Controlling Biting, Screaming and Other Problem Behaviors

Positive reinforcements are rewards for good behavior or for performing a requested trick or task. This positive reinforcement could be food, play, attention, touch, etc. To identify an appropriate food reinforcement treat- offer a plate of different foods you normally feed in the morning – the first food item the bird goes to is probably a preferred food item. This food should be taken away from the daily menu and reserved for behavior modification sessions where it is used as a reward to reinforce desired behavior. Break large food items into smaller pieces for more opportunities to reinforce the bird and help avoid feeding too much with the reinforcements.”Time outs” are defined as discontinued interaction with the animal being punished and is an acceptable form of punishment. This period of time may last from several seconds to several minutes and may involve walking away from the bird, turning ones back on the bird, or placing the bird in another room. Never use the bird’s cage as a time out location as your bird’s home should not be associated with any form of punishment. In order for the time out to be effective, the time out must occur directly after the undesired behavior and the animal must want any positive reinforcement the bird owner was working with at that time. The idea is that in those seconds or minutes of time out, the bird learns that whatever it did just prior to the ‘time out’ caused the pet to lose the positive reinforcement treat and the opportunity to interact with its owner. .

Methods to address biting or screaming behavior:

1.  Keep written notes on the bad behavior to help identify cause(s). Remove yourself emotionally and try to identify what caused the aggression or screaming. Was the bird protecting territory (cage/perch) or possessions (toys/food)? Did play excitement get out of control and result in a bite? Does the bird favor one family member over another and bite the favored persons spouse or family member?

2.   Avoid circumstances that elicit aggression. Read and interpret animal body language – signals that say your bird is getting angry and ready to bite (pupils dilating, head feathers puffed up, rocking back and forth on the perch with beak open). Notice what actions encourage aggression or screaming and discontinue doing them if possible. Adjust your reactions to the bird’s subtle body language in order to build trust and increase the birds comfort zone.

3.   Do not attempt to “work through” the aggression by continuing to do what elicited the aggression and attempting to modify the aggressive behavior via negative punishments.

4.   Divert the bird’s attention towards something else in order to get the bird’s mind off of aggressing or screaming. Example: change the bird’s location or environment to divert its attention.

5.   Do not accidentally reinforce the loud or aggressive behavior by offering food rewards in order to stop and prevent more biting or screaming. Or in the case of repeated screaming behavior, walking over to the cage and yelling at the bird can actually be the attention the bird was seeking. Wait until the bird stops screaming or does something else, and then going over to the bird- this will teach the bird that “quiet” or other preferred behaviors can get the desired attention.

6.   Ignore bad behavior/reward good behavior. Reinforce any behavior other than the bad behavior one is trying to control. The idea is to make a clear distinction between what is desired and unwanted by only reinforcing preferred behaviors. This increases the likelihood that the bird will present desired behavior more often. The goal is that repeated positive reinforcement for good behavior will result in that good behavior becoming second nature.

Screaming

Parrots scream for a number of different reasons and the key to developing a strategy for addressing screaming is to try and determine why the parrot is vocalizing excessively in the first place.

Example: The companion parrot owner leaves the room and the bird starts screaming.

Why does this happen? The bird is giving a contact call and what usually stops the screaming is either a ‘call’ back from the owner or the owner returning to the room. This relates to a parrot’s natural strategies for survival in the wild where most parrots live in pairs and/or flock situations, and it is important to stay in touch with flock members in order to survive. Being alone creates a vulnerable situation for a parrot in the wild. What can you do?

1.  Ignore the behavior you do not like.

The companion parrot owner leaves the room and the bird screams. The bird anticipates the scream will get a response from the companion parrot owner. If the bird does not get a response, eventually the bird will learn screaming does not work. It is very important that the pet bird owner does not do anything that can be interpreted as a response by the bird, even a nonverbal grimace. With patience the bad behavior will stop.

2.  Reward behavior you do like.

While trying to ignore the parrot’s screaming the bird may offer another sound. If it does, and you like that sound, it should be responded to immediately. The owner can repeat the sound back, say “good” or give some other positive reinforcement such as visual contact. Silence can also be rewarded; if the bird stops screaming for a few seconds, it is OK to respond to that period of silence. At first the intervals of silence may be very short (seconds), but gradually the owner delays responding until more time has passed and periods of silence increase.

