Blue and Gold Macaws

I learned a long time ago never to look at Linus when I am on the phone.  Being a cockatoo, he believes the sun rises just for him.  He can’t understand why I would talk to an electronic gadget when I have perfectly good cockatoo standing by.  If I look at him, it’s an invitation to join in the conversation.
My daughter called the other day and was telling me about a jacket she had seen in a store window that cost $3500.  She was jokingly asking me if I thought she should take out a loan for it, just as I was passing the cage.  I looked up, and briefly locked eyes with Linus.  “Alright” he says.  Astonished, my daughter says: “WHAT??”  “What WHAT??”, I said.  “You think I should take out that loan?”  “NO!!”  Apparently, Linus sounds a bit like me.  It took a minute to clear up the confusion.
I have a friend with an african grey that like to sit in his cage and have long imaginary phone conversations, in her voice.  He begins by imitating the tones of the phone dialing and goes on the have the most boring phone chat: “Uh huh, uh huh.  Really?  Hmmm.  Okay.  Uh huh…”  It’s really embarassing for my friend who hopes she’s not really that dull.  I find it hilarious, and have suggested that she employ his services when telemarketers call.  Or her mother-in-law.

Galah

Dave and Jamie’s rose breasted cockatoo, Bandit, sounds exactly like Jamie.  Listen for it when they post videos.
I have some friends that own an amazon, who favors the husband, but speaks with the wife’s voice.  I was mentioning to them that I thought this was an interesting twist.  They are convinced that it is intentional.  While the husband might not respond to the bird beckoning him, he is unlikely to ignore his wife.
Ironically, I have started sounding like my parrots.  When I leave for work, I make a big production out of saying goodbye to each of my birds individually:  “Bye BYE, Theo.”  “Bye BYE, Tinky”, until I have addressed them all.  Ususally, the last thing I hear when I am walking out the door is a giant “Bye BYE” from Linus.  It’s really cute, but not so much when it slips out when I am leaving my co-workers for the day.  “Bye BYE, Jessica!”  It’s a bird owner thing.  I dropped a pen one day and a little girl picked it up and handed it to me.  I said: “Thank you!  What a good bird.”

Congo African Grey Parrot

Parrots are instinctively highly attuned to everything around them.  It is this awareness of their environment that keeps them safe from predators.  So it’s easy to understand why parrots are so quick to pick up on the energy levels of their owners and the home they live in. This is something we can use to our advantage and is just one more example of how having an understanding of a wild bird’s nature will help us with the birds we keep in our homes. Have you ever noticed that when you stand in front of your bird and act silly and animated that he will start bouncing up and down on his perch and become vocal?  Have you observed that when you stand quietly and speak to him in quiet tones that he will turn his head to the side and listen intently to your words? The energy level present in the home is often responsible for the behavior, or misbehavior, of our parrots.  If things have become too chaotic or noisy, sometimes all it takes to restore peace is a quiet chat. When Linus, my umbrella cockatoo, decides the time is right for his afternoon vocalizations, I can nearly always quiet him by speaking softly to him.  Even when he is in  full-on scream mode, I can generally stop it by standing in front of him and continuing to speak quietly.  He may not be able to hear me over his own loud voice, but he can see me, and I figure he has to come up for air at some point.  My low energy gradually rubs off on him.

Umbrella Cockatoo

On the other side of that coin is instigating play.  For the parrot that tends to be a perch potato, some music and lively dancing and singing on your part might be just the things to get him moving, and exercising.  Sometimes birds are afraid of, or disinterested in, new things.  Since your bird trusts you, your enthusiasm with new things will make him feel comfortable with, and an excitement about, the things you introduce him to.  Once you tell him something is okay, it will be. Talking to your parrot serves a number of purposes.  For the new parrot in the home, it is trust building.  Your new parrot can learn to feel relaxed with you as you continue to show him that you are a safe playmate.  As his comfort increases, you can begin to show him that you are fun as well. Talking to your parrot can prepare him for events coming up in the future as well, such as your trip to Europe and his subsequent trip to the boarding facility, or any other big change that is approaching. Tell your parrot that a change is coming, but that it is a temporary arrangement and that everything will be fine.  Assure him that he is loved, and throw in how beautiful and good he is.  The more time you spend talking to him, explaining and reassuring him, the better prepared he will be for your absence.  I realize this sounds silly, and I can already see some eyes rolling, but this really does help, and I don’t know of a single parrot expert who doesn’t agree.  While they don’t understand your words, they will certainly take your tone to heart.  Somehow, this reaffirms your relationship with them and carries them through what might otherwise be a traumatic event.

