My cockatoo turned on me

[Kate Winchester]

I need some advice I have a fifteen year old cockatoo (Murphy) he has a very large cage which has lots of toys etc in it and on it. I never close him in I have a large lounge with very high ceilings and like him being able to fly around. He sits anywhere he wants always has sat with me and I never have had any problems with him till now. He has turned on me he flies to me lands on my shoulder or arm and has started biting me, he has never bite me before ever nothing in are home has changed I make sure he has good food and lots of treats. I just don't know what is wrong, someone advised getting his wings clipped but I really like him being able to exercise, Any help I would be grateful he has bitten me five times now and it really hurts and is quite scary. Thanks Kate

[Wolf]

Have you had Murphy his entire life? If not how long have you had him? What is his diet? Is he on a solar light schedule or not? Are you the person he is bonded to the most closely?
Clipping his wings, in my opinion is more likely to increase aggression rather than to decrease it.
There is not much to go on but there is a reason we just have to find out what it is, and that means questions, so I am sorry about that because there is no intent to pry.

[Pajarita]

Clipping doesn't solve the problem, only the symptom. It's like saying that if you have constant bad headaches, all you need to do is take pain killers. It would take care of the worst of the headaches but it won't make what's causing them disappear.

Wolf asked the right questions and I have a couple more: do his attacks always happen at a certain time (morning, evening, night, right before dinner, etc)? Is there anything else going on when these attacks happen (TV, children, you ignoring him, etc)? Male or female? Does he/she have a box big enough to get inside?

[CSLFiero]

Cockatoos are well known for extreme mate aggression. Don't know if that's what you're experiencing or not, but tis the season if you know what i mean.

[GMV]

wish i could help, but i'm still trying to figure my cockatoo out.