GW bites his leg & screams

[dookiesmom]

Hi, just wondering if this is a nervous or excited behavior. Our GW who we rehomed (8 yrs old), and we are slowly working on him not biting/lunging & stepping off his cage, seems to be when he gets excited he slaps his get back & forth in his beak biting at it, then lets out a shrill scream. I try to ignore it, I don't think he is doing it for attention, but I'm not sure if it is sometype of neurotic behavior? My husband laughs & says he's mental when he does that, when he's in this mode we pretty much don't go near him. If he gets screaming & too over excited biting at himself, I will talk to him in a quiet low voice, to try & get him to settle down. Any ideas of this behavior? It's usually right when I let him out of his cage when I come home from work. He doesn't usually do that when he comes out in the morning, & I don't think I've noticed him doing that in his cage?

[mmr]

Sounds like he is just really wound up at that time. Calming him down (which you are doing) is good. Try not to hold him when he is that excited, that is usually when people get bit. They get into playing and etc, they are so excited they just start biting! Weird I know.

[dookiesmom]

Thanks, that's what we figured he's just overly excited. He looks like a mad man when he gets like that. Definitely need to invest in some ear plugs for those times! we definitely don't try to hold him, touch him, feed him or have him step up at that time.

[KimM]

Those GW's do have a blood curdling scream, don't they? Sounds like you're doing the right thing. I think they get so excited when the "flock" gets home, they just react the only way they know how. Mine get excited too when I get home. I have to make a point to talk to them when I come in for a couple of minutes. I fix our dinners and we all eat, then they know it's playtime out of their houses. It's our routine and it seems to work.

[Barb E]

My B&G does that biting the foot behavior. He usually does this when he's very excited and feels threatened by someone being too close to him or me.
One time he became so distraught that he bit his foot and cut it open. I had to bring him to the vet to be glued together.
He doesn't scream when he does this but barks very loudly like a dog.
He is definitely agitated at these times and I act quickly to calm him - remove him from the area/person that's upsetting him.

I believe this is a behavior showing the bird is stressed so you want to act to reduce the stressor.

I believe it IS a Neurotic behavior as I haven't seen any other macaw doing this. Your bird is the first one I've heard of that does this besides mine.
Does your bird also feed his/her foot?