Punishment isn't effective in correcting bad habits in birds. Most bird pet owners find out that getting or removing away undesirable things from their pets could be a firm way to control their bad behaviors. Punishing them by physical force is not good for them because it may lead to more aggressive behavior.
The best thing you can do if your bird bites is to gently put the bird down—just like giving a time-out to a child having a tantrum—and walk away. Try not to acknowledge the behavior.
Yelling, hitting the bird or the cage, leaving the bird isolated, spraying it with water, or withholding food will only increase the stress on the bird and either make the squawking/screeching worse, or the bird will turn to another unacceptable behaviour such as feather picking.
Being punished
It's very simple: you can't punish a cockatiel for bad behavior, whether it's biting, screaming or anything else you may not appreciate. Yelling, prodding, shaking the cage, slapping, taking away food and similar actions simply do not work. The reason is that parrots don't understand punishment.
Positive reinforcement is the best way to discipline a bird and you can do it by rewarding your bird's positive actions with his favorite snack or treats. You may also shower him with praise and attention when he's behaving well so he'll realize how he should act.
Don't ever grab your bird or force him to step up onto your arm. You can ruin a good relationship by making a bird do something he doesn't want to do. In fact, you can actually teach a bird to bite by not paying attention to his body language when he is trying to tell you no.
Birds are meant to fly and be with others of their own kind in a natural environment. Confinement causes birds to have temper tantrums and mood swings. The New York Times has reported that many birds “go off the deep end when they are …
An angry bird may stretch up tall or crouch into an attack position, or it may sharply flick its tail or spread its wings to make itself appear larger and more threatening. Sound: Many birds have alarm calls and other sounds such as bill clacks or hisses that can indicate agitation and anger.
While some owners will fall for their parrot's screaming trap, it's recommended that you actually ignore them. Playing or even talking to your parrot when they screaming will only reward them for their bad behavior, which is exactly what you don't want to do.
The most common causes of aggression in birds are fear or previous traumatic experiences. These can lead to handling problems, bites, and attacks when birds are interacting with their owners and others.
Biting is not an arbitrary behavior. Parrots make a choice to bite - or not. Your parrot is trying to express something and is using his biting as a means of communication and control. Sometimes hormones kick in seasonally to contribute to a bit of "edginess" in birds.
Many birds may bite when they are feeling playful and are over-stimulated. Amazons and Cockatoos are especially prone to "overload" behavior. Know your bird's body language and avoid trying to handle a bird that is obviously excited.
Birds will truly bite now and then, but only if they are frightened, startled, or if they feel cornered and vulnerable. Chances are that your bird is not trying to be aggressive, as biting is not a dominance behavior in birds.
According to psychologist and ecologist Gay Bradshaw, PhD—who established the field of trans-species psychology—captive birds experience Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from prolonged, repeated suffering.
Ignore Bad Behavior: The most important thing to do if your bird is screaming, biting, or otherwise acting out is to remain calm. If you get frazzled, or yell, your bird will actually love the attention, and try to continue his behavior. Instead, you should try to ignore a misbehaving bird completely.
Birds will vocalize if they are frightened, bored, lonely, stressed, or unwell. Pet birds often vocalize when people are talking loudly, vacuuming, chatting on the phone, or playing music. They may see these times as appropriate for vocalizing back as part of normal flock behavior.
Boredom, illness, injury, lack of exercise, or simply as an expression of joy are all reasons for vocalizations in parrots. If birds are left alone too often or for too long, they can start to scream because they have nothing else to do, and because it usually gets a human in the room to pay attention to them.
This yelling back only reinforces the screaming—when you scream at your bird to be quiet or stop, they think you are both yelling and they are getting attention so they do it more. In order to stop the screaming attention-seeking behavior, you need to give your bird something to do other than scream.
Don't pet your bird anywhere below their neck, and only pet them gently on their head. Even if a bird's sexual organs aren't located in the areas of their back and beneath their wings, most birds still prefer being pet on the head and neck.
While many young birds do learn to enjoy cuddling, this can actually be detrimental to their health as they mature, especially for a female bird. When parrots are young, they may live in flocks and have companions within the flock.
Parrots bond strongly to their primary person's face. If they are bonded to us and we allow them to sit on our shoulder, I believe their perception is one of sitting together with us on one moving branch. Our body becomes their territory.