Dealing with Aggression in Parrots

This post really isn't about how to deal with aggression, so much as it's about another way to work with aggressive parrots and a possible reason for it.


When you have a genuine aggression from a parrot, as in a parrot that flies to attack people, the recommendation is often to clip. I completely understand the reasoning for this and can "kind of" agree. But at the same time, clipping them doesn't stop the aggression, it only slows them down. Parrots are not aggressive because they can fly.

My recommendation in one of the posts was to cage the parrot rather than clip them. Some members may disagree with this because parrots shouldn't be locked up in their cage! At the same time, you need to consider the safety of the animal as well as the safety of the trainer/owner. My suggestion is to cage the parrot, then start training them while they are inside their cage. Once the bird is somewhat reliably trained inside the cage, then work on training outside the cage.


Lara Joseph talked about training parrots from inside the cage. She has some photos and videos of owners doing just that.

Aggressive | Lara Joseph


Today, I came across a website while trying to do some research. One owner had an aggressive cockatoo that preferred her husband over herself. She could not handle the cockatoo without getting attacked. She solved this by clicker training the cockatoo while he was in his cage.

Living with a Cockatoo | Peggy's Parrot Place

The very aggressive cockatoo I retrained was the previously mentioned Fergus. He was hand-raised and had been passed through at least seven homes due to his very serious aggression problem. I agreed to foster him for a parrot rescue he was surrendered to. One of the first things he did was chase and attack me and give me several deep, painful bites to my hands and arms. The only reason he didn’t get my face was because I blocked it with my hands. He did, however, become quite smitten with my husband and tried to preen his arm on initial contact. So, I started doing lots of clicker training exercises with Fergus while he was in his cage and couldn’t attack me. This worked very well and he became calmer and I decided to let him out again. He quit attacking me but I still had to be careful while working with him. So, while cockatoos may have tendencies to behave in particular ways, they can be quite behaviorally flexible and can learn new things quite quickly.

Click to expand...

Just trying to say that it's not a bad thing to train inside the cage! Ya, sure, it may sound horrible, but if it results in having a bird without aggression issues, it's worth it... especially when dealing with a large parrot that can cause considerable harm to the human flesh.


Which leads me to another thing.... what if some of these problem parrots are because these hand raised birds don't have adults to model their behavior after? At which point, I will point you to this link...

In the Absence of Fathers: A Story of Elephants and Men


I don't believe that parrots are dominant creatures, but what if these undesired behaviors are occurring because they DON'T KNOW HOW TO ACT?!?!?!?! They don't know what to do or not to do because these parrots were hand raised by humans and don't get the necessary training required from their parents?

This is not to imply that parrots shouldn't be hand raised at all... it's just to say that perhaps in the way that these birds are being hand raised without adults around as they grow up may be causing unintentional harm to some of these birds. Which leads to another question.... if these undesired behaviors could be reduced by allowing young parrots to be around adult parrots, how long is sufficient in order for these birds to learn?





Only things to ponder.

About training in cage part, been there done that with a clicker and failed miserably. Java the U2 was just so stubborn and smart. I've tried all kinds of training with him and nothing worked. Now his new owners are complaining about him, they have over 30 years experience and said my U2 is a devil bird....lol....

LOL! Well, I do wonder what kind of training *could* work for him. Sometimes, a different setup may be all that it takes! The fun part is figuring out what works and what doesn't! Cockatoos are known for being very smart, and sometimes very difficult! Certainly, what may work for one bird may not necessarily work for another.

By reducing the ability to fly temporarily, wing clipping also reduces aggression and opens the door for new behaviors to emerge. I wonder if wing-clipping is a more reliable way to effect change. I've always had great luck with it.

Birds may not be dominant but they are territorial.
I am dealing with Bosley trying to fly and attack hubby when hubby does not behave in the way Bosley sees fit.

Now I can do anything with Bosley and it's OK, I'm sure he would be happy if I climbed in his cage with him, but hubby can't even go near his cage or come in the kitchen if Bosley is there LOL he of course picked the food area he is a zon.

