New Senegal parrot - help and tips?

[Aleath]

I tried the beak scratch,but she doesn't like it from me yet. I guess she doesn't trust me that much yet so I won't push her. Sometimes she tries to bite me and other times she thinks I want to give her a treat.

I'll try to catch the weird behaviour, but it's so sudden and quick, so I'm not sure if I'll succeed.

Thank you all for loads of tips and advice. I really appreciate it since I've never cared for a parrot before. We had fish, hamsters, a turtle, a guinea pig, a snake and a dog so a parrot is a first.

By the way, Lily (she's officially named now, hurray!) is a sneaky little thing. Whenever she sees our dog, she flies from her perch (she's clipped, but she can still fly a little, but only form higher place to something lower), down to the floor and she follows the dog everywhere (with our supervision of course). Our dog is sadly blind, so he doesn't see the parrot. The dog is a poodle, so naturally, Lily likes to pull the dog's hair. Poor doggy!

I know that many people are against clipping birds but since I'm a wheelchair user, it would be difficult to chase the bird around for me, so she will have to stay clipped whilst in my care. Lily doesn't seem to mind, so that's good.

[Wolf]

I really wish that you would reconsider the clipping for a number of reasons. Before I go any further with this let me say that ultimately it is your choice and I mean no disrespect.
Now I could say that clipping is not good for your bird, Lily ( pretty name) as it has negative effects on her both psychologically and physically, and go into more detail from there, But, I think that you are probably already aware of anything that I could put forth on that.
In my mind, there is more to look at in your case. In just this post you tell me about Lily going to the floor, to harass your dog, but on the floor and this presents some problems as I see it. first is that she will have a much more difficult time in avoiding your wheels or from escaping from your dog should he decide to snap at her. I also have a Senegal female, Kiki, and she loves to fly down to the floor, she goes their to pick up nuts that she has dropped, she loves to harass our old and nearly blind shitz zhu and loves pulling his hair as well. She also runs my two 100 lb. mixed breed dogs out of their food dishes so that she can grab a piece of their food to eat with them.
I would think that getting to her on the floor quickly is nearly as much of a challenge for you as is getting to her in high places, and it is for this reason that I think that you should reconsider the clipping. If she were target trained and taught to recall, you would be able to direct her to fly to you from either high or low places, while letting her keep her primary means of locomotion and escape from danger.
This is my entire case and I could be out of line and/or wrong about this, if either is the case, please feel free to set me straight.

[Elaihr]

You are a predator, a dog is a predator, and a cat is a predator. Both a cat and a dog are domesticated. You think in a manner very similar to a dog or cat and this is because you, like them, are a predator.
A Parrot is not a predator, they are prey. They are not domesticated, although your bird was bred and raised in captivity, it is still a wild creature. In its natural environment, in its flock, it is equal to any other of its flock mates and it does not follow anyone's orders, it chooses for itself what it is going to do as well as when.

Thank you Wolf for mentioning this! As some of you may remember I had an argument about this with my boyfriend shortly after my parrot Penny moved in, and I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank you guys for your input. What you just wrote, Wolf, is pretty much what I tried to tell my boyfriend, and after I told him that you guys agreed, he's really changed his approach a lot, which in turn also has affected Penny's behavior. I don't think she was that bad to begin with, but the few annoying things she did rarely happen at all now, which feels great See what some help from a forum on the internet can do!

Also, as an extra thought on this, I think parrots are very sensitive to people's moods and behavior. While my boyfriend first thought of her as you'd think of a dog, they just wouldn't get along. He was way too fast in his movements, seeing her "disobedience" as an invite to a power struggle, and way too impatience. But after he tried to change his behavior and saw her for what she is (a parrot, not a dog), their relationship has truly flourished. She still favors me, but she's an amazing creature! Despite his previous behavior (which was at some points pretty bad, he never hurt her or even laid a finger on her but he was so verbal that if I was her, I'd still think he was scary) she's forgiven him, and she's actually invited him to be a part of her flock as well, going to him for scritches and treats, and to take rests on his shoulder. I'm telling you this because I want to show just how important it is that you take Wolf's words to you, your attitude towards your parrot really means a lot!

[Pajarita]

Very glad to hear that Penny and boyfriend are getting along much better. And yes, it's his attitude change that did it - and yes, again, they are incredibly forgiving animals, bless their hearts!

[Wolf]

Indeed ! It was in the things that you did that made the difference to Penny and yes she is a bright and wonderful creature and I would never dismiss her forgiveness lightly as it most definitely comes from her heart.