senegal parrot

[Pepper's Pa]

Originally Posted by Spaceman

I can see those bigger birds could do some damage , but the little parrots liek sennies and caiques i just cant see them being this vicious little parrots that some people say they are.

I hope you never experience an aggressive bite from a Sennie. When a Sennie wants to love you, they are great nuzzlers and cuddlers. When a Sennie is mad at you, they don’t want to simply bite, they want to destroy. As was previously posted, they bite and grind.
I’m not afraid of a bite, but I have respect for the damage a bite can do. I am sure that by reading body language I have been saved from many potential bites. Every bad bite I have received has been over food. If I have something to eat and don’t offer Pepper a treat, I may receive a bite if I interact with Pepper. This bite can be delayed by nearly 10 minutes after I have finished eating.
I’ve had a fingernail split apart vertically from top to bottom. (This was accidental and not from an aggressive bite).
I’ve had fingers gripped and crushed for over thirty seconds, so that they swelled to nearly twice their original circumference and even with consistent application of ice and taking ibuprofen to reduce swelling, the swelling remained for over a week.
I’ve received deep gashes from the lower beak that have taken several weeks to fully heal.

I’ve heard this saying many times about dogs, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.” Applying this to parrots, “It’s not the size of the parrot that bites, but it’s the size of the fight in the parrot that bites.” Sennies have a lot of fight . . . but I still love them.