Q:  My wife and I have a eight month old baby and a 7 year old african grey. My grey clearly dislikes the baby and acts aggressively when they are in the same room together. Why?
-Ben G., Santa Ana, CA

A:  Every bird will certainly notice the squirmy new baby you have brought home, but their reaction to them will vary from bird to bird. There are a few different ways of looking at it from a bird’s perspective:
The INTERESTED bird:
A new baby brings a lot of new sights, sounds and smells.  Many birds will welcome the changes and enjoy the opportunity to experience these new things right alongside the family. If things were getting dull for the bird, the days sure aren’t boring now. Your bird is wonderfully inquisitive and secure.  He is happy to go with the flow.
The DISGUSTED bird:
The very same things that the interested bird loves, the disgusted bird will find fault with.  He may be the bird that liked things just fine as they were, and is a bit intolerant of change. He may continually voice his opinions about his dislike of the new situation and may grow to be unable to accept the changes or the child.
The JEALOUS bird:
Just about any bird has the potential to become jealous, and african greys can be a bit more sensitive than some other species of parrot. Is your bird’s jealousy justifiable? Has he been put on the back burner to watch the new baby get all the attention?  If this is the case, then it is understandable that he is angry. He might turn his back to you, scream, bite or just simply not wish to be your friend anymore. All the while, he is growing more and more resentful of the new baby because none of these feelings existed before it arrived, so surely it is the baby’s fault.

I don’t think anyone bringing home their first baby is really fully aware of the huge and awesome responsibility they have taken on. I know I was clueless. A new baby can take up every spare second and ounce of energy you have, leaving little for the parrot who was once the center attention. I’m not saying this to make anyone feel bad. It’s just a fact of life. Things are never the same once the baby comes, but it can be particularly hard on a bird that is used to being the baby, or is insecure or unadaptable to begin with.

Here are some tips on how to make the arrival of a new baby an easier experience for your bird:

• When you are about five months pregnant, start talking to your bird about the changes that are coming. He won’t have any idea what you are saying, but will know that you are trying to communicate something to him and his attention will be piqued.
• Buy a stuffed animal that will represent the baby for a time. Let him watch you put together the crib and place the stuffed animal in it. Carry the stuffed animal around with you like you would a baby. Put it in the baby swing in the living room.  Pretend to burp it etc., all in view of the parrot. Watch his reactions to the stuffed animal. It is during this time that he will learn that sharing you does not have to be a negative thing, as long as you continue to make him feel like he is important.  He will make the connection when the real baby moves in.
• After you bring the baby home, try not to let him get lost in all the excitement. Make it a point to deliver a favorite snack to him with enthusiasm while he is in the cage. And when the baby goes down for a nap or the night, try to make this a special bonding time for you and your parrot. Small efforts in this area will go a long way. Short times out of the cage may be enough at the beginning, while everyone is making the adjustment.  Perhaps 5 or 10 minutes out of cage, several times a day, will keep him feeling like he’s still a part of the family for the time being.
• I don’t recommend that you send the parrot away for boarding just before you bring the new baby home. Imagine how awful it would feel to be sent away only to return to find your home is forever changed. In the future, you may find that boarding your bird is problematic as he may believe that something unwanted awaits him when he is to arrive back home. Give him the opportunity to handle this experience gracefully. If he he does well, boarding can be a consideration for future babies.
• DO NOT try to introduce your parrot to the new baby. Your parrot can seriously injure an infant before you can react to stop it. Even a small child can receive a terrible bite just for the crime of being a child.  It is NOT worth the risk.

Be watchful of your bird’s feelings and reactions and make the necessary adjustments to your schedule to fit him in. If you don’t handle this with finesse, it could result in having to make the decision to rehome him when he is unable to cope with the changes and becomes difficult to live with. I think it’s safe to say that a single bird suffers the most. Birds that have established companionship with other birds has them to fall back on.  This  doesn’t mean your relationship with the bird won’t suffer if he feels you have done him wrong. Your bird, who has been your faithful friend, deserves your best.  Always.
Birds and babies can live happily ever after. Children who grow up with animals and birds have a deeper understand and love for nature. It’s a wonderful experience to dearly love something that is completely different than yourself. There are stories out there about parrots saving the lives of toddlers in trouble in very creative ways. Children and parrots do not have to be like oil and water, and as long as the conscientious owner puts forth the effort and sends the right messages they can have a beautiful, profound relationship .

