Good Bird Magazine Vol3 Issue1

Good Bird
magazine!
Volume 3-1 Spring 2007
www.goodbirdinc.com
Empower the Human/Ani mal Bond wi th Posi ti ve Rei nforcement
The ABCs of Behavior
Bite Me!
If Horses Had Wings
Ex cues Me? You Want
me to do What?
Training your Parrot
to Talk on Cue
Flighted Parrots
in the Home
Scientific Studies and
Feather Picking
Foraging: An Integral
Component of
Enrichment
Bite Me!
If Horses Had Wings
Ex cues Me? You Want
me to do What?
Training your Parrot
to Talk on Cue
Flighted Parrots
in the Home
Scientific Studies and
Feather Picking
Foraging: An Integral
Component of
Enrichment
www.goodbirdinc.com Good Bird Magazine 3
Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich
4 Good Bird Magazine www.goodbirdinc.com
Photo credit: Roelant Jonker/ Grace Innemee www.CityParrots.org
FROM THE EDITORS PERCH
Food for Thought
By Barbara Heidenreich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT FOR GOOD BIRD . . . . . . .10
FEATURE ARTICLES
By Susan G. Friedman, PhD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
ENRICHMENT (PART TWO)
Foraging Opportunity: An Integral Component of
Environmental Enrichment
By Jim McKendry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Bite Me!
By Gay Noeth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
If Horses Had Wings
By Cheryl Ward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79
Ex cues Me? You Want me to do What?
By Barbara Heidenreich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
REGULAR FEATURES
PROFILE OF AN ANIMAL LOVERHELEN DISHAW . . . .54
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
HOW DID THEY TRAIN THAT? EXPERTS SHARE THEIR
TRAINING STRATEGIES
Training your Parrot to Talk on Cue
WHAT IS YOUR BIRD SAYING?
LEARN TO READ BIRD BODY LANGUAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
LEARNING TO FLY
Flighted Parrots in the Home
SCIENCE FOR THE BIRD BRAIN
(A Synopsis of Scientific Papers)
The Avian Brain and Intelligence (Part Two)
By Diane Starnes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
PICKIN PARROTS
Scientific Studies and Feather Picking
By Natasha Laity Snyder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41
YOUR GOOD BIRD! READER SUCCESS STORIES
Eclectus Parrots and Diet
By Andrea Frederick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56
Severely in Need of Patience
By Kimberly Sturman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
Getting Closer to Nature
By Maria Isabel Sampaio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF PARROTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27
CONFERENCE, EVENT REVIEWS AND PRESS
RELEASES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
UPCOMING EVENTS AND SEMINARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65
QUOTH THE RAVENER, WE MEAN PARROT! . . . . . . . .22
Table of Contents
Good Bird
magazine!
Empowering the human-animal bond with positive reinforcement
Volume 3-1
Spring 2007
Publisher:
Good Bird Inc.
Editorial Director:
Barbara Heidenreich
Contributors:
Georgi Abbot
Helen Dishaw
Andrea Frederick
Susan Friedman, PhD
Barbara Heidenreich
Natasha Laity Snyder
Jim McKendry
Gay Noeth
Maria Isabel Sampaio
Diane Starnes
Kimberly Sturman
Cheryl Ward
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Helen Dishaw
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Barbara Heidenreich
Grace Innemee
Roelant Jonker
Jim McKendry
Karen Povey
Sam Sharnik
Cheryl Ward
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Front Cover: African grey parrot photographed by Helen
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
T
he topic of using food as a
reinforcer for training seems
to be a hot topic these days.
Back in the very first issue of Good
Bird Magazine I addressed this in
the article titled Food, Glorious
Food. Using Food to Train.
However our subscribership has
grown since then and I imagine not
everyone has this issue in their col-
lection. In addition we have been
sold out of this issue for some time.
Insert obnoxious beeping noise here
becauseit is time for a special bul-
letin. Back issues of Good Bird
Magazine are now available for download! That is right.
All issues of Good Bird Magazine can now be down-
loaded from www.GoodBirdInc.com. (While you are
there check out our spiffy new website.) We will contin-
ue to print and mail hard copies of future issues, as well
as have them available for download.
Back to the topic of food as a reinforcer, it came to my
attention recently due to some comments sent to the
Good Bird Inc YouTube site
(www.youtube.com/GoodBirdInc). On this site I have
posted a few videos of training in action. While most
comments have been quite complimentary a few
expressed concern that the animals presented behav-
iors for food reinforcers as opposed to attention or
love. I thought I would take this opportunity to
address this concern. Without a doubt attention/love
can be a great positive reinforcerIF your bird finds
attention a pleasurable experience. For some individu-
als this is not the case. An excellent example is shared
in this issue by Cheryl Ward in her article about
DaVinci, a much traumatized horse. This horse had
plenty of history prior to coming to his new home that
taught him to distrust humans. Cheryl could not even
touch him at first. Food reinforcers were the most effi-
cient positive way to build a bridge with this animal.
Read DaVincis story on page 79.
Toby, a Meyers parrot who stars in a YouTube video
and also the Good Bird DVD Parrot Behavior and
Training: An introduction to Positive Reinforcement
Training Part 1, showed such high levels of aggressive
behavior prior to training that handling was not an
option. Attention such as head scratches and praise
resulted in biting behavior. Food
however allowed Tobys caregiv-
er, Joseph the chance to rebuild
that relationship.
By no means would I consider
these two examples failures
because food was involved. To
the contrary they surpassed what
most have accomplished with
their animals! Now that these two
animals (and caregivers) have
learned how positive reinforce-
ment works there is the opportu-
nity to expand the list of positive
reinforcers to include attention,
tactile, toys, etc. Whether you use food, attention, a
head scratch or verbal praise to reinforce your bird,
remember what matters most is what your bird thinks
of what you have to offer. For more a more detailed dis-
cussion of using food to reinforce behavior download
Good Bird Magazine Volume 1 Issue 1.
More new stuff! In addition to a new website and
downloadable back issues of Good Bird Magazine, I
have another exciting new product to announce. Part 2
of my DVD series is here! DVD 2 is titled Training your
Parrot for the Veterinary Exam. I think this one is even
better than the first. Besides step by step instructions
on how to train behaviors such as getting on a scale,
kenneling, towel restraint, nail trims and more, it also
includes an interview and visit with celebrated avian
veterinarian Dr. Scott Echols. You can order your copy
by visiting www.GoodBirdInc.com. Wholesale orders
also being accepted. Contact info@goodbirdinc.com for
details.
Keep your eye on the Good Bird Inc website and also
sign up for our email newsletter at www.good-
birdinc.com/calendar.html. You will be the first to
know when new products are announced.
Barbara Heidenreich
From the Editors Perch
Positive Reinforcement for Good Bird
Hi Barb,
I LOVE your article in the last Good Bird Magazine
about oral medications. YOU nailed it. GREAT JOB
Barb really. This information is so important, as YOU
well know. I learned so much from the medical proce-
dure class I took from you on Raising Canine and I
loved that you said someday we hope that this will be
the norm. My heart sang. I learned so much from
watching you in Cleveland at the PEAC conference I
want to try to learn more, more, more.
You are truly one of my favorite people. I also saw
my picture in magazine, thanks.....what a treat. I'm
famous.
Deb Stambul
Hello Barbara,
I attended this weekends Parrot Behavior and
Training Workshops hosted by ACHAP and thorough-
ly enjoyed them. My 26 year old Goffin cockatoo is
already responding to my newly discovered training
techniques! Thank you so much!
Judy Sawin
Barbara
I wanted to get back to you and let you know how
much I enjoyed your workshop on Saturday. I am the
student who came with the lovely Quaker parrot,
Jessie. The information you shared was very helpful.
Your delivery was great! The way you reconciled your
concepts with those of other professionals in the field
was very easy to understand and rational.
Jen Hessel
Barbara,
I just wanted to say a big Thank You for the great
afternoon yesterday! I am impressed how long you
were able to engage Diji my umbrella cockatoo and
how far you progressed with Beebee my red sided
eclectus towards the step up behavior! I learned a lot
from observing you and I hope I can keep it up. I
revised Beebee's shaping plan and now that I've seen
how Diji's reward can be simply attention and food
rewards are not necessarily required for him, I think I'll
be able to guide him to more pleasant activities besides
whining.
I never thought we'll get to work with more than two
birds and your advice regarding the flight/ recall train-
ing with some of my birds is very helpful. So now I'm
thinking of dozens of other training questions I'd like
to go over.
I'm also glad I got your DVD to review your posi-
tioning for the step up training. The part where you
teach the macaw to step up is perfect to apply to further
Beebee's training.
Virama Schmitten
Hello,
The new website is fabulous! I just preordered my
Training your Parrot for the Veterinary Exam DVD and
navigated around on the site a little. It was good to see
you in Houston a few weeks ago. I am inspired to work
on training more and hope to eventually contribute a
success story or two.
Love what you're doing for the pet bird community!
Jennifer White
continued on page 29
Originally Presented at the Grey Poopon Challenge
Conference, Dec. 2000
BACKGROUND
I
once had a psychology professor who started every
class shaking his head chanting, Behavior is noth-
ing if not complex. Truer words were never spo-
ken, and when it comes to the complex behavior of our
companion parrots, we definitely have our hands full.
With the potential for feather plucking, picking, shred-
ding, and clippingincessant screaming, screeching,
calling and shriekingnot to mention biting, nipping,
gnawing and clawing - Im never quite sure who to
turn to for help, Dr. Skinner or Dr. Seuss!
Reducing problem behaviors seems especially com-
plicated. I have this image in mind of the desk toy with
silver balls hanging from strings attached to a wooden
frame. The moment you pull back one of the balls and
release it, the others are set in motion and continue
clicking against one another for a long time before they
finally come to rest. Like this toy, behavior sets in
motion a cascade of perpetual interactions so that ana-
lyzing any one behavior in isolation is essentially
meaningless. Behavior is part of an endless reciprocal
interaction among an individuals genetics, behavioral
history and the environmental context in which the
behavior is performed.
In the face of such complexity, no wonder we all have
moments where we feel overwhelmed and empty-
handed when working with our parrots. To improve
our ability to understand and influence our parrots
behavior, we need a systematic approach which pro-
vides an organized framework and simplifies the seem-
ing complexity that threatens to obscure our view.
AS SIMPLE AS ABC
One such approach to understanding specific behav-
iors is known as ABC analysis. The letters stand for the
three elements of a simplified behavioral equation
which includes the antecedents, behavior, and conse-
quences. With this strategy, we seek to identify through
careful observation the events and conditions that
occur before the target behavior - antecedents, as well as
identifying the results that follow the behavior -conse-
quences. This simple analysis, when paired with keen
observation skills and creative problem-solving, will
help us clarify the way in which the basic components
of behavior are interrelated. It is this clarity that leads
us to important insights and teaching strategies.
HOW TO
There are six steps to analyzing the ABCs: (1) describe
the target behavior in clear, observable terms; (2)
describe the antecedent events that occur and conditions
that exist immediately before the behavior happens; (3)
describe the consequences that immediately follow the
behavior; (4) examine the antecedents, the behavior and
the consequence in sequence; (5) devise new antecedents
and/or consequences to teach new behaviors or change
existing ones; (6) evaluate the outcome.
By S.G. Friedman, Ph.D
What to do if a parrot bites when asked to step up onto the hand from
inside the cage?
Lets look at one example: Veda, my otherwise
charming Alexandrine Parakeet, Psittacula eupatria,
bites fast and forcefully when I ask her to step onto my
hand from inside her cage. Seeing the problem in isola-
tion and decked-out in its full complexity, we might
hypothesize that she is aggressive, territorial, hormon-
al, defensive, or dominating. Alternatively, she could
be recalcitrant, stubborn, uncooperative or simply a
stinker who is also spoiled rotten! Any one, or all, of
these hypotheses might be accurate, but in terms of
problem-solving, they serve only to label the behavior,
not resolve it. And, since they do not describe observ-
able behaviors per se, one can never really be sure
about the accuracy of the label.
THE ABC ANALYSIS
What follows is my analysis of Vedas biting behav-
ior using the ABC approach:
First, the background and setting: When asked to
step onto my hand from inside her cage, Veda often,
but not always, bites me! She does not bite under any
other circumstance or in any other situation. She does
it any time of day and with all her family members.
However, once out of her cage, Veda steps up and
down without hesitation, from all locations, including
the top of her cage. For three or four hours each day,
Veda plays happily on her tree perch in the family
room, enjoys cuddles, and generally relaxes by preen-
ing, playing with toys and nibbling. She is by all other
measures an outstanding companion bird.
Step 1: Describe the behavior in observable terms.
Veda widens her eyes, tightens her grip on her perch,
pulls her body back and waits in this position for a sec-
ond or two. If I dont move my hand she bites it hard.
Step 2: Describe the antecedents.
Any time I walk up to Vedas cage, I greet her to let
her know Im there. I open her cage door, slowly put
my hand in front of her and say, Step up, Veda.
Step 3: Describe the consequences.
I remove my bitten hand (hurt and annoyed), and
Veda stays in her cage. Case, or should I say door,
closed.
Step 4: Examine the antecedents, the behavior, and
the consequences in sequence.
Any time I walk up to Vedas cage, I greet her to let
her know Im there; I open her cage door, slowly put
my hand in front of her and say, Step up, Veda. Veda
Seeing the problem in isolation, we might hypothesize that she is aggres-
sive, territorial, hormonal, defensive, or dominating. But do these labels
help resolve the problem?
THE ABC ANALYSIS
Step 1: Describe the behavior in observable
terms.
Step 2: Describe the antecedents.
Step 3: Describe the consequences.
Step 4: Examine the antecedents, the behavior,
and the consequences in sequence.
Step 5: Devise new antecedents and/or
consequences.
Step 6: Evaluate the outcome
widens her eyes, tightens her grip on her perch, pulls
her body back and waits in this position for a second or
two. If I dont move my hand, she bites it hard. I
remove my bitten hand (hurt and annoyed), and Veda
stays in her cage.
Lets stop here for a minute to examine the insights
that resulted from this analysis, as it helped me clarify
several important things. First, far from being a biter or
having a biting problem in any chronic or generalized
sense, I learned that Veda displays a very specific set of
responses, in a specific location with a different
antecedent than I had originally assumed. Before ana-
lyzing the ABCs of Vedas biting behavior, I had not
realized that she tenses her body, pulls away from her
perch and widens her eyes in a valiant attempt to warn
me to withdraw. How remarkable!
In this light, it becomes so clear that the critical
antecedent to her biting is not my putting my hand in
her cage; its ignoring her non-aggressive communica-
tion, requesting me to remove it. Only when I ignore
her communication and persist does she resort to bit-
ing. So, who set the silver balls in motion this time,
Veda or me?
It is also evident that by withdrawing my hand and
leaving her in her cage, I was in fact, reinforcing the bit-
ing. With each of these interactions, I was unwittingly,
but explicitly, teaching Veda that biting is an effective
and necessary way to get my hand out of her cage;
apparently so, since warning me non-aggressively did
not work. Im sure she would say it was nothing per-
sonal but that I was quite dense! Cant you just hear
her explaining this to our baby cockatoo? Listen up,
baby. No matter how kind and gentle you want to be,
these humans respond to one thing and one thing only,
aggression. Why, its a jungle in here!
Step 5: Devise new antecedents and/or conse-
quences.
After careful consideration of my options, in this case
I chose to change the antecedents to decrease Vedas
biting. First, I no longer say, Step up! when I want her
to come out of her cage. Instead I ask her, Wanna step
up? If she displays the warning behaviors, I take that
as an unqualified No, but thanks for asking! and I
calmly remove my hand from her cage. I then leave her
cage door open, allowing her to exit how and when she
chooses. As an additional strategy, I trained her to step
onto a perching stick for those rare times when staying
in her cage is not an option. We practice stepping onto
the stick a few times a week, for which she earns an
avalanche of praise and kisses.
Only when I ignore her communication and persist does she resort to biting.
A caregiver can change the antecedents to decrease biting behavior, such
as retraining the behavior from a different perch.
Step 6: Evaluate the outcome.
Changing the antecedents to decrease Vedas biting
has been a huge success. Of course it is not surprising
that she no longer bites me. By heeding her warnings, I
dont give her the opportunity, or the reason, to do so.
I continue to present my hand to her and ask if she
wants to step up. If she tenses her stance, pulls away
and/or widens her eyes I remove my hand and go on
to other things (you know, like cleaning cages and
changing water bowls).
What has been very unexpected is that after a few
months of letting her decide how to come out of her
cage, she now rarely declines my offer to take her out
on my hand, choosing instead to step up nicely and
hitch a ride! Who knows maybe the freedom of
choice was important to her or she benefited from more
control over her own destiny; perhaps her trust level
increased when I lowered my apparent dominance.
These are all very interesting possibilities.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
In my opinion, we generally focus too much on conse-
quences to influence behavior. This is especially true of
negative behaviors that we want to decrease or eliminate.
In this way, we limit ourselves to rewarding or punishing
more or less. One of the exciting benefits of this simple
analysis strategy is that it fosters careful consideration of
the antecedents, that is, the things we do to promote
or provoke behavior. Antecedents should be brilliant-
ly arranged to ensure that the appropriate behavior is
facilitated. Doing so makes selecting consequences easy
when the behaviors are all acceptable, the consequences
are all positive! I truly believe (and my experience work-
ing children bears this out) behind every negative behav-
ior is a poorly arranged antecedent.
Some of you may have other insights to add to my
analysis or other solutions to suggest. There is certainly
more than one way to productively analyze a behavior
sequence and more than one useful solution to be
devised. The right analysis and solution is the one that
produces the desired outcome, fits the style in which you
and your bird are comfortable interacting and improves
your relationship with your bird. With Veda, all three cri-
teria were met. In our teaching, we are limited only by
our powers of observation, our creativity and our resolve
to treat our parrots humanely and with compassion.
Of course, behavior is not always as linear as it
appears when analyzing the ABCs; but I think the more
important insight is that none of us, including our
remarkable parrots, behaves in isolation from the
events around us. Although analyzing behavior can
sometimes be like walking into the hall of mirrors at an
amusement park, other times behavior is very straight-
forward. It is at those times that a simplified approach
to analyzing behavior is just what we need to increase
our understanding and develop better teaching strate-
gies. I have found analyzing the ABCs of parrot behav-
ior to be very useful for clarifying the related compo-
nents of many, many different types of behavior. Once
these relationships are clear, the path to creative, posi-
tive solutions and teaching plans become more clear as
well. I hope you will try analyzing the ABCs and find
doing so a helpful addition to your parrot mentors
toolbox.
This original version of this article is reprinted with
permission from the TGPC Internet Conference,
December 2000.
Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D., is a psychology professor at
Utah State University. An applied behaviorist for more than
25 years, her area of expertise is learning and behavior, with
a special emphasis on childrens behavior disorders. Prior to
living in Utah, Susan was a professor at the University of
Colorado after which she lived in Lesotho, Africa for 5 years.
While there, she directed the first American School of
Lesotho.
Susan has written on the topic of learning and behavior for
popular parrot magazines and is the first author on two
chapters found in G. Harrisons Avian Veterinary
Compendium and A. Lueschers Manual Parrot Behavior).
Several of her articles can be found on the web at www.the-
gabrielfoundation.org/HTML/friedman.htm. Susan has
taught animal behavior workshops with Steve Martin at his
ranch facility (see www.naturalencounters.com) and several
zoos around the country; speaks at bird clubs and confer-
ences; and is a core member of the California Condor
Recovery Team. Her well-attended on-line course, Living
and Learning with Parrots: The Fundamental Principles of
Behavior, is described at www.behaviorworks.org.
When asked how she became interested in working with com-
panion parrots in particular, Susan explains with a wink, "I
have always enjoyed working with juvenile delinquents.
INTRODUCTION
W
hen avicultural and parrot behavior writers
refer to `parrots in generalized contexts
they often fall short of the reality that over
350 different species of parrot exist throughout the
world, each adapting to possess a unique suite of
behaviors relevant to the ecological pressures it faces in
its natural environment. One of the most common, and
from my perspective frustrating, generalizations is that
`parrots feed for an hour each morning and an hour
each afternoon. We need to think logically and realize
that each of the 350+ parrot species have adapted
unique feeding behavior schedules relative to ecologi-
cal factors such as resource availability and variability,
the specific energetic quotient of the species-specific
diet and potentially even the differences in physiology
for a species. Scientific field studies have illustrated
that even amongst the few species formally observed,
foraging activities can reach well in excess of 6 hours
per day for some parrot species, compared with ranges
of up to just 72 minutes per day in captive parrots fed
a pellet based diet (Meehan et al, 2003). When consid-
ering the energy expenditure and behavioral activity
required for the duration and complexity of foraging
activity, it should not be surprising that parrots placed
within environments where foraging opportunities are
limited may face potentially accumulative stressors
related to an inability to express exploratory behaviors.
Generalized early morning and late afternoon feeding
sessions are often described for `Cockatoos, a family
incidentally consisting of 12 different species groups in
Australia alone, each with variable feeding and dietary
preferences and habits. Lets take the example of the
Glossy Black Cockatoo Calpyptorynchus lathami, a
species that is highly specific in its diet preference, feed-
ing almost exclusively from the seeds of a single, tree
Enrichment (Part Two)
FORAGING OPPORTUNITY: AN INTEGRAL COMPONENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT
By Jim McKendry
Photo credit: Arlene Alpar New and innovative artificial enrichment items facilitate companion par-
rots `working for food.
Photo credit: Arlene Alpar
These products enable keepers to hide food and chewable items and effec-
tively increase the required feeding duration.
genus. It is reasonable to assume that the obtainable
energy from a single Casuarina sp. cone is such that a
Glossy Black Cockatoo must engage in feeding for
extensive periods of the day to satisfy its baseline ener-
gy requirements for survival, hence we can observe
species such as Glossies feeding in their native habitat
frequently throughout the day. My observations of
other black cockatoo species such as Yellow-tailed and
Red-tailed indicate that they will also engage in feeding
for extensive periods during the day depending on
environmental conditions. I have video footage of Red-
tailed Black cockatoos feeding at midday on a 33 degree
Celsius day, having been observed feeding at regular
intervals from 6am onwards. So much for `an hour in
the morning. Foraging enrichment is perhaps the most
significant husbandry element required for ensuring
that the potential for stereotypical and displaced behav-
iors is minimized, particularly for species that have
proven to be highly prone to behavioral abnormality
onset due to activity deficit in captivity.
