Has Your Bird Ever Bitten You?

[spiritbird]

Just curious about other birds and their owners. I hear some people say "My bird has never bitten me" Should I
believe them?

[kendrafitz]

Yes. Rosie had bitten me, usually when having a temper tantrum bc she doesn't want me to put her down.

I think people have different ideas of what a bite is. For instance, my hand is ALWAYS in Rosie's beak. She will put pressure on my hand if she is annoyed or excited. She is also very pinchy. Meaning she will pinch whatever part of my body she can reach if she is annoyed or excited. She also puts holes in all of my clothing...shirts, pants, socks...doesn't matter. I do not consider any of that biting.

Biting to me is when she is angry, Mohawk up, yelling and looking like she would like to teach her dumb mommy a lesson. Doesn't happen often, but it happens. Fortunately, it has never resulted in anything serious. I had a numb spot for a week or so once and if my hands are dry then she may break skin, but not badly. Just like a paper cut. Even though she is mad, I don't think she really wants to hurt me. Either way, I NEVER give in to her when this happens bc I think it would encourage the behavior.

[PlaxMacaws]

Zaf:
NO

Maynard:
YES

Jack:
YES
(only pinches)

Salsa:
YES
(usually pinches but he's let me have it a few times)

[Mare]

Amigo-no, not me..others, yes

Sassy- yes! She is a temperamental biddy!

Chip-yes, but just a nibble :)

[Pinkbirdy]

What I would call "Real" bites .Max are African Grey and Tequila my Zon.

[spiritbird]

Don't think I ever want to be close to a mad Macaw. Tony are you more bonded to Zaf and Mare the same with Amigo?

[Lady]

Yes, Lady has bitten both my hubby and myself. My husband when he rescued her from a toy she got tangled up in, if not she would probably not be here today.

Me, she has bitten quite often, but mostly because I didn't read her body language correctly and persisted with trying to get her to do something she was not ready, or just didn't want to do.

[Mare]

Dianne, Amigo and I are cell/soul mates :)

[PlaxMacaws]

Don't think I ever want to be close to a mad Macaw. Tony are you more bonded to Zaf and Mare the same with Amigo?I'll just say that Zaf and I have a very special relationship. I've always loved birds but I never imagined that a bird could become this much a part of me. Zaf tries to be with me 24/7 and I completely adore him! But I love all four of my feathered guys a lot!!

[94lt1]

Monte: YEEEEES

Seminole : no

Starburst : love nip

Rain : no..

[Mare]

Amigo actually did draw blood on my ear once. We were once on a walk and he kept landing on my shoulder and then..taking off and then..coming back to my shoulder. When he bit my ear lobe, it was a shocker. There was no real damage and a bit of blood. Over the years I've thought about why he would do this and all I could figure was he was trying to move me away from something..dangerous? In his mind?

[PlaxMacaws]

Over the years I've thought about why he would do this and all I could figure was he was trying to move me away from something..dangerous? In his mind?Could it be that he came in a bit too fast and used your ear as a stop handle or crash bumber? Or did he bite you after he'd been perched on you for a while?

[Mare]

Tony, we were a ways from home, I could tell he was agitated from the way he was being flighty,,coming and going. He's so aware of what's around him and all I could think is that there was something close that he was not comfortable with. And, no, my ear wasn't a handle :)

[PlaxMacaws]

Tony, we were a ways from home, I could tell he was agitated from the way he was being flighty,,coming and going. He's so aware of what's around him and all I could think is that there was something close that he was not comfortable with. And, no, my ear wasn't a handle :)I see. Well, maybe it was just a fluke impulse.

[Mare]

From what I've read about cockatoos and their mates, they will be aggressive (towards the mate) when they think the mate should take flight..move on or away from a perceived threat. This is how I am now perceiving this..

[spiritbird]

Wow what a fantastic bird he is.

[Mare]

When I say aggressive towards mate, this is in the wild terms. I've heard of males being very aggressive towards mates in captivity and this breaks my heart :(. There is no way for that female to fly off and find a safe space :(

[2birds]

Poet has not bitten me at all but has put more pressure on other people. She's never drawn blood though. Lilliput bites but doesn't hurt. Actually, I don't think it's a bite at all but she moves so quickly it startles me. Clover has nailed me and drawn blood only around his cage.

[froggij]

Rose: YES - she pierced my nose for me once and tried to pierce my lip once. This was when we first got her. She's been really good about not doing that, but she'll love-nip mom a little too hard occasionally and get put back in her cage... she gets the hint.

Dori: YES. She's so cage-aggressive it's easy to get nipped, but she's stopped drawing blood unless you put your hands inside her cage.

Orsino: NO, unless extremely provoked. The other day I clipped his wings and tried doing his nails after Dori had apparently been torturing him before I got home, and he nipped me pretty hard. Luckily his beak is the smallest so it didn't break the skin or anything, but he chomped the tip of my finger more than he has in years. He's my good child, he hardly ever bites or causes problems.

[jtbirds]

I'd say never believe anyone that says there bird never will bite them. there will always be that freak moment when it happens like with mare. Honestly I can't say I have one bird here that hasn't ever taken a nibble from me. Im so used to it usually it has happened in some odd chances, like with lilly my medium sulphur she got her wing caught and I went to help and she bit me. Lars has gotten scared a few times and gotten me to tell me about his issues, babe my amazon has a temper like no others sometimes and that includes the caique the rest usually has just been them protecting me or what I believe is hormones. I usually get bitten daily by rescues so its the norm and im used to it by now:).

[wingman]

I have had a few bloody fingers, so yes ....