We've been working under the premise that parrots are smart and can learn.
We reward good behaviour and give consequences for bad. If Bosley flies at hubby's head he gets a time out, I am always there to intervene to make sure no one gets hurt. Bosley is SLOWLY not flying at him as much, but being the territorial double yellow head male that he is still flies before he thinks at times!!

Oh and I might add, he did have his wings clipped and he still tried this. The benefits of exercise and security out weigh the negatives as we are able to be vigilante about the situation.

Oh they clipped Java all right, and no that didn't help! I never did clip Java cause that's one thing he never tries with me is to fly attack me. He will fly attack anyone too close to me though. Maybe they're right about him being a devil incarnation....lol....But he was my little devil though, still care about him....

MonicaMc said:

This post really isn't about how to deal with aggression, so much as it's about another way to work with aggressive parrots and a possible reason for it.


When you have a genuine aggression from a parrot, as in a parrot that flies to attack people, the recommendation is often to clip. I completely understand the reasoning for this and can "kind of" agree. But at the same time, clipping them doesn't stop the aggression, it only slows them down. Parrots are not aggressive because they can fly.

My recommendation in one of the posts was to cage the parrot rather than clip them. Some members may disagree with this because parrots shouldn't be locked up in their cage! At the same time, you need to consider the safety of the animal as well as the safety of the trainer/owner. My suggestion is to cage the parrot, then start training them while they are inside their cage. Once the bird is somewhat reliably trained inside the cage, then work on training outside the cage.


Lara Joseph talked about training parrots from inside the cage. She has some photos and videos of owners doing just that.

Aggressive | Lara Joseph


Today, I came across a website while trying to do some research. One owner had an aggressive cockatoo that preferred her husband over herself. She could not handle the cockatoo without getting attacked. She solved this by clicker training the cockatoo while he was in his cage.

Living with a Cockatoo | Peggy's Parrot Place

The very aggressive cockatoo I retrained was the previously mentioned Fergus. He was hand-raised and had been passed through at least seven homes due to his very serious aggression problem. I agreed to foster him for a parrot rescue he was surrendered to. One of the first things he did was chase and attack me and give me several deep, painful bites to my hands and arms. The only reason he didn’t get my face was because I blocked it with my hands. He did, however, become quite smitten with my husband and tried to preen his arm on initial contact. So, I started doing lots of clicker training exercises with Fergus while he was in his cage and couldn’t attack me. This worked very well and he became calmer and I decided to let him out again. He quit attacking me but I still had to be careful while working with him. So, while cockatoos may have tendencies to behave in particular ways, they can be quite behaviorally flexible and can learn new things quite quickly.

Click to expand...

Just trying to say that it's not a bad thing to train inside the cage! Ya, sure, it may sound horrible, but if it results in having a bird without aggression issues, it's worth it... especially when dealing with a large parrot that can cause considerable harm to the human flesh.


Which leads me to another thing.... what if some of these problem parrots are because these hand raised birds don't have adults to model their behavior after? At which point, I will point you to this link...

In the Absence of Fathers: A Story of Elephants and Men


I don't believe that parrots are dominant creatures, but what if these undesired behaviors are occurring because they DON'T KNOW HOW TO ACT?!?!?!?! They don't know what to do or not to do because these parrots were hand raised by humans and don't get the necessary training required from their parents?

This is not to imply that parrots shouldn't be hand raised at all... it's just to say that perhaps in the way that these birds are being hand raised without adults around as they grow up may be causing unintentional harm to some of these birds. Which leads to another question.... if these undesired behaviors could be reduced by allowing young parrots to be around adult parrots, how long is sufficient in order for these birds to learn?





Only things to ponder.