In a recent scientific study investigating the correla-
tion between foraging opportunity and feather picking
in captive parrots, Meehan et al (2003), found that lack
of foraging complexity and opportunities to actively
forage for food is directly linked to the establishment of
psychogenic feather picking in Amazon parrots.
Beyond feather picking reduction in response to
increased foraging opportunity, Meehan et al (2004)
found that by pairing foraging enrichment with con-
specific `pair housing completely prevented the devel-
opment of stereotypical behaviors in Orange-winged
Amazon parrots whilst stereotypical behaviors were
found to progressively develop amongst individuals of
the same species when deprived of such enrichment
and social interactivity. This highlights the importance
of reflecting on the suitability of maintaining singly
kept parrots within companion animal contexts and
depriving them of natural, social interactions.
My own work with Gang-Gang cockatoos strongly
correlates with the findings of these studies and it was
with great relief that I finally had some qualified scien-
tific research to support my own hypothetical consid-
erations for the Gang-Gangs I had been working with
for a number of years. Indeed, simply by reviewing the
dynamics of diet provision and increasing foraging
opportunities by focusing on natural food sources
Foraging stimulus from an early age will help to reduce behaviours such
as feather picking.
Photo credit: Jim McKendry
Working for Casuarina cone seeds is an essential component of the daily
diet of this pair.
resulted in the extinction of feather chewing behaviors
in three of the four Gang-Gang cockatoos I have reha-
bilitated, the fourth being resolved using a combina-
tion of improved foraging strategies, modification of
the social environment and reducing imprinting relat-
ed dependencies over time.
Food presentation variability is perhaps the key
component in achieving a dynamic foraging envi-
ronment for both companion and aviary parrot keep-
ers. The following suggestions can be implemented
to enhance foraging and exploratory behaviors with
captive parrots:
Size: Simply changing the size of food items can
have an effect on rate and duration of engagement
in feeding by parrots kept in captivity. Finely
chopping foods into very small pieces often
extends feeding sessions and minimizes waste by
reducing the likelihood of large chunks of food
being discarded. Alternatively, for some species,
larger chunks skewered on to feeding sticks or
perch extensions and hung at difficult to access
locations within the enclosure may also serve to
extend feeding and foraging duration. Parrots
need to be encouraged to `work more for their
food in captivity!
Texture: By changing the texture of food types
such as pureeing blends of fruits, grating instead
Split logs provide great opportunities to hide food items.
Natural substrate in aviaries facilitates excellent foraging for social flocks.
Food treats placed throughout an aviary keep a parrot engaged and
searching for extended periods and reduces the potential for stereotypical
behaviours developing.
of chopping vegetables, leaving the skin on fresh
foods despite the perceived `wastage and also by
accessing obscure or exotic fruit and vegetable
types, may result in renewed enthusiasm for previ-
ously discarded fresh foods.
Seasonal Availability: Research done on the
nomadic foraging behaviors of parrot species such
as Macaws (Renton, 2002) and my own observa-
tions of many Australian parrot species, indicates
that their feeding patterns and geographical move-
ments follow the seasonal availability of a range of
diverse foods. This can be duplicated to some
degree in captivity by varying the diet dependant
on seasonal availability of fresh foods rather than
providing the same base diet year round.
Location and Access: Wild parrots `work for their
food and therefore much of their metabolized ener-
gy is used for this purpose. By varying food loca-
tion and being creative with its presentation in
captivity we can increase activity, feeding duration
and behavioral function with the aim of reducing
behavioral abnormalities. More food bowls, less
food in each, varied and even obscure positioning
it creates an interesting environment that pro-
motes behavioral and cognitive activity.
Amount: The amount of each food type provided
in a varied diet can change. Providing formulated
foods as an essential base to the diet assists with
the ability to carefully vary amounts of other
dietary items such as nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables
and live-food and maintain the nutritional integri-
ty of the overall weekly consumption. Varying the
amount of each food component, in combination
with changing location and presentation, can
result in an environment that facilitates stimula-
tion via exploration by the parrot.
Live Food: While zoos have been using live foods,
such as mealworms, for many years, companion par-
rot owners and many breeders have not investigated
this diet option. As a keeper at Currumbin Wildlife
Sanctuary I was able to see the application of live
food feeding firsthand and the high degree of accept-
ance of mealworms amongst a diverse range of
Australian native parrot species in the collection.
Incredible Animals will customize a behavior
program for youbecause each pet/owner is
unique and the consultation should be specific
to your needs.
Consultations services are available in your home
or by phone.
Heidi has consulted on animal behavior for
Walt Disney World, London and Dublin Zoos
and Zoo New England.
Incredible Animals provides positive reinforcement
training, behavior management techniques,
husbandry skills, and habitat development.
Specializing in birds catering to all exotic pets
and the people they own.
Feel Like You Live In A Zoo?
Incredible Animals
Heidi Fowle, Behavioral Consultant
617-269-9863 creatureteacherheidi@yahoo.com
Mealworms can be `gutloaded with additional nutri-
ents that may be deficient in the diet of the species
and once accepted prove to be highly palatable. By
presenting items such as mealworms in simple ways
such as inside open logs or sprinkled over a foraging
tray of suitable substrate for grazing species results
in the stimulation of natural exploratory behaviors
that are being actively reinforced.
Beyond the above strategies, perhaps the simplest
and most effective is the daily provision of `browse
a term used to describe natural foraging substances
such as leafy, seed and flower producing branches.
Investigating the natural history of the species you
keep and providing fresh foraging material represen-
tative of their natural environment and diet, or a
suitable substitute, can provide a range of mental
and physical benefits to the birds. The innate foun-
dations and learned spectrum of foraging behaviors
of many parrot species are thankfully now being
more closely considered. My first-hand observations
with Gang-Gang cockatoos suggest that this particu-
lar species exhibits characteristics of an intense for-
aging need that when unsatisfied in captive condi-
tions serves as a primary precursor to the onset of
feather picking behaviors. Aphenomenon referred to
as `contra-freeloading behavior can be seen daily
amongst my small flock of Gang-Gang cockatoos,
who will actively forage and work to procure food
amongst Corymbia, Eucalypt and Casuarina browse
for many hours in preference to accessing free feed
offerings. This has reinforced my belief that this
species requires particularly diligent husbandry
standards for optimal behavioral health. Where con-
tra-freeloading behavior reconciles with `Optimal
Foraging theories is yet to be fully understood, but
at this stage we can be confident in suggesting that
we need to seriously consider the importance of pro-
viding opportunities for parrots to be provided with
feeding challenges as an important component of
achieving optimum conditions in captivity.
CONCLUSION:
It has now been scientifically demonstrated that
enhanced foraging enrichment programs significantly
reduce a range of behavioral abnormalities commonly
Even a simple palm frond can provide hours of opportunity for a parrot to actively exercise.
seen in captive parrots and enhances the long-term
well-being and preparedness for life if provided from
as early an age as possible. It would be extremely pro-
gressive of parrot owners to consider at least applying
some of these enrichment principles to the husbandry
of parrots in their care.
REFERENCES
Meehan, C.L., Millam, J.R. & Mench, J.A. 2003, Foraging
opportunity and increased physical complexity both
prevent and reduce psychogenic feather picking by
young Amazon parrots, Applied Animal Behavior
Science, vol. 80, pp. 71-85.
Meehan, C.L., Garner, J.P. & Mench, J.A. 2004,
Environmental enrichment and development of cage
stereotypy in Orange-winged Amazon parrots
Amazona amazonica, Developmental Psychobiology, vol,
44, pp. 209-218.
Renton, K. 2002, Seasonal variation in occurrence of
macaws along a rainforest river, Journal of Field
Ornithology, vol. 73, pp. 15-19.
Jim has been intensively keeping parrots in both companion
and aviary environments for over 10 years. During that time
he has focused on developing an understanding of the specific
behavioral and general care dynamics of captive parrot species.
He has a Bachelors degree in Teaching (ACU) and a Bachelor
of Applied Science degree from the University of Queensland.
Jim operates Parrot Behavior & Enrichment Consultations
and has provided consultative services to hundreds of parrot
owners, both within Australia and internationally, as well as for
pet-keeping magazines and journals. He is the founder of the
Companion Parrot Support Network, is a former committee
member and Companion Parrot Consultant for the Parrot
Society of Australia Inc and has lectured for numerous bird
clubs and societies in South-east Queensland. Jim currently
writes a regular column Pet Parrot Pointers for Australian
Birdkeeper Magazine and is an editorial consultant on parrot
behavior for this publication.
During 2003/2004 Jim worked as a Presentations Keeper at
Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. This professional experience
further enhanced his animal training skills with a range of
avian species such as raptors, water birds and of course, par-
rots. He is an active member of the International Association of
Avian Trainers and Educators and the writer and presenter of
the Parrot Behavior & Care workshops held at Currumbin
Wildlife Sanctuary.
In recent years, Jim has focused almost exclusively on work-
ing with Gang-Gang Cockatoos and rehabilitating juvenile
feather chewers of this species. He currently cares for a small
collection of Australian Cockatoos and an African Grey Parrot.
He provides private consultation services via phone, e-mail and
in-home access that cater for all aspects of companion parrot
behavior, enrichment and general care. For more information
on Parrot Behavior & Enrichment Consultations range of serv-
ices please visit www.pbec.com.au.
Corymbia flowers provide wonderful foraging enrichment for lorikeet
species such as the Purple-crowned Lorikeet.
Safe flowers can provide great natural foraging enrichment items for
species such as these Amazons.
What is Your Bird Saying?
LEARNING TO READ AND INTERPRET BIRD BODY LANGUAGE
By Barbara Heidenreich
1._____________________ 2._____________________ 3._____________________
5.___________________________________
Training is a way for people to communicate to parrots. But how do parrots communicate to us? They commu-
nicate through their body language. Subtle changes in feather position, eye position and body posture can give us
a glimpse into what a bird might be thinking. Some postures indicate fear or aggression. Other let us know our
birds are relaxed and comfortable. The greater our sensitivity is to our birds body language the easier it will be for
us to avoid doing things that might cause our birds to be uncomfortable. In turn we can help foster an even
stronger relationship based on trust.
Look at the following photos and see if you can read and interpret the body language of these birds. Apractice
that can help you fine tune your skills is to try to describe the exact body postures you are observing, rather than
using general labels such as content or nervous. Answers are on page 85.
WHAT IS THIS BIRDS BODY LANGUAGE SAYING?
Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich
5.___________________________________
Photo credit: Roelant Jonker/Grace Innemee www.cityparrots.org
Quoth the Raven...er, we mean the Parrot
I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a
moment, while I was hoeing in a village garden, and I felt
that I was more distinguished by that circumstance that I
should have been by any epaulet I could have worn.
Henry David Thoreau
US Transcendentalist author (1817 - 1862)
Bite Me!
By Gay Noeth
B
iting is one of the most common, complained
about parrot behaviors. It is so common that
many people say that if you own a parrot you are
going to eventually get bit, as if to imply that its just
their nature to bite. Another camp says biting is a
learned behavior. This isnt entirely true either. They
have a beak, they need to eat, they need to chew, they
need to take bites of food. No, they come with a form
of biting already in their repertoire. Its much more a
matter of how they use that biting ability.
Lets see if we can make sense out of the two above
statements and where they might fit in with our pets.
Lets take a closer look at what biting may mean from
the parrots point of view and how biting may become
a problem behavior.
BITING AS A NATURAL BEHAVIOR
As noted, birds have beaks and the ability to bite
down on anything that enters those beaks. For a bird to
bite down, the number one thing to consider is that
there must be proximity. If whatever is being bitten
cant enter the beak (even the tip) it would be impossi-
ble for the bird to bite it. So we can start with one fact.
Proximity or nearness is a must for a bite to occur!
Birds dont have hands. Parrots sense of exploratory
touch is via beak, tongue and feet. It is common for
young birds to explore new things with their beak and
tongue. This in itself does not a biter make. It is our job,
as caregivers, at this stage to reinforce gentle exploration
and to divert that exploration to appropriate items.
Parrots chew. Give them acceptable things to chew.
BITING AS A LEARNED BEHAVIOR
Why would a parrot bite his caregiver? In human
terms it could be an attempt to say no to a request.
For example, if someone approaches us and tells us to
do something, we have vocal skills to say no. If our
no is ignored, we may repeat it and perhaps turn
away. If the person persists we may push them away. A
parrot doesnt necessarily have the human vocal skills
to appropriately communicate no, although there is
no doubt that they have BIRD signals to convey the
same message.
It should also be
noted that many of our pet
birds are being kept clipped. If
they find themselves in a frightening
situation, what options do they have for
self defense? They cant flee very easily. In many
cases the other option available to them is to bite in
hopes of getting rid of the feared object or offender.
That bite would again be a means of saying no,
although with a slightly different meaning. In this sit-
uation it would be self preservation, similar to a
human being attacked and doing whatever was nec-
essary to stop the attacker.
In both cases, the bite is a NO or STOP response to
some sort of aversive stimuli. The bird bites to tell you
no, it doesnt want to partake in something, or no
you must keep away from me. The bite was a final
way for the bird to get us to pay attention to what it
was telling us, much like a human stomping their foot
to add emphasis! Imagine it as a loud NO!
The problem now is that it is too late to change the
event, the bite has already occurred. The consequence
in the birds eye will now vary depending on what hap-
pened after the bite. Did you finally understand the
no and back away? Did you teach the bird that for
you to understand your birds discomfort you needed
him to bite? This is where the statement biting is a
learned behavior gets its foundation. We teach the
bird that to get us to stop, the bird should bite us.
BITING FOR ATTENTION
Once biting is solid in the birds behavioral bank, it
may become generalized to get us to pay attention in
different situations, not just as a means to say no. It
Photo Credit: Gay Noeth
draws our attention when we are ignoring the bird, it
draws our attention when it wants something, it gets us
to notice when it doesnt want something, and it gets
our regard when the bird is scared.
In our fast paced world these days, almost everyone
is running into time constraints. We often find our-
selves juggling several jobs at a time. Sometimes (unin-
tentionally) our birds become part of this juggling. Its
during our rush of life or a result of, that we can some-
times teach our birds to bite to get our attention.
Perhaps you are busy watching a show or reading
emails with your bird close by and your bird wants
some direct attention. Sometimes in this scene your
bird will give you a little nip. What too often happens
in this case is that the caregiver will reach out and pet
his or her bird without even giving thought to what
message might have been conveyed to the bird. If this
is repeated a few times the bird learns that if the care-
giver is distracted, a small nip will bring his or her
attention back.
If this type of bite occurs, you can very quietly and
calmly remove your bird from your person and set him
on a nearby perch. In a few moments your bird can be
given the opportunity to rejoin you and gain the
desired attention. If your bird wants to be on you while
you are doing other things just remember to give your
bird that scratch or attention every so often for sitting
calmly without biting.
BODY LANGUAGE AND BITING
Why should a bird have to bite us to tell us some-
thing? What would it do to another bird in the same sit-
uation? It is true that parrots do nip at each other, but
seldom with the ferocity shown to some humans and
not generally as a first reaction.
In a typical parrot to parrot confrontation, two things
initially occur at about the same time. Feathers will lift
slightly, posture will become more upright to appear
larger and eyes will pin (pupils constrict). If neither
bird backs down a bit it is common to hear a slight
squawk and to see feathers raise more. Some species
may slick their feathers tight in this situation. At this
stage parrots with crests will have them fully upright
and tail feathers will also usually be fanned. Often one
of the birds will back down or move away. The postur-
ing is all that is required. It should be the same with us.
All we should require from the bird is the smallest of
body language.
Do we fail to notice those initial slight feather posi-
tion changes, the pinning of the eyes? Do we continue
to force our will when the feathers are raised more?
What other option did we actually give our birds when
we failed to notice these changes? By ignoring these
overt body language displays, we often leave the bird
no other choice but to bite us to get his point across.
NATURAL OR LEARNED BEHAVIOR
Birds learn, as do all living things. If our responses
teach them that we never pay attention to the subtle
signs that generally precede a bite, they may learn that
those signs are an unnecessary and wasteful use of
energy. They will simply quit showing them as an indi-
vidual step and instead show them at the same time as
the bite is occurring. We teach them to cut to the chase.
It is true that parrots do nip at each other, but seldom with the ferocity
shown to some humans and not generally as a first reaction.
By ignoring these overt body language displays, we left the bird no other
choice but to bite us to get his point across.
Is biting a learned behavior or is it a natural behavior?
The answer is that its a combination of both. They have
a beak for a reason and its only natural for them to use it
when life necessitates that, but we certainly teach them to
use it far more than it would ever be used in the wild.
ADDRESSING BITING BEHAVIOR
Hopefully youve already been able to identify what
needs to be changed when dealing with your bird.
What is the purpose of your birds biting? Is it to
remove you in some way? Is it to gain your attention?
Is it just to voice a no response? Quite likely, its all of
the above at different times. Biting can become multi-
functional because it is one thing human caretakers
notice. Different antecedents (situations) may result in
a bite. Perhaps the way you approached or your ener-
gy level, or maybe it is fear mediated but regardless of
the reason, the bird is trying to tell you something.
How do you proceed once you know situations that
foster biting behavior? Remember, one of the first facts
about biting was the need for proximity. Keep that in
mind for your interactions. If your bird cant reach your
skin, he cant bite you. No! You dont need to keep your
distance forever. You likely want a relationship with
your bird that allows closeness, but as a temporary
measure you may have to limit this.
The different places to begin addressing this problem
are as varied as the reasons for the bite. Each person
will have to look at their own individual situation and
decide where that starting place is. Ive given just a few
ideas of possible starting places for the most common
types of bites but again I must stress, you must look at
what function the bite has for your bird. What is your
bird getting out of the bite? Its only once you have an
understanding of this that you can address the biting in
the correct manner.
IM SCARED
If an animal bites as a fear response, the first thing to
identify is the subject of the fear. Is it an overall fear of
everything or a more refined fear? With any type of fear
biting it is important to slowly desensitize the bird
from the feared item by shaping proximity to the item.
If its fear of a person, I would suggest that for the first
few days the person quietly walk by the cage and drop
a favorite treat in a food bowl. Try to do this several
times a day. No requests on the bird, no lingering at the
cage, just drop and move on. Try to notice as you are
doing this, at what distance the body language changes
to comfort. If after a few days of dropping in the treat,
the bird is now looking towards the person when he or
she enters, you can proceed with the following:
Begin with the person at the closest distance that the
bird shows body language indicative of comfort
(This is where having watched that previous body
language will help you)
Have the person start to approach the bird, Note the
distance at which the bird showed its first sign of
slight unease.
Have the person step a bit farther away than this dis-
tance. Watch the bird body language to ensure there
is comfort. If the bird is still moving around his cage,
paying attention to things like his toys and food, the
bird is still in his comfort zone.
Have the person remain in the same position for a
few moments. When its time to move away, have
the person walk by the cage and drop a favorite treat
in the bowl with no other demands. Do not try to
push closer.
Indicate the distance achieved by putting a piece of
tape on the floor. Repeat this distance several times
with the bird receiving a treat after each short session.
Over time the person can advance closer, but just
slightly. I cant stress enough that these advances
may be very tiny increments, which is why I suggest
the marker on the floor. Repeat the procedure above
doing several sessions at that distance.
During this process the bird is becoming systemati-
cally desensitized to the person and also learning that
good things (treats) come from that person.
GETTING TO YES
Are you asking or demanding a behavior from your
parrot? Is it a behavior the bird can easily do? Is it a
behavior the bird really needs to do at this particular
moment? The secret in the cases of a bird that bites to
say no is to train the bird to say yes! in the desired
situation.
The most common request that results in a bite is the
step up request. There are many variables to be consid-
ered if a bird seems apprehensive about stepping up.
What have the past consequences taught the parrot about
stepping up? Where is your hand and how is it placed
when you cue the behavior? Are there more distractions
in the room than normal that are confusing to the bird?
Parrots want to step upwards. By this I mean the
hand should be held higher than foot level of the
bird. The hand should also be held perfectly still until
both feet are firmly on the hand and the bird has
regained his balance. Too often we begin moving the
bird, before that second foot is even on our hand. We
basically boost the bird off of its perch. Many parrots
find this uncomfortable and may be reluctant to step
up the next time a hand is offered. It is also conducive
to building trust to let the hand remain in the same
spot long enough to give the bird the option of step-
ping back down should he choose to do so.
If your bird appears to say no when you are shap-
ing a behavior (such as stepping up) you need to take a
closer look and make sure you arent requesting too big
of an increment or more than the bird understands at
that time. You may need to slow down a little or move
back a step in your shaping plan. It isnt so much say-
ing no as it is saying I dont understand and Im get-
ting frustrated.
CHANGING YOUR APPROACH
Remember that a parrot needs to be in proximity to
bite. One way to avoid being bit when cueing for the
behavior of step up, is to keep your hand at a distance
from the bird while you make the request. Only move
your hand in for the bird to step onto once it has shown
the desire or willingness to actually step up. This is
generally noted by the bird lifting one foot into the air.
If for any reason the bird decides it doesnt want to step
up, your hand is not close enough to be bit.
You can also solidify the behavior so that the bird
will step up more often when cued. You can accomplish
this by using positive reinforcement training. Dont just
work on stepping the bird up when its necessary; cue
your parrot for the behavior from many different loca-
tions throughout the day, always reinforcing the behav-
ior with something desired by your bird. This can be as
simple as allowing the bird to step back down where it
was. Every step up behavior doesnt need to be a move
to a new location. Soon, because of all the positive rein-
forcement given, your bird will be willingly stepping
up whenever you request it. Just remember to keep it
positively reinforcing.
CONCLUSION
Usually there is little doubt after reviewing the reasons
for repeated biting that we have reinforced the behavior.
Biting is a behavior that simply by virtue of its nature on
our human skin, is very difficult not to reinforce (give the
bird a desired outcome). We cant help but notice a bite.
We cant help but pay attention. We also know that par-
rots certainly have a beak and the knowledge of how to
use it, but it is generally us humans that prompt its use
on human skin.
The solution is to listen to our birds and be observant
to what they are trying to tell us. Rather than correct a bit-
ing problem once it has developed, a far better solution
would be to never teach them the need to bite us in the
first place. Always keep in mind that there just may be
some things your bird doesn't like, or some situations
that make him uneasy. Respect that, rather than push
them into biting.
