Parrots bite! Indeed, a caique's bite can be a painful bloody affair. I doubt that any are as life threatening as those of dogs, which between 1979 and 1994 resulted in more than 117 deaths, mostly children (L. Sinclair, 1997, H.S.U.S. News). Still, there is no way of avoiding the fact that one day, what you thought was the sweetest bird in the world bites you or someone else. This is one of their ways of communicating. You will learn the hard way just what stimuli sets off your bird.

Pet caiques under the age of two years of age almost never bite with vicious intent. If a young hand-reared bird bites it is almost certainly out of fear. Even a non-humanized parent reared baby seldom bites. Young birds usually only bite as part of their play; this is their way of testing your tolerance level. Their playful bites are more pinches than bites, part of their exploration of life.

When an adult bites with intent, it is a totally different. It will take a lot of understanding on your part to bear with your bird then. With patience, both you and your pet will come to understand how to deal with it. Oddly, some, but not all, pet caiques are remorseful after biting you, so there is a need to re-establish communication after both of you have calmed down. You need to show your bird that you still love it. That is the hard part!

I believe there are four biting patterns. The first two are unrelated to the sex of the bird. The third is most common in males. The fourth is seen only in females. The first of the biting patterns has to do with objects and is unrelated to sex. Each of my birds seems to have certain physical objects they loath. It is easy to understand why they might learn to hate scissors. Scissors are used to clip their wings and all my birds know exactly which drawer in my kitchen I keep them. They not only hate the scissors, they hate the drawer they are kept in. So, if I do not want to get bitten, I must always be careful to place my birds on a perch far away from the drawer before I open it. They also equate other tools that operate in the same manner as being scissors. I can never hold a bird when I am using tools such pliers, hedge clippers, or tongs. What is odd, however, are some of objects they sometimes learn to loathe. One of my males, Fred, hates brooms. When you take out the broom and begin sweeping, he hops off his perch and attacks it. One of my females, Casey, hates mixing bowls and tries to get into the cabinet to attack them. Another one of my birds hates the sound and sight of sticky-tape being pulled off it spool. It is wise not to get between them and the object they want to attack. If you do, you are likely to get a nasty bite even though it is not directed at you per se.

The second non-sex related biting pattern is what I call "How could you go away and leave me bite." I have one female that tries to bite me every time I return from a long business trip. A friend of mine has a male that is prone to the same response. Both of these birds are loners. They do not socialize with the other birds as much, so when you, their idol and normally faithful "mate," leaves them, they respond by biting you when you get back. I am now very aware of this biting pattern and I take great care to avoid picking her up with my hand when I return. I know when I can safely handle her when she no longer pins her eyes when I approach. This has not been a problem with the pets I keep as pairs.

Males, and occasionally females, have a biting pattern directed against other animate beings usually another bird or human. The bird decides that certain people and other birds are either friends or enemies. I had one male, Pony Boy, that let me rough house with him, toss him about while he chuckled with glee. However, if my partner even went near him the bird lunged and tried to bite him. This behavior began the first day I got him, so I know my partner did nothing to provoke this antipathy. One of my other males, Fred, detests me and two other pet females, but completely tolerates my partner, another female, and a younger male. I should add that Pony Boy and Fred also hated each other. While I can handle Fred, if I allow either of the two females near him, and I happen to be in between them, I get bitten. Some females also dislike certain humans and not others. Sammy, my dominant female, seems to detest strange women with a certain voice quality. I have never known her to attack a man. In a variation of this pattern, the bird bites its favorite human as a way of keeping it from straying too close to other birds or humans. One of my males has this tendency. So you must always take care when you have your bird out around other birds and human strangers.

Biting is one of the down sides of caique ownership. It is something that will inevitably happen. Except for the sudden surprise female PMS biting, you will come to understand what stimuli elicit it. You will learn to keep the scissors and other stimuli out of sight. You will also learn the reason all bird trainers recommend training your bird to get on a stick or bird ladder. When your bird is in a biting mood the only safe way to handle it is to coax it onto a stick or pick it up with a heavy leather glove or very heavy towel. The stick is preferred. Never hit the bird! You must realize that it is acting out of instinct. You can condition the bird by putting it somewhere it does not want to be. For example, if the bird really wants to be out, put it in its cage for an hour or so. Sometimes, however, the cage is exactly where the bird wants to go. The idea is to prevent rewarding the bird for undesirable behavior. So if you notice that it is too eager to go back in its cage, put it in a safe place its does not like. For example, a dark closet or a room isolated from the rest of the house for a short while. Do not leave it alone too long--just long enough for the bird to get the idea that it will be denied your presence if it persists in biting. Of course, if it is trying to bite a guest in your home, put it in its cage. In this case, it is better to protect your guest than train your bird.