Blue and Gold Macaw

In every case where a parrot that has the benefit of an owner that takes the time to talk to him, he will  feel included as a member of the household.  This improves your relationship with him, betters his life and will make him more family friendly.

Quaker Parrot

As fun as it is to have a bird that talks, it’s never been high on the list of priorities where mine are concerned.   I am greeted when I get home with an array of “Hi”s and “How Ya Doing”s just enough to make me know I’ve been missed and that’s good enough for me.

However, it seems important to Libby, my adventuresome quaker, that she speak to me in my language, so I encourage it.  She is my breakfast making companion lately.  She sits on my shoulder while I am chopping up their morning meal and chats non-stop in between bites of carrot (which I get to pick out of my hair before I leave for work.)  She mimics everything: the sound of the chopping, the sound of the water running, and is unnervingly accurate at the sound of me swallowing my morning coffee.  She also imitates every vocalization made by the other birds, including the cockatiels’ demanding call that it’s their turn to come out and play, and the cockatoo’s charming sun-down show-down.

My daughter had taught Libby to say “Hello, Little Baby” some time ago.  So when I come home, I will say “Hi, Libby Lu!” and she will respond with: “Hello, Little Baby!” (that’s me).  It makes my heart flutter. It’s become something of a ritual.

I came home from work one day last week and said “Hi, Libby Lu!” as usual, and Libby came back with:  “Hello, Bagel!”  Surprised, I walked up to the cage and said:  “Hello BAGEL??!  Who you callin’ BAGEL??  Oh, I don’t think so…I am NOT answering to BAGEL!”

Quaker Parrot

That’s all it took.  I made the word BAGEL so fun that night that I am now known as Bagel, and it doesn’t give me that same fluffy feeling.  It doesn’t take a genius to see where I blew it.  Many of the mistakes we make with our birds are unintentional, but that doesn’t lessen the results.  I know that over a period of time I can extinguish the word “bagel” simply by not responding to it, since birds don’t hang onto behaviors that have no benefit, but I may have to re-teach the use of “Little Baby”.

In this circumstance, the mistake I made is not a big deal, life will go on even without our cute greeting.  But consider if the wrong message had been sent in a situation where biting was an issue.  If your bird has the habit of lunging at you and you respond in such a way that the bird saw his actions as effective, or even just fun, it is a much longer road home to the cure.

It takes only ONE TIME to throw everything you have worked towards with your bird out of whack.  That first time, your bird is thinking about his future actions:  “Well, that worked.  This biting thing may have possibilities.”  The second mistake will etch it in stone:  “Okay, it has worked twice now.  This is how I will handle things from here on on out.”

I think it’s important that we share the mistakes we make in handling our birds, as innocent as they might be, so that we can all learn from them.

Camelot macaws, blue throated macaw, Galah

Is the mess, the chores, the feeding, and the constant need for attention starting to get to you?  It’s called burn out, and don’t worry, you aren’t alone. There are some mornings that I get up praying that the cockatoos will find it in their hearts to refrain from their dramatics for just this one day. I often don’t get my wish. Today was my day off and I had a long list of things to accomplish.  As I looked over the list, I couldn’t help but notice that every item pertained to the birds except one.  Guess which one didn’t get done?

I got up and chopped the veggies for breakfast.  I needed to set up new caging for the cockatiels.  While the birds were eating, I took the cage parts to the back yard and cleaned them.  While those were drying, I cleaned everyone else’s cage and washed their grates.  I put the tiels’ cage up and outfitted it, requiring the use of the table saw.  I decided to put the quaker into the cockatiel’s former cage and then needed to outfit it appropriately for her.  I stood back to admire my handiwork and decided that there weren’t enough toys and set about making more.  When I was done cleaning and sweeping the bird room, thinking I was done in that room for the day, Linus tipped his bucket of freshly gnawed wood upside down, spilling half of it onto the floor behind the cage. This is how the day started.  I was tired by noon and still had the rest of the list to get through.  Some day off.

