Othewise Friendly Macaw Charges and Bites Our Feet

We got a harlequin macaw a few weeks ago. After being a bit timid for a few days, he has become very friendly almost all the time - we can feed him out of open hand, he makes cooing and chuckling noises, does a lot of dancing and head bobbing and replies to a few of our attempts to teach him words. He comes down from his cage and walks around to where we are sitting watching TV or reading out on the patio. He climbs up on a patio chair next to us sometimes. He doesn't screech very much, and when he does it is clearly because we haven't spoken to him for more than an hour or he is hungry.

But during the last week he developed an aggressive behavior at certain times, when I walk near him when he is on the floor or in his cage. He will quickly drop down from his cage to the floor, run to me and attempt to peck or bite at my feet. If I walk away, he tries to bite my heels. If I stand still, he bites the toe of my shoe very hard. When I am wearing an old pair of tennis shoes or leather slippers, I have calmly let him bite the toes of these, since my own toes were farther back in the shoe and he wasn't actually hurting my toe. Couple times I was in stocking feet and then I had to pick up the slipper and gently fend him off with it. More than once after he did this, I have knelt down and spoken to him in soft voice - he stops the biting and seems to listen, but as soon as I move again, he is back to chasing me for a bite.

He gets plenty of attention - usually either me or my wife is home and near to him all day with very frequent verbal interaction and hand feeding.

Hope someone here can help us deal with this unwanted behavior in a bird that we have really come to love.

If I bite your feet -> I get a lot of nice attention (and maybe snacks)


you make me want to bite your feet too
so we can play some more.


Congrats on a wonderfull bird!
I am glad he gets a lot of attention - I have learned anything about macaws this year (in person instead of from books, stories, internet etc.) is that they really seem to need lots and lots of interaction.
(and I was already used to having some around)


You may want to try the shunning method (= in short, if your bird does something you do not want-> take a step away from the bird and turn your back to him and completely ignore it for 5 minutes, no eyecontact, no talking, nothing--> they absulutely hate that! So they'll stop doing that behaviour pretty soon!)
- but as they are ridiculously smart birds you (all!) need to to this every single time without fail, once they spot a loop-hole you are back to square one and can start all over again...
(that happens here a lot, but do not give up!)

(Un?)fortunately in the world of a macaw everything is a toy and any reaction is great!
So if he can startle you -> he'll do it again. NOt because he is a bad bird or does not like someone per se (although that happens as well) most of the time it is "if I do this -> you do that funny thing, and I like that!"


It is how we train parrots and how parots train us

Thanks for the advice. Today when he headed for my feet I squatted down so he couldn't get to my toes, he stopped in front of my knees and just did a few little pokes, not bites, at my knees (I was wearing long pants). Then I was able to have a little friendly talk with him and when I stood up he left me alone.

Later he returned to the charging behavior again, but I do not reward him for it but giving more attention, if he actually tries a bite. I learned that if he is charging, he will stop and even back off if I say "NO" in firm voice. Seems to know that word pretty well. Sometimes he will try a few pecks at my heels when I walk by his cage quickly, I have just kept walking and ignored him except for a "NO" when he does that, so maybe he'll learn it doesn't gain him any attention.