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

Casper knows just how hard to bite to draw blood. He would bite me quite often and hard enough to bleed when we first got him. Now he just bites when he isn't getting his own way and never enough to break the skin. Margaret often gets a painful nip on the cheek or neck after which Casper says "I'm a good boy"

[Mare]

You've just gotta love 'em :). Justin, do you ever wear protective gloves with your big rescues?

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

The question of wearing gloves is a good one, those macaws look as though they could do some serious damage. But eventually you must need to show that you trust the bird and are not afraid of it because I am sure that they can pick up on that.

[jtbirds]

I never wear gloves I always just take the bite to my flesh. I have seen gloves make birds even more afraid of hands then when you first started working with them with or without them on. I have to say all of my birds have bitten me but lilly my sulphur crested and she did once but it was because another bird attacked her and bit her face i jumped in and she bit me right through my finger nail by accident. Lars only when he is trying to nest, fiesta only once and she was afraid of something i didn't see. Pickles my caique he can be a handful, my senegal has hardly ever bitten me but when he does it is because of his past. My amazon is personally a very very hard zon to deal with sometimes but soooo loving to me other times. I'd say i've never really been bitten to bad by any of my birds as they know the limit, but I must say anyone saying never is wrong. I mean I am sure tony knows that if Zaf was ina situation and a fight broke out and tony broke it up, he probably knows that somehow he could get hurt by zaf trying to protect himself or tony.

With lilly another cockatoo flew across the room and right at lillys face, she actually received a very bad bite to the face in the blink of the eye. Actually I was standing right there and I will not lie tried to get the flying cockatoo out of the air. I will do anything I must to prevent one of these guys from getting hurt sadly I wasn't quick enough. Lilly is alright my fingernail is black, but no one was mortally hurt. The other cockatoo was a goffins with a horrible temper and I really cannot believe how fast it happened.

With rescues I get bitten sometimes often sometimes not, depends on the birds I am working with. Some say I like being bitten I say I dont feel it anymore I get into my mode and I am doing it for a lot more then myself:).

[Mare]

I actually bought some gloves made for handling hawks, they come to my elbow and are made of thick leather. I bought them so that Tim could handle Amigo, to bring him inside and out, when I had to be gone for a day or two. I accustomed them to Amigo and used them on him, pet him all over and they were never a problem for him. The only problem with them came when Tim used them on him..Amigo slowly and deliberately bit right through them into Tim's finger. He didn't do it out of fear, I believe he did it because he thought he could. He was on Tim's hand at the time and was being set on a perch in his cage.

[jtbirds]

O yeah with a bird like Amigo it probably is not gonna change his reaction especially if with what you did. He is to smart for that:).

[plax]

I never wear gloves I always just take the bite to my flesh. I have seen gloves make birds even more afraid of hands then when you first started working with them with or without them on.That's long been my opinion about gloves and birds as well.


I'd say i've never really been bitten to bad by any of my birds as they know the limit, but I must say anyone saying never is wrong. I mean I am sure tony knows that if Zaf was ina situation and a fight broke out and tony broke it up, he probably knows that somehow he could get hurt by zaf trying to protect himself or tony.I don't disagree. To say you have never been bitten by your parrot is one thing; whereas to say that your parrot would *never* bite you is entirely another.


With lilly another cockatoo flew across the room and right at lillys face, she actually received a very bad bite to the face in the blink of the eye. Actually I was standing right there and I will not lie tried to get the flying cockatoo out of the air. I will do anything I must to prevent one of these guys from getting hurt sadly I wasn't quick enough. Lilly is alright my fingernail is black, but no one was mortally hurt. The other cockatoo was a goffins with a horrible temper and I really cannot believe how fast it happened.And along the same line, a bird becoming startled and flying frantically toward another house pet that reacts abruptly upon the bird's sudden appearance and contact (as an instinctive response) is unfortunately a scenario which has a high probability to occur in homes where pet birds and predatory pets (cats, dogs, reptiles etc.) have freedom within the same rooms together. In any such home it's just a matter of time... it may happen 3 or 4 years from now, or it may happen tomorrow. Conversely, a bird biting me as its guardian is of far less potential consequence (regardless of the extent of damage to my own flesh and bones) than if that bird were attacked by another animal capable of ending its life instantly due to a startle flight :(. My point is that I feel it's quite unjust for folks who make effort to protect themselves from sustaining bites from their pet bird(s) to be unwilling to take actions that would protect those pet bird(s) from their other pets. I wish more folks would consider this reality... especially the ones making those dangerous species-to-species "friendship" videos :(

[jtbirds]

Tony just to put it out there I wasn't trying to say you where wrong about Zaf:p, I was trying to help others understand by using you as an example:). taking your lead as they say haha.

I strongly agree, I once walked in to my caique being besides my macaw fiesta I almost fell over I had just walked away seconds ago.. Luckily fiesta loves other birds and despite her harm done by humans she doesn't know how to protect herself from other birds she is very submissive. Not saying something couldn't have happened but it was a freak accident of pickles being mischievous and me turning my back... I see so many videos of cockatoos interacting and that can be great, but cockatoos in the wild go straight for the face/neck in a fight and simply said if the said cockatoo struck a little lower lilly would have bled out before I could have gotten her to a hospital. It is a scary reality.. We had a pair of blue and gold macaws for years and one day the other had smashed the others beak.. one day loving the next hating. We keep these guys in cages flightless and there is no room for escape:/. Luckily all said birds are ok, but to give you an idea of what can easily happen in an instance with these guys not being in the wild! Hope this helps future owners:).