This question seems to be coming up a lot recently on the birdtricks facebook page and other places I visit regularly. I appreciate that people have the good sense to ask, but it’s a very difficult question to answer without knowing the person asking it, without getting a sense of the person or what their lifestyle is. I normally spend more effort trying to talk people out of getting birds than recommending a species to them.

Owning a bird takes a lot of time and work:
Are you up to it? Those of us with birds understand the higher level of care they require compared to our cats and dogs.  Aside from daily cleaning chores that come with having a bird, there are dietary requirements that take more time and thought than just opening a can.  With their great level of intelligence, they need constant mental stimulation.  And being social creatures, they require out of cage time with their flock and family member. Without attention to these details, a bird can easily become aggressive, loud and/or feather destructive. No one will be happy with this outcome, not you, not your bird.
Since no one can answer this question for you, it’s time to take a good look in the mirror and decide what kind of person you are, and how much of yourself you are willing to give to a parrot.  If you are a good, attentive owner, plan on getting up a little earlier for work and making some changes to your social calendar.  This might be tough on a younger new owner.

And a lot of money:
Birds are very long lived pets. They require lots of toys to keep them mentally and physically active.  Store bought toys are expensive, and if they are good toys and you have chosen them well for your parrot, they are promptly destroyed.  This is the point of toys.  Birds require fresh foods everyday, a good brand of pelleted food, some species require seed and nuts, others have specialized diets. You will be spending some time in the kitchen if you are feeding your bird correctly.  A good quality and appropriately sized powder coated cage for a large bird will cost $1000 or more.  This is tough on an owner of any age.

But mostly, a lot of patience and good sense:
It takes a lot of thought to raise a bird to be happy and independent and a welcomed part of the family. Parrots have the knack for throwing curve balls at their owners. Just when you think you’ve got them figured out, they will begin a behavior you’ve never seen before. Or decide they now hate their favorite food, toy or person.  You will learn to explore why your bird does something before you even try to understand how to go about finding a solution to a problem. You will have to know your species of bird well, in both captive and wild settings. After a while, creative thinking will be second nature.  You will learn that it truly takes a village to raise a parrot. You will find the advice and wisdom of those experienced with the type of bird you have selected to be helpful and comforting, and you will seek these people out.
Does this sound like nonsense to you?  Get a fish.

Still want one?
Which bird? To begin with, I don’t believe that there is any species of parrot that should be considered a “beginner bird”. Smaller birds are just as in need of enrichment, good food and love as are the big birds. The only difference is the volume with which they can state a complaint, or the severity of the bite they may issue when you make the mistakes we all did as beginners. If the beak intimidates you, you already know you want a smaller bird.
The very best way to determine which bird is right for you is to talk to someone who has the species you have in mind.  There are sites pertaining to EVERY species on the internet. Google conure, for instance, and you will find more info on the many species of conure than you can process in one sitting.  Go onto the bird forums and ask if anyone has a green cheeked conure because you are thinking about getting one. They will be happy to share info with you about the good, bad and ugly of that species. As your research continues, you might stumble across a bird species you hadn’t considered that would fit nicely into your life.
Know that the traits listed are what is typical of the species.  It doesn’t mean that every bird reads the manual. Some african greys don’t talk, some scarlet macaws aren’t nippy, not all cockatoos need to run the world.
If you decide to rehome your first bird, you should be aware that you are taking on the product of any mistakes or wrong-doings made by previous owners.  Often these birds come baggage, some bags are heavier than others. These birds sometimes need special considerations in terms of patience, and may need a push in the right direction in the areas of diet and socialization.
A lot, if not most, of how your bird turns out has to do with your technique of raising the bird and your willingness to put the time and effort into him. You will have your bird with you for a very long time. Take all the time you need now to choose carefully.