Click to expand...

good point Monica, when I raise my chicks, I have 5 birds here that are more than willing to assist in helping to feed them. sometimes I let them, sometimes I don't. when they are learning to fly, my adults teach them the flock mentality of sorts....behaviour, what is acceptable and what is not. these babies are incorporating themselves into a seasoned flock, so they are forced to learn pack mentality.
my adults are very stable, friendly birds, and my chicks are very fortunate to be brought up in a diversified flock that are patient but also teach them right from wrong.
now maybe I have a reason why my babies are so friendly and balanced.
I know from experience that a hand tamed bird takes longer to learn things, how to eat pellets/seed etc, even simple tasks from drinking from a water dish takes longer to teach, rather than them learning in mere seconds from their parents.
thanks for posting this! sorry if I got off topic a bit, but a lightbulb just went off in my head.

our male cockatiel will dive bomb at your head and be a little jerk some days, and he goes for blood. he will dive at your face and go for the nose or eyebrows and he has gotten me good one and made me bleed. clipping isnt an option for him, we've done it before and he still tries to go for you. he also is a heavy tiel and clips dont help him. he gets overweight fast when clipped. so he remains flighted.

time outs dont really work with him either, and we have yet to figure out the trigger to his aggression. some days you uncover him in the morning and he runs at the cage bars and lunges at you. some days he even chases dally around. she's learned to stand her ground and beak back at him when he's being a little jerk, but we've learned that he's just a moody bird. on his bad days he is horrible and can be pretty intimidating for a tiel... but on his good days, he is the best bird ever, he'll snuggle with you, land on your head and preen your hair, demand scritches until your fingers fall off... he can be so super sweet, but he's got a nasty attitude on his bad days.

the best solution for us is to keep him caged on his bad days. he doesnt get to come out on his bad days, because he is a flying brick with a very very sharp beak! he's left scars on my fingers and all i've done was put my finger out for him to step up lol

it's just his personality. he's not a bad bird, in fact he is an amazing bird and can be your best friend, but he just has bad moods and they are unpredictable. that is why we dont let children hold him when we bring him out for walks on his harness. i dont trust him not to chomp one of their fingers out of the blue, because he doesnt "nip"--he chomps and goes for blood. he can be a terror bird. we love him all the same and we just accept his moods as it is.

he's a parent raised bird we had tamed ourselves, and he had a rough start in his life, so who knows why he is the way he is, but we dont mind. we wouldnt have him any other way.

SandyBee said:

Birds may not be dominant but they are territorial.
I am dealing with Bosley trying to fly and attack hubby when hubby does not behave in the way Bosley sees fit.

Now I can do anything with Bosley and it's OK, I'm sure he would be happy if I climbed in his cage with him, but hubby can't even go near his cage or come in the kitchen if Bosley is there LOL he of course picked the food area he is a zon.

Click to expand...

Sandy, might I suggest an experiment?

Can you and Bosley stand at one end of the kitchen with plenty of treats in one hand. Have your husband come into view on the other end of the kitchen. He doesn't have to come into the kitchen at all, just into view. If Bosley ignores your husband give Bosley a reward, then have your husband walk away. Repeat this several times.

If Bosley continues ignoring your husband, then have your husband take a step into the kitchen. Again, if Bosley ignores, give him a reward and have your husband leave again. Repeat several times.

Next time, have your husband take two steps into the kitchen. The time after that, three steps and so forth. Continue this until your husband can be near Bosley and Bosley just ignores him.

If at any time Bosley makes to go after your husband, then go back to the previous step and repeat that enough times before going back to the step you were on.



Is that something you think you can do???

crimson said:

good point Monica, when I raise my chicks, I have 5 birds here that are more than willing to assist in helping to feed them. sometimes I let them, sometimes I don't. when they are learning to fly, my adults teach them the flock mentality of sorts....behaviour, what is acceptable and what is not. these babies are incorporating themselves into a seasoned flock, so they are forced to learn pack mentality.
my adults are very stable, friendly birds, and my chicks are very fortunate to be brought up in a diversified flock that are patient but also teach them right from wrong.
now maybe I have a reason why my babies are so friendly and balanced.
I know from experience that a hand tamed bird takes longer to learn things, how to eat pellets/seed etc, even simple tasks from drinking from a water dish takes longer to teach, rather than them learning in mere seconds from their parents.
thanks for posting this! sorry if I got off topic a bit, but a lightbulb just went off in my head.

