Pushing a point or lingering for a result we can't seem to get from our parrot will most certainly result in a bite. That is one of the reasons for all the bluffing, biting, nipping, and lunging you may be dealing with right now. Overstaying your welcome. It's a thing with parrots.

Another reason for BBNL (bluffing, biting, nipping and lunging) is pushing too hard and fast for a result you want inside a given situation. This usually happens during transitions. Parrot's do not transition quickly; they think and judge first. The better you know your parrots body language, the more you notice the nuance of all that thinking. Slow down, take in their reactions. Reactions are communication from them to you. Biting is their way of slowing you down. It's your way of realizing you have not created a recognizable routine for a transition. Your bird is saying "WHAT? WAIT!!"

Bluffing is communication. When a warning shot is fired, they are communicating. When we get bit, we didn't respect the warning shot or the body language before that bite. Which proves we haven't taken in their last examples of same. They've been trying to talk to us for a while now and have reached the end of their confidence.

It's on us, all of it. This is where parrots are difficult. Biting in its beginning stages is a bit of nonsense that can be cleared up with proper communication, routines, transitions, and modified expectations. And depending on the parrot and their history, this can be painstaking work. Biting can escalate to a very frustrated parrot that has, through failure of communication, taken to relying on the quickest route to getting rid of bad communication or the prospect of bad communication.

Parrots' most defining and inviting traits are the very traits we can, at times, not respect enough. And therein lies the fine art of companion parrot living. We aren't the only flock member in the room with expectations.