Gay Noeth lives with her husband and animals (birds, goats,
rabbits and a dog) near Paradise Hill Sask, Canada. They have
been living with birds for the last twelve years and raising
small numbers of African Greys, poicephalus and parrotlets for
the past seven years. Gay has been very interested in the behav-
ioral aspects of birds for the last four years, attending different
seminars and workshops to learn more. Gay is constantly try-
ing to better the lives of her personal pets, plus learn how to
help others better live with their pets.
Parrots want to step upwards. By this I mean the hand should be held
higher than foot level of the bird.
G
ood Bird Magazine takes a pretty scientific
approach to behavior. We also fully understand
that the A word, (anthropomorphism: pro-
jecting human emotions and feelings to an animal) can
cause a miss-interpretation of behavior. But dont let
that mislead you! We also enjoy a loving relationship
with our birds and get a kick out of those stories about
birds doing things that seem uncharacteristically
human. Perhaps the tales we enjoy the most are the
ones in which a parrot seems to say the right thing at
the right time. We realize birds may or may not under-
stand what they are saying, but it makes us laugh any-
way. Here are some stories we found amusing, con-
tributed by our readers.
AN EVENING AT HOME WITH PICKLES
By Georgi Abbott
Pickles is a Congo African grey parrot owned by
Georgi and Neil Abbott Here is a story courtesy of
Georgi.
The phone rings as Pickles is dining on his snack of
green beans. As it's ringing, Pickles is repeating the
ringing in the bowl which he discovers produces a
really interesting echo. So while Neil answers the
phone, Pickles continues the bowl ringing. He real-
izes the beans are impeding the good sounds so he
tosses them out, one by one. But now he notices
daddy is engrossed in a telephone conversation and
wants in on the act.
Pickles often carries on telephone conversations
with himself and in between, he makes what must be
the sound he hears of someone talking on the other
end of the phone kind of an electronic garbling. So
while Neil is talking, Pickles' own conversation goes
like this ... Ring. Beep. Hello? (garble) What?
(garble) mmmmm. (garble) Everybody's home.
(garble) Huh? (garble) Wanna good story? (garble)
Okay bye. Beep.
Pickles has put an end to his conversation and
decides Daddy must be coached to do so too . Okay
bye. Beep. Okay bye. Beep. Okay BYE. Beep. OKAY
BYE!!! Daddeeeeeeeeeee! Go BYE!!!!!!
Neil finally tells his friend that Pickles has ordered
him off the phone and hangs up. Neil tells Pickles what
a brat he is while Pickles skips away, head bobbing and
snickering. Neil goes after him Come here my lit-
tle Chickadee. Pickles does the chickadee song,
Chicka dee dee dee but it quickly changes to Dad
dee dee dee.
Neil asks Pickles if hes a Chickadee but Pickles
explains that he is in fact a Big Eagle. He doesnt do the
usual raising of wings that other parrots do, he raises
himself as tall and fluffy as possible and exclaims
Beeeeagle.
Fine, says Neil Step up Big Eagle. And takes him
to the couch beneath the window to bird and people
watch. Pickles becomes a fierce guard dog. Athena,
our Doberman, likes to sit on the corner of the couch
and bark at anybody walking by and Pickles has taken
up the cause. He sits in the same spot and barks Woof
Woof Woof! This alerts Athena who comes to join
him. The two of them stand barking their warnings to
all intruders. I can only imagine what this looks like to
people walking by.
We settle in to watch American Idol. Pickles is
American Idols BIGGEST fan and is always in com-
plete disagreement with Simon. The worse the singer,
Out of the Mouths of Parrots
Photo credit: Georgi Abbott
the more Pickles sings along interjecting with
Whatta good song! Woo hoo!
After American Idol is over, we watch an amusing
sitcom. Neil and I arent laughing out loud but we
notice that Pickles is and always at the right time.
What the heck? We thought our bird particularly
clever with an exceptional understanding of humor
until we realized the show was either using canned
laughter or a live audience and Pickles was picking
up on it.
A commercial comes on and I go to the kitchen to
make a snack. Neil and I always let each other know
when the program comes back on and before I finish
making the snacks, I hear him say Its on. So I drop
everything to go back to the couch. But the commer-
cials still on. I ask Neil why he called me back but he
said he didnt. We look at Pickles. Cant be. I go
back to the kitchen and seconds later I hear Its on.
I go back to find Neil shrugging and pointing accus-
ingly at Pickles.
Since then, when Pickles announces a program is
on, we have to warn the other No its not. And of
course Pickles has picked that up too so all we hear
during commercials is him saying Its on. No its
not. Its on. No its not. Luckily, Pickles had decid-
ed that commercials are whats really important so
mostly he only announces Its on when the com-
mercials start. Pickles knows many commercials by
heart and announces all the sounds and words before
they happen.
Later, Pickles perches on the arm of the couch next to
Neil's face and asks Wanna snack? Neil agrees and
hands him a pine nut. Want anudder snack? Neil
gives him another. About every three or four snacks,
Pickles cranes his neck out to give and receive a kiss
from daddy.
Snack time is over and Pickles asks for a good story
and tells daddy to talk to the beak. He says this
while placing his beak against Neil's lips or cheek I
don't think he really cares about the story. He just likes
the sound and feel of the vibration against his beak.
Today it's the lips and Neil's going cross eyed trying to
watch Pickles eyes for signs that Pickles is not pleased
at this particular story. He's a gentle bird but only a
fool would get complacent with a bird around their
face. But all is well and Pickles draws bored with Neil's
tale of how the chickadees like to eat Mountain Ash
berries and how they eat so many that they become
funny little drunken flyers.
Its almost bed time and Pickles is getting sleepy.
Neil is watching TV while lying down with his arm
draped across the back of the couch, absent minded-
ly scratching Pickles neck. Pickles grabs Neils fin-
ger to swing upside down but Neil isnt prepared.
Pickles slides, on his back, down the back of the
couch, across Neils chest, continuing to slide across
the couch seat, landing on the floor still on his
back. He never flapped his wings or panicked, just
shot from top to bottom like a sleek upside down,
out-of-control little bobsled then lay on his back on
the floor with little footsies clenching and unclench-
ing as a sign for Neil to offer him a finger to grab
hold of.
I thought, well that will teach Pickles to hold onto
us a little better but nope once rescued and brought
back to the top, hanging upside down, he let go to do
it all over again. But this time he landed wedged
between Neil and the back of the couch. Much to
Pickles disappointment, he was never again able to
duplicate that same downhill momentum. So much
for the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Now its time for bed and after feeding Pickles his
nighttime almond, Pickles climbs into his cage and
into his tent. He waits for a minute or two then
pokes his head out to say Lights off! backs up and
parks himself. We turn out his light and partially
cover his cage while Pickles tucks his head under his
wing to dream of snacks and toys and songs and
scratches to come.
continued from page 10
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT
FOR GOOD BIRD
Hi Barbara,
This is a long shot, I know.......but I will ask.
I am interested in purchasing a particular back issue
of Good Bird Magazine that is not available on your
website. I have ALL issues but that one and I do so
want to include that issue to complete my set. I am
hoping, perhaps, that you might have a copy stashed
somewhere that you could part with.
Do you have Volume 1 Issue 2 / Summer 2005 available?
I LOVE your magazine and books, your philosophies
and your work with parrots.
I hope to meet you at the Canada conference with
Susan Friedman in April 2007.
Thanks,
Mary Bacon
Exquisite Exotics Aviary
www.CongoAfricanGreyParrots.com
www.RedFactorCanaries.com
Customer Service,
I am a new subscriber to your magazine and found it
very helpful and enjoyed reading. What I would like to
know is when did your magazine first come into print?
Was it 2005? If so, I was wondering if you had the four
issues for 2005 and the first three issues for 2006. I would
like to purchase those issues if you still have them.
Thank you,
Paula
Editors response: Good news! All back issues of Good
Bird Magazine are now available for download at the Good
Bird Inc website. Visit this link to get your desired back
issues. www.goodbirdinc.com/backissues.html
512-472-3636
goodbird@persidea.com
To reach
bird owners
worldwide
You need to be seen!
Call Persidea today
to reserve your ad space.
Learning to Fly is devoted to understanding, dis-
cussing, and exploring the many intricate details of
flight. Whether one chooses to clip flight feathers or
accept the responsibilities of caring for a flighted bird is
a personal decision. However, there are many things to
know and learn about flight that can be helpful to
flighted and non flighted bird owners everywhere.
(Especially when that supposedly non flighted bird
flies out the door!)
Flighted behaviors may not be a good goal for every
bird or caregiver. Should you decide to pursue this
path, keep in mind that flighted behaviors are most
successfully trained to the highest level following a
structured plan based on positive reinforcement train-
ing strategies. Following these practices can reduce, but
do not eliminate, the risk of flying birds outdoors.
FLIGHTED BIRDS IN THE HOME
Flight is engaging, stunning, beautiful to watch and
quite frankly usually fun to train. I am often asked by
enthusiastic parrot owners who feel the same if they
should consider allowing their birds to be flighted.
Despite my love of flighted parrots this question can be
difficult to answer. So much needs to be taken into con-
sideration. The first question to consider is if the bird is
even a good candidate for flight, or will he realistically
even be able to learn to fly? The second is if the mem-
bers of the household are prepared to put on their pos-
itive reinforcement training ponchos and transform
into the best trainers they can be!
This is because training and managing behavior of
flighted companion parrots can present a new set of
challenges much different from their non flighted
counter parts. Flighted parrots are afforded better
opportunity to make choices. For example should a
flighted parrot find a situation to be an aversive expe-
rience it can choose to fly away. This appears to have an
important effect on influencing certain behaviors. For
example if a parrot is being approached for the behav-
ior of step up onto the hand, and the person requesting
the behavior resorts to negative reinforcement as a
training strategy, rather than bite, typically the parrot
will fly away. One benefit to this is that the parrot is not
engaging in aggressive behavior. For the inexperienced
trainer this can help avoid teaching a bird to bite for a
desired result in the given example. However this also
presents the new challenge of learning how to train the
behavior without the use of force or aversives. How is
someone supposed to capture that brazen young
parrot who is enjoying flying around the house and
Learning to Fly
Photo Credit: Barbara Heidenreich
working hard to avoid his caregiver when it is time to
go into his cage for the evening?
In developing the skills of the caregiver, a flighted
bird often requires the trainer/caregiver to learn well
how to apply positive reinforcement training strategies
to achieve desired behavior goals. Parrots with the abil-
ity to choose, will choose to present behaviors that
present the most positive reinforcement. Caregivers
find that heightening their skills of reading and inter-
preting bird body language also becomes extremely
important to successful training. Behaviors indicative
of fear and aggression are noticed and respected when
the slightest indicators are presented. From a profes-
sional positive reinforcement animal trainers perspec-
tive, working with a flighted bird that has choices often
hones training skills.
IDENTIFYING CANDIDATES FOR FLIGHT
Choosing to maintain a flighted parrot in the home is
a personal decision based on what caregivers are able
to provide in terms of attentiveness to safely caring for
a flighted parrot. However should a caregiver decide to
accept the responsibility of a flighted bird, it is impor-
tant to note that flight is not necessarily an ideal for
each individual parrot. While parrots are generally
designed for flight, a parrots personal history can
greatly affect its future success with flight. In general
parrots that have had flight feathers clipped prior to, or
during the fledging process are less likely to regain
flight skills once the flight feathers grow back.
What appears to occur is that parrots have an instinc-
tual drive to attempt to fly during this time period as a
juvenile. Parrots will attempt to fly whether they are
How is someone supposed to capture that brazen young parrot who is enjoying flying around the house and working hard to avoid his caregiver when
it is time to go into his cage for the evening?
capable of flight or not. Abird that has not been clipped
will fly awkwardly at first, but will gradually gain skills
with each attempt at flight. A parrot that has flight
feathers trimmed will also attempt to fly, but each
attempt will be followed by a crash towards earth. Over
time the trimmed bird learns to discontinue its attempts
to fly. Eventually the period in which flight is normally
learned passes. The clipped parrot typically no longer
attempts to fly unless startled. Flying when startled
usually results in an unskilled, uncontrolled flight.
Should the bird have the muscle strength to gain alti-
tude the bird may land on an elevated perch and remain
there, unable to fly down. The parrot having had no
experience or opportunity to practice such a flight usu-
ally must wait for someone to retrieve it, find a way to
climb down to caregivers, or become desperate enough
to consider trying to fly despite its history. If the bird
does try to fly, again since flight skills are lacking, it
usually does not show an ability to maneuver itself
downwards and ends up on yet another high perch.
This same phenomenon occurs in parrots that may have
never had flight feathers clipped, but lived in enclo-
sures that were too small for the bird to practice flight.
My blue fronted parrot Amazon, Tarah is one such
bird. He is pretty much a flying green brick. In his 20
years with me he has never had his feathers trimmed.
Yet he only flies when startled. And because of a lack of
muscle tone, he usually ends up on the ground should
he launch off of his cage. Once on the ground he looks
terribly uncomfortable and produces a pathetic whim-
per as if to say hurry up and get me back on my cage,
'cause I cant do this by myself! While technically he
can fly, be it limited distances, in my opinion he is not
a good candidate for flight training. For him the behav-
ior would be very challenging to achieve, despite my
best efforts.
Some adult parrot species, once flight feathers return,
do seem more likely to regain flight skills. These are
typically light bodied birds with broader wings. Some
examples include cockatiels, budgies, Goffins cocka-
toos, and rose breasted cockatoos. Heavier bodied
birds such as large macaws and Amazon parrots typi-
cally do not fall into the category of a parrot likely to
regain flight skills if clipped during fledging. Training
can facilitate recovery of flight to some extent, but it
generally is extremely challenging to train with posi-
tive reinforcement, even for experienced professionals,
and often the resulting bird never attains the skills and
confidence of a parrot that has never been clipped. This
is not to say some success is not possible. In Volume
Issue 1 Issue 4 Winter 2005 of Good Bird Magazine
Emily Heenan shares in great detail her efforts to suc-
cessfully train Bartie, her once clipped black headed
caique, to fly to her hand on cue.
Some adult parrot species, once flight feathers return, do seem more likely
to regain flight skills, such as budgerigars.
An ideal candidate for flight is a parrot that has never had its flight feath-
ers trimmed, was fully fledged, and lives in an enclosure that allows it the
opportunity to fly.
In my experience the ideal candidate for flight is a
parrot that has never had its flight feathers trimmed
was fully fledged during the fledging period and has
lived in an enclosure since fledging that allows it the
opportunity to fly regularly. When evaluating a poten-
tial flying parrot candidate it can easily be observed if
the bird chooses to fly or climb to its desired destina-
tion. If the parrot chooses to fly, it very well may be an
appropriate candidate for training for flight.
Successfully training the ideal candidate for flight is far
easier to accomplish and reduces risk to the bird as it
will have better flight skills, maneuverability and con-
fidence should it find itself in a precarious situation.
TRAINING A STRONG RECALL
Probably one of the most important behaviors to
train when working with flighted birds is a recall.
Similar to teaching a dog to come when called, this can
also be described as the behavior of returning to the
trainer when cued. However often companion parrot
owners find this to be a challenging behavior to
achieve. A basic foundation in positive reinforcement
training is a key element to successfully training this
behavior. Because a flighted parrot can choose to go
away from the trainer, it important to teach the bird
that coming towards the trainer results in desired con-
sequences. This increases the likelihood the parrot will
return to the trainer. Also important to training this
behavior is the use of shaping plans and small approx-
imations. The following shaping plan is one that can be
used to train a parrot to fly to a hand when cued. This
plan applies to a parrot that already knows how to step
up onto a hand for positive reinforcement.
SHAPING PLAN FOR RECALL
Target Behavior: Parrot flies 20 feet from top of
cage to trainers hand.
Cue: Hand held out in front of body.
Reinforcer: Anything the bird likes such as food
treats, attention or toys.
Bridging Stimulus (bridge): The word good
(although any marker of choice can be
used.)
Closest Behavior to the Target Behavior
the Bird Presents Now: Steps up onto
hand when cued.
Possible Approximations:
1. Cue bird to step up onto hand from
top of cage. Bridge and reinforce.
2. Hold hand an inch farther from cage
so that bird must stretch legs wide to
step up. Bridge and reinforce.
3. Hold hand farther from cage so that
bird must use beak to pull feet onto
hand. Bridge and reinforce.
4. Hold hand farther from cage so that bird
must use beak and also flap wings slightly to
get onto hand. Bridge and offer magnitude
reinforcement (larger quantity or more pre-
ferred reinforcers) for flapping wings.
5. Hold hand farther from cage so that bird
hops to hand. Bridge and offer magnitude
reinforcement.
6. Gradually continue to increase distance
bird flies to hand until desired distance
is reached.
Probably one of the most important behaviors to train when working with
flighted birds is a recall.
During the training of this behavior it
will also be important to train quick
response to the cue. This is done by incor-
porating the following suggestions into
the training strategy.
Make quick response part of the train-
ing criteria
Eliminate distractions
Give the cue when the animal is atten-
tive
Schedule training sessions when animal
is receptive
Use magnitude reinforcement in initial
stages when quick response is present-
ed
Use a time out from positive reinforce-
ment when response is slow (dont cue
the behavior for a few seconds)
Dont cue continuously if the bird is not
responding
Dont use bribery (showing the reinforcer) once the
behavior is learned
Dont cue the bird when its not ready
Dont attempt to punish slow response by not rein-
forcing the flight
Dont continue a training session if the bird is not
interested 4
For more on training quick response to a cue see
Volume 1 Issue 2 Summer 2005 of Good Bird Magazine.
Once a parrot has learned to promptly fly to the hand
when cued, it is helpful to facilitate improving flight
skills. Parrots can be given the opportunity to fly from
new perches, fly to new perches, fly from low perches to
high perches, fly from high perches to low perches, fly
around corners, and fly larger distances. Many of these
flights can be staged in training sessions. However an
ideal way for a parrot to gain flight skills is for the bird
to live an enclosure large enough for these flights to be
practiced frequently. Desired resources such as food
bowls, water bowls, preferred perching and toys can be
arranged in a manner that the parrot has to present
desired flight patterns to build skills.
MANAGING A FLIGHTED PARROT IN THE HOME
Askilled flying parrot in the home can be a pleasure
and also a problem. Birds may learn to follow preferred
caregivers continuously, engage in play activities with
unacceptable items, or come dangerously close to
potentially harmful household items. Each of these
problems can be addressed in the same manner any
parrot behavior problem can be addressed, whether the
bird is flighted or not. Caregivers can perform a func-
tional assessment to determine under what conditions
the undesired behavior is presented. This information
can then be used to identify antecedents that could be
changed that are facilitating the presentation of the
undesired behavior. How the undesired behavior is
being reinforced can also be identified through this
process. Finally desirable behaviors the bird could
learn to present in place of the undesired can be identi-
fied and trained.
In a large enclosure desired resources such as food bowls, water bowls, preferred perching and
toys can be arranged in a manner that the parrot has to present desired flight patterns to
build skills.
For example if a flighted parrot chooses to continual-
ly fly to the caregiver and no longer engages in play
activities independently on its cage, a shaping plan
could be developed to positively reinforce the bird for
remaining on its cage at various times throughout the
day. If the bird chooses to engage in activities that lead
to the destruction of valuable furniture the caregiver
could consider teaching acceptable play areas are high-
ly reinforcing, while making it more challenging for
valuable furniture to be accessed. Despite free roam of
the house for most of the day, Abby a Moluccan
Cockatoo belonging to Naomi Zemont and Dave
Barfield chooses to primarily fly between strategically
placed play stands and hanging toys. Her designated
areas provide plenty of fun to keep a flighted free rang-
ing bird from destroying the house.
Acaregiver can also teach a parrot to drop an item in
its beak on cue. This is helpful if the parrot is chewing on
something unacceptable. If the drop behavior is well
trained, the bird will respond quickly to relinquish the
item for the positive reinforcer it has learned is forth-
coming. This behavior is particularly easy to train and
useful whether your parrot is flighted or not. I remem-
ber this behavior being quite handy when I used to
allow a double yellow headed Amazon parrot to explore
my desk back when I working on a bird show in Florida.
A skilled flying parrot in the home can be a pleasure and also a problem.
You can teach a parrot to choose to play on acceptable play stands rather
than your furniture
Choose a safe item, such as a parrot toy to help train the drop some-
thing on cue behavior.
SHAPING PLAN FOR
STAY ON CAGE
Target Behavior: Parrot stays on cage for 10 min-
utes.
Cue: Verbal stay.
(although any marker of choice can be used.)
Closest Behavior to the Target Behavior the Bird
Presents Now: Parrot will stay on the cage for 10
seconds.
1. Before bird leaves cage present cue, wait 8
seconds then bridge and reinforce.
4. Continue to gradually increase time intervals
prior to reinforcing until reach desired goal.
Once achieved, randomly reinforce the parrot
for the behavior of staying on cage. Other strate-
gies include offering reinforcers such as enrich-
ment that the bird will spend time investigating
when the caregiver must leave the area. Vary
these enrichment items to keep interest level
high. In addition it is helpful to reinforce the
bird every time it is returned to the cage. The
goal is to increase the level of positive reinforce-
ment associated with staying on the cage in
comparison to the reinforcement associated
with going to the caregiver.
SHAPING PLAN FOR FLYING TO A
DESIGNATED PERCH ON CUE
Target Behavior: Parrot flies from hand to a
perch 10 ft away.
Cue: Finger pointing to perch.
Presents Now: Steps onto perch when presented
in front of the perch.
1. Present the bird to step up onto the perch.
Bridge and reinforce.
2. Present the bird to step up on the perch so
that the bird must lean forward to use beak to
get onto perch. Present cue just as bird begins
to moves toward perch. Bridge and reinforce.
3. Present bird to step up onto perch so that the
bird must lean forward to use beak and flap
wings to get onto perch. Present cue just as bird
begins to moves toward perch. Bridge and offer
magnitude reinforcement for flapping wings.
4. Present bird in front of perch so that bird hops
to perch. Present cue just as bird begins to
moves toward perch. Bridge and offer magni-
tude reinforcement for hop.
5. Gradually increase distance bird hops or flies
to perch followed by bridge and reinforcer
each time.
Over time this behavior can be generalized so
that the bird will fly to any perch when cued.
This is done by retraining the behavior with a
number of different perching locations.
CONCLUSION
Flight allows parrots the opportunity to make choic-
es. This in turn requires caregivers to challenge them-
selves to fully embrace positive reinforcement training
strategies as well as develop an increased sensitivity to
bird body language. Before venturing forth into flight
training ask yourself if your bird is the right candidate
for the job? Are you willing and able to take on the
training challenge and responsibility? If yes, then pre-
pare to become a more skilled trainer with a very well
trained and well behaved flighted companion parrot.
