Although the Severe Macaw is considered to be a social bird, that doesn’t mean they don’t have their own personality quirks or habits we don’t wish they would unlearn. This could be something simple, but if that habit is biting, you want it to stop. But if you knew how to stop Severe Macaw biting, you would have already trained them to eliminate that habit.

Thankfully the Severe Macaw is very intelligent and can easily be trained if you’ll take the time to do it. It helps to know what is causing your Severe Macaw to bite in order to determine the best type of training to use. If you bought your bird as a younger bird and you’ve had it for some time, it could be reaching sexual maturity which could make it moody and nippy. If you bought your macaw as an older bird, it may have been abused or not treated well. They may also be scared, frustrated, or bored. Your bird may also bite because of a health issue.

You’ll want to rule out health reasons for biting, so a trip to the veterinarian may be in order. They can determine if there is a health problem and, if there is, prescribe a way to clear that issue up. This will also allow you to breathe a sigh of relief but will help you determine what the problem isn’t.

When your bird bites at you, your initial response is to yank your hand out of its mouth. Actually, your bird expects you to react this way, and you want to keep it guessing. Instead of pulling your hand out, push it into its mouth to confuse it. Your macaw won’t know what to do and will let go.

Use positive reinforcement when your macaw does something that you want it to do. If you can put your hand into the cage without being bitten, give it a special treat. At first you may have to offer the treat through the bars of the cage, but before long you’ll be able to handle your macaw and have it literally eating out of your hands rather than taking a bite out of it.

Be patient as you’re training your Severe Macaw to stop biting. Undoubtedly it didn’t learn to bite in one day, so it’ll take a while for it to unlearn it. Be consistent in your actions and reactions when you’re training it. If your macaw doesn’t trust you and that’s the reason it’s biting, you’ll want to reestablish trust with it before you can begin the training process.

Severe Macaws are intelligent and they may use biting as a means to get their own way. You’ll want to let them know that they don’t scare you, they can’t have their own way, and that you’re the boss. You don’t ever want to hit your macaw, yell at it, or treat it badly. This will only encourage their biting, so stand your ground.

Your Severe Macaw needs your attention, and this might be another reason that it’s biting.

Possibly you’re not spending enough time with it so it’s trying to do anything to get you to pay attention to it, even if it means that is negative attention. Spending time with them, training them, and including them in your life may be all your Severe Macaw needs to stop biting.