#1
Determine the cause of the behavior. What was your Timneh African Grey
doing right before the undesired behavior? Pay attention to the cues that
he gives before he exhibits the behavior. Does your bird scream when you
walk in the room?
Does he bite when you’re playing with him? Does he cower
in his cage and refuse to be touched? Is he simply beaking or is it an act
of aggression? When you first understand when and possibly why your Timneh
African Grey is behaving this way, you can begin to take steps to reverse
the behavior.
#2
Eliminate your reaction to the behavior. A loud reaction to any undesirable
behavior simply serves to reinforce the behavior. Your Timneh African Grey
bites you, you yell and now he knows that he can elicit a reaction from you
by biting. Don’t yell, stay calm, place the bird back into his cage, and
leave the room and your parrot is left feeling unsatisfied.
Maybe your Timneh African Grey screams and you and your family members yell
at him to stop. You may shriek back and run out of the room. Maybe you
make a loud noise attempting to startle him to get him to stop screaming.
All of these behaviors can make it more fun to scream. Eliminate your
reaction to the behavior, at least in front of your bird, and you make the
behavior less interesting. Additionally, when you remain calm it helps your
bird to remain calm too. Often times, these undesirable behaviors are
caused by anxiety. If you’re nervous about handling your pet
parrot, you’ll make him nervous too.
#3
Begin the process of bonding and training your Timneh African Grey. The
only way to put an end to nervous behaviors, whether it’s screaming, biting,
clawing, or even hiding, is to gain the trust of your bird. Even plucking
behaviors can be overcome by training.
One
of the main reasons Timneh African Greys pluck, is because they get nervous
around their owners. Many Timneh African Grey owners have stopped their
bird's plucking, by simply training tricks as a way to overcome this
nervousness.