With positive reinforcement training coming to the
forefront as key to successful companion animal rela-
tionships, lets hope in the future we will see more par-
rots able to safely experience the benefits of flight.
Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional in the field of
animal training since 1990. She owns and operates a com-
pany, Good Bird, Inc., (www.goodbirdinc.com) that provides
behavior and training products to the companion parrot com-
munity. These products include Good Bird magazine, books,
videos, consulting services and behavior and training work-
shops. She is the author of Good Bird! A Guide to Solving
Behavior Problems in Companion Parrots by Avian
Publications and also the The Parrot Problem Solver.
Finding Solutions to Aggressive Behavior by TFH
Publications. She is the past president of the International
Association of Avian Trainers and Educators
(www.IAATE.org).
Barbaras experience also includes consulting on animal
behavior and training in zoos and other animal related facil-
ities. Her specialty is free flight bird training. She has been a
part of the development and production of more than 15 dif-
ferent free flight education programs. Barbara continues to
provide consulting services to zoos, nature centers and other
animal facilities through her other company Animal
Training and Consulting Services (www.ATandCS.com). In
her career she has trained animals, trained staff, and/or pre-
sented shows at facilities around the world.
SHAPING PLAN FOR DROP
AN ITEM IN BEAK
Target Behavior: Parrot drops whatever is held
in beak when cued.
Cue: Verbal drop.
Presents Now: Bird will hold an item in beak,
but not let it go voluntarily.
1. Choose a safe item (such as a small parrot toy)
for the parrot to hold in its beak.
2. Offer the item to the bird.
3. Watch for the bird to accidentally or inten-
tionally drop the item. Bridge and reinforce
the moment the item is dropped.
4. If the bird will not drop the item, the rein-
forcer can be shown to possibly elicit the
behavior, followed by the bridge and rein-
forcer.
5. Offer the item to the parrot again. Present the
verbal cue just prior to when it appears the
bird will drop the item. Bridge and reinforce.
6. Repeat this process until the bird responds to
the cue and drops the item.
7. Repeat the process with a different item.
8. Repeat the process with several different
items until the cue is generalized to any object
in the birds mouth.
T
hat Einstein is a pretty amazing bird. I am sure
many of you have had the opportunity to see this
brilliantly trained African grey parrot on numer-
ous television shows.( For a video clip of Einstein visit
this link and look for Einstein on the homepage
http://animal.discovery.com/fansites/petstar/pet-
star.html. According to the website Einstein is the most
watched clip in animalpanet.com history! Thats amaz-
ing parrot power!)
I was fortunate to spend some time with Einstein and
her (yes I said her, Einstein is a girl) trainers on a visit
to the Knoxville Zoo last year. Einstein has been a part
of the bird show at the zoo for many years, prior to
becoming a TV star. Despite her years as a
seasoned veteran and staple at the zoo, she
still never fails to entertain even the long
time staff members. In an impromptu train-
ing session for my benefit the trainers ran
Einstein through her paces, we all ended up
laughing hysterically. The trainers clearly
enjoy Einstein as much as I did. I think my
favorite behavior went something like this:
Trainer: Einstein, what do you say when
you get a peanut?
Einstein :( delivered rapidly in a high pitched
voice): Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!
Too cute. Quite often birds trained for
vocal behaviors in shows learn a specific
routine. This is repeated for every show.
While Einstein is certainly capable of this,
she also offers something I think is rather
uncommon in training for vocal behaviors.
She has learned to listen and repeat to
learn a new vocal behavior. The trainers
can train her to present new a vocal behav-
ior rather quickly. For example Einstein
was trained to say superstar when the
trainers learned they would be bringing
her on the television show Pet Star. What
great training!
While your parrot may not have had as many years
of extensive training as Einstein, it doesnt mean your
little talker hasnt got a shot at fame. The most impor-
tant thing to look for is a parrot that already has an
inclination towards copying sounds. If you have one
of those African grey parrots that has picked up
obnoxious sounds like the smoke alarm beeping, or
the microwave ding, you are in luck! You can put
those sounds on cue and annoy the heck out of your
spouse whenever you desire. Or conversely you may
find through your training process that your parrot
learns that only offering those sounds when cued
earns reinforcers and therefore those unpleasant
sounds are emanated from your parrot less often,
unless cued of course.
Training your Parrot to Talk on Cue
In general parrots such as African greys and
Amazons tend to hold the gold medal for parrot
species being more inclined to mimic sounds. However
there are exceptions. Have you ever seen the charming
budgerigar in Natures Parrots: Look whos Talking?
As I recall the bird quotes Shakespeare. (For more on
this program visit www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/par-
rots/html/intro.html) I also know of a rose breasted
cockatoo named Wooky Woo who certainly sur-
prised me when I first met him with his large repertoire
of phrases. Those who have been to my Parrot Behavior
and Training Workshop will recall his video segment
and shouts of wheeeeeeeeeeee to the cue of wooky
wooky woo cockatoo.
In general parrots such as African greys and Amazons, such as this dou-
ble yellow headed Amazon parrot, tend to hold the gold medal for parrot
species being more inclined to mimic sounds.
Photo caption: Check out Natures Parrots: Look Whos Talking to see a
talking budgerigar.
Even a rose breasted cockatoo has the ability to mimic sounds.
What about your parrot? Is he a good candidate for
this behavior? Teaching a bird to talk a cue is quite easy
if the bird in question already mimics sounds. All par-
rots have the ability to copy sounds, but they don't all
have the desire. There is no training strategy that will
guarantee a bird will talk. However, repeating words
or sounds to your bird can sometimes help a bird to
learn to copy you. Also, associating positive reinforce-
ment with any talking behavior can help, but it is
important to remember to be happy with your parrot,
whether he or she chooses to mimic or not.
To put a vocal behavior "on cue," you use the training
strategy of capturing. This means the first step will be
to catch your bird in the act of making a sound you
would like to be able to cue in the future. Here's how
you do it:
1. Listen for your parrot to make a sound you want to
put on cue. To avoid confusion, focus on capturing
only one sound at time. Once the bird has learned
one sound on cue, then try teaching a second.
2. The exact moment you hear the sound you want,
use a bridge to tell your parrot this is what you
want. If your bird understands a bridge, this will
be very helpful. You will be able to bridge your
bird even if you are far away from him. Remember,
the bridge sound bridges the gap in time between
when the bird did the behavior correctly and offer-
ing of the positive reinforcer. This gives you time
to walk from wherever you are to your bird if nec-
essary.
3. Offer a treat or other positive reinforcement fol-
lowing the bridge.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 until your bird is offering the
sound often.
5. Pick a cue to use to signal your bird to make the
sound.
6. Once your bird begins making the sound regular-
ly, you should be able to start slipping in the cue
right before the bird offers the sound.
7. Offer lots of positive reinforcers when the bird
makes the sound right after the cue.
8. Phase out reinforcing the bird for offering the
sound and only reinforce the bird when it makes
the sound after the cue.
After your parrot has mastered one vocal behavior
on cue, decide upon the next sound you would like to
capture and focus on getting that one on cue. Once
your bird has learned the process you will likely find it
easy to build his collection of vocal behaviors he will
present on cue. Try this one at home and let Good Bird
magazine know about your progress. We are looking to
include your training success stories in upcoming
issues. Document your experience and photograph
your parrot in action and send it to info@good-
birdinc.com. You can also share your experience with
other bird training enthusiasts in our Yahoo Group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GoodBirdGroup/
(www.IAATE.org).
E
veryone who has had a parrot who feather picks
intimately knows what a distressing and difficult
problem feather picking is. Many feather pick-
ing problems are caused by medical issues, so if a bird
starts to feather pick, the first step should be to take it
to a qualified avian veterinarian. However, if the feath-
er picking is considered to be behavioral, people are
advised to try various methods to stop the feather
destruction. Dietary and environmental changes are
commonly recommended. Some of these suggestions
are excellent and truly improve the life of the parrot.
Sometimes, the owner of the feather picking bird will
spend money on various hocus-pocus remedies
which are most effective as a pocket-book lightener,
and these products have little effect on the feather pick-
ing bird.
Which of these changes actually have a measurable
effect on feather picking? Scientists have not studied
feather picking in parrots for very long. However, sci-
entists have been studying a similar phenomenon in
chickens extensively. This behavior is called feather
pecking. Chickens will tear out each others feathers,
and often mutilate the skin, vents and feet of other
birds. Sometimes, this can become so severe that the
pecked chicken will die. Feather pecking in chickens
loses money for farmers due to decreased production
of eggs and the death of birds; therefore there is a lot of
interest in and financial support for studying the rea-
sons behind it. Feather pecking in chickens and feath-
er picking in parrots may have similar causes and pre-
vention, so the chicken research is well worth consider-
ing. When researchers at the University of California
Davis started investigating feather picking in Amazon
parrots, they looked at the studies in chickens to see
what had caused chickens to stop pecking each other.
Scientific Studies and Feather Picking
By Natasha Laity Snyder
Feather pecking in chickens and feather picking in parrots may have similar
causes and prevention, so the chicken research is well worth considering
They used this chicken research to direct them to feath-
er picking prevention strategies that might be most
effective with parrots. Pet owners can look at the
research that has been done, and they can learn from
the positive results achieved.
The most consistently effective strategy that has been
researched for preventing feather picking in both chick-
ens and parrots has been the addition of foraging activi-
ties into the birds daily life. Foraging is the process of
identifying, gathering, manipulating, processing and
eating food. Wild birds travel long distances and exper-
iment with many different food items to see what is edi-
ble and desirable. Parrots forage by seeking out and
manipulating objects with their beaks and feet.
Chickens forage by picking and scratching at edible and
inedible objects1. Foraging behaviors seem to be instinc-
tual. Chickens do not need to be taught to scratch and
peck. Chickens will begin foraging in their substrate
(bedding usually made of chopped straw) within two
days of the substrates introduction regardless of the age
of the chicken2. Food gathering occupies a great deal of
any wild birds time. When given the opportunity to
forage, captive Orange Winged Amazons will spend an
average of 19-26% of active time in food acquiring and
processing behaviors3. The opportunity to forage seems
to have a direct influence on the birds welfare.
Chickens with the opportunity to forage in straw lay sig-
nificantly more eggs4. When given stress tests based on
blood cell counts and behavior, chickens were consider-
ably more resistant to stress when given the opportuni-
ty to forage. By making this small husbandry change,
parrot owners should be able to improve the birds wel-
fare and feather picking behavior.
Birds in captivity have a limited opportunity to for-
age because their daily food is served to them in a dish
or trough. Foraging behaviors may persist even though
Foraging behaviors seem to be instinctual. Chickens do not need to be taught to scratch and peck.
the birds nutritional needs are met, and these instinc-
tive behaviors may be redirected to feather picking.
Loss of the opportunity to forage and manipulate food
may also have an adverse effect on the birds neurolog-
ical development, which then may lead to repetitive
behaviors in birds similar to obsessive-compulsive
behaviors5. The absence of foraging activity seems to
have a strong association with a higher rate of feather
picking in all of these studies.
Giving captive birds the ability to use their time and
energy foraging is a simple way to prevent or lessen
feather damage. All of the studies using foraging
enrichments decreased feather picking. Parrots were
encouraged to forage in toys designed for holding
food. Chickens seem to have a strong preference for
straw, sand, and plastic mats as a foraging surface or
the addition of a bale of wood shavings6. Chickens
also enjoy picking and destroying a Styrofoam block7.
When the foraging material is changed, feather picking
can increase or decrease depending upon how fre-
quently the birds used the material. Individual breeds
of chickens were shown to have definite preferences for
certain foraging activities, and it would not be surpris-
ing if each species of parrot picked different foraging
toys. When researchers removed or replaced the birds
favorite foraging activity, they observed a decrease in
foraging and an increase in feather picking nearly im-
mediately8. Therefore, if the birds show a strong pref-
erence for a certain foraging activity, it seems to be nec-
essary to keep using it or risk increased feather picking.
Even though exercise is critical for the health of any
captive bird, foraging activity seems to be even more
important. Foraging enrichments are used by parrots
more often and with more regularity than physical
enrichments like swings and toys3. Feather picked par-
rots had re-feathering after two weeks of foraging and
physical enrichment while the
control group who had either
physical enrichment or no enrich-
ment had a decline in feather con-
dition. Later, this control group
was provided with enrichment
and their feather condition
improved. In both chickens and
parrots the newly encouraged
foraging behaviors may have sat-
isfied the instinctive need that
drove the feather picking.
Alternately, the bird may have
been using their time to interact
with the enrichments, and they
simply did not have as much
time left in the day to spend over
preening or picking their feath-
ers. Providing varied activities
seems to allow the bird to spend
his time in healthy behaviors
instead of feather picking.
Scientists studying parrots in the wild and in captiv-
ity have shown that foraging is a vital part of a birds
day, and the absence of the ability to forage seems to
cause stress related problems and feather picking.
Recently, foraging has been heavily promoted as a nec-
essary activity in any parrots life by many well regard-
ed people in the companion parrot world. Parrot own-
ers should provide as many foraging opportunities as
possible for their birds every day. In the research
setting, Amazons spent up to one quarter of their active
time foraging! A wild bird would spend even more of
its time flying around, searching for, processing and
eating food. It is easy to feed all of a birds dry diet
through foraging toys, and people can also hang
chunks of vegetables and fruit on skewers. Many cre-
ative foraging toys have been designed by companies
such as Starbird, Fun Max, Bell Plastics, and Mother
Pluckin Bird Toys. Many simple homemade foraging
Birds in captivity have a limited opportunity to forage because their daily food is served to them in a dish
or trough
toys can be made with paper cups, paper bags, plastic
tubs, and blocks of wood with holes drilled into them.
Scott Echols, DVM, in his excellent film Captive
Foraging: The Next Best Thing to Being Free shows
how to encourage parrots to forage using a home made
foraging tree.
Even though foraging has been shown to be one of
the most consistently reliable ways to reduce feather
damaging behaviors in birds, scientists have also dis-
covered some other interesting connections between
husbandry, genetics and feather picking. In future
columns, we will look at some of these other items, and
we will use the research to improve our parrots lives.
Natasha Laity Snyder is a veterinary technician with a spe-
cial interest in birds and animal behavior. She is the fortunate
caretaker of six birds, three cats, three dogs and three llamas
on a small farm in Virginia. Her Meyers parrots handsome
face can be seen in The Parrot Problem Solver. She is cur-
rently an educator for American Humane Association in their
shelter training program, and she gives classes about parrots
and their husbandry to anyone who will listen.
REFERENCES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Aerni V, El-Lethey H, and Weschler B. Effect of for-
aging material and food form on feather picking and
laying hens. British Poultry Science. 2000; 41:16-21.
2. Nichol CJ, Lingberg AC, Phillips, AJ, Pope SJ,
Wilkins LJ, Green LE. Influence of prior exposure to
wood shavings on feather pecking, dust bathing and
foraging in adult laying hens. Applied Animal
Behavior Science. 2001; 73: 141-155.
3. Meehan CL, Millam JR, Mench JA. Foraging oppor-
tunity and increased physical complexity both pre-
vent and reduce psychogenic feather picking by
young Amazon parrots. Applied Animal Behavior
Science. 2003; 80: 71-83.
4. El-Lethey H, Jungi TW, Huber-Eicher B. Effects of
feeding corticosterone and housing conditions on
feather pecking in laying hens (Gallus gallus domes-
ticus). Physiology and Behavior. 2001; 73:243-251.
5. Meehan CL, Garner JP, Mench JA. Environmental
enrichment and development of cage stereotypy in
Orange Winged Amazon Parrots (Amazona ama-
zonica). Developmental Psycho-biology 2004
May;44(4):209-18.
6. Huber-Eicher, B and Wechsler, B. Feather picking in
domestic chicks: its relation to dust bathing and
foraging. Animal Behavior. 1997; 54: 757-768.
7. Wechsler B and Huber-Eicher B. The effect of forag-
ing material and perch height on feather pecking and
feather damage in laying hens. Applied Animal
Behavior Science. 1998; 58: 131-141.
8. Klein T, Zeltner E, Huber-Eicher B. Are genetic dif-
ferences in foraging behavior of laying hen chicks
paralleled by hybrid specific differences in feather
pecking? Applied Animal Behavior Science. 2000;
70: 143-155.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR FORAGING
TOYS AND INFORMATION:
Resources for Foraging Toys
Starbird: www.estarbird.com
Fun Max: Carried by a number of retailers
including busybeaks.com,
parrotdiseperch.com, theperchstore.com
Bell Plastics: www.bellplastics.com
Mother Pluckin Bird Toys:
www.motherpluckinbirdtoys.com
Homemade foraging toys can be made from:
Paper cups
Paper bags
Plastic tubs
Blocks of wood with holes drilled into them
Foraging DVD
Captive Foraging: The Next Best Thing to Being
Free By Scott Echols, DVM shows how to
encourage parrots to forage using a home made
foraging tree. Purchase at www.exoticdvm.com
INTRODUCTION:
I
n Volume 2 Issue 4, Winter 2006 of Good Bird
Magazine I reviewed the evolution of the avian
brain and its anatomy. Although there is still a great
deal of controversy surrounding the nomenclature of
the avian brain, most scientists believe the upper clus-
ters of neurons found in the avian brain is directly anal-
ogous to the smooth or folded layers in the mammalian
brain. This is evidenced by similar embryonic precur-
sors in both, but birds have evolved entirely new ways
to support intelligence. Examples of avian intelligence
are continuously seen in fields and laboratories world-
wide and in this second part on avian intelligence I will
describe some of those studies and observations.
TESTING AVIAN INTELLIGENCE:
Before you can verify and quantify intelligence there
must first be a way to test for intelligence. Birds lack the
forelimbs of primates needed to modify their sur-
roundings making it difficult to test for intelligence, but
the same can be said for other intelligent animals such
as elephants or dolphins, so how do you test for intelli-
gence? First you must define intelligence. Webster
defines it as a quickness of understanding; a compre-
hension which is derived from reasoning. One of the
hallmarks of intelligence in animals is its ability to com-
municate with other animals both within and outside
its own species. Other signs of intelligence are tool-use,
learning by watching, conceptual skills, counting abili-
SCIENCE FOR THE BIRDBRAIN (A SYNOPSIS OF SCIENTIFIC PAPERS)
The Avian Brain and Intelligence (Part Two)
By Diane Starnes
Photo credit: Roelant Jonker/Grace Innemee www.CityParrots.org
ty, and speed of comprehension or
reasoning ability. Like mammals,
some birds are naturally smarter than
others, but given their range of behav-
iors, birds are extraordinarily flexible
in their intelligence quotients.
Communication
Birds have a great advantage over
all other animals in their ability to cre-
ate song. Complex vocalizations give
them an advanced vehicle for com-
munication. Birds have no known
form of spoken language, but they do
communicate with their flock mates
through song, calls, and body lan-
guage. Black-capped chickadees were
recently found to warn colleagues of
danger by chirping about the size and
actual threat of individual predators.
Studies have shown that the intricate
territorial songs of some birds must
be learned at an early age, and that
the memory of the song will serve the
bird for the rest of its life. Canaries will change their
song each year making it more complex as they mature.
Young canaries are often trained by a mature Master
Singer so as to develop a complex song at an earlier
age (note from reviewer: one flock of canaries housed
near an Audubon clock incorporated the wild bird
clock sounds into their song). Some bird species are
able to communicate in a variety of dialects. For exam-
ple, the New Zealand saddleback will learn the differ-
ent song "dialects" of clans of its own species. When a
territory-owning male of the species dies, a young male
will immediately take his place, singing to prospective
mates in the dialect appropriate to the territory he is in.
Harvard biologist, Michael Schindlinger, spent years
studying the different dialects of the double yellow-
head and yellow-naped Amazon parrots. Different
species of parrots, and sometimes even different
groups of a single species, have their own "language," a
set of sounds shared in common, which they use to
communicate amongst themselves. They learn this
"language" as they grow, and they pass it down for
many years, generation to generation. Using these
dialects it is now possible to return a smuggled bird
back to its original flock. It is also possible to use these
dialects to study the relationships and interactions
among various flocks of same species.
There have been impressive examples of chim-
panzees and bonobos being taught to use symbols and
sign-language. But the famous work by Irene
Pepperberg with Alex, her African grey parrot, showed
that parrots are able to match the performance of chim-
panzees in almost every respect. And they can do it
using our own language. Dr. Pepperberg states that
Alex can grasp important aspects of numbers, color
concepts, the difference between presence and absence
(the concept of zero), and physical properties of objects
like their shapes and materials. He can sound out let-
ters the same way a child does. Parrots, some
researchers report, can converse with humans, invent
syntax and teach other parrots what they know. Acon-
troversial study conducted by Ryan B. Reynolds has
suggested budgerigars are able to form simple, mean-
ingful sentences. The evidence consists so far of only
audio files, but they have yet to be either proven or
unproven. A budgie name Victor could say over 500
words often using them in context. Another African
grey parrot, called N'kisi, has a vocabulary of over a
thousand words.
Recent studies indicate that birds may also have an
ability to understand grammatical structures. Tim
Gentner at the University of California at San Diego
department of Psychology (April 2006) found Starlings
There have been impressive examples of chimpanzees and bonobos being taught to use symbols and
sign-language
could detect embedded warbled clauses in a bird song
sentence. This recursive grammar is what linguists
have long believed separated man from beast.
(Houston Chronicle April 30, 2006).
Tool Use
Chimpanzees and most of the great apes are known
for using and making tools from leaves, stones and
twigs, but tool-use is as common in birds as it is in non-
human primates. Some classic examples are Egyptian
vultures (using stones to crack eggs), New Caledonian
crows (create complex tools) and bowerbirds (whose
males build ornamented structures resembling bowers
to attract females). Apes use simple tools like twigs,
selecting different ones for different purposes, but New
Caledonian crows create more complex tools with their
beaks and feet. They trim and sculpture twigs to fash-
ion hooks for fetching food. They make spears out of
barbed leaves, probing under leaf detritus for prey.
