Congo african grey

We recently received this email from a customer and just had to share it:

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!  In just a few short hours your training tips have made me love my bird again.
My African Grey had become a screamer, I think mostly from being left alone too much.  The kids are grown and I work two jobs, so she spent a lot of time alone.  When I came home she screamed constantly.  I was on the verge of finding her a new home, but hesitated because I thought someone who did not know birds would end up with her and not treat her well.  The clicker training has pretty much stopped the screaming in just two evenings and in about 15 minutes she mastered the “no” head shake on signal.  I’m amazed and cannot wait to teach her more tricks.  The purchase of your cd’s & dvd is the best money I have ever spent.

Sincerely,

Nancy Bendon

To Nancy: Thank you for taking the time to tell us about your success. We appreciate how difficult it can be to live with a bird that screams to make itself understood. Many people choose to rid themselves of their “defective” bird rather than manage a fixable problem. Thanks for going the extra mile for your bird and congratlations on a job well done!

Screaming course

Screaming is one of the most perplexing of all the behavioral issues our birds have. They scream because they want your attention. They scream because they are bored. They scream because they feel insecure about you or their environment. I suspect that many have no idea why they are screaming at all beyond the notion things are just generally not to their liking. For whatever the reason, all screaming has one thing in common – it manipulates the owner into action of some sort.

The most typical reaction to a screaming bird is over-reaction: anger, pleading, and forced affection. All of these responses add fuel to the fire and reinforce the likelihood that the sceaming will continue. From a bird’s perspective, he has gotten what he wants. He definitely has your attention and is no longer bored. He is feeling less insecure about his world because he has discovered a way of gaining control over it, and you.

It only makes sense that you don’t respond with over-reaction, and in fact, should show no response to the screaming at all. This will make it clear that he can’t manipulate your behavior with his own. However, and this is very important to remember, it does not solve the problem that initiated the screaming to begin with.

Nancy’s first step toward success came when she recognized that there had been a change in her bird’s environment.  Her african grey was not getting the same level of attention she was accustomed to and chose to state her objection through screaming. Nancy amped up her interaction with her bird through training.

cockatiel

One area where we bird owners often fall short is in the type of interaction we share with our birds. We may come home from work and let the bird out of its cage to sit on a nearby perch while we make dinner or on our shoulder as we watch TV or read the paper. No doubt our birds appreciate being with us, but this level of engagement is shallow. Our attention is on our dinner, the TV or the paper – not the bird.

If we can truly call it interaction, it must be…interactive. We should have our focus solely on our bird, engaging in a mutual activity. This is where training works its real magic. The opportunity for bonding through training is unique. It is all about you and your bird, and nothing else.

Training gives your bird the opportunity to earn treats, but it also opens the doors to a new world of learning. You will see how important training becomes to your bird in the focus it has on each task, but you will also notice how much more directly and intnently your bird now looks into your eyes. You reach a new height in your communication and it is a deeply rewarding experience for you both.

rosebreasted cockatoo

Imagine if our birds could say to us: “Look I know you mean well, but this isn’t working out. I’m bored to tears. Either you give me something to do or I’ll have to scream all afternoon…” in language just that clear. There wouldn’t be any behavioral problems and this site wouldn’t exist. The fact is, there’s a lot of guess work and it is hard to find and correct the exact problem. When you begin training your bird, you inadvertantly address a number of issues. Boredom is alleviated, mental stimulation is increased, your level of interaction becomes meaningful. These are the three most common causes of problem behaviors and all can be managed through simple training.

If you have problems with your birds, whether it be biting or screaming, or if you simply want to take your relationship with your bird to the next level,Birdtricks courses are designed to help you get where you want to be with your bird. Visit Birdtricks.com/store  to get started.

Mitred conure

As a human being, I have witnessed, and experienced, how seriously a lack of confidence can hold a person back in life. The belief that one is not up to a challenge or living in fear of possible failure can be debilhitating, and the result can be a life of missed opportunities.

Any intelligent being that has the ability to weigh up a decision also has the capacity for doubt. Doubt can be useful in keeping oneself safe -  when the odds aren’t in your favor, sometimes a risk is not worth taking. However, doubt is sometimes directed inwardly, where it is not the circumstances that make one uneasy, but the questioning of one’s own ability to make a sound decision or to successfully complete a task. Lack of self confidence is a fear of oneself, and often it is in our own best interest to push ourselves to confront the things that make us uncomfortable, or even afraid, so that we might live a more fulfilling life..

