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Question:

August 5, 2024

Randomly aggressive female lovebird


Hello!
Let me begin with my lovebird’s backstory.
She is a 2 year old female named Martini (she has an interesting feather color mutation that makes her look exactly like a little olive in a Martini glass), and I immediately fell in love with her when I saw her at the pet store. She was hand-raised,fed and tamed by a worker that worked at the pet shop I bought her from. That owner had another 18 cockatiels, and I believe other animals. She was looking to rehome her, but would only sell her to an owner that had no other pets because Martini hates all other birds and pets. So, I have no other pets, and ended up taking her home with me. (Also, she is not my first bird ever, I have owned budgies and finches before this. My sweet budgie George lived to 15 years of age!)
I have had her for about a month or 2, and she was so sweet the first day I brought her home. About a day after, she started with the hard and aggressive biting randomly. I never force her to do anything, she and I seemed to bond very quickly, she spends the entire day on my shoulders or climbing me like a jungle gym out of her own volition, and loudly calls me to come and pick her up every morning and all the time. However, even though she wants to be on me and with me and not in her cage, she gets so stinkin’ mean and aggressive randomly and will bite the backs of my arms, my neck, my hands when they aren’t even near her or doing other things, my fore arms, and even my inner thighs SO hard. Would you know what is driving this behavior, or how to replace/change this behavior? I’ve read you can reward good behaviors with treats (positive reinforcement), but she won’t eat any fresh fruits or vegetables, and she doesn’t respond to dry treats either…. I’m kind of at a loss if I’m doomed to the next 20+ years of a randomly aggressive bird that bites completely unprovoked. Please Help!


Answer:

Hi,

Female lovebirds can become very territorial. This can be made worse if she has one of those bird tents, huts or anything she might view as a nest. With a female like this, they are usually OK if you get her out of view of her cage. Other things that can cause her to go into this mode is letting her get into any cozy place, even just in your lap, under a couch cushion, the back of your neck. Allowing her to climb all over you pretty much turns you into a play gym. Establish some boundaries. When you handle her, keep her on your hand and at eye level or lower. Get her a stand to climb around on. She can only be out if you are handling her or supervising her on the stand. Too much roaming around mimics looking for a nesting site and can cause the territorial biting. Avoid other hormone triggers like shredding paper. When you pet her, only pet her on the head – if you pet her on the body this can trigger hormones. Don’t let her crawl in your shirt, or on your shoulder. If she can hide even a little part of her, she may decide it’s some territory and bite you. Her bites aren’t random, provoked or unprovoked, they are just a normal response to her instincts. I’ll give you the links to our behavior and training pages to help you better understand her natural behaviors and know how to work with her.

Pet Bird and Parrot Behavior

Teaching Your Bird

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda

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