Do you prefer a biter, plucker, or screamer?

[Michael]

We all know that inevitably parrots have many flaws and difficulties. When choosing an individual or species, we have to personally weigh the potential issues compared to others. So I wonder which problem you feel most comfortable dealing with, biting, plucking, or screaming?

If you were adopting a bird or getting one that is more prone toward one of these, which do you feel most comfortable dealing with? Or which are you least put off by? Obviously we're hoping to avoid all the problems but which of the 3 are you most tolerant of and why?

[pennyandrocky]

wow great question. i would have to go by which is easier to correct in my experiances,my answer would have been the exact opposite before mya .i would take plucker over biter or screamer.

[marie83]

I would prefer the biting because you can usually avoid them by learning the birds body language and taming/training exercises. However I don't really have much experience with larger parrots so I *may* feel differently if it was a big macaw lunging at me.

The screaming issue would probably come second, this is because my current situation doesn't really allow for an excessive amount of noise, I'm in a flat. If I was in a situation where neighbours were not an issue then again i may feel differently about it as I think excessive amounts of screaming can be dealt with although in some cases it may be difficult to establish the cause.

I would rather never to have a plucking bird but I wouldn't dismiss the idea of owning a known plucker either and I would do everything in my power to cure the bird in event of a medical reason, improve the diet in nutritional caused plucking or work hard to make the bird happier/minimise any distress in psychological cases . I just feel like this is the hardest issue to deal with because it can have a million different causes so it is very hard to establish the reason and prevent/improve it.
Take Ollies case of him plucking under his wings, this has happened since we have had him and we are 95% sure it is a medical issue but all tests have come back negative so far (still an ongoing situation). I'm at a loss as to how else I can improve his environment and diet for now. If he loses all his feathers then I will still love him the same but I feel a great need to find out the cause so I know I have done everything I can to help him.

[terri]

I would take a biter and screamer to take on

[parrotsareyay]

I visited a house with three aratinga conures, the sounds never really bothered me

[Shelby]

I said a biter, because even though all three of those problems are pretty bad, there are many ways to minimize biting. You can learn to read the body language of the bird, learn what causes a bite and the reasons your particular bird bites, train to build a bond and develop ways for hands-off interaction, and flight train to wear off excess, pent-up energy which could be a cause of biting. As a student studying to become a professional musician, biting is a bit off-putting because a really terrible bite would make practice difficult, but I would have an easier time dealing with it because I could learn to see it coming.

Anything can cause plucking, really, and I would go crazy trying to find a solution. And screaming (depending on the species) can sometimes be really difficult to eliminate and my neighbors would not be very understanding at all.

[Scotty]

WOW great questions, I guess cause I have a GCC I can handle the biting. If it was a BIG parrot, hmm, not so sure I'd be into the biting, in fact, this is the reason I have a GCC, I'm really nervous about anything bigger and getting chomped good...

Mike, your great video tutorials and the help of some forum members has got me already in positive training so BeBe doesn't really bite anymore...

BeBe does get a little screechy at times, but thank goodness for EAR PLUGS! LOL...

[liz]

Screaming is good for their lungs. In the wild they would be very noisy. Sometimes when it is a quiet day (rare) I will instagate a screaming match. They love it. I think it reduces other screaming times.

[Polarn]

As for behavior I want to rid and feel most ensured I will successfully do, I'd go with a biter I don't budge for much and most animals I've ever sealed with biting. Birds dogs or even one of the horses here seems to give up when you won't move away or make any noises, the blood seems to trigger none. However biting isn't something I'm fond of and want to rid. A plucker could be easy to rid if a change of environment. Medical treatment or food is a factor. But it might be hard too. I would be hesitant, not saying I wouldnt go there but I'd be more put off by it than a biter.

A screamer... Parrots are ment to scream. Even thought screaming for some reasons isnt ok. But screaming at the sun rising totally is. Screaming couse you can totally is. Screaming for attention. Yes and no. I won't tend to them when calling for attention, but we've mutually trained each other that 4 loud screams followed by silence means attention is given. But hey there are great headphones to use when watching tv or whatever if your put off by a screaming bird

[cml]

Seems I am the only one who's chosen any so far.

I would rather not have to deal with any of these, but if any of the three became a problem, I would deal with it (and have with Stitch's biting, which has decreased a LOT). I care for and love my birds no matter what, despite any hardships that we've been through or may see in the future.

When choosing a new species, I would probably take biting over screaming, because while both can be worked with, we live in an appartment. Funnily enough I own an amazon species known for screaming, but we've trained most of that away, chaning the contact call of whitefronts into a wolf whiste ^^!