Blue and gold macaw

Many captive birds live very structured lives. We feed them and provide them with forms of entertainment. We decide the convenient times for out of cage play. We put them to bed when we are ready to settle down for the evening. There is little decision making in their lives. They have few experiences where they are naturally inclined to learn through trial and error. Without life lessons, they will continue to be wary and avoid stepping outside the box. Experience breeds growth and without it, there is fear of the unknown.

I believe that many of the phobias our birds experience are rooted in a lack of confidence that has resulted in fear.Your bird’s level of self confidence will impact all of the most important areas of his life from his interactions with humans, to his use of the toys that your provide, to his willingness to eat the foods that are good for him.

Blue and gold macaw

There are three critical parts to creating an environment that will build a bird’s confidence:

• 1) Allow your bird plenty of experiences in life. The most confident birds invariably are the ones that are the most experienced: a bird well socialized to humans, a bird that is not over-protected and sheltered from life, a bird whose life that is not made simple because we perceive them as simple creatures. Try not to think in terms of making life “easy” for your birds. Instead, look to making it interesting. The more experiences a bird has that have a positive outcome, the less wary it will be when approaching new things.
• 2) Allow your bird opportunities to learn. Many of the toys available today rely on the need to develop a skill.  Foraging toys require that a bird mentally calculate a series of moves that will allow them access to the food inside. Puzzle toys, or toys with moving parts, will teach a bird that: “if I do this, that will happen.” It is important to note that they will play with, even labor over, these toys even without a food motivator. This fact will tell you how important mental engagement is to a bird. They will work for food, but they will also work to learn. Confidence grows as a bird overcomes each hurdle and completes each task.
• 3) Teach your bird to play independently. Your bird should be happy at play when it’s inside it’s cage or on a playstand without your involvement. You should encourage independent play even when you are at home and available to your bird. This will increase the understanding that independent play is expected and that your presence in the house does not automatically mean that your bird will be spending time with you. It will learn how to productively occupy it’s own time. When a bird lacks the confidence to engage in activities separately from its owner, it will become increasingly dependent on your in all areas.

Rosebreasted cockatoo

As your bird matures, the combination of its experiences will determine its demeanor. The more you broaden your bird’s boundaries of discovery, the more adaptable it will become. You will find yourself with a bird that is comfortable, confident and eager to explore what the world has to offer.

Congo african grey

No bird is perfect – not yours, not mine. Throughout your bird’s lifetime you will encounter many occasions where you will find it necessary to help your bird make behavior modifications that will ultimately make life more satisfying for you both.

Changing a bird’s behavior is never as simple as moving from point A to point B. It requires intricate steps, thoughtfulness and lots of patience. Outlining the procedure ahead of time will help to move through these steps, but without acknowledging the following tips, your job will be much harder.

Blue and gold macaws

1) Understand the nature of the problem

The fact is, you can’t fix something without knowing how it works.You would never open up your computer and start fiddling around with parts without having an understanding of their purpose. It’s much the same when addressing problem behaviors.

Ask yourself these two questions: why would a bird do this? AND, why does MY bird do this? You might think that the answer to those questions would be the same, but they are actually very different questions.

Using property and house destruction as an example of a behavior that needs to be altered, something we all have endured, you will first need to understand why birds do this. Wild birds are hard-wired to chew because of their innate nesting instincts. Likewise with our captive birds. They are compelled to chew, and will find a way to satisfy that need.

When you ask yourself why YOUR bird does this, it requires that you take a look into your bird’s environment. Your bird may destroy your furniture because you aren’t providing enough wood and shreddable materials in his cage and play areas. He may also be suffering from boredom during his out of cage time and find himself headed for the nearest chair leg when left unsupervised.

You will want to take these facts and your observations into account. This knowledge is essential in getting to the root of any problem. The deeper you probe, the more you will be able to fine tune the solution.

Umbrella cockatoo

2) Offer alternative interests

Think for a minute what it would feel like to have a favorite form of entertainment suddenly denied you. If it were something that occupied a lot of your idle time, you would feel a sense of loss.You would feel restless and miserable until you found something to fill that void.

When trying to effect changes in your bird, you will find it necessary to divert their attentions away from the problem behaviors. Always replace the old activities with new alternatives.You will find it unproductive to simply take away object of your bird’s desire or remove the bird from the area.

