Peach face love bird keeps biting

[xxjaimee]

I've had my love bird for almost a year, he's been hand raised since I got him at 2 months old. Lately he's started biting and it's getting worse. He's very friendly with me and my partner and wants to be with us all the time, so when we go out we have to lock him in the cage, otherwise he tries to follow us out the door. As soon as we open the cage door he jumps onto our head or shoulders. He prefers to be in these places and snuggles up next to us and he's started grooming me on my hair, lips, eyes, and face. I don't mind this, but then he randomly bites really hard as he's grooming so I yell and point at him. He doesn't like fingers. After a few times I give up and put him back in his cage cuz he hurts me too much. Why is he doing this, and how do I get him to stop?

 

[TwoCrows]

Never let birds sit on your shoulders or anywhere near your head. Especially ones that are aggressive. To them, when you let them up there, you are giving them the permission to be higher than you in the pecking order. So keep them either on your fingers or on your lap. You need to be the flock leader and keep them beneath you. If they know their place in the order, then you can then let them sit next to you on your shoulder.

Next, yelling at birds does no good. Trust me, I have kept cockatiels and lovebirds for over 20 years and I have tried yelling at them to no avail. LOL Yelling only makes them louder and more aggressive. I have found that birds bite for a few reasons. They could be sick or unhealthy, they may be nervous and scared, you have trained them to do so, or they are attempting to gain the higher position in the order. When one of my birds bite, I will put them in a position that is negative to what they want. So when I get bit, I will usually put them somewhere in the house they don't like to be. It has to be immediately or they won't get the hint. After a while, they can associate biting with a negative example. Never put them back in the cage after biting. You will be reinforcing their behavior, as the cage is their domain. So keep them out and in a place that is a neutral zone like a window sill or a perch in some back room for a time out.

Next, never play with your fingers. Fingers are not play toys and if you have trained them to play or hate fingers, it is hard to change this habit. Make sure your bird knows the step up command with your finger at all times. Don't flinch or scream when they bite you. You will be again reinforcing that they have hurt you and they are dominating you.

Make sure he is getting a good diet and gets extra veggies, pasta and other healthy things. Include him in on breakfast lunch and dinner so that he feels part of the flock.

Also, if he is a single lovebird, he may not care for your mate and will bite you or them. Lovebirds mate for life, and you are his mate. So if you have him with you or on your fingers, don't get too close to your other half.

Good luck with your bird. Lovebirds are wonderful birds to keep, but they can be terrors. LOL Once you get things under control, they can be a huge part of your life and one of the most important pets you own.

Oh, and welcome to BYC!

 

[Cleoandclover]

TwoCrows, I hate to correct you, but unlike chickens, parrots do not have a real dominance order, because parrots flock together for safety, and there isn't really any interaction between any birds outside of flying together for safety. Usually the only real interaction is between mates, and parents and offspring. As such, there isn't any jockeying for power. I suppose the best comparison would be how humans behave in a restaurant. To someone who isn't familiar with it, it seems like the humans are one group, but they're really many different groups. Thus, the only reason a parrot covets a high spot is to watch for threats. It isn't dominance. Yes, you are correct, it isn't a great idea to yell or flinch when a bird bites you(especially a excitable bird like a lovebird), but for a different reason. The bird gets more and more wound up, until the bird goes totally bonkers and goes into a frenzy of biting and flapping. And as for jealousy, birds are VERY human in that. Don't ever laugh if your bird attacks your partner. You're effectively teaching the bird that's what you want. And around two months, your bird is in the teenager phase. It wants to become independent.

 

[ladybirdb12]

Are you sure that he is a he lol females will bite when nature comes and protecting a whanna be nest. My males are very loving but watch out those females are out for blood when nature comes knocking .

 

[Djaf]

I have that issue with my love bird or I though it was a issue until I began to play closer attention and realized that my love bird was biting into or exploring bits she felt were not connected , such as my ears , folds in my neck , moles and such , when you tug on feathers to clean them , they don't hurt , our skin , not so much , now when Rio bites into my ear I don't flinch I say calmly " Rio genital" if she does not let up I tell her to step up and remove her from my shoulder , after a few weeks , now when I say Rio Genital , she will either stop or chew less hard.

 

[Rosa moschata]

It's true -- the whole height-dominance thing is rather disputed now. Of course, letting an aggressive bird perch by your face isn't a great idea because of the potential for getting bitten there, but they don't become aggressive BECAUSE they're on your shoulder.

BUT ANYWAY....you have a fiesty little lovebird pet. They're small, but they can be little brats if you let them, and it seems as though you have. What do they do with each other when one is being a little too bratty? They reprimand them. Yelling isn't going to work. You have to do like they do -- bicker back. When you have your lovebird out, and he starts going too far, say "Noooo!" with a raised finger to catch his attention. If it continues, repeat, and gently but firmly tap him on his beak. If it still continues and your reprimanding doesn't seem to work, then return him to his cage. He thinks it's OK to keep doing what he's been doing because he hasn't been "told" in a way he understands that his "preening" has gone too far.

Watch the video below. I know it's macaws, but it's the same basic idea. Notice how the scarlet lets the catalina know when it's "going too far" -- raised foot as a warning, with a lunge as the next step. When you raise a finger in front of your lovebird when he first "goes too far" and say "Noooo", you're giving basically the same warning, and one that your lovebird can easily understand. By pairing the "Noooo" with the finger, you're introducing a verbal reprimand which will later (if you remain consistent with pairing the finger with "Noooo") work on its own. If he goes further, the tap on his beak with your finger means the same as the lunge you saw the scarlet macaw do. It's basic universal parrot-speak for "Hey! Enough already!"

Another little clip, very short, but you can see that these two linnies are bonded, but still bicker when one "goes too far".

And finally, one more, a little longer, showing hyacinth macaws. Pay attention to how they let each other know they've "gone too far" yet clearly they don't "hate" each other -- they bicker.

Speak your parrot's language and you'll more easily be understood. I have a 22yo amazon and we've come to various "understandings" about things over the years together, but that happened only because I tried to make things clear in the ways he'd understand.

 

[Crazy4caring]

Ok, I'm a little confused since this forum says it's for chickens but I am glad to have a place to come for help. I took in a stray lovebird this past June. Despite having tried every different form of advice I have read, this little green she-devil bites worse now than ever. She readily steps up to my hand then immediately flies up to my shoulder, works her way down my arm and starts biting, HARD. She will bite other parts, too, of course. According to her leg band she is entering her 3rd year of life. I am so very tired of the pain and bruising. There are times when she is sweet and friendly which keep me thinking there may be hope. Unfortunately the bad behavior is overtaking the good. I am on the verge of giving her to a rescue if I can find one unless someone out there can offer some other solution. Please help!!!

 

[Rosa moschata]

She will continue to do it as long as you continue to allow it. Please see my previous response in this thread.

 

[Crazy4caring]

I very much appreciate your response and I have actually used the technique you suggest without the physical contact on the beak. I'll give that a try. Thanks again.