Abstract tools are traditionally defined as objects that
are used as an extension of the body and held directly
in the hand or mouth. Therefore, a vulture breaking an
egg by hitting it with a stone uses a tool, but a gull
dropping an egg on a rock does not. This distinction
between true and borderline (or proto-tool) cases has
been criticized for its arbitrariness. True tool use
includes use of probes, hammers, sponges, or scoops
while borderline categories involved bait fishing, bat-
tering and dropping on anvils, or holding with wedges
and skewers to obtain food or water. Birds are more fre-
quent tool users than usually thought. The complex
cognitive processes involved in tool use may have
repeatedly co-evolved with large brains (in relation to
body mass) in several orders of birds. Not surprisingly
Corvids, the family of birds that includes crows,
ravens, and jays, are the group of birds with the largest
brain/mass ratio. In fact their brain to body ration
equals that of dolphins and is almost the same as ours.
Ornithologist John K. Terres wrote that birds in the
Corvid family have probably achieved "the highest
degree of intelligence" found in any birds. Other scien-
tists believe that Psittaformes, (cockatoos, lorikeets,
and parrots) are at least as intelligent. Black Palm
Cockatoos in Indonesia have been observed beating
sticks of wood against tree branches which is believed
to ward off unwanted intruders. Many parrot species
have been observed using a variety of wedges to insert
into the cracks they make in nuts allowing them to eas-
ily pop open even the hardest of nuts.
Ornithologist John K. Terres wrote that birds in the Corvid family have
probably achieved "the highest degree of intelligence" found in any birds
Photo credit: Matt Edmonds www.mewondersofnature.com
A black breasted buzzard drops a rock onto an egg to crack it open.
Learning by watching
This may actually be a subset of comprehension or
reasoning ability. There are two classic examples of this
important indicator of intelligence. Among a troop of
Japanese macaques, an individual learned to wash
sweet potatoes, and within nine years, most of the
troop had acquired the same behavior. The stealing of
cream from the top of milk bottles by British blue and
great tits was first observed in the 1920s. Within 30
years, the learned behavior had spread throughout vir-
tually the entire country. Most young birds learn their
tool using abilities by watching and imitating the adult
flock members in the wild. But this type of learning can
also happen between different species in an alien envi-
ronment. In a laboratory setting, a woodpecker finch
used a simple stick tool to assist it in obtaining food. A
young cactus finch, in an adjacent cage, learned to imi-
tate this behavior by watching the woodpecker finch.
British documentarian David Attenborough, in his
mini-series The Life of Birds, captured an innovation
the crows in urban Japan had developed. They
dropped hard-shelled nuts onto crosswalks to be
cracked by cars running over them. Then the crows
would dodge traffic to retrieve the nut meats. Afew of
the crows noticed that when the light turned red the
traffic would stop and they began waiting for the light
to retrieve the nuts. The rest of the crows, observing
this behavior, began doing the same until soon all the
crows were waiting to retrieve the nuts while the cars
were stopped at a red light.
Conceptual skills
Some birds, notably pigeons, have demonstrated the
ability to conceptualize. In one study, conducted at
Harvard in 1964, it was shown that pigeons have a gen-
eral concept of "human," which includes both male and
female humans, individual body parts, and the human
body from the back, from below, and from above.
When shown photographs of all of the above, the
pigeons recognized the photos as "human." They also
recognized photographs of human beings in "disguise"
(i.e., a human in the nude, wearing strange clothes, or
shown out of proportion). Another study conducted
with pigeons showed that the birds were able to distin-
guish between the artworks of different artists. For
example, they could tell the difference between a
Picasso and a Monet. They can communicate using
visual symbols on a computer. Pigeons can memorize
up to 725 different visual patterns, and are capable of
what looks like deception. Pigeons will pretend to have
found a food source, lead other birds to it and then
sneak back to the true source.
The Clarks nutcracker, discovered by explorers
Lewis and Clark, hides upward of 30,000 pine seeds
over an area of 200 square miles in the late fall and
finds up to 90 percent of the seeds over the following
eight months despite the fact that many of them are
buried in snow. Nutcrackers also hide and steal. If they
see another bird watching them as they cache food,
they return later, alone, to hide the food again. Some
Crows learned to wait for traffic lights to turn red to avoid cars when
feeding on cracked nuts in the road.
A pigeon learns to push his way through a barred door to enter his coop.
scientists believe this shows a rudimentary theory of
mind; understanding that another bird has intentions
and beliefs.
Jays, also, have been shown to remember exactly
where they hid acorns. In one study Jays were able to
find seeds almost a year after they hid them. It is
thought that they remember these by forming and stor-
ing detailed image maps of the surrounding area. They
can hide hundreds of food items and successfully
retrieve 90%.
Hummingbirds feeding on bushes with flowers are
able to remember the spatial distribution of flowers
that have nectar and ones that do not and will not
revisit bad ones.
Many frugivorous birds have seasonal foraging pat-
terns based on the flowering and fruiting seasons and
the locations of fruiting trees in a forest.
Counting Ability
To test how well animals can count, scientists can
train animals to learn to distinguish between two and
three sound tones. Monkeys have to go through 21,000
trials to figure this out, and rats never learn how, but
birds have little trouble with this. Another test shows
birds a picture of a number of objects, and places dif-
ferent numbers of objects in front of several boxes. The
box with the same number of objects in front of it as the
picture has food and the others are empty. This test
proved that ravens and parakeets can learn to count as
high as seven. Alex, the African Grey, can count to six.
Cormorants used by Chinese fisherman are often
rewarded with fish on every seventh fish that they
catch. The cormorants learn this pattern and are able to
keep count and predict their reward and will wait for it
if the fisherman fails to keep count. A2003 study in the
journal Nature found that common marsh birds called
coots can recognize and count their own eggs, even
when other eggs are in the nest.
Cormorants have been shown to be able to count at least up to seven.
Reasoning & Comprehension
To test how well animals reason, scientists can do
several experiments. In one test called the Krushinsky
problem, an animal looks into a chamber with two
dishes. One has food, the other is empty. Then the sci-
entist moves the dishes behind two trap doors so the
animal can't see either dish, and watches where the ani-
mal goes. Dogs and crows solve the Krushinsky test
very quickly. Cats, rabbits, pigeons, and chickens do
poorly on this test. Magpies, at an earlier age than any
other creature tested, develop an understanding of the
fact that when an object disappears behind a curtain, it
has not vanished.
In Oxford, England, a crow called Betty has aston-
ished scientists by deliberately bending a straight wire
into a hook and using it to extract food from a contain-
er. The feat makes her the first animal other than a
human that has shown a clear understanding of cause
and effect, and fashioned a tool for a specific task using
new materials not encountered in the wild. Not even
chimpanzees, our closest cousins, have this ability. But
Betty's older male lab-mate, Abel, had a more direct
route of securing his meals -- he would snatch the wire
or steal the food from Betty. He was not tested to see if
he could bend the wire. Betty and Abel are two captive
New Caledonian Crows being studied by Oxford
University's Behavioral Ecology Research Group.
Scientists first spotted Betty's ability by accident during
an experiment to see whether the birds would select a
hooked wire rather than a straight wire to use as a tool.
Abel snatched away the hook and Betty was left to
adapt by bending the straight wire. Betty was able to
repeat the skill nine times out of ten, using more than
one technique, proving this was not a fluke. Professor
Alex Kacelnik, who heads the research group, said:
"First she tried to get the food with the straight wire,
and couldn't reach it. So she pushed the tip of the wire
in a crack in the tray and bent it to form a hook. She
then used this to get the food. What is more, she didn't
do it the same way each time. Sometimes she stood on
the wire with one foot while pulling the tip with her
beak. Or she stuck the wire into a crevice and worked
on it, coming from different angles. If it didn't work
right at first, and she couldn't get the food, she'd take it
out and fix it so that it did."
In their native home, the South Pacific island of New
Caledonia, crows of such species are known to make
tools out of twigs and leaves to winkle out grubs.
Professor Kacelnik said the team planned to see
whether other New Caledonian Crows captured from
the wild had similar abilities, and whether they might
be shared by other birds. Professor Kacelnik said just
because Betty was a gifted tool-maker, it did not mean
she was necessarily bright in other areas. One of the
hallmarks of cognitive capacity is flexibility.
Other interesting behaviors showing
higher intelligence
In an article published in 1995 by the National
Geographic magazine, the macaw project at Tambopata
Research Center in the rain forest of Peru studied what
the wild birds eat. Since most food items are available
only seasonally, researchers discovered that during the
dry season, birds are forced to eat seeds that are poi-
sonous. To medicate themselves, hundreds of birds of
many species of parrots congregate at a nearby river-
bank at the world's largest known avian clay lick. The
clay that they consume helps bind the toxins and pre-
vent sickness in the birds. Recent observations of
Macaws in different regions have also shown that par-
rots living in areas with low levels of sodium and other
minerals, like in Peru, tend to become soil/clay eaters
while Macaws in areas of high sodium like Costa Rico
are non-soil eaters.
Testing Times
Time intervals for learning new skills can also be
used to denote intelligence levels in animals, the short-
er the time, the higher the intelligence. The kea of New
Zealand is an astonishing parrot whose intelligence can
be compared to that of the higher apes. Adocumentary
film crew designed an intelligence test requiring the
Kea to retrieve a food reward by pulling up the string
to which it was tied and standing on the string to stop
the food from falling back again and repeating this
action several times with a camera pointing at them at
close range. The crew allowed four days for the project
so they could find the birds, give them time to desensi-
tize to both the camera and the puzzle. The time need-
ed to solve the puzzle had taken anywhere from days
to months with many other species of birds including
tits, crows, and woodpeckers. The Keas arrived while
the crew was still setting up its cameras and while the
documentarian was getting a cup of coffee the Kea
approached the puzzle, solved it in less than three min-
utes and was off with his food reward. Keas, the only
true Alpine parrot, in their harsh mountain environ-
ment, where food is hard to get, must be ready to take
advantage of any food that's available. They must be
unselective in their diet, ingenious in finding new food
sources, and flexible in their behavior, or die.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND EVOLUTIONARY
PRESSURES FOR DEVELOPING INTELLIGENCE:
We discussed in the Winter 06 issue why dinosaurs
took to the air but why did parrots and other birds
need to develop intelligent thought?
Longevity
One theory is that brain size and longevity coe-
volved. Adapting an arboreal environment protected
birds against predators thus lowering mortality which
lead to longer life spans. Expanding its future favored
large brains for greater expenditure on survival
through food procurement and increased nurturing of
offspring. The complexity of tropical forest with respect
to species diversity and fruiting patterns favored the
development of increase brain function for storage and
processing of information. This shift in anthropoids
(monkeys, apes, and humans) began about 35 million
years ago and for Psittacidae (Parrots) about 40 million
years ago. All flying birds must possess a fine level of
motor control for in-flight maneuvering and landing.
When birds became arboreal their eyes positioned on
the sides of their heads and they developed monocular
vision to aid in detecting the movement of predators.
They had to be able to process a huge amount of com-
plex visual information. Both of these adaptations
required increased brain function and size.
Foraging
Another environmental pressure was the need to
secure food through foraging and the effects of learn-
ing-intensive foraging strategies on brain size and life
span. Parrots engage in a great deal of extractive forag-
ing. Certain avian brain structures, including the fore-
brain, which is the avian equivalent of the mammalian
neocortex, have been shown to be associated with com-
plex foraging behaviors. African grey parrots are par-
ticularly noted for their cognitive abilities, which are
believed to have evolved as a consequence of their his-
tory of cooperative feeding on the ground in central
Africa. Some birds use teamwork while hunting, which
is another form of foraging. Predatory birds hunting in
pairs have been observed using a "bait and switch"
technique, whereby one bird will distract the prey
while the other swoops in for the kill. Parrots are also
highly altricial (underdeveloped at birth and depend-
ent on parental care for long periods) and display both
large relative brain size and longevity. Terrestrial galli-
forms, such as quail, are precocious, shorter lived, and
smaller brained. In comparative studies, the degree of
altriciality at birth, which is associated with delays in
foraging efficiency, is the best predictor of relative brain
size, especially of hemisphere size as opposed to brain
stem, optic lobes, or cerebellum.
Social Behavior
Animals with large brains and long lives tend to be
highly social and this is true for both apes and birds.
One explanation for intelligence is that it evolved to
process and use social information, such as who is allied
with whom, who is related to whom and how to use
this information for deception. They also remember.
Some scientists argue that the more social animals
are, the more intelligent they seem to be. The human
race itself is an example of evidence that would sup-
port this conjecture. Both parrots and Corvids have
shown tendencies towards organized social behavior.
Many Corvid species separate into small family groups
or "clans" for activities like nesting and territorial
defense. The birds will then congregate in massive
flocks made up of several different species for migrato-
ry purposes. When the migration period is over, they
will return to their original family groups. Scientists
report that such behaviors indicate intelligence, as they
would require the birds to not only recognize and
remember their former companions, but also to inter-
pret subtle changes in temperament and appearance.
Migration
When a group of birds fly together, they often form a
V shape. This creates a slipstream between the birds,
making an area of reduced pressure in the middle of
the formation. This reduces air-resistance, enabling the
flock to travel up to 75% faster than they would indi-
vidually. The first bird encounters the majority of the
air-resistance; as a consequence, the lead bird changes
repeatedly as the flock travels. If a bird falls out of for-
mation, two other birds generally leave with that bird
to help it return to the flock with a similar formation.
Moreover, birds observe and integrate subtle visual
clues to aid in their navigation, including the move-
ment of the sun, visual landmarks, cloud movements,
wind direction, and the earth's own magnetic field.
Individual birds use different sources of information to
navigate and may switch from one source to another
while in flight.
Migration has long been thought to be an instinctual
behavior but it involves a great deal of learned behav-
iors and processing of information. Scientists who have
studied the mechanisms of bird migration over long
distances have shown that while a bird may be instinc-
tively able, and biologically equipped, to make a first
flight on its own, adults are less prone to wander off-
course than first-year fledglings. The birds were able to
learn from experience or remember landmarks for the
benefit of future flights.
Innovativeness
(Feb. 24, 2005) Louis Lefebvre, an animal behaviorist
at McGill University in Montreal, has come up with an
IQ test for birds that has allowed him to create a pecking
order in mental abilities. For purposes of his research,
Lefebvre defines it as "innovativeness" or the ability to
adapt to different challenges. That at least allows him to
"put a number on it," which is a measurement of innov-
ativeness, and quite possibly of intelligence.
Lefebvre developed an elaborate statistical model in
an effort to come up with reliable numbers. Rather than
simply accepting a few examples of innovative behav-
ior as proof of intelligence, he compared the number of
reports of unusual behavior with the number of birds
of each specific species.
There are lots of crows, and much fewer quail, for
example, so it would require many examples of crow
innovation to outrank quail. And there were many. So
many more that crows came out well above the mean
for all birds, and quail came out well below. What that
means is crows are a lot smarter than quail, if intelli-
gence is indeed expressed in innovative, or problem-
solving, behavior.
Parrots, which are clearly smart birds, are inconsis-
tent, for instance. In South Africa, Lefebvre says, they
don't have a clue as to how to innovate. But in
Australia, they innovate like mad. Lefebvre says he
doesn't know why that's the case. It could be that they
are really innovating all over the place, and we aren't
smart enough to see it.
He found that avian species with larger brains, rela-
tive to their body mass, tend to be more successful at
establishing themselves in novel environments.
Moreover, the study provides evidence that larger
brains help birds respond to novel conditions by
enhancing their innovation propensity rather than
indirectly through noncognitive mechanisms. These
findings provide strong evidence for the hypothesis
that enlarged brains function to deal with changes in
the environment, and this may be why they evolved.
CONCLUSION:
Birds have well-developed brains that are large in
relation to their body mass. Compared with like-sized
reptiles, bird brains are six to eleven times larger. Some
birds' brains are as much as nine per cent of their body
mass, which is similar to higher mammals.
Parrots and primates share a wide range of behav-
iors, including complex social lives, feeding on season-
ally fluctuating foods that are difficult to obtain, tool
use, long periods of juvenile dependency, long lives
and low reproductive rates. Therefore, there does
appear to be a lifestyle that predisposes some animal
groups to evolve relatively large brains, according to
Dr. Iwaniuk.
There isn't a single kind of intelligence; different
species have developed different kinds of intelligence
appropriate to their particular needs. Birds demon-
strate intelligence by playing and engaging in games.
They demonstrate teamwork and they use tools. There
have been many cases of birds, such as the Caledonian
crow or the Kea, showing surprising levels of intelli-
gence. Intelligence fosters ingenuity, which translates
into adaptability and survival of species.
Diane Starnes has worked in areas of bio-medical research
for twenty-five years in both private and academic sectors.
She has hands on experience in areas of microbiology, virolo-
gy, cloning, PCR replication, DNA extraction, and sequenc-
ing. She has been involved with birds her whole life, and with
parrots for the past fifteen years. She worked briefly as a tech-
nician with an avian veterinary clinic after retiring from
research. Currently she serves on the board of the National
Parrot Rescue and Preservation Foundation, doing parrot
rescue and education, and assisting in presenting the Parrot
Festival seminar in Houston, Texas, USA each year.
REFERENCES:
1. Minds of Their Own: Birds Gain Respect by Sandra
Blakeslee; Published: February 1, 2005; New York
Times:Science
2. The Life of Birds (1998); David Attenborough;
Princeton University Press.
3. Elvira Cordileone (2006). Are Birds Trying to Tell Us
Things? (article). Toronto Star. Retrieved on 7 May,
2006. publication date: 23 Mar. 2006
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON AVIAN INTELLIGENCE VISIT THESE SITES:
http://avianbrain.org/nomen/NomenclatureIssues.html
www.nytimes.com/2005/02/01/science/01bird.html?ex=1265000400&en=409071a1e02c0c8f&ei=5088&p
artner=rssnyt
www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/features/132index.shtml
Why parrots are clever birdies (From an original article in the April 2000 edition of BBC Wildlife
Magazine - Who's a clever bird, then? By Mike Beynon)
www.helpinganimals.com/animalsHome_birdsintell.asp
Birds are Brainy
www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/spring/BirdBrain.html
Bird Brains: Testing Bird Intelligence
www.discover.com/issues/jun96/features/abrainthattalks785/
ABrain That Talks by Jo Ann C. Gutin
DISCOVER Vol. 17 No. 06 | June 1996 | Anthropology
www.theafricangreyparrot.com/African-Grey-Parrot-Bio.html
www.freeparrots.net/parrots/index.html
Mike Schindlinger: the oratrix project
www.springerlink.com/content/h6hw73796l165011/
Louis Lefebvre, Nektaria Nicolakakis and Denis Boire
Behaviour: Issue Volume 139, Number 7/July, 2002 P. 939-973
Publisher Brill Academic Publishers
ISSN 0005-7959 (Print) 1568-539X (Online)
archives.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/europe/08/09/crow.betty/index.html
Crow Shows she's no Bird-brain
August 9, 2002 Posted: 3:39 AM EDT (0739 GMT)
www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/99/15/10221
Anthropology / Economic Sciences
Published online before print July 16, 2002, 10.1073/pnas.152502899
PNAS | July 23, 2002 | vol. 99 | no. 15 | 10221-10226
W
hy are we drawn to animals? Some theorize
it is in our genes. Biophilia is the word
coined by E.O.Wilson for the human
propensity to affiliate with other life forms. Wilson sug-
gests that humans have an innate affinity for living
things which has evolved over many years of learning
and experience with nature.
Perhaps our genes do influence the desire to be
around animals, but clearly there are undeniable
rewards from the opportunity to develop a loving car-
ing relationship with a species other than ourselves.
If we are fortunate to have a love of animals fostered
in our lifetimes we can learn about responsibility,
empathy, the value of life, companionship, nurturing,
commitment and many times unconditional love.
Have animals had a profound influence on your life?
Share your photos or story with Good Bird Magazine.
Email 300 dpi photos to info@goodbirdinc.com.
Profile of an
Animal Lover
OUR FEATURED PROFILE:
Helen Dishaw currently holds the position of Animal
Trainer/Stage Show Coordinator at the Seneca Park
Zoo in New York, and is an active member of the
International Association of Avian Trainers and
Educators and the Animal Behavior Management
Alliance. Alifelong animal person, she has trained and
cared for a variety of exotic and domestic animals,
including primates, cats, horses, free-flight raptors, and
many others. Animals have always been the center of
her world from her first steps to present day. Helen is
living proof that childhood fantasies can come true in a
very vivid way. Growing up in England a recurring
imaginary childhood game was one in which she was
an animal trainer and her sister was her trained bush-
baby (of all things?). Thirty years later as a real profes-
sional animal trainer her favorite trainee, lil buddy,
and star of the Stage Show she coordinates is Junior,
a real live bushbaby! Is it right to call it work when
a job is really just a childhood fantasy transformed into
real life? Keep dreaming dreams do come true!
This issue of Good Bird Magazine shares a different kind
of success story. Rather than focused on training Andrea
Ferderick, a volunteer at The Gabriel Foundation, shares her
experiences and knowledge gained in trying to provide a
healthy diet for her eclectus parrot.
Ask those who share their lives with a companion
parrot what they feed their bird, and youll get a myri-
ad of answers. There seems, however, to be a lack of
understanding in several areas of the eclectus diet, and
I would like to share what I have learned.
All parrots need vitamin A, and it can be found in
the deep orange and dark green fruits and vegetables
enjoyed by eclectus. Hard as we try, we cannot repli-
cate everything the eclectus would obtain in the
wild. We do a good job by presenting fresh
foods, preferably those that are organic in
nature. Well meaning owners often enhance
their birds diet with extra vitamins and supple-
ments. Eclectus have a tendency to retain vita-
min A, and an excessive amount can create an
unhealthy imbalance in their system. This over-
abundance can also lead to hypervitaminosis or
vitamin toxicity, and can cause problems such as
toe tapping and wing flipping. Both problems
can be symptoms of excessive vitamin supple-
mentation, but other causes are calcium deficien-
cy, food allergies and metal toxicity. Eclectus
seem to best assimilate Vitamin A, as well as
other vitamins, from natural food sources. For
this reason, I discovered it isnt necessary to
include pellets in their diet. While there is much
debate about feeding pellets, a nutritional blend
of veggies, fruits, grains and sprouted seeds can
provide a good balance of vitamins and nutri-
tion. Many pellets I have found, even organic in
nature, can add more enrichment than eclectus
need, or can naturally purge.
In the wild, parrots eat a mixture of leaves,
twigs, berries, roots, seeds, nuts, fruits and vege-
tation. Birds fed only a seed diet can become list-
less, their feathers will be dull, and they may
have a very low energy level. When the nutri-
tional level is compromised, their health can be at
risk and their life span can be shortened. A diet
rich in fresh fruits, vegetables and sprouts should sup-
ply your companion parrot with the nutrition he or she
needs for optimal health. Because of their body chem-
istry, eclectus should not be given artifically colored
foods as they are far from healthy or organic, and these
additives can actually change the color of, or produce
spots on their feathers.