Stripping something from your bird’s environment does not lead to a change in behavior. You might temporarily stop the activity, but the inclination will remain, and given the first opportunity, the bird will be back at it. It’s up to you to direct your bird towards something new that substitutes for, or minimizes, the loss of the former activity.

Military macaw

3) The Do-Over

Modifying behaviors is challenging, and there will be occasional set backs. It takes time to break habits  Birds, like children, will continually test you to see what they can get away with. Even after you have guided them to new opportunities, it may still occur to them from time to time that the old ones are still available.

If your bird regresses back to his former unwanted behaviors, you will have to correct him accordingly, but be sure to allow him the opportunity to right his wrong. Take your bird away from the situation for a few moments and return him to the scene of the crime without assuming he will repeat the same behavior.This do-over gives him the opportunity to change his OWN behavior and affords him a measure of control in his environment. This is very empowering to a bird, and a very positive experience. You’ll be surprised how many birds CHOOSE to get it right the second time around.

Click Here To Claim The Free Gift Mentioned In The Video

Singapore

The 4th of July is a holiday that most people eagerly anticipate. It is all about barbecues, outdoor activities and family fun. When the sun sets, out come the explosives. The night sky is filled with gunpowder blasts and flashes of bright light. The formerly peaceful world has become a war-zone and our pets are not amused.

The very worst response to 4th of July came from one of my dogs, a mostly wolf/part collie mix whom most people feared because of her ominous appearance. Every 4th, about 15 minutes following sundown, the poor dog would begin trembling uncontrollably. She would frantically try to wedge herself into the three inch clearance beneath the bed. At 90 pounds, she was only able to secure the safety of a paw or two. I spent this holiday, most years, in bed with her under the blankets trying desperately to calm her and hoping she would retain control of her bladder.  Oh, how she suffered this night every year. I just dreaded it.

Sydney

Birds, being prey animals, are particularly reactive to sudden sights and sounds, which can make this holiday particularly uncomfortable for them. There is no one right way to prepare your birds because each has its own level of tolerance to the unusual. It seems that birds who are acclimated to a busy household will fare better on this night or in any unsettling environment. And a bird whose trust you have worked to earn will more easily believe you when you tell them that everything is okay.

New York City

You can never say for sure how crazy your neighborhood is going to get on any particular year. The people next door may choose to throw a party with a fireworks display at dusk. I always try to be prepared for that possibility.The neighborhood here in Orlando has a lot of young families and it’s gets loud. Here are the things I do to prepare my flock:

Start the day with a bang:
From the moment I get the birds up in the morning and through the afternoon, I make it a high excitement day. I am boisterous and animated. If there is a TV or raidio nearby, it goes on and stays on. I create lots of noise and play actively with them. The purpose of this is to make the day a noisy one so that the evening sounds will not appear as shocking in contrast.
Wear them out:
There are always lots of daytime outdoor activities that your bird will enjoying being a part of. This is a good time to break out the backpack or carrier for an outing and a good opportunity for socialization. Following this, I give them a nice bath. The point to all of this? I want an exhausted bird come sundown.

Sweden

Load them up with food:
I make sure my birds are snacking all day long. I withhold favorite foods from the morning meal to serve off and on throughout the day. A bird’s energy level drops after they have eaten. While their bodies are busy digesting their food, they will quietly preen or nap. A full bird is a calm bird.

Put them to bed early:
I make sure my birds are covered and settled at least an hour before dusk. Make sure blinds are drawn or have cages covered if they are in view of a window where they might see fireworks. They will likely be very willing to go to sleep after such an active day. If your bird is not accustomed to being covered and states an objection, just cover the side facing the window. Very often, even at this early hour,  the fireworks can already be heard off in the distance. I reassure them by dropping my energy levels down and telling them that all is well as I put them to bed.

Iceland

If your bird is unable to sleep…:
Temporarily relocate the cage to an interior area of the house where the sound from outside will be more muffled. Leave a TV or radio on quietly in an adjacent room. Sometimes the bird will do better being in the same room you are in, and while I wouldn’t ordinarily recommend that this is how you handle fearfulness in your bird, this might be one exception. However, I would suggest that you keep the bird covered in its cage. I will caution you that frightened birds will bite and having a beak near your face when an explosion sounds off  may not play out well for you.