Cockatoos are weird. I’m sorry, but they are. It is this fact that makes them such a challenge and so interesting, and my favorite species of bird.  I understand what mine like and dislike. I know to avoid what makes them nervous or over-excited. I get it that they are high strung sometimes.  But their moods can turn on a dime. One minute I can be a valued flock member, the next I’m at the top of their ten most wanted list.
Over the years I have tried to compile a mental list of strategies to employ during times when the mood shifts in the blink of an eye from happy playtime to defcon 1.  I have found that the most effective responses are usually the spontaneous ones.
One example comes to mind:  I was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher one night, and Linus, my umbrella cockatoo, was preening peacefully on the back of a kitchen chair about 10 feet away. He climbed off the chair and walked up behind me wanting to be lifted to the counter, as he often does. I was rinsing a dish and couldn’t reach down to him right away so he left the room and wandered towards the living room and out of sight. I knew his destination was a particular doorway that he liked to visit, and remodel, so I dried my hands and was prepared to head out to stop him. Just as I turned around, I saw him coming towards me, wings out, beak open, eyes focused on my ankles. I had to think quickly before there was bloodshed. I grabbed the silverware out of the dish drainer tray and dropped it all on the floor in front of my feet. In an instant the mood was broken. It was hilarious because the change happened so quickly: “I’m gonna kick your…SPOONS!!”

There was one day when Theo, my goffins cockatoo, was on her playstand when a red-tailed hawk decided to pay a visit.  It landed on the patio railing about 6 feet from where she was. She was in the house, and the slider doors were shut, but the poor little thing had a total meltdown. I shut the blinds and she managed to step up onto my arm, but I don’t think she was even aware that she did it. She was running up and down my arm, spinning in circles looking all around her. I could come up with nothing that would calm her, so I put her in the refrigerator. Yes I did. Of course, I kept the door wide open, but the minute her little feet hit that cold shelf in that weird little room with all those strange things, she completely forgot about her bad experience and went about exploring instead. Diversion.
There have been many times that I have had to come up with something in a pinch to change the course of a bird’s mood.  Exploring the closet is a favorite.  The utensil drawer in the kitchen is the ultimate, second only to my underwear drawer. Just a chat about the weather while standing at the window will get the job done on most days.
Once, when I was unable to get Linus to quiet down with my usual methods, I grabbed a newspaper, stood by his cage and began shredding it into strips that I let fall to the floor. He kept screaming, I kept ripping, until I had a nice, big pile. Eventually, he stopped screaming, but probably because it was just so strange to him that I was making a mess all over the floor, a job usually reserved for him.  I opened his cage and left the room. He spent the next hour playing in the paper pile, quietly.

Yes, I had to wash all the dropped wooden spoons and spatulas, clean up the newspaper that covered the entire floor, and Theo did poop in the fridge, but that’s no big deal when you consider what got accomplished. There is no end to the ideas you can come up with to stop your bird mid-hissy or turn an angry bird into a playful one if you use your imagination..

Interested in freeflight and recall training for your parrot? I know there’s always interest sparked when we show photos of us flying our birds outside and make videos of how much fun we’re having doing so.

If you want to learn more about recall training and freeflight training for outdoors with your parrot, here are some links you can explore…

1. Freeflight parrot photos. Join us on Flickr where we continue to keep our photostream updated with the newest photos of our flock. We even have an entire set dedicated to our freestyle flyers.
2. Freeflight training webisodes and videos. Check us out on YouTube where we constantly put up new freeflight videos and webisodes of the places we’re flying and who we’re flying with. You can watch the newest freestyle flyer students in action!
3. Our most used training technique. A small website on Random Rewarding, what we use with our flock.
4. Freeflight blog articles. Read a bit about what we do on our freeflight trips and how you can get started.
5. Sign up for the Freestyle Flyer’s Club and teach your bird outdoor freeflight recall today! Contact us and let us know that you’re interested and we’ll sign you up and personally coach you how to train your bird to enjoy life as a Freestyle Flyer!