Biting

Parrots bite for a reason. Biting can occur when a bird is forced to do something it does not want to do or when it is trying to get a desired response.

Example: The bird is in its cage. The pet bird owner reaches in to have the bird step on to the hand and instead the bird bites the owner’s hand. Why does this happen? In the simplest terms, the bird does not like what just happened: it may not want to step up, it may have felt that the hand came in too quickly, the bird may not like the hand pushing on its body, etc. The bird learns to bite in order to avoid being picked up.

How can biting behavior be controlled?

1.  Do not try to make your bird do anything he/she doesn’t want to do. (Avoid the use of negative reinforcement) This is a very important concept to learn and apply. Biting does not have to happen if this simple concept is applied. By learning to recognize aggressive bird body language (see page 1, item 2) bird owners can learn to stop doing whatever is causing that behavior.

2.  Use positive reinforcement to make stepping up onto the hand something the bird wants to do.

Training a bird to step up onto the hand in order to receive a treat (positive reinforcement) can occur in 1 training session (approximately 20 minutes). If the bird loses interest during the session, the session can be resumed and completed at another time. Getting to the end result is not as important as having the process be as positive as possible. Once the bird learns to step up for positive reinforcement, the bird will step up more quickly in the future. The goal is for the bird to look forward to stepping up and thereby sees no need to bite.

3.  During these reinforcement sessions give the bird a limited amount of time to step up as this will increase the likelihood the bird will step up when asked. If on occasion the hand is presented and the bird gives the body language that it does not want to step up (such as putting its head down or not lifting a foot to step up, etc.), the bird owner can walk away and remove any training treats. Try again later when the bird has more interest in the reinforcements. The goal is that the bird will step up quickly without demonstrating any signs of aggression.

Bonding to One Person

Problem: The parrot only likes one person and displays aggressive behavior toward other household members. Why does this happen? Bonding to one individual is a natural behavior for a parrot. In the wild, parrots form very strong pair bonds with their mates and once the bond is formed, each bird will defend its territory vigorously. Only the mate will be allowed into the territory and if another parrot approaches, that bird may be aggressively driven away. In the pet bird household, family members are driven away from the person (perceived mate) to which companion parrot is bonded.

What can be done to control this?

1.  Modify interactions between the parrot and the person to whom the bird has bonded.

The bonded person usually is the one who typically has many positive interactions with the pet bird. This individual can usually pick up the bird, scratch its head, play with the bird, and offer treats, etc. All these interactions help to strengthen the bond between bird owner and parrot. However, this attachment can be detrimental to helping the bird accept another person. While trying to create a better relationship between the bird and other people it is best for the bonded person to refrain from such friendly communications. The bonded person can clean the cage and put in fresh food and water; however, the less interaction the better.

2.  Create positive interactions with other members of the household.

In order to allow another person to have a successful interaction with the parrot, it is better if the favored person is not around. This will help curb those natural urges the parrot has to “drive the competition away”. One way to help build a positive relationship is to have the new person drop treats in the bird’s food bowl and then walk away. If done often enough, the bird will eventually look forward to the new person coming by with the reinforcement treat. This person can then try offering the treat to the bird through the cage bars. Eventually the reinforcement treat can be offered for stepping up on the hand as well as other cooperative behaviors. Many parrots are very territorial around their cage and it may help if the bonded person brings the bird to a place in which it less likely to exhibit territorial behaviors. The bonded person then leaves the room. A new person can then enter the room and try the process of offering reinforcements in the new environment. The new person can also work on teaching the bird to perform simple behaviors or tricks. By doing quick repetitions of these simple behaviors the parrot will have an activity on which to focus. This will also create many occasions in which the bird will receive positive reinforcements and form a constructive relationship with the new person. By limiting interaction with the bonded person and increasing positive experiences with the new person the bird-household interaction can be brought back into balance. It is important to realize that it may never be possible for the new person to interact at the same level as the bonded person, but this strategy can help make an unbearable situation livable.

Note:  The material for this handout was taken from material presented by Barbara Heidenreich, BS at the 2005 Association of Avian Veterinarians continuing education conference. More resources on positive reinforcement training and parrots can be found on her website at www.goodbirdinc.com.