France

Let your experienced birds show the way:
The established flock can help new members who who are unaccustomed to the chaos. Theo, my goffins cockatoo, came to live with me in February of 2008, when she was 22 years old. She was overly fearful of just about everything. We worked hard on this issue. When July rolled around that year, I was worried that she might not handle the fourth well. When one bird displays fear, it sets off the entire flock and I was gearing up for a troublesome night. I am pleased to say that instead of launching into a full scale panic attack, Theo looked to Linus, my umbrella cockatoo, for guidance. When he remained calm throughout the excitement, she followed suit. The night was peaceful, relatively speaking.

All of my birds do well on the Fourth of July. I am a very high energy person, constantly in motion, making frequent trips in and out of the bird room. I shout greetings to my birds from the different rooms in the house, just to touch base with them. I talk to them constantly. If I drop something, my birds recover from the surprise quickly. Mine is a loud, active household, and my birds have all benefitted from that. They fully trust me and if my energy levels remain constant, so do theirs. This is something you can be working on throughout the year that will make the 4th of July and other times, like the winter holidays, less stressful for your bird.

Disney World, Orlando

Your bird looks to you for its comfort and security and with a little effort you can make this night much less scary. And, please, no matter how well adjusted your bird seems on this night, NEVER take him out to witness the fireworks. There is no way it will be a pleasant experience for a high-alert animal like a bird.

**All photos from www.hongkiat.com/blog

Photo from allysonesker.com

As I get to know more non-bird people as I move through life, or as they get to know me, they quickly learn about my passion for parrots. I am almost always referred to as “the bird lady”.This is not a term I relish because I wonder if, when out of earshot, the word “crazy” doesn’t get added to that phrase. I’m pretty used to it and I don’t expect most people to understand my “thing” for birds.

When I do happen upon another bird owner I get very excited and could talk forever. Sometimes, though, I meet an owner that just doesn’t get it, doesn’t understand birds and is clueless about their needs. I have to try hard not to lecture about the error of their ways. It serves no one if they walk away feeling reprimanded, having learned nothing.

I met one such person the other day. She has a young cockatiel, one of my favorite species. I have two that I cherish. We talked for a while about their wonderful personalities and trusting natures.

We got on the subject of feeding and she was shocked to learn that I prepare fresh foods for my birds everyday. Her bird is on a seed only diet. I explained to her why a bird requires more than seed to sustain good health and offered her assistance in converting her bird to a fresh food diet. Her response was: “Thanks, but he’s fine on the seeds. He’s healthy.”  An opinion reached based on the fact he isn’t dead, I guess.

Photo of cacao beans from optimallyorganic.com

As we continued talking she mentioned that his favorite food is chocolate. I felt my jaw drop – feeding a bad diet is one thing, feeding your bird a toxic substance is quite another. I told her that chocolate ranked high on the list of most toxic substances to birds. I explained that it contains theobromine, which causes vomiting and diarrhea, and can progress to cardiac arrhythmias, heart attacks, seizures, internal bleeding and eventual death. The darker chocolates, with the higher the percentage of cacao, are the most dangerous.

She snapped at me: “Well, you’re wrong! My bird has been eating chocolate for months now since he’s been with me!” I suggested that she google unsafe parrot foods where she would find chocolate listed right below avocado. She rolled her eyes and said: “My bird is totally fine eating chocolate.” All I could do at this point was issue a stern warning: “You are going to kill your bird if you don’t educate yourself on how to take care of him.” I felt bad that she walked away angry, but I felt worse knowing that her poor bird would suffer because of her ignorance.

Photo of kea parrot by humanisthall.net

I feel certain that most everyone reading this is aware that chocolate is very dangerous for birds, and I thought you might be interested in reading this article: “Death By Chocolate” written for the New Zealand Veterinary Journal about the demise of a wild kea, an extraordinary species of parrot native to New Zealand, who managed to come across chocolate one day in his search for food. It is a bit technical in its terminology, but very interesting and gives some history on this fascinating and sometimes problematic bird.

Chocolate is unsafe. Unfortunately, it is sweet and yummy, and most birds, given the opportunity, would eat it all day long. The cockatiel owner I met has gotten lucky so far, but I’m betting that it’s only because she buys cheap chocolate that has a low cacao percentage. Her, or more precisely, her bird’s luck will run out. Resist the urge to share any junk foods with your birds and don’t eat them in their presence if they are persistent in wanting to share.