For some additional protein, I occasionally treat my
birds to scrambled egg whites (from organically fed
chickens only). I personally do not feed my birds mush-
rooms or many foods from the onion family (leeks or
shallots), as they can be irritating to the intestinal tract.
They do like fresh garlic, but a little goes a long way.
Eclectus Parrots and Diet
By Andrea Frederick
Freshly sprouted seeds are a wonderful way to offer
even more nutritional support to the diet. Sprouting is
fun and easy and there are a variety of sprouting
devices on the market. Resist the temptation to give
your birds unhealthy people food or snacks. Things
like corn chips, cream sauces, pizza, doughnuts, cook-
ies, or foods that have very little nutritional value
should be avoided. Most of these foods are laden with
excessive amounts of sugar, salt or fats, and enhanced
with preservatives.
Eclectus love variety in food.. Make their bowl an
interesting place to visit! I like to feed lots of color and
interesting shapes. A typical bowl of food would
include, green and yellow bell peppers, orange carrots,
purple cabbage or red beets, and zucchini squash. Then
I add juicy orange wedges, blueberries (for potassium)
and some red pear slivers. Or I try organic red bell pep-
pers, sweet orange yams, yellow golden beets and
jalapenos. Organic raspberries, bananas, and some
apple or kiwi can also be added. You can also spear
some of their food and hang it from the upper bars on
stainless steel skewers designed just for this purpose.
There is simply no end to the fun you and your bird can
enjoy with food!
Fruits and vegetables that were previously only
available during certain seasons, are now grown organ-
ically throughout the year. Where I live in Colorado, we
are very fortunate to enjoy the pesticide free foods pro-
vided by our own local growers. There is no better feel-
ing than knowing you have done the very best to pro-
vide for your feathered companion. They, in turn, have
much to teach us if we are willing to learn. I cant think
of a more appropriate statement than that used by The
Gabriel Foundation: Many have forgotten this truth,
but you must not forget it. You remain responsible, for-
ever, for what you have tamed, - Antoine de Saint-
Exupery
I want to thank Good Bird Magazine for allowing me to
share my thoughts and experiences about this subject. I
would also like to express my sincere thanks to Graham
Taylor, author of the book, Eclectus Parrots, An
Experience. His assistance was invaluable in writing this
article, and it helped me understand the importance of pro-
viding our companions with the very best in nutrition. After
all, their quality of life depends on us.
Severely in Need
of Patience
By Kimberly Sturman
Mac is a thirteen year old severe macaw. She came
to live with me along with her mate Simon. A very
good friend of mine was attempting to breed them
when she learned she had a very rare form of cancer. To
allow my friend to focus on her health Mac and Simon
came to live with my family. Upon their arrival I
brought them indoors and unlocked their cage and let
them loose to explore. At first for Mac this was over-
whelming. She was so scared that she hid in the corner
of her cage and quivered. Simon on the other hand was
bold enough to come out and attack, but would then go
back and hide. Eventually being out of their cage
became their favorite activity.
I wasnt sure what to do to establish a relationship
with these birds, but deep down I felt that if I showed
them enough love and proved to them that I would not
harm them they would come around. These two birds
acted as if humans were the most horrifying things in
the world. It was particularly challenging because they
would attack when I had to enter their area as I did
when I needed to feed them, or clean their cage. I only
knew they liked being out of their cage. Therefore I
kept the doors to the cage open as much as possible.
Over time they began to come out more and more.
They would even make soft sounds to me if I kept my
distance. I eventually got them to try fresh veggies and
fruits. That was big hit! After a couple of weeks Mac
stepped up and said Hello. I thought I was going to
cry! She went from cowering in the corner to telling me
she wants some toast when I woke her up in the morn-
ings. Simon her mate has not come all the way to us just
yet but we are hoping one day he will. Mac on the other
hand, I am now able to give her kisses, ask her to step
up, clip her nails and wings with no problem and feed
her out of my hand. Mac will tell you once she steps up,
"I am a good girl" and that she is!
What was most important to gaining Macs trust was,
mainly patience, a lot of time and showing her I will
not hurt her ..ever. I am Mac and Simons fourth
home and intend to be their last.
I am a fifty three year old Portuguese woman. I live
in Lisbon, Portugal. Two years ago I bought a five
month old male blue fronted Amazon parrot I named
Baby. Since then my life has changed a lot. Following
the breeder's advice I did not clip his feathers and I
watched with surprise how his flight skills improved
every day. It was during this time I found the writ-
ings of Chris Biro and his internet chat group called
the free flight list. (http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/
group/Freeflight/) It was here where I first began
learning everything I could about flight and training
with positive reinforcement. I also subscribed to
Good Bird Magazine.
I first focused on training Baby to recall by rein-
forcing him with food treats and praise. He is very
sensitive to my very excited and emotional verbal
praise. Even now, when he is very high on a perch, he
will jump vertically to fly onto my head if I say
emphatically "you are so beautiful, you are the nicest
parrot in the world!" Perhaps is not a good cue but it
works very well when needed on special occasions.
Flying parrots is certainly not for those but the
most dedicated. The first time Baby flew outside (two
months after having him) I almost had a heart attack.
I could see some panic in his eyes when he
approached to land on my arm. We both survived
and after that we went outside to parks and the coun-
tryside to practice every weekend. During summer
holidays Baby would accompany us when we went
camping. During that time he had the opportunity to
experience four different camping places. In the new
environments his recall would regress, on several
occasions he did not want to come down from trees
and I had to wait several hours for him to fly down.
Because outdoor flying can be very risky to a parrot
I could never relax completely. I decided to look for a
safer place for Baby to fly. I found a property in coun-
tryside. It was a beautiful 20,000 square meter prop-
erty over a valley, 60 Kilometres away from Lisbon.
On the weekends I now take Baby there. While I cul-
tivate vegetables, Baby is usually in his favorite trees
chewing, preening and sleeping. If I have some visi-
tors he enjoys joining us. He is very cautious about
crows, hawks, seagulls and other suspicious crea-
tures in the sky.
Always at sunset he is ready to come out of his
favorite tree and he flies beautifully, circling the
property then returning to me. He then chooses to
stay on my shoulder until it is time to return to his
cage for the night.
Now I am planning to build a house on this prop-
erty and to live there after my retirement. While I
realize it not the best choice for everyone, for me
allowing my parrot to fly helped me to find a new
path in my life. To live close to nature is a dream that
is coming true, thanks to my parrot. I am very grate-
ful to the free flight list, Chris Biro, and Good Bird
magazine, all who helped me to improve the rela-
tionship with my parrot Baby.
Editors note: Flighted behaviors may not be a good goal
for every bird or caregiver. Should you decide to pursue this
path, keep in mind that flighted behaviors are most success-
fully trained to the highest level following a structured plan
based on positive reinforcement training strategies.
Following these practices can reduce, but do not eliminate,
the risk of flying birds outdoors.
Getting Closer to Nature
By Maria Isabel Sampaio
Photo credit: Jon Guenther
Submit your Success Story!
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POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT TRAINING.
Please include the following:
The Back Story: Describe some history on your bird and
any problems you were trying to address.
What You Did: Describe what strategies you used to solve
the problems.
The Results: Describe what the situation is like now.
Recommendations: Provide three tips you think were
important to your success.
Please use the following guidelines
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number Issue number and a link to www.goodbirdinc.com
is requested for reprints.
Gang Gang Cockatoo
Photo credit: Jim Mckendry
A
h, winter. For many it is a time of hustle and
bustle as people prepare for the holidays. For
consultants such as myself it is often a time of
rest! In general educational events are scheduled at a
minimum as folks are otherwise distracted. For me it
was a chance to redirect my attention to other projects
such as the latest DVD in my series, Training your
Parrot for the Veterinary Exam. However once the hol-
idays passed, things began to kick into gear again.
The first event on the calendar this year was the
incomparable Parrot Festival held in Houston, Texas
and hosted by the National Parrot Rescue and
Preservation Foundation (NPRPF). There were big
changes for the group this year. Are-structuring of the
organizing committee and a brand new location made
this event a big success. As usual Parrot Festival hand-
ed out their stuffed to the gills with freebies tote
bags. (I have yet to see an event compete with NPRPF
on this!) The new hotel offered a great layout. The giant
vendor room was surrounded by even more vendors in
the hallways. Delegates had the opportunities to feast
their eyes on great (and inexpensive, I might add)
shopping as they worked their way to the speakers
room at the end of the hallway.
Conference, Event Reviews and
Press Releases
Dont even think about walking by Naomi Zemont without purchasing a CD to benefit the Bird Endowment.
One of my favorite new fundraisers was premiered
at this event. Throughout the event one of the NPRPF
officers would arrest (handcuffs and all) a person-
able conference delegate. The suspected criminal
would then be locked in a giant outdoor aviary cage.
From here the suspect would have to beg passersby
for money for bail. All the funds raised were then
donated to NPRPF to facilitate the care and rescue of
unwanted parrots. Unfortunately the caged people
had direct line of sight with the Good Bird Inc booth!
This meant many pleading looks for donations came
my way. Good Bird did its part and contributed to
bailing out Texas A & Ms Dr Ian Tizard and also
Good Bird fan Cody.
As usual Parrot Festival featured a number of
renowned speakers. This super prepared team has
already identified dates and speaker for next years
event. Mark your calendars. Parrot Festival 2008 will be
held January 25-27. Yours truly will be a featured
speaker.
Immediately after Parrot Festival it was off to Seattle,
Washington. Despite having attended Parrot Festival
and coming down with an illness, Naomi Zemont of
Avian Community Health Awareness Project (ACHAP)
went all out as usual. Not only did she organize parrot
behavior in home consultations in her area, she hosted
a Parrot Behavior and Training Workshop in her home
on Saturday, followed by a Training your Parrot for the
Veterinary Exam Workshop on Sunday. Whew! Her
hard work paid off though. There was overwhelming
attendance and enthusiasm. We had some very cooper-
ative training subjects and were able to demonstrate
how to train a number of behaviors. The Training for the
Veterinary Exam Workshop was a new one and seemed
to go over well. I do hope we will see more people take
on training their parrots for the veterinary procedures
as it certainly can reduce stress in our birds lives.
There was no rest for the wicked during February.
Immediately after the workshops in Seattle, it was a
short drive to Tacoma, Washington for the Board of
Directors meeting for the International Association of
Avian Trainers and Educators (IAATE). This is piggy
backed with the annual conference. The conference is
primarily focused towards education professionals that
feature birds in their programs. This means many dele-
gates are individuals that work at zoos, wildlife reha-
bilitation facilities or work as private individuals that
offer conservation education programs to the public.
Paper topics included medical case studies, enhancing
stage presentation, conservation of wild birds, and of
course bird training. Extracurricular activities includ-
ed falconry demonstrations, bald eagle watching
excursions, rock climbing, a visit to the Point Defiance
Zoo with a special winter edition Wild Wonders show
(who ordered the perfect weather?!) and copious
amounts of fun socializing in the Eagles Nest
Hospitality center. The host committee headed up by
Karen Povey, Maureen OKeefe and IAATE Vice
President Cassie Malina put together a stupendous
event. Next years conference will be in the
Netherlands. We anticipate an excellent international
showing at this event.
George from PolyPerch needs bail money to get out of NPRPF jail!
The bald eagle was a predominant theme of the IAATE conference. Here a wild one is spotted on a post conference trip.
Photo credit: Karen Povey
In search of bald eagles.
A typical night out for professional bird trainers? Rock climbing
in Tacoma.
Socializing in the eagles nest.
(from L-R) Jamie Gilardi, PhD and Joanna Eckles of the World Parrot
Trust accept the IAATE Conservation Award from Conservation
Committee Chairperson Karen Povey.
The IAATE conference delegates gather at the Point Defiance Zoo..
Enjoying some falconry with Harriss Hawks on an IAATE
pre-conference trip.
Photo credit: Kate Friedman
A Harriss Hawk scans his hunting grounds.
Anything good hiding in here?
Who says shoulders are reserved for parrots?
Harriss Hawks are known for their group hunting skills.
Wild Wonders Theater at the Point Defiance Zoo
A beaver in the show.
Shortly after returning from the Pacific Northwest I had
the opportunity to meet with students and veterinarians
at the Texas A & M University School of Veterinary
Medicine. This well respected University produces many
of the future veterinarians who will be caring for your
avian companions. It was an honor to share information
with them on what is possible with positive reinforce-
ment. I hope to see more universities encourage students
to embrace programs that are behavior and learning the-
ory focused. As practicing veterinarians already know,
more and more caregivers are seeking advice from their
avian veterinarians on parrot behavior problems.
It is encouraging to see so much enthusiasm for
behavior and training. 2007 looks to be another busy
year. Lets hope many people and parrots reap the
rewards. Check the upcoming events listing for speak-
ing engagements in your area. See you on the road!
A child is transformed into a cactus perch for a Harriss Hawk.
April 21-22, 2007: Parrot Behavior and Learning:
A Step Up and Beyond Scarborough,
Ontario, Canada.
Two day seminar featuring Susan Friedman, PhD and
Barbara Heidenreich. For more information contact:
Pat Phillips at toobirds@sympatico.ca
May 15-16, 2007: South West Texas Animal Care
and Control Association Conference.
Port Lavaca, TX, USA
Barbara Heidenreich will be speaking at this event.
For more information visit www.stacca.org email:
info@stacca.org
May 21, 2007 Animal Training Continuing
Education Course Austin Community College.
Austin, TX, USA
6PM to 10PM. Presented by Barbara Heidenreich this
course will be an introduction to training animals
with positive reinforcement. Designed for animal
training enthusiasts including animal industry profes-
sionals and companion animal caregivers. Visit
www.goodbirdinc.com or www.austincc.edu/ce for
more information.
May 27, 2007 Bird Club Presentation
San Antonio, TX, USA
Hosted by the Alamo Exhibition Bird Club. Barbara
Heidenreich will present at the monthly meeting. For
more information visit www.aebc.org
June 6, 2007: Telecourse: Shaping Plans to Train your
Parrot for the Veterinary Exam
Presented by Barbara Heidenreich.
10:00 AM -11:30 AM Central Standard Time.
Participate in this course from the comfort of your
own home. Visit www.raisingcanine.com for more
information.
June 23-24, 2007: Parrot Behavior and Learning: A
Step Up and Beyond Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Two day seminar featuring Susan Friedman, PhD and
Barbara Heidenreich. Hosted by Parrotdise Perch.
www.ParrotdisePerch.com . For more information
contact: Tamara Ferri at tamara@parrotdiseperch.com
Phone (888) 243-2194
July 16, 2007 Animal Training Continuing
Education Course Austin Community College.
Austin, TX, USA
6PM to 10PM. Presented by Barbara Heidenreich this
course will be an introduction to training animals
with positive reinforcement. Designed for animal
training enthusiasts including animal industry profes-
sionals and companion animal caregivers. Visit
www.goodbirdinc.com or www.austincc.edu/ce for
more information.
July 21, 2007 Parrot Behavior and Training
Workshop, Des Moines, IA, USA
Hosted by Mid America Cage Bird Society. Day long
workshop on the basics of training parrots with posi-
tive reinforcement presented by Barbara Heidenreich
of Good Bird Inc. For more information visit
www.macbs.org or contact John Grimm at bjbp@hot-
mail.com Phone: 515-707-3977
July 22, 2007 Flight Training Workshop, Des
Moines, IA, USA
Hosted by Mid America Cage Bird Society. Half day
workshop on training and managing your flighted
parrot presented by Barbara Heidenreich of Good Bird
Inc. For more information visit www.macbs.org or
contact John Grimm at bjbp@hotmail.com
Phone: 515-707-3977
August 4-9, 2007 Association of Avian Veterinarians
Annual Conference, Providence, RI, USA.
Barbara Heidenreich of Good Bird Inc
www.GoodBirdInc.com will be presenting at this
event. Visit www.AAV.org for more information.
August 22-25, 2007 American Federation
of Aviculture Annual Conference
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Barbara Heidenreich of Good Bird Inc
www.GoodBirdInc.com will be presenting at this
event. Visit www.AFAbirds.org for more information.
September 22, 2007 Parrot Behavior and Training
Workshop, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Hosted by Minnesota Companion Bird Association.
Day long workshop on the basics of training parrots
with positive reinforcement presented by Barbara
Upcoming Events and Seminars
Heidenreich of Good Bird Inc. For more information
visit www.mnbird.org or contact Mary at
quister65@msn.com
October 6, 2007 Parrot Expo Long Island, NY, USA
Barbara Heidenreich will be speaking at this event.
Hosted by the Long Island Parrot Society. Visit this
link for more information
www.liparrotsociety.org/annualshow
October 9, 2007 Bird Club Presentation
Connecticut, USA
Hosted by the Connecticut Association for Aviculture.
Barbara Heidenreich will present at the monthly meet-
ing. For more information visit www.cafabirdclub.org
October 20-21, 2007 Parrot Behavior and Training
Workshop Stockholm, Sweden
Seminar on the basics of training parrots with positive
reinforcement presented by Barbara Heidenreich of
Good Bird Inc. Check back for details.
January 25-27, 2008: Parrot Festival,
Houston, TX, USA.
Hosted by the National Parrot Rescue and
Preservation Foundation. Barbara Heidenreich will be
presenting at this event. For more information visit
www.parrotfestival.org
Upcoming Events and Seminars (continued)
S
aving the earth for ourselves, for our companion
parrots and for all animals in the wild is some-
times as easy as making a few simple changes in
our lives. Here are four activities you can try to help
make a difference. We suggest you try adding one of
the four activities every few weeks until your next
issue of Good Bird magazine arrives. Before you know
it each activity will become second nature and you
will be helping nature.
As always we suggest you start your conservation
efforts by re-using and recycling Good Bird magazine.
Keep Good Bird magazine on your bookshelf for future
reference. Good Bird magazine offers a great deal of
information that will continue to be useful. Share Good
Bird magazine with friends, you bird club, and your vet-
erinarian. Give old magazines to health clubs, retirement
homes, and libraries. We dont even mind if you use it
line the bottom of the bird cage! If it is time to discard an
issue, please be sure to place it in the recycling bin. We
appreciate your efforts.
1. Bats help control mosquito populations, sometimes
eating up to 2,000 mosquitoes a night. Build a bat house
that meets Bat Conservation International (www.bat-
con.org) standards, with room for up to 40 bats.
2. Institute a "no idle" rule at school pickup areas. Turn
off your engine while you wait for your child.
3. Use mugs instead of disposable cups in the office.
Closer to home, bring your own mug to your morning
coffee shop.
4. Consider the times you water your lawn and garden,
water in the morning or at night to prevent evaporation.
One inch of water a week is better than several short
showers. Always comply with water restrictions.
Photo credit: Roelant Jonker/Grace Innemee www.CityParrots.org
Eco-Tips
Co-sponsored by:
The UCLA Institute of the Environment
The UCLA Center for Tropical Research
Info and registration: www.parrotsinternational.org
Our 2007 Speakers List Includes:
Dr. Mark Stafford, President Parrots International
(Parrots International projects)
Dr. Yara Barros PhD., Brazil
(Spix's and Lear's Macaw conservation and Coauthor of
the Spix's Recovery Action Plan)
Carlos Bonillo-Ruiz, Mexico
(The Military Macaw Project)
Dr. Don Brightsmith, Peru
(The Tambopata Research Project)
Olivier Chassot, Costa Rica
(The Great-Green Macaw Project)
Dr. Nigel Collar PhD., UK, Birdlife International
(The Glaucous Macaw)
Yves de Soye, UK
(Birdlife International and Coauthor of the Spix's
Recovery Action Plan)
Dr. Susan Friedman PhD., Utah State University
(Parrot behaviorist)
Neiva Guedes, leader of Projeto Arara Azul, Brazil
(The Hyacinth Macaw Project)
Bennett Hennessey of Armonia, Boliva
(Blue-throated Macaw Project)
Dr. Frank Lavac, DVM, Santa Monica, CA
(Board Certified Avian Veterinarian)
Rosemary Low, UK
(Parrot expert and author)
Dr. Donald Merton, PhD., New Zealand
(Kakapo Recovery Program)
Dr. Paul Salaman PhD., American Bird Conservancy
(Threatened Parrots of Colombia)
Dr. Darrel Styles, DVM, PhD.,
(US Department of Agriculture)
When: Saturday and Sunday April 28 & 29,
8:00 am to 5:00 pm
Where: UCLA - The University of California, Los Angeles.
The Covel Commons Conference Center
What: Focus on parrot conservation and field research
Presentations on wild and companion parrots
LITERATURE
Dont Shoot the Dog! The New Art of Teaching and
Training
By Karen Pryor (1999 Bantam Publishers)
This book is essential to anyones collection. It dis-
cusses some basic training principles in very simple
language. The training principles are then applied to
everyday situations to help understand how they can
be used with animals and people. It is easy to read and
inexpensive as well. Available through www.clicker-
training.com
Animal Training: Successful Animal Management through
Positive Reinforcement
By Ken Ramirez (1999 Shedd Aquarium Publishers)
This book is a collection of articles written about ani-
mal training. It is very comprehensive and includes a
great deal of information. Articles cover a variety of
animal species. It is a large book and a bit more expen-
sive, but worth it. It is available by calling toll free 1-
888-732-7883 (1-888-SEA-STUF) or visiting
www.sheddnet.org. This book is also available through
www.amazon.com.
Good Bird Magazine
Published quarterly by Good Bird Inc. Available at
www.goodbirdinc.com
Good Bird! A Guide to Solving Behavioral Problems in
Companion Parrots.
By Barbara Heidenreich. Available atwww.avianpubli-
cations.com
The Parrot Problem Solver. Addressing Aggressive
Behavior.
