day, such as different types of toys, playtime outside his cage, daily interaction with you, etc.  Let him join you as you go about your household chores (vaccuming, dusting, etc.), let him sit with you as you watch TV, play XBox, mess on the computer, etc.  You need to keep his mind occupied with things he can learn from, things to do.  Keep in touch with your bird vet...he can offer much guidance on what you should do.  Research on the internet (Dr. Pepperberg's website) to see what you can find on this subject.

When he growls at you like this, he's warning you to stay away, but a lot of parrots are more "beak" than they are action!  Just ignore his growls and go about your business.  However, at the same time, you need to respect your Grey's territory (his cage).  This is his domain, his personal space, his safety zone, and they usually don't like "intruders."  But you have to service his cage, so just go about your business and when he growls at you, just ignore it and go on.  He growls hoping that you will stay out and you have to let him know that his growls don't scare you one bit!

Chrys