Take a good look at your parrot. You will notice he has wings. You will see that they, and most of the rest of his body, is covered with feathers of varying length and size. If you were to look inside his body, you would find hollow bones and a unique respiratory system and muscular structure.  All of these things contribute to a single outstanding ability: FLIGHT!
Birds are meant to fly, and I encourage you to let them do that. Flight is what differentiates birds from all other creatures on this earth. It’s what they were born to do and I believe they feel handicapped when it is denied them or when they are scolded for this most natural activity.
I am adamant that it is imperative to a baby bird’s overall and ongoing mental health to be allowed to fledge. Even if the prospective new owner never intends the bird to remain flighted, learning to fly is a necessary exercise in discovery and confidence building. The bird that never brings itself to take that first step off of a solid surface will never reap those benefits of trial and error learning and never experience the joy of that accomplishment. It might go on to be a bird that is insecure and unwilling to explore new things. That first flight is a leap of faith that follows weeks of flapping and testing out its wings with the expectation that they will carry him safely to the ground. Imagine not being allowed to learn that you do have the courage and the skill to make that come to fruition. Imagine having wings and never getting to experience flight.

When I first got Theo, my goffins cockatoo, she was a timid, perch bound little thing who had barbered her wing feathers down to the skin. To my knowledge, she had never taken a single flight in her, then, 22 years. Within a year or so, she had regrown most of her flight feathers and months later took her first leap into the air.  She flew about 6 feet, and landed softly on the floor. The expression on her face was nearly human with her surprise, joy and pride. I will never forget it. Something special happened to her that day and it changed the way she looked at her world. From that point on, she was into everything, sometimes flying there, sometimes climbing.  She developed a keen interest in everything around her, and began acting like a goffins is supposed to.

I am not anti-clipping in cases where where a bird needs to be clipped. My cockatiel, Tinky, was my first bird.  He reached a point in his accident prone life where I felt the need to clip him. Sometime after knocking himself silly by flying into a mirror, he received a nasty concussion when my young daughter accidentally closed his head in the bedroom door as he made an attempt to follow her out of the room.  He recovered, with the help of his vet, but I was still uncomfortable with the idea of clipping his wings and they remained intact.
In the not too distant future were two more separate events that involved him being stepped on and sat on. We decided he needed to be more stationary and out came the scissors. To our great surprise, and dismay, he was still quite capable of flight, just to a lesser extent.
Of course, I know now that Tinky was neither accident prone nor misbehaved.  It was our allowing him free reign of the house that led him to places where injury occured. It is impossible to keep track of every movement they make under those circumstances, and until we learned that lesson well, Tinky would remain at risk or stay clipped.  The arrival of our second cockatiel, DeeDee, helped to keep Tinky in one spot a bit more often with other activities. We adjusted our lifestyle with the birds, imposed more limitations and both are now fully flighted.

Before you clip, think carefully about the emotional impact of grounding your bird. Knowing that they can escape a dangerous or frightening situation if the need arises, or even an interaction that they simply wish not to participate in, gives a bird the room to make choices that bring about trust. You’ve heard the expression Fight or Flight. When the option of flight is removed, sometimes it leaves a wary bird only the option of fighting when it feels insecure.  A bird might be quicker to bite when there are no other options to explore. Trust is gained when you respect and accept their decision to move away.
Sometimes, when a previously flighted bird is suddenly grounded, it can change it’s personality. Aside from feeling insecure, it can become depressed, sometimes lethargic, as if it has lost its zeal for life.  I know some of you are thinking that this may not be such a bad thing for your over-active or nippy birds. It is not a good thing.  Please consider addressing the behavior with training and restrictions before resorting to a clip.

If you do decide to clip, be certain is is done in a humane fashion. The wings should not be so severely trimmed that the bird is unable to glide gracefully to the ground, which will be his first stop following a clipping.  Poorly clipped wings can result in injury to your bird, so let your vet or professional bird groomer handle it until you feel confident in what you are doing.  Start with a light clip.  You can always trim more later if necessary.
NEVER trim a single wing.  A bird’s wings provide overall balance whether it be on the ground or in the air.  This is why they molt and regrow their flight feathers evenly on each side.  Trimming a single wing can cause a bird to perch unevenly, causing pressure sores on its feet which can then develop into skin and bone infections.
Also avoid what is referred to as a “show cut”.  This is when the wings are trimmed leaving the first two feathers on each side intact. Because they now jut out awkwardly, they are easily caught on toys and perches and can cause injury.Your birds appearance is not important. Its safety is.  Most people don’t even notice that a bird is clipped if it is done properly.
There is only one reason to clip your bird’s wings: if the safety of the bird/s or the people in the home are at risk.  If your bird does not seem to get the message after repeatedly flying into windows or mirrors, then a clipping is a good idea.  If your bird is trying to injure a member of the household or another bird, then sometimes clipping is necessary while you assess and gain control of the situation.  It should be done as part of an multi-tiered plan to correct your bird’s behavior and make changes to your own lifestyle. Sometimes a light trim with take the edge off an ill tempered bird by limiting its abilities, while still allowing him flight. This bird will sometimes get the message, but often there are better alternatives to clipping.