By Barbara Heidenreich. Available atwww.avianpubli-
cations.com
Recommended Resources
Clicking With Birds: A Beginners Guide to Clicker
Training Your Companion Parrot
By Linda Morrow. Available at www.avi-
train.com/manual.html
Clicker Training with Birds
By Melinda Johnson. Available at www.clickertrain-
ing.com
A Parrot for Life
By Rebecca K OConnor. Available at
www.amazon.com and
www.rebeccakoconnor.com/parrots
INTERNET RESOURCES
Good Bird Inc
www.GoodBirdInc.com
Applied Companion Animal Behavior Network- Avian
Pages
www.acabn.com/avianlist.html
An Animal Trainers Introduction to Operant and Classical
Conditioning
www.wagntrain.com/OC
The Writings of Susan Friedman, PhD.
www.behaviorworks.org
The International Association of Avian Trainers and
Educators (IAATE)
www.IAATE.org
Animal Behavior Management Alliance (ABMA)
www.theABMA.org
The Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies
The website offers forums to discuss behavior and an
excellent collection of definitions of applied behavior
analysis terminology. www.behavior.org
Raising Canine
Telecourses on animal training
www.raisingcanine.com
Practice the timing of your bridges
www.clickertales.com/clickertimingame.html
WORKSHOPS:
Parrot Behavior and Training Workshops -Good Bird Inc
Barbara Heidenreich
Offering workshops specifically catered for the com-
panion parrot community and also veterinary profes-
sionals
www.GoodBirdInc.com
Living and Learning with Parrots: The Fundamental
Principles of Behavior
Online Class
By Susan G Friedman, Ph.D.
www.behaviorworks.org.
VIDEOS:
Parrot Behavior and Training by Good Bird Inc. Available
at www.goodbirdinc.com
LIST SERVES:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/clickbirds/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BirdClick/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pickinparrots/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ParrotBAS/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GoodBirdGroup/
P
lease note this list may not include all plants.
Because something is absent from the list doesn't
guarantee it is safe. It is recommended you con-
firm the safety of any plant product with a qualified
avian veterinarian prior to offering it to your bird.
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.)
American Coffee Berry Tree see Kentucky Coffee Tree
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis L.)
Bouncing Bet (Saponaria officinalis L.)
Bull Nettle (Solanum carolinense L.)
Bracken or Brake Fern (Pteridium aquilinum L.)
Burning Bush see Fireweed
Buttercup (Ranunculus spp.)
Carelessweed see Pigweed
Castor Bean (Ricinus communis L.)
Clover, Alsike & Other Clovers (Trifolium hybridum L. &
other species)
Cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium L.)
Creeping Charlie see Ground Ivy
Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia milii)
Curly Dock (Rumex crispus L.)
Daffodil (Narcissus spp.)
Delphinium (Delphinium spp.)
Devil's Trumpet see Jimson Weed
Dogbane (Apocynum spp.)
Dutchman's Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria (L.) Bernh.)
Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis L.)
English Ivy (Hedera helix L.)
Ergot (Claviceps purpurea (Fr.) Tul.)
Fern, Bracken (Pteridium aquilinum L.)
Fireweed (Kochia scoparia L.)
Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea L.)
Ground Ivy (Glecoma hederacea L.)
Alphabetical List of Toxic Plants
Photo Credit: Matt Edmonds www.mewondersofnature.com
continued on page 74
I
t starts out with a gentle request step up.
Hmmmm, no response. Again said with a bit more
enthusiasm step up. Response? Parrot chews on
toy. Oh come on baby, step up, come on you can do it
Parrot comes over and buries head in hand for scratch-
es. Allright that is enough. This time a firm step up is
commandeered. Ooooh, this time there is eye pinning
.but no step up behavior. To heck with this positive
reinforcement stuff! A hand goes in to scoop the bird
up, but comes back bitten and bleeding. What went
wrong?
Is the bird just stubborn? Is he not in the mood to
present the behavior? Is it the wrong time of the day?
Did he get up on the wrong side of the bed? Are the
sun, moon, starts and planets not aligned correctly?
Possibly. However the real problem could be that your
bird has not actually learned to present the behavior on
cue. It is easy to point the finger at the parrot and
assume he just wasnt very smart or otherwise chal-
lenged. But in reality it is the trainers job to take the
training process all the way to the point of the bird
demonstrating a very clear understanding of the cue.
This is sometimes referred to as getting it under stim-
ulus control Aformal definition of stimulus control is
as follows: The predictability of a behavior performed
in the presence of one stimulus which is not evident in
the presence of another.
How does one know if a behavior is under stimulus
control? One excellent way to test this is to train your
parrot to present a variety of different behaviors, each
with their own specific cue. You can then randomly cue
behaviors from this repertoire in any sequence. A par-
rot who clearly understands each cue will present the
appropriate behavior when its respective cue is pre-
sented. Even two behaviors will suffice to test your
birds understanding.
CUEING PITFALLS
Humans often fall into the trap of assuming an ani-
mal understands and is choosing to disregard the cue.
This is especially relevant in those situations where a
trainer repeats the cue over and over. Tempers may rise
as trainers get frustrated by an animals lack of
response. If is cue is being presented repeatedly and
does not result in the desired behavioral response, take
that as a signal that it is time to re-evaluate your train-
ing strategy.
How does one know if a behavior is under stimulus control?
Ex cues me? You Want me to do What?
Remember an animal does not understand your
words mean something until we train the animal that
the words are associated with a desired behavior. For
example, I can teach a dog to lay down when I give the
verbal cue sit. A dog does not automatically under-
stand the word sit means to place his hind quarters
on the ground. Think of how many different languages
are used in the world. Animals all over the world are
trained with verbal cues from these languages. They
dont inherently understand all languages. This infor-
mation is taught. Although we certainly know what the
words mean, shouting step up to a bird will not help
him better understand what we expect.
Another common pitfall trainers succumb to is cue-
ing incessantly. Repeating the cue over and over or pre-
senting a continuous cue (such as holding your hand in
front of a bird for the behavior of step up for minutes)
works only to dilute the strength of the cue. During the
training process this pitfall can be avoided by judi-
ciously using the cue. Try to time the presentation of
the cue just prior to when you predict the behavior will
be presented. This facilitates teaching a quick response
to a cue as described in detail in Volume 1 Issue 2
Summer 2005 of Good Bird Magazine. Over time the
reliance in which the behavior is presented on cue will
increase.
VERBAL VS. VISUAL CUES
Are words even necessary? Not really. While a verbal
cue is certainly effective when trained properly, visual
cues are also extremely relevant for parrot training.
Parrots are very visually based and terribly observant
creatures. Some parrot training routines seen in shows,
rely on such small visual cues that the audience cant
quite determine how the bird is being cued. It has also
been noted by some professional animal trainers that
there is value in teaching your animal to learn to
respond to very small cues. In part because the animal
learns to be quite attentive to you in hopes of receiving
his next cue and subsequent next positive reinforcer!
Personally I am a rather quiet" trainer. I often do not
use verbal cues for two reasons. One reason is that I am
often using my hand as a target to train behaviors. This
visual lure tells the animal where to go, say for exam-
ple onto a scale. Once the bird has learned to follow the
target onto a scale, the scale becomes a conditioned
positive reinforcer. What follows is that the presenta-
An animal does not automatically understand the word sit means to
place his hind quarters on the ground.
A tamandua (a type of anteater) responds to a hand cue.
The open door of a kennel can be a cue that signifies time to go in and
get some goodies.
tion of the scale becomes a cue in itself for the bird to
go over and stand on it. No words required. The shap-
ing plan used to train the behavior allows a visual to be
the cue. You can use the same strategy to train a bird to
enter a kennel. The mere sight of the open door can sig-
nify time to go in and get some goodies. I personally
enjoy it when a behavior is trained so well a bird gets
excited by the sight of the necessary prop it needs to
perform the behavior.
The second reason I am stingy with verbal cues with
parrots is I often find that some parrots can get easily
excited by the trainer talking. Many times when I teach
a Parrot Behavior and Training Workshop I will try to
explain what I am doing while I am working with a
parrot. However if I notice the bird is becoming excited
by my explanations I tell the audience I will talk about
what I am doing after the training session. For parrots
excitement or arousal can easily flip to aggressive
behavior. Needless to say my preference is to work
with a calm and relaxed bird during a training session.
WHEN TO ADD THE CUE
When to add the cue can also present a bit of a dilem-
ma. Some trainers feel strongly an identified cue
should be added when some semblance of the final
behavior is being presented. This is in part because at
first the chosen cue has no meaning anyway and may
be potentially distracting to the training subject.
Another thought is that the chosen cue is meant to rep-
resent a very specific behavior, not an approximation
towards that behavior.
However other trainers begin adding the cue right
from the get go. In essence cues are happening anyway,
even if these arent the specified cue. For example, the
way a hand is held, or the use of the target, or props are
all being associated with the training session and are
giving the animal information. Even though it may not
be your intention, the bird is getting cued by a num-
ber of things, why not include the cue you have identi-
fied for the behavior?
In either case the cue is meant to give your parrot
information as to what you want him to do. This means
the cue should be delivered just prior to the presenta-
tion of the desired behavior. Novice trainers sometimes
have difficulties discerning the difference between a
cue and a bridge. Both provide information to the ani-
mal, but the bridge marks the performance of the
behavior and can eventually be phased out once the
behavior is trained. Typically the cue remains consis-
tent unless the behavior it represents becomes part of a
behavior chain. In this case a new cue may be estab-
lished that corresponds to the animal doing the entire
identified sequence of behaviors. The old cue for the
single element of the behavior chain is phased out as
the chain is learned.
CONCLUSION
While seemingly a small part of training, the cue is
actually quite an important tool. By spending some
energy on ensuring our parrots clearly understand
what is desired when a cue is presented, we can avoid
some common misconceptions about parrots and
learning. We can also find ourselves truly sharing a two
way communication with our parrots. And perhaps
even more important, we will no longer have to grovel
for our birds to step up onto our hands a simple
cue will do!
animal training since 1990. She owns and operates a compa-
ny, Good Bird, Inc., (www.goodbirdinc.com) that provides
(www.IAATE.org).
Hemlock
Poison (Conium maculatum L.)
Water (Cicuta maculata L.)
Horse Chestnut, Buckeyes (Aesculus hippocastanum L.)
Horse Nettle (Solanum carolinense L.)
Horsetails (Equisetum arvense L. & other species)
Hyacinth (Hyacinth orientalis)
Hydrangea (Hydrangea spp.)
Ivy
English (Hedera helix L.)
Ground (Glecoma hederacea L.)
Poison (Toxicodendron radicans (L.) Kuntze)
Jack-in-the-Pulpit (Arisaema spp.)
Jamestown Weed see Jimson Weed
Japanese Yew (Taxus cuspidata Sieb. & Zucc.)
Jerusalem Cherry (Solanum pseudocapsicum L.)
Jimson Weed (Datura stramonium L.)
Kentucky Coffee Tree (Gymnocladus dioica (L.) K. Koch)
Kentucky Mahagony Tree see Kentucky Coffee Tree
Klamath Weed see St. Johnswort
Lamb's Quarters (Chenopodium album L.)
Lantana (Lantana camara L.)
Larkspur (Delphinium spp.)
Lily-of-the-Valley (Convallaria majalis)
Lupine (Lupinus spp.)
Mad Apple see Jimson Weed
Maple, Red (Acer rubrum)
Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum L.)
Milkweed, Common (Asclepias syriaca L.)
Mint, Purple (Perilla frutescens)
Nicker Tree see Kentucky Coffee Tree
Nightshade (Solanum spp.)
Oleander (Nerium oleander L.)
Ohio Buckeye (Aesculus glabra Willd.)
Philodendron (Philodendron spp.)
Pigweed (Amaranthus spp.)
Poison Hemlock (Conium maculatum L.)
Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans (L.) Kuntze)
Poke (Phytolacca americana L.)
Purple Mint (Perilla frutescens)
Redroot see Pigweed
Rhododendron (Rhododendron spp.)
Rhubarb (Rheum rhaponticum L.)
Squirrelcorn (Dicentra canadensis (Goldie) Walp.) see
Dutchman's Breeches
Staggerweed (Dicentra spp.) see Dutchman's Breeches
St. Johnswort (Hypericum perforatum L.)
Stink Weed see Jimson Weed
Stump Tree see Kentucky Coffee Tree
Sudan Grass (Sorghum vulgare var. sudanense Hitchc.)
Summer Cypress see Fireweed
Thorn Apple see Jimson Weed
Tulip (Tulipa spp.)
Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata L.)
White Snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum Hout.)
Wild Onion (Allium spp.)
Yellow Sage see Lantana
POISONOUS PLANT WEBSITES
Toxic Agents in Plants
http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/toxicagents/in
dex.html
Poison Control and Prevention Center Directory
http://www.aapcc.org/findyourcenter.htm
US Food and Drug Administration Poisonous Plant
Database
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~djw/plantox.html
Canadian Poisonous Plant Information System
http://www.cbif.gc.ca/pls/pp/poison?p_x=px
Dr. Duke's Phytochemical and Ethnobotanical
Databases
http://www.ars-grin.gov/duke/highchem.html
University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign
Veterinary Medicine Library
Plants Toxic to Animals
http://www.library.uiuc.edu/vex/toxic/intro.htm
Indiana Plants Poisonous to Livestock and
Petshttp://vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/cover1.
htm
continued from page 70
Alphabetical List of Toxic Plants
I
n 2004 Susan Smith, the owner of Raising Canine,
had an epiphany. Sue was a professional dog train-
er and behavior consultant working as the director
of a sanctuary for un-adoptable dogs, and had just
given notice to her boss. Consequently, she was trying
to figure out what she wanted to do when she got back
to Texas. She hired a professional coach to help her
with her career decisions, and in the process attended a
telecourse.
Well, as they say, the rest is history! Sue immediately
realized that telecourses were the perfect answer to the
educational needs of animal professionals. They are
short, focused and inexpensive. And, best of all, they
are accessible to anyone who has a telephone and
access to a computer! Atelecourse is education over the
phone. You do need a computer to enroll, and most
speakers will also provide some type of material
notes, a presentation, an article, etc., -- which will be e-
mailed to you. However, most of the materials can be
printed out, so you dont have to be at your computer
to take the telecourse.
Raising Canine launched their first telecourse in
March of 2005 and they became an immediate hit in the
dog training world. In the second half of 2006, a parrot
series was added to the teleclasses. Between July 2006
and April of 2007, there are 7 courses on parrots slated.
In 2007 Raising Canine will expand into cats and hors-
es, and will also begin targeting veterinarians. Many of
the courses are cross-species i.e., they are principles
which apply to all animals, even though a particular
species has been used as an example. The courses are
categorized to help you know which are appropriate
for you.
The material in these courses is cutting edge infor-
mation. Speakers include both academics who are sys-
tematically studying animal behavior, and consultants
who are in the trenches working with behavior. Some
of the featured speakers are Dr. Susan Friedman,
Barbara Heidenreich, Pamela Clark, Jean Donaldson,
Dr. Kimberly Barry, Dr. Lore Haug and on, and on!
If you are unable to attend a live course, the courses
are recorded and available over the Internet at your
convenience. If you find yourself sitting around at
2:00am with nothing to do, you can spend a pleasant
hour-and-a-half learning about your pets behavior.
No more traveling to seminars in far away places, eat-
ing hotel food, and emptying your bank account! The
average telecourse costs $30 and you get access to some
of the best minds in the business.
For more information go to www.raisingcanine.com
e-mail sue@raisingcanine.com or call 512-916-4007.
Announcing Telecourses on Behavior,
Training and Learning
Green Winged Macaw
Jacksons Hornbill
M
y blue fronted Amazon parrot, Tarah, does
not have clipped wings. However like
many birds that were clipped during the
fledging process, he has never quite learned the kind
of flight skills that might earn him the title of a
flyer. I often said He has his flight feathers, but he
doesnt fly. One day I learned, the hard way, that this
wasnt exactly true.
I was visiting my parrots as I was moving from
southern California to northern California. When I
arrived I brought Tarah in his cage to my old bed-
room. I opened the door to the cage to allow my bird
some much needed free time. Before I knew it, he
bolted off his cage, through the bedroom door, took a
right and made his way down the hall. He then
banked left and flew through the living room. At that
very moment my father was just opening the sliding
glass door to step out onto the deck. Guess who went
through the door too? The deck was on the second
floor, so my bird had two stories of lift to assist him
on his grand flight down the fairway of the golf
course behind the house. Thank goodness he was a
green flying brick. He ran out of gas and slowly
descended to the soft green grass before a tree offered
its branches as refuge. Juiced by adrenalin, my feet
barely touched the ground as I ran after my bird.
I have always been very careful about the choices I
make having a flighted bird in the house. But I was
very surprised by the amazing flight my bird made
on that day. Sometimes birds that we think will never
fly do indeed fly. Sometimes birds that have flight
feathers trimmed surprise us when feathers return.
Sometimes experienced flyers get frightened or find
themselves in unfamiliar territory. Whatever the situ-
ation, there are some strategies that can be very use-
ful to recovering a bird that has flown to a location
undesired by you. The following information is pro-
vided to prepare you for that day when your bird
may find itself airborne and heading in the wrong
direction. These strategies apply if you bird has no
flight skills or is a world class flying athlete.
BIRD IS FLYING AWAY
Call to your bird loudly as he is flying- it may help
him find his way back to you.
As your bird is flying, do not take your eyes off of
him. Note the last place you saw him, the level of his
flight, how tired he looked. He may have landed in
that area. (Radio or phone contact for a group of peo-
ple searching can be very helpful in this situation.
Grab your cell phone!)
SEARCHING FOR YOUR BIRD
If you have a group of people, spread out and circle
the area you last saw him.
If you cannot locate him, call to him. He may call
back. Say words or sounds he knows or mimics. Most
parrots are located by their screams.
If he has another bird he likes, put that bird in a cage
and bring it to the area you last saw him. Walk away
from the bird in the cage. It might encourage the bird
in the cage to scream. This may inspire the lost bird
to scream. Keep talking to a minimum so you can lis-
ten for the scream.
Look carefully in a limited area (within 1 mile) in the
early stages of your search. Parrots usually do not go
far unless, blown by the wind, chased by a bird or
extremely frightened.
Keep in mind your parrot may see you before you see
him. When this happens, parrots are sometimes very
quiet. This may be because the parrot is more com-
fortable now that you are present.
Strategies to Utilize when a Flighted
Parrot Escapes
The following article is a reprint from Volume 1 Issue 1
Spring 2005 issue of Good Bird Magazine. We hope readers
will find it useful.
Despite some parrots bright colors, they can be very
difficult to see in trees. Look for movement buried in
the trees as opposed to your whole bird perched
prominently on the tree.
YOU HAVE LOCATED THE BIRD, BUT HE IS OUT
OF REACH
Once you find you bird, relax (unless the bird is in
immediate danger.) It is better to let the bird sit
where he is (if he is inaccessible) while you work out
a strategy. Do not frantically try to grab the bird, hose
or scare him down.
If the bird has just landed. He will probably not fly
again (if at all) for awhile.
Bring the birds favorite person and/or favorite bird
friend (in a cage) to the area where your bird is located.
Bring favorite food items, familiar food bowls and
the birds cage if possible.
Be careful not to ask your bird to fly from a great
height or a steep angle. Try to position yourself (or
bird buddy, or bird cage) to allow short flights or
short climbs to lower places.
Try to lure your bird to fly or climb to
branches/objects that are similar to those upon
which he is sitting if possible. A bird may be too
frightened to climb onto a distinctly different perch.
(For example, the bird might be afraid to climb off
of a tree onto a fence.) If you have no other option,
expect the process to be slower and be patient with
your bird as he builds his confidence. He may also
fly again if he touches the new perch and is fright-
ened by it.
Do not raise unfamiliar objects up to your bird to
have him step onto it. More than likely this will only
scare your bird to fly farther away. If you have a
familiar item, you may have a chance that the bird
will step onto it. Keep in mind things like ladders,
people climbing trees, cherry pickers etc. may also
scare your bird. Go extremely slowly if you resort to
using these items. Stop any action if your bird looks
like he wants to fly away.
Try to call your bird down when his body language
indicates he is ready to try to come down. Do not
constantly call.
Try hiding from your bird on occasion. This will cre-
ate a level of anxiety in your bird which may cause
him to try to come to you once you reappear. Usually
birds will scream and or start moving around a lot
when they are ready to make an effort to return to
you. If you notice this activity, come out from hiding.
If you hear your bird screaming while you are hiding,
he may be ready to fly or is already in the air. Come
out of hiding right away. Most parrots scream when
they are flying in this type of situation.
Birds also often relieve themselves and also scream
right before they fly. Be alert for this. You may need to
see where your bird flys. Be ready to run if necessary.
Avoid having a crowd of people around the birds
favorite person. A scared bird may not want to fly
into a crowd of strangers. Give the birds favorite
person lots of room.
THE SUN IS SETTING AND YOUR BIRD
IS STILL OUT.
Parrots will usually fly again shortly before the sun
starts to set. This is probably your last opportunity to
get your bird back before he will begin to roost for
the night. Take advantage of it. You can try to get the
bird pumped up by yelling and creating a level of
excitement. This may encourage one last flight.
As the sun starts to set, your bird will start to fluff his
feathers and get ready to roost for the night. At this
point it is best to just allow him to go to sleep. Keep
an eye on him until the sun has set completely.
Remember his exact location.
Before the sun rises the next day, return to that loca-
tion. Your bird should still be there, unless he was
frightened in the night (owls can cause this).
Usually by 8:30 or 9:00 AM your bird will be ready to
fly again or make an attempt to get to you. Repeat the
steps described in the section You have located your
bird, but he is out of reach.
YOUR BIRD HAS FLOWN OFF AND AFTER
24 HOURS OF SEARCHING HE HAS NOT
BEEN SPOTTED.
Contact the following people and let them know you
are looking for your bird. If a person finds your bird
they may contact one of these organizations.
o Call animal control
o Call the SPCA/humane society
o Call local veterinarians
o Call local zoos
o Call local pet shops
o Call local police
Place an ad in the classified section of the paper for a
lost bird.
o Note: Dont give out the birds band number. If
your bird accidentally falls into the wrong hands
this could lead to removal of the band.
Check the classified section of the paper for found
bird. Answer all ads. People are sometimes unaware
of what they have found. ACongo African grey may
be mistaken for the mythical red tailed pigeon by a
helpful stranger who is unfamiliar with parrots.
Post flyers that state lost bird in the areas you last
saw your bird. You may also wish to offer a reward as
incentive for people to call.
Often times a bird is found within 24 hours of his dis-
appearance. The trick is to find the person who found
your bird before you.
DO NOT GIVE UP
The key to getting a bird back is perseverance. Do not
accept that you will not get the bird back once you have
lost sight of him or her. As a professional bird trainer
that free flys many types of birds on a regular basis, I
can attest that parrots are often the easiest type of bird
to locate and recover. Trust me - nothing is more frus-
trating than searching for the silent, but observant owl
who has buried himself in the bushes and has watched
you walk by 100 times! Thankfully our parrots often
seek out human or bird companionship if and when
they have a big flight adventure.
