Senegal parrot male is very aggressive

[Pajarita]

If they are bonded (and it seems to me they are because, if they were not, she would bite him) and the female is sweet to you, you not only have the 'new and possibly dangerous human' problem but also the 'he is trying to steal my female from me'. All senegals are extremely jealous and possessive birds as well as fearless, and males can be VERY aggressive! I rescue birds and take in all kinds of aggressive ones from macaws to GCCs (I don't count little ones like tiels, budgies, etc as aggressive) and the most aggressive one I've ever had is a male Senegal. He was worse than an ex-breeder, wild-caught male amazon and that, my dear, is saying A LOT!.

I suggest you let him be for now, don't try to interact with him physically, don't ask him to step up or anything, just talk, sing, whistle, keep him company and offer treats. Restrict your interaction with the female to another room where he cannot see you. Keep him to a solar schedule and feed them cooked whole grains mixed with vegetables, a piece of fruit and a leafy green (it will take a long time for them to eat the greens but they eventually will) for breakfast and seeds/nuts for dinner. This way, you can let them out first only one hour and later two hours before sunset and, when the sun is halfway down to the horizon, turn off the artificial lights and put their seed/nut dinner in their cage and just wait for them to go into it to eat it. If you feed them seeds from the morning and leave them in their cage all day long, this won't work and neither will the training. Establish strict routines and schedules (it makes them feel safe and gives them a sense of control over their own lives thereby reducing stress significantly). Once you see that he is beginning to calm down (observe and learn his body language) start target training. Only two sessions of 5 or 10 minutes at the beginning and no more than three of 15 once they get used to it. Do not insist if the birds don't want to do what you want them to do. Ask twice and, if the birds don't do it, walk away and do something else and come back and ask again in another hour or so. You need to go very slowly because you need to win him over and that takes time. Do not wear gloves, just keep your hands where he cannot bite them and move them slowly. If you need to put something in a spot where he is perching, try to distract him by moving something in the opposite side and put it there real quick.

I agree with both Wolf and Liz, that breeder has no business keeping birds much less breeding them. He might say he loves them but, in reality, he doesn't. People who love birds do not abuse them or try to break their spirit the way this evil man did. His putting the birds under water is going to have consequences for the rest of these poor things lives (they will be afraid of it and will, most likely, panic when you try to bathe them so don't even try to do it).

[steviema]

OK, I will try to answer your questions asap.

This evening I will let them out again and see what will happen.

[steviema]

OK Wolf,

here is what I can tell you.

When I am trying to pry his beak off my fingers it makes him even more aggressive. If I would try the trick with the paper towell or even with my fingers he will snap for them. And "No" doesn't work either. The opposite is the case.

I don't think that he is more aggressive when I am playing with the female. He has the same level of aggressiveness when I am only talking to him. Or better said when I am trying. To interact with him is really difficult.

How the aggressiveness compares to when my brother is near me, I cannot tell you. We didn't test it. But my brother told me, that he is allowed to touch him gently. Not very long but he is allowed. After this he is also showing his beak to him. But he is not as aggressive than he is with me.

I cannot believe this and therefore my brother will show me this weekend.

These are the answers to your questions.

Today, I let them fly and found out that the female is very interested in me. She is coming to me and hanging around with me. She does clean her coat, sleeps, feels very comfortable on my arm. He cleaned his coat on the cage while she was with me. After a couple of minutes she was trying to fly to the cage. He attacked her and she came back to me.

She tried again and it worked. Thea were fighting with their beaks. Then it was calm.

Also she flew some rounds in my living room. He didn't. Just one time he landed on a 200 years old antique. Not the best place to land.

And he landed on the couch near the cage. He was nibbling the pad.

He is always nibbling! The cage, the pad, the toys. Almost everything.

And he is really HYPERACTIVE and NERVOUS.

He didn't find a way to come back to the cage today and therefore I helped him. You know what, he stepped up and was biting. Not very hard because I could get him back quickly.

During my attempt to sit him down on the cage he was still only interested in biting my fingers. But he couldn't reach them. So, he was searching for another position. Didn't work because I took my hand away.

I am really wondering why he is so interested in biting. Also I am wondering why he is aggressive aginst the female sometimes. She fights back though.

At the moment they are sitting next to each other and sleep.

These are my observations for today.

[liz]

I am beginning to wonder if he needs to see an avian vet. Just like people, when they don't feel good they get cranky.
I don't believe that any animal is mean by nature. Yes, pit bulls have it breed into them on purpose. (It is a shame that people are that mean.) If he continues to bite then you are doing something wrong (which we do not know) or he just doesn't feel well and is taking it out on you.
Why else would he step up and take your help then bite you too.

[Wolf]

Please say that you have two cages, just as an in case measure. You don't want to need it, but it is possible that you might.
Pajarita, I believe has hit the problem squarely on the head, your male and female Senegals are bonded. I thought so too, but I really wanted to be sure first. The male sees you as his rival for the attentions of the female. And with the female wanting to spend some time with you he is not only seeing you as a rival, his girl is using inappropriate behaviors towards you fueling his jealousy and so he started to attack her.
I would recommend that you read the suggestions made by Pajarita and put them all into effect as quickly as is possible. As it is the same as I would recommend given the current circumstances.

[steviema]

Just one question, does anybody know why the male parrot is screaming so often?

She doesn't do this.

About clicker training: how should I handle him? He doesn't concentrate. Only looking for everything else but not for the training. Maybe for the treat.

Anny suggestions here?

Is it possible that he is maybe ill? He is opening his beak very often. Stretching his head.

I can remember that our budgie had some problems with the crop and he was doing the same.

[Wolf]

In order to specifically answer you question about why you bird is screaming, a video would be very helpful as it would allow us to see associated actions as well as the body language of the bird. Other than that we have to put forth possible causes which may have your answer it is not very accurate way to approach this.
The bird could be screaming in an attempt to tell you to leave either himself or his girl alone, to drive you away as it were. He may be angry. He may want attention from you. He may want attention from you despite being angry with you for messing with his girl. He may just want out of his cage.
You see what I mean, the answer may be there, but which one is the right one? Nothing stands alone and you always have to look at actions and body language to understand what the bird wishes to convey to you.
Right now I would not worry about training him, you need to become his friend and you don't often make friends by telling the other one what to do. Read Pajaritas suggestions and put them into effect as soon as you can. Don't ask him to step up or anything right now, learn to read his body language and talk and sing to him a lot right now, you need him to start trusting you and this is more difficult as he sees you as a rival for his girl. Go slow and at his pace.
Get a gram scale, a good kitchen scale will work so that you can weigh your birds as often weight loss or gain is your first indication of something being wrong. Your bird hides it when he doesn't feel well and they are very good at it. If you are concerned that there is something wrong take him to an avian vet as soon as possible so that you can find out.

[steviema]

I will try to make a video showing his behavior while he is screaming.

He is also doing it without me being in the room.

Today I came home relatively late. I gave them both two grapes. They love them.

While he was eating I was able to touch him gently on his head. He wasn't distracted much. It was some kind of an experiment.

Maybe he is needing something where he can nibble the whole day to reduce his power and to calm down his activity.

Attached you can find a picture where you can see how he is sitting most of the time. He is also sitting like this before I am entering the room. So, his body language isn't affected by me in this matter.

He is the bird on the right.

Good night!

[liz]

Ha Ha Good luck getting him to stand still on a scale.

[Wolf]

I don't like the thought of it but based on the body language in the picture I would try to put them in separate cages right next to each other but not touching. I can't promise that it will help much but it might ease both of their stress some.