5 reasons NOT to clip:

• 1.  Flight gives a bird confidence and keeps it mentally and emotionally balanced. Aside from knowing it can get itself out of harm’s way in a pinch, it is how a bird naturally gets around.  Sure, they can walk and climb, but they are built to fly. Anyone in wheelchair understands what I am saying about the loss of an ability.
• 2.  Given the muscular structure of a bird, flying is the best form of exercise they can get. This is why they flap their wings in their cages.  It probably feels good, but it isn’t enough to keep those muscle toned.
• 3.  A flighted bird can escape to safety in the home, if he finds himself in trouble.  If you have other pets, this is a consideration.
• 4.  If lost outside, an uflighted bird will not have the ability to outfly a predator.  A determined clipped bird certainly CAN fly, and they go up, but seem to be unable or unwilling to come down.
• 5. Your bird will always have the option to choose to avoid an altercation with you by flying away instead of biting.

**NOTE:  Never attempt to fly your birds outside without extensive professional freeflight and recall training.

We wear many hats as bird owners: we’re cooks, toy makers, housekeepers and behavioral analysts.  I once read: “Yur day job iz how ya ern muney, yur reel job iz to spend it on yur handsum burd”  by author Mango McCaw. If your parrot had to go out and find work (oh, the indignity!), what would he do?
I think this is what best suits my birds:

Theo, goffins cockatoo, 24
I used to think of Theo as a philosopher, quietly contemplating the things around her.  Lately, though, I have thought of her as more of a novelist.  Her active imagination has more than once created a scary monster out of an inanimate object, the latest being the bath brush in the shower. Yesterday it was a scaly, howling beast intent on savaging the world (or at least the bathroom), today it was just a personal hygiene tool.  I also think that her remarkable measures of patience and tolerance would make her a valued school teacher, although story-time might cause the children to have nightmares.

Linus, umbrella cockatoo, 18
Linus, would be a fine woodworker,  but I think engineering is his true calling.  This bird can do things with his cage cover while I’m at work that defy the laws of physics. Cockatoos are known for their skills in this area, and for their flare for the dramatic, but that he is able to weave the fabric through a dozen cage bars, around his perch and meticulously through the eye-screw hole just baffles me. Then there was the knot I found tied at the end. He is very talented.

Libby, quaker parrot, 4
Quakers are uniquely qualified in the field of architecture, with a little interior designer thrown in.  If you’ve ever seen one of the huge, multi-roomed, condo-like structures that quakers build on city transformers, you’d know what I’m talking about. Libby apparently didn’t get that contractor’s gene but is still an interesting and well rounded little bird.  I think she would do any job well.  As long as she was the boss.  And the food availability was non-stop.  A girl’s gotta keep up her strength.

Nikko and Visa, budgies, 2
Jamie and Dave’s budgies are hard to figure out.  I have always seen them in the roles of the drowning swimmer (Nikko) and the lifeguard (Visa).  When I first came to Orlando, Nikko had contracted a infection which required months of medication.  After the Womachs left for their tour, I was the evil stranger who reached into the cage with a huge hand to capture and torture her. Visa took up the role as bodyguard and positioned himself between my hand and Nikko, threatening to bite if I proceeded.  Recently, I found Nikko in the cage with a toe injury. Visa was standing guard over her.  It was days later that I discovered that Visa also inflicted the injury. So, who knows?  Nikko has had hard life health-wise and might find it satisfying and rewarding to help the less fortunate.  Visa would make an excellent prison inmate.

Tinky and DeeDee, cockatiels, 16
The cockatiels are not suited to work outside the home.  Instead, they would prefer to be kept in the manner to which they are accustomed.  The pampered life as the wives of an insanely rich man would work well for them.
It’s career day. What line of work is your parrot best suited to?