Why is My Nice Bird Being Mean?

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Photo by Dave
Location: Waynesboro, VA
With me: Camelot macaw “Comet”, Blue throated macaw “Jinx”

So many sad parrot stories go something like this, “My bird used to love me and be so nice, we were pals… no he’s mean and wants nothing to do with me. I can’t even get him to step up onto my hand, he just bites or runs away.”

 

This story always has the same outcome… either the bird gets given to a parrot rescue or the bird remains cage bound and the owner helpless with their efforts to make friends again with their bird.

 

I always dread hearing someone say, “Oh, I had a bird like that one.” because we all know how long birds live, and usually the person saying it isn’t 90 whom had their bird their whole life and lost the bird due to old age. You just never hear about those stories, if they exist.

 

Photo by Dave
Location: Waynesboro, VA
Joining me: Amazon parrot “Storm”, Blue throated macaw “Jinx”

 

Something ‘owners’ need to understand is IT’S NOT THE BIRD’S FAULT. As much as we all want to play victim and pretend we’re doing everything in our power and that there’s nothing NOT to like about us, that’s just not the case. It is not your bird’s fault. Your bird is merely reacting to its situation or environment which you’re creating.

 

Nothing has to change for a bird to go from nice, to mean. What I mean by that is if you first get your bird and don’t really spend much time with it and never have, it may get sick of that. It may see you spending time elsewhere and think, why doesn’t it receive some of that?

 

Parrots don’t scream just to annoy the living crap out of you – even though it may seem like they do. They’re merely screaming to get whatever it is that comes after the screaming or whatever makes the screaming stop. Did you know some birds learn to bite so that they can go back to their cages? The owner thinks, “Oh you bit me so I’m going to punish you by putting you back in your cage!” meanwhile, the parrot is thinking, “I’m tired of hanging out, I want to go back to my cage for alone time, food, sleep, to look out the window… how can I tell my owner to put me back? Biting always works… CHOMP. Home sweet home.”

 

Photo by Dave
Location: Waynesboro, VA
Shown: Blue throated macaw “Jinx”

 

People tend to look at parrots like their human. They aren’t. They don’t look at things like us, they aren’t thinking about it from a point of hurting your feelings, from being nice or mean… they’re just reacting to their environment.

 

My first answer to a bird that’s “mean” is training. Training because, well, here’s the breakdown…

 

Training = Communication.

 

Training just bridges that gap of communication you and your parrot have. You don’t understand each other, you don’t speak the same language, you don’t get it and he doesn’t get you. Training is a way to form a language you both can understand.

 

So stop complaining and start training.