Publications and also The Parrot Problem Solver. Finding
Solutions to Aggressive Behavior by TFH Publications. She
is the president of the International Association of Avian
Trainers and Educators (www.IAATE.org).
Tawny Frogmouth
I
received a subscription to your life changing maga-
zine from a life changing friend Cassie Malina, an
avian trainer at Natural Encounters Inc, and I
don't have a bird. At present, my closest association to
a feathered friend would be my neighbor's very large
goose that loves my husband, but delights in showing
me his rattlesnake impersonation if I'm standing too
close to his beloved human. I have actual goose bumps
(aka bruises) from underestimating the power and
speed attached to his opinionated beak. As it turns out
this lovely goose was raised in the house by a man. As
a gosling, he would nestle beneath his owner's chin,
resting happily on his chest, watching football games
and probably drinking beer! Little does this feisty
goose know what I'm learning about birds through
your wonderful magazine.
HORSES THAT PAINT!
Although I am birdless, I do have three very expres-
sive equines. Romeo and Juliet are my two Paso Fino
horses that paint on canvas with a brush in their
mouth. (Editors note: visit the Paso Fino Horse
Association for more information on the Paso Fino.
www.psha.org) They also star in a children's book,
"Home Sweet Home with Romeo and Juliet." My third
horse, DaVinci, is a dear soul recovering from a type of
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He learned to paint
before we could touch him. He's giving new meaning
to the term art therapy.
OH ROMEO
I began my journey with positive reinforcement
training completely unaware of what I was doing. In
2004 I found myself with a beautiful, eight year old,
Paso Fino gelding horse. Hi name was Romeo. He was
an irresistible dapple gray, with his thick, black mane
and tail and wide set, coal black eyes on a white face.
When he arrived home, he quickly became resistible; in
fact resistance was his middle name. He clearly was a
troubled horse. My only explanation was that he was
If Horses Had Wings
By Cheryl Ward
Romeo displays both his abilities to hold things in his mouth and the new
children's book he stars in with Juliet.
Photo Credit: Sam Sharnik
The neighborhood goose greets Cheryl's husband Sam, one of many such
visits he enjoys daily.
Photo Credit: Cheryl Ward
trained on opposite day. Whatever was asked of him,
he would do the opposite. Underneath his evasions
was a frightened, dominant, insecure horse, set on pro-
tecting himself. He had about six or seven owners and
he was only eight years old.
I couldn't bear to be yet another owner that passed
him along because of his undesirable behaviors. I heard
all the well-meaning advice like, "You need to show
him who's boss," or, "Don't let him take advantage of
you," or, "Whack him with crop! That'll fix him!" I tried
many of the natural horsemanship techniques based on
pressure and release and it still left him very upset. The
release was not enough of a reward for him.
CLICK AND TREAT
I was becoming very discouraged and posted my
questions on a horse chat forum. One woman suggest-
ed I try clicker training. The next day I had a clicker, a
book from Alexandra Kurland, Clicker Training for Your
Horse, and, as it turns out, a very curious horse.
I used a plastic lid about the size of a Frisbee for a tar-
get and bits of carrot for the treat. I showed Romeo the
lid and when he touched it with his nose, he heard a
click and got a treat. Suddenly his eyes widened, his
ears perked forward and he repeatedly touched the lid.
He seemed completely in awe that an action he offered
earned him something he wanted, instead of the usual
punishment. In that magic moment we entered our
first, real, two way conversation.
It became a joy to watch for the behavior I wanted,
click, treat and see a happy horse, rather than look for
an unwanted behavior and try to correct it. Romeo
made the process so easy; he seemed to glow during
our training sessions. I'm even hesitant to call them
training sessions, as they felt more like conversations
where we each would work towards giving each other
something that made our lives easier. I began to chan-
nel his fears of anything-that-moved into giving him
the ability manipulate the source of his fears, such as
trash can lids. Now he literally runs to a stray trash can
lid to pick it up and hand it to me.
PRELUDE TO PAINTING
Romeo soon became skilled at picking up objects.
When I dropped my sweatshirt while riding; Romeo
conveniently handed it back to me. Things like this
made me feel he wanted more. I happened to have a set
of paint brushes and canvas gathering dust in my clos-
et. What if..? I thought to myself.
I knew Romeo would love the paint brush, but how
would I communicate that I wanted him to run the
brush up and down the canvas? It turns out I didn't
Home Sweet Home with Romeo & Juliet. Story by Cheryl Ward. Photos
by Sam Sharnik. 44 pages; paperback; ages 4-8; $9.95 USD; available at
Amazon.com.
Romeo paints in a field, free to come and go as he pleases. He learned to
paint exclusively through positive reinforcement.
have to. I gave him the brush, presented the canvas
and, like a veteran, he began running the brush up and
down the canvas. The next day we added paint. Since
then he's painted over 200 paintings that hang in
homes worldwide.
ROMEO FINDS A JULIET
About a year later Juliet joined us as a four year old.
She's a Paso Fino mare from a loving home. She came
to us unafraid, a blank slate ready for adventure. Her
nickname is Gerbil because everything ends up in her
mouth. She learned the basics of picking up objects and
(sometimes) handing them to me. Every time Romeo
would paint, we'd make sure she could watch. Soon
she was painting and, to our delight, with a complete-
ly different style than Romeo. Her strokes are bold,
definitive and forceful. Romeo's approach is a bit gen-
tler as his strokes are lighter and rather precise. In
Juliet's early days of painting, we had to anchor the
easel so she wouldn't knock it over.
On occasion I'll hop on either Romeo or Juliet's back
and become a passenger, where I don't direct them. I
simply sit on their back and go where they want to take
me. Without fail, each time I do this they walk directly
to the entrance of their studio where they paint. If we
happen to leave the doors open, even a crack, they'll
pry them open and we'll find them fighting over who
gets to stand by the easel.
ENRICH ME
Outside of these experiences we began noticing just
how much the horses enjoy "doing things." I truly feel
they are energized by challenges and like to see a
result. I think to put a horse in a pasture with no stim-
ulation completely underutilizes their problem solving
abilities. More than once I've seen Juliet climb on her
pedestal to eat leaves that were out of reach. I've seen
Romeo drag branches along the fence to remove the
moss. It might seem rather unnatural to teach a horse
to paint, but what I've found is that they delight in
using their natural abilities. I simply put those behav-
iors on cue.
A BOOK IN THE MAKING
As their personalities blossomed, my husband and I
were inspired to write and photograph a humorous
children's story showing the very expressive side of
horses that we had discovered. Getting creative we
decided what better way to show this than to see what
happens when two horses move into a house and eat
cake with a Chihuahua?
The making of the book showed just how important
it was to be really clear with what we wanted the hors-
es to do. We had to rehearse where they would stand
on their marks to pose. If we didn't, they were more
than happy to improvise. Juliet took great delight in
showing us all the exciting things she could do with a
wooden spoon in her mouth, like stirring all the stuffed
animals, or gently bopping Romeo on the neck. This
made it really hard for the oh so serious Romeo to
stand on his mark.
ROMEO AND JULIET MEET CASSIE
During this time we met Cassie Malina, an Avian
Trainer for Natural Encounters Inc. She came for a visit
to meet and paint with Romeo and Juliet. Cassie is a
Supervisor at Natural Encounters where she works
with free flight birds in bird shows worldwide. After
Romeo and Juliet painted for her, I wanted to show off
a few of their other talents.
Both Romeo and Juliet climbed on their pedestals
unhaltered, unrestrained. Juliet laid down. Romeo
danced. Then the grand finale, I showed Cassie how
Romeo, again unhaltered in a large field, would walk
around me in a 50 foot circle and then get progressive-
ly faster (trotting, cantering). Then he would change
direction. With my left hand I pointed the direction for
Juliet lays down on cue and gets covered by a comforter for this scene in
the children's book where she snuggles with her stuffed animals.
him to go. In my right hand I held a 6 foot whip. I held
the whip at different heights to signal to Romeo to
change speeds. I thought for sure Cassie would be
impressed at how Romeo didn't run away and how he
stayed so connected.
Instead she thoughtfully explained the difference
between positive reinforcement and negative reinforce-
ment. Yes, it was grand that Romeo didn't run away,
but the use of the whip was negative reinforcement. I
presented Romeo with a situation where he had to run
away from something that he didn't want. He didn't
want the lunge whip anywhere near him. I had no idea
this was negative reinforcement. Traditional horse
training uses all sorts of whips, crops, gadgets, pres-
sure and release to teach. After all, I wasn't hitting him
with it, right?
Considering I spent the last few years with Romeo
positively encouraging him to paint, to come to me, to
overcome his past troubles, the thought of using nega-
tive reinforcement with him really bothered me. I
looked back at all the training sessions I had with him,
including clinics where there was rope work. Each time
it featured situations where I had to physically "send
him out" away from me. Every time I did this, he
looked so hurt. I felt really awkward. Thanks to Cassie
and her eagle eye (pun intended) I now know why. She
encouraged me to actively keep track of the type of
reinforcement I was using each time I worked with the
horse. My assignment was to see how I could teach my
horse to move towards something he wanted, rather
than away from something he didn't want.
A PORTRAIT OF PSTD (POST TRAUMATIC STRESS
DISORDER)
A full year after Cassie's visit and a full year after
keeping track of positive versus negative reinforce-
ment, my family and I welcomed a new horse into our
herd. This new horse was like nothing I had ever seen.
His online advertisement read: "Looking for a project?
This poor guy trusts no one. $500." When we saw him
in person, he was the embodiment of Post Traumatic
Stress Disorder. His poor body was weakened from
pneumonia, worms and terror. He was untouchable.
His muscles were stiff from being in the constant state
of readiness to run. His body was like a map of scars,
from his split ear to cuts and gashes up and down his
legs and hips.
There are many other productive ways to spend
$500, but something in this horse's eye just pleaded,
"Help me." We optimistically thought that he might
enjoy enrolling in Romeo and Juliet's "school" for
painters. When he arrived home my daughter named
him DaVinci.
It was so painful for me to watch DaVinci's look of
alarm when anyone entered his paddock. The sight of
a human placed him on high alert, the whites of his
eyes whirling, his head held like a periscope, his neck
and back stressed, ready to run. The part that hurt the
most was realizing I was causing his pain. He associat-
ed anything two legged as a terrible threat. My presence
was negative reinforcement. He'd do anything to move
away from what he didn't want, and that was me.
Ouch.
Talk about clearly identifying negative reinforce-
ment. Fortunately I had a year's worth of identifying
positive and negative situations and I felt clear as to my
next step. I needed to change his mind about what my
presence meant. Thank you Cassie!
On a scale of one to ten, one being a wild mustang
and ten being a bomb proof domestic horse, DaVinci
was a minus five. He was well aware of the dangers
and threats associated with humans and had zero
curiosity. Traditional horse training would encourage
me to put him in a round pen and let him run and run
until he looked at me and realized I wasn't a threat. I
had zero desire to place that kind of pressure on him.
WHAT TO DO?
I decided to keep it really simple. All horses speak
"bucket." Instead of getting him all hyped up running
in a round pen (using pressure) and then have him sub-
mit (release), I decided to be a refreshing contrast to his
mixed up world. Every time I'd walk outside and he
saw me, I'd click, put a treat in his bucket and walk
away.
After repeating this process for a few days, I had his
attention. I began clicking every time he looked at me.
Magically, he would stand closer and closer until he'd
accept the treat from my hand.
During Cassie's visit she explained this process in
banking terms. Each positive reinforcement is a deposit
into the trust account and each negative reinforcement
or aversive punishment creates a withdrawal. I could
visibly see his trust account begin to grow. His eyes
softened, his neck and back were much less tense and,
to my utter delight, he began to nicker softly each time
he saw me.
ON TARGET
Once he was truly relaxed with clicking and treating,
I introduced a target stick. Soon he'd follow the target
stick anywhere as if it were magnetized. At that time I
attempted to introduce the halter, but just the sight of it
overwhelmed him, so I decided to save it for later. Since
he was already targeting his stick, I didn't need to put a
halter on him to get him where I needed him to go.
Anytime I introduced a common horse item, like a
grooming tool or his halter and lead, virtually any-
thing that was held in my hand, he'd become nerv-
ous. My guess is that these items held painful mem-
ories from his past. If I tried to gently reach toward
him to touch him, he'd recoil in horror. All I could do
was stand and cry. This poor horse!
So we proceeded without halters or touching. I
began introducing new, fun things for him to target,
to push around and pick up. The paint brushes that
the horses enjoy are about 1 1/2 inches wide and 1/4
inch thick. They're easy for the horses to grip in their
flat-bottomed teeth. DaVinci loved the paint brush,
perhaps because it didn't trigger anything from his
past. I began encouraging him to pick up and hold
the brush and wave it about. To my surprise when I
brought out a canvas, he was completely unafraid.
Normally he spooks at larger moving objects. I
showed him the paint bottles, let him smell the paint,
and again he appeared very curious. Within ten days
he was painting on canvas with a brush in his mouth.
But we still couldn't touch him.
DON'T TOUCH ME
I noticed that every time I'd try to touch him, it
probably appeared as an aggressive act on my part.
So I thought, if he could touch me instead, it might
change things. I held up my hand in a high five fash-
ion close to my body. I asked him to target my hand
and then I waited. The moment he touched my hand
he was profusely rewarded. Soon he'd voluntarily
run his neck along my hand in a kitten like fashion.
The cue became known as 'kitty.' I say 'kitty' to let
him know I'm about to touch him, which gives him
the opportunity to touch me first.
After about two months, DaVinci started to resem-
ble a horse instead of a time bomb. He even stood
happily without a halter while I trimmed his hooves.
With every interaction he was free to run away,
which he would do frequently, but he'd always come
right back. He started reminding me more and more
of a wild bird.
AVIAN TRAINING FOR EQUINES
I discussed with Cassie the concept of bird train-
ing for the horses. I wanted to know if a horse could
be trained as if it were capable of free flight. After
DaVinci balances on his pedestal as he targets the "sponge."
DaVinci moves towards the target, the sponge in front of him, rather than
away from pressure to encourage movement.
all, birds and horses are both prey animals with
similar flight instincts. Cassie works everyday with
free flight birds capable of taking flight at any
moment, yet they choose to stay with her. To me
that's pure beauty.
I thought about how horses are routinely tied, teth-
ered, hobbled and stalled, spending their lives in all
sorts of containment, much like caged birds. Even
when they're ridden, horses are confined at the
mouth by a metal bit. What would happen if those
restraints were lifted? What if the horse had the
opportunity to fly free?
DaVinci was creating a very clear example of free
flight horse training. The normal method of control-
ling a horse with a halter was not an option for me at
this point. Whatever I asked of him had to be palat-
able enough for him to understand and then agree to
or he'd simply run away. I've always loved the say-
ing "The truth exists in the gray," but DaVinci was
more of a black and white kind of guy. I either got it
right or I got it wrong. He'd stay or he'd bolt. He'd
say either "Hello" or "Goodbye."
This glaring contrast cemented the realization that
Cassie was leading me to; positive reinforcement
produced the horse that said, "Hello. I want to be
with you." For Cassie, no doubt, it produced birds
that would fly wild and free but then return imme-
diately to say "Hello. I'm back because I like it here."
I BELIEVE IN MAGIC
This realization, brought about by a caring friend
and a traumatized horse, has changed my life forev-
er. Not a day goes by where I don't hear Cassie's
words echo in my head: "Create a situation where
you're encouraging movement towards something
your horse wants, rather than away from something
he doesn't want."
With those words in mind, my three horses are
becoming so much more than I ever imagined hors-
es could be. The relationship I have with them is
more like canine companions that allow me to ride
on their backs. My horses heel, stay, come and lay
down with much more focus than my dogs. I only
wish I had half my horses' enthusiasm to try and
learn new things.
We've created an online Diary of DaVinci at paint-
inghorse.com to share the progress of our free flight
horse. His daily transformation from a lifetime of
fear and pain to trust and healing often leaves me
with inadequate words to describe what I see. What
it does do is give me hope for all creatures, even
human ones who often try to stop aggression with
more aggression.
In our travels we're frequently asked, "How in the
world do you teach a horse to paint?" My answer is
continually evolving. Even as I'm beginning to
understand the fancy Skinnerian lingo and the ram-
ifications of operant conditioning, my favorite
answer always ends up in one word. Magic. I
believe that positive reinforcement is the definition
of magic. Just ask DaVinci.
Now about that biting goose....
Cheryl Ward has a B.A. in Speech Communication that
she thought was useless until she found herself with a prob-
lem horse. She soon discovered that the concepts she learned
intended for humans worked well on horses. Her back-
ground in art, combined with communication theory,
became helpful when her horse began to paint. In September
2004, Cheryl and her husband Sam Sharnik launched
Painting Horse Gallery, an online collection of paintings by
their horses. In December 2007, Cheryl and Sam wrote,
photographed and published a childrens book about their
horses Romeo and Juliet who move into a house and eat cake
with a Chihuahua (Home Sweet Home with Romeo &
Juliet, available at Amazon.com). Cheryl lives in Florida
with her daughter Audra, husband Sam, three horses, three
dogs and an occasional Brown Chinese Gander.
1. Just what exactly is that fluff of pink and white? It almost
looks like a marshmallow peep you might find in an
Easter basket. No need to look for a candy filled center is
this sweet Major Mitchells cockatoo. She is just extreme-
ly relaxed. How do we know? Certainly there are a great
deal of fluffed feathers. But again we know feathers can be
fluffed for a number of reasons. Being more specific we
can see the feathers under the chin enveloping the lower
part of the beak, often a telltale sign of comfort. The feet
are also almost completely covered by fluffy feathers and
the birds body which is distributed low over the perch.
Contour feathers are loose all over the body. Crest feathers
are down and the feathers just above the nares are fluffed
as well. This young cockatoo is very comfortable.
2. The first thing that might be noticed about this macaw is
that it is a hybrid. Therefore the feathers bear colors dif-
ferent from species of macaws most familiar to parrot
enthusiasts. This however is not relevant to reading this
birds body language. As with any macaw species we can
still look for things like eye pinning, facial flushing, feath-
er position, and body weight distribution to give us infor-
mation. In this case there does not appear to be eye pin-
ning. However we can note that this birds eye is focused
on something above the bird, and appears to be pinched
closed slightly. The feathers on the head are slicked down
as are the contour feathers. The bird is standing tall as he
looks up. This is the position we often see a parrot take
when he notices something on the ceiling like a spider or
other small moving creature. With some species one
might also hear a vocalization sounding something like a
growl accompanying the stance. This is usually indicative
of some concern or wariness of what has been spotted
roaming around the ceiling, or flying in the sky (if out-
side). In general this stance passes quickly as the offend-
ing item moves on, or the bird desensitizes to its presence.
3. This photo almost immediately triggers an
aaawwwww response. Why one might ask? Because
the practiced parrot observer can tell immediately this is a
baby blue throated macaw. Some indicators that give this
away are the dark iris, the positioning of the fluffed feath-
ers on the head, the black shiny beak as well as the slight-
ly drooping wing position. Despite the observations that
correlate to a young macaw we can conclude this bird is
comfortable and relaxed. The eyes are tapered at the ends
as if almost ready to be closed for a nap. The weight of the
bird is distributed low. We can observe loose contour
feathers in addition to the fluffy head feathers. While baby
birds generally have their head feathers fluffed, if con-
cerned they will slick them down temporarily. An often
endearing quality of baby parrots is that they will press
themselves close against people as can be seen here, which
certainly makes them hard to resist. Time for a collective
aaww.
4. This African grey parrot has something to say with his
body language. He is leaning forward, with his head
stretched out. For the most part his feathers are flat to his
body, other than a very few feathers near the legs there is
no obvious fluffing of feathers. The eyes are open wide,
but do not appear to be pinning. Most importantly we can
see his wings are held out from his body. This piece of
information and the leaning forward really tell the story
for me. This bird wants to go in the direction he is leaning.
If he is flighted he is likely just about ready to launch into
flight in his desired direction. If he is unable to fly this pos-
ture would very likely be followed by the bird crouching
down and quivering its wings while he waits for someone
to come pick him up.
5. Go ahead. Stick your hand in there. I dare you! We do see
fluffed head and contour feathers. We also see weight dis-
tributed low on the perch. Does this mean these two birds
are relaxed and comfortable? Not in this bird trainers
opinion. Parrots will also fluff certain feathers when dis-
playing aggressive behavior. Important observations that
need to be considered in this photo are the extreme eye
pinning, (those pupils look like little dots!) open mouths
and the red facial flushing. These in combination with
feather fluffing indicate a very high level of arousal that
quite often is associated with aggressive displays. Beyond
the body language we can also look at the circumstance or
situation. We see we have two birds that are sitting very
close to one another. In addition they appear to be sitting
near the opening of a next box. This information alone
should be a signal to us that it is likely these two are a
bonded pair with a nest site and territory. Natural history
of parrots teaches us that bonded pairs of parrots will vig-
orously defend next sites and territories. Before we even
get close enough to observe body language indicative of
aggressive behavior we can be aware that our presence
might trigger such a response due to the circumstances.
My choice would be to keep my distance and allow these
birds their privacy.
Continued from page 21
ANSWERS TO WHAT IS THIS BIRDS BODY
LANGUAGE SAYING?
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learn kind and gentle ways to create desired parrot behavior. Our primary
focus is behavior from an applied behavior analysis approach with an
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The Parrot Problem
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Its Here! Part 2 of the Parrot Behavior and Training DVD
series presented by Good Bird Inc
Whats it like when you take your parrot to your avian veterinarian? Does your
bird eagerly hop into a kennel, present his toes for a nail trim and sit patiently for a
tactile exam? Well, he can. All it takes a little training with positive reinforcement.
Positive reinforcement training is a kind and gentle method you can use to teach
your parrot to cooperate is his own medical care. In this DVD professional animal
trainer Barbara Heidenreich shows you how to train your parrot to step onto a scale,
step onto new people, voluntarily enter and exit a kennel, allow restraint in a towel,
allow a tactile exam, allow nail trimming and feather trimming and more. Step by
step detailed instructions are provided with a variety of parrot species.
Training medical behaviors offers an excellent opportunity to reduce potential
stress in your birds life. With a little positive reinforcement, a visit to the veterinari-
an can be a pleasant experience for you, your veterinarian and your bird.
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