Click to expand...

Hey now! If it helps and it makes you think, then it was worth posting!


I think it's great to raise chicks in a mixed flock setting! Is it not odd that parrots out in the wild get along with other species, regardless of size, but in captivity they fight, cause injuries to each other, and don't get along??? Would it be surprising to learn that parrots rarely ever cause bleeding injuries to each other in the wild?

DallyTsuka said:

our male cockatiel will dive bomb at your head and be a little jerk some days, and he goes for blood. he will dive at your face and go for the nose or eyebrows and he has gotten me good one and made me bleed. clipping isnt an option for him, we've done it before and he still tries to go for you. he also is a heavy tiel and clips dont help him. he gets overweight fast when clipped. so he remains flighted.

Click to expand...

The only thing I can think of that might help is train him to fly to certain locations on command. Maybe train some new behaviors that he can do inside the cage as well that would prevent him from going after the bars?


It may help?

Thanks Monica,

We have been doing that basically and with Bosley it really depends on mood.
Sometimes it works and Bos is happy taking treats, sometimes not.
Even in our living room Bos mostly doesn't fly at hubby, but if hubby is perceived as doing something Bos doesn't want then Bosley will fly at him.
The only saving grace in this is Bosley isn't biting and clawing, mostly dive bombing.
This is the reason he was given to the rescue where we got him. What is working is me getting Bosley when he does this and giving him a time out.

Oh I might also add that Bosley is a real character, hubby makes me dinner when I get home from work Bosley will squack at him to hurry up and make it or squack at him when he wants him to leave the room, he likes to hang with me for a few minutes before I put him to bed.
Bos will also go sit by hubby and even crawl on his lap on occasion.

as for tsuka, i tend to just give him his space on his bad days and let him vent out his frustrations on his toys. its a compromise. hes calmer when he has his space.

I agree with that post entirely Monica! Well, not the last bit about them not knowing how to act. I'm rather a believer in behaviorism in that behavior (including undesired behavior) occurs because it's been reinforced and serves a function for the bird.

The whole idea of training inside the cage it's certainly spot on. Jojo was both afraid and aggressive when he first came to me and was not allowed to come out of his cage until he was reliably target trained. He was neither stick out step up trained so I needed a safe and reliable behavior that would get him back in his cage when I need him to.

I wish that Florida parrot rescue would allow us to keep out fosters flighted as Jojo would be s great ff candidate. He hops and glides so well! Very neat to see a large Moluccan using his wings.

good point Monica, when I raise my chicks, I have 5 birds here that are more than willing to assist in helping to feed them. sometimes I let them, sometimes I don't. when they are learning to fly, my adults teach them the flock mentality of sorts....behaviour, what is acceptable and what is not. these babies are incorporating themselves into a seasoned flock, so they are forced to learn pack mentality.
my adults are very stable, friendly birds, and my chicks are very fortunate to be brought up in a diversified flock that are patient but also teach them right from wrong.
now maybe I have a reason why my babies are so friendly and balanced.
I know from experience that a hand tamed bird takes longer to learn things, how to eat pellets/seed etc, even simple tasks from drinking from a water dish takes longer to teach, rather than them learning in mere seconds from their parents.
thanks for posting this! sorry if I got off topic a bit, but a lightbulb just went off in my head.[/QUOTE]


Oh my goodness! How did I not think of this? I have bred in the past, as a teenager really, and am about to start again (this time there is a LOT more research and preparation obviously). I had thought through things like socializing with people and to an extent dogs and cats, as well as people of different ages, genders, races, etc. I had thought about harness training and introducing to things like loud noises and new situations, etc, but somehow I had not thought about the need to socialize with birds of various species. I feel like a brick just landed on my head Thanks for posting this, it seems so obvious that I can't believe I didn't think about it! Thanks!

Not quite sure why the quote didn't work...?

CaitlinBird said:

I agree with that post entirely Monica! Well, not the last bit about them not knowing how to act. I'm rather a believer in behaviorism in that behavior (including undesired behavior) occurs because it's been reinforced and serves a function for the bird.

The whole idea of training inside the cage it's certainly spot on. Jojo was both afraid and aggressive when he first came to me and was not allowed to come out of his cage until he was reliably target trained. He was neither stick out step up trained so I needed a safe and reliable behavior that would get him back in his cage when I need him to.

I wish that Florida parrot rescue would allow us to keep out fosters flighted as Jojo would be s great ff candidate. He hops and glides so well! Very neat to see a large Moluccan using his wings.

Click to expand...

A "local" rescue (local as in 200 miles away local! and a different state! LOL) to me also does the clipped flights for foster birds. Makes me sad, particularly for the birds brought in from the streets that are wild birds, not hand raised. I can understand the reason for it, but I don't like it.

I wholeheartedly agree with you in regards to behavior. At least, in regards to learning what works for them and what doesn't. Behavior serves a function.

I'm talking more of like juvenile bird acting out and doesn't have a parent or peer bird to teach them how they *should* act as adults. Thus, hand raised birds that the humans don't take up this adult/peer relationship end up being problem birds.

Our parents taught us to be respectful to other people, to say please and thank you, to be polite, open doors for the elderly and disabled, etc. If you didn't have any parents or any adults to look up to when you were young, your behavior is likely to be different to what it is now.

Now put yourself in the position of a bird.... you are young, you don't know how you should act as an adult, and now you have a completely different species of animal raising you that you don't even understand, and they in turn don't understand you. There's this communication barrier. Unless these humans step up and teach you how you should act as an adult, you might end up acting out due to hormones, stress, excitement, fear, etc.



Does that make sense????

SilverSage said:

Oh my goodness! How did I not think of this? I have bred in the past, as a teenager really, and am about to start again (this time there is a LOT more research and preparation obviously). I had thought through things like socializing with people and to an extent dogs and cats, as well as people of different ages, genders, races, etc. I had thought about harness training and introducing to things like loud noises and new situations, etc, but somehow I had not thought about the need to socialize with birds of various species. I feel like a brick just landed on my head Thanks for posting this, it seems so obvious that I can't believe I didn't think about it! Thanks!

Click to expand...

You're just missing part of the tags to make it work.


I've read a bit about how birds raised in a clutch do better than birds raised alone. Being that parrots out in the wild naturally "socialize" with other species, it seems to make sense to raise birds in a mixed flock kind of setting.



Don't know where this image came from, but here's a photo of a parrotlet on top of a [young] hyacinth macaws head.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/1010872_605816536115727_1363454761_n.jpg


And a photo of a blue mask lovebird laying on it's back on the tail feathers of a sulphur crested cockatoo - who is also laying on it's back.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=637020929641235&set=gm.476542472414663&type=1&ref=nf


And you can find pictures of conures snuggled up to cockatoos and macaws. A quaker who's buddy is a hyacinth. A lovebird that's feeding an amazon.

Due to the potential serious damage, if not death, that a larger parrot could cause a smaller one, I don't recommend mixing such vastly differently sized birds together..... but at the same time, it's kind of abnormal to not mix different species together. I have lost the life of a small bird because she got into a larger birds area.... and I currently have a large conure that requires beak trims for the rest of his life because he thought he could push around a large macaw like he does the amazons.... so I'm well aware of the dangers there!

There are images of blue headed pionus, dusky headed conures, amazons, orange cheeked parrots and macaws all using the claw licks together. That's a big difference between sizes in birds!



So ya, it could help to socialize birds with other species of birds as you raise them.

Absolutely! This is exactly the reason I joined this forum, so that bricks of wisdom would get dropped on my head