Camelot macaws, blue throated macaw, congo African Grey

Parrots are hard work, time consuming, and when you add these chores to an already busy life, it can seem overwhelming and never ending.  Even though I know this is what I signed on for when I got birds, sometimes I wonder why I am doing this to myself.

The answer to that question became clear enough when I heard the cockatiels joyously singing in their new cage, and when I peeked in on them, Libby, my quaker was beating up her new toys.  It was a heartwarming sight and sound, and it made me feel so much better about the day and life in general.  THIS is why we do it.  The cuddles, the I love you‘s, and the laughter they bring makes everything worthwhile.  Why, then, is it so hard to see on some days?

Congo African Grey Parrot

Here are some thoughts and tips on how to deal with burn out:

• We have all heard about how many people get depressed around the holidays.  I believe it has little to do with the holidays, and everything to do with the winter season.  During the winter, the days get much shorter and we spend a lot more time indoors.  With the lack of sunlight, we can be a bit deficient in vitamin D3, something which many companion birds suffer from. This can bring on depression.  Try adding a D3 supplement to your diet.
• If you are cleaning your cages regularly, it isn’t going to harm your birds to skip it for the day.  Instead, get a cup of tea, put your feet up and read a book.  Even better, get your bird out and have fun with her or a have good cuddle session.  Do those things that remind of why you have a parrot in your life in the first place.  It’ll do you both a world of good.
• Rearrange your furniture.  If your cage positioning doesn’t allow for this in the living room, change the bedroom.  This is what I do when things are seeming too routine for me.  It’s amazing how such a change can improve your outlook on life.
• Since you are logged onto this site, I know that your bird means a great deal to you.  Recognize that your bird’s need for your attention means that you are important to him too.  Birds are inquisitive by nature and need to explore everything around it.  So it just happens that a naughty bird is a happy bird, and a happy bird is a healthy bird.  Try to keep this thought when you’re sure you are losing your mind.
• Seek the support of someone who understands.  Heaven knows most people think we are crazy for going to the lengths we go to for our parrots.  (You spent how much for a birdcage??  You cook for your bird??)  There are a lot of us out there.  Go online and find a forum to unload on.  The bird store I frequented in Austin to get my supplies came to know me well.  Sometimes I would go in with a bandage on my hand or a look on my face.  They would say:  “Uh oh.  Someone’s in trouble at your house!”  It helped to have someone to talk to.
• You might even consider a get-away for yourself, or a send-away for the birds. If you have a pet sitter or a boarding facility that you trust, sometimes a little time apart can do wonders.  At the very least, treat yourself to a night out.  You’ve earned it.

Military macaw, Camelot macaws, blue throated macaw, Galahs, African Grey

It is okay to feel like you’ve had enough.  Don’t beat yourself up or feel like a bad bird owner because it all gets to you sometimes.  Just like with children, we can sometimes get to that point.  Keep a cool head and maybe a little distance from the birds while you sort through it.  Somehow it all magically works out in the end.

Blue and Gold Macaws

It is frequently said that a parrot has the emotional capacity of a two year old and the problem solving capabilities of a 5 or 6 year old.  I have drawn the comparison between my parrots and children many times.   It’s hard not to do when they play with toys, throw tantrums, and look to you for their care and comfort.  There are many similarities, but I think there is a place when the line should be drawn.

Galahs

Like your children, a parrot requires boundaries and limitations.  It is the thing that establishes rules and sets the stage for understanding what is or is not acceptable.  It helps your parrot to feel comfortable and know, without doubt, where he stands.  It’s what allows us to coexist.  Of course, like children, he will always challenge your authority.  Like your children, good nutrition, hygene and opportunities to explore and learn are essential.  And like children, trust is the key to building a solid foundation.

Unlike your children, it is difficult to communicate to your parrot.  While it may be hard to get through to our children, we at least know that they understand the words coming out of our mouths, even when they are ignored.  You cannot expect similar levels of logic and reasoning from a parrot.  They are wild things, undomesticated, though tamed (sometimes), and your parrot possesses a wild instinct that a human child isn’t born with.  You would likely rush your child to the therapist the first time you caught him gnawing on a 2X4.  To truly understand your parrot, you must first understand that it isn’t like you.

Galah

A parrot’s mind doesn’t work like that of a human.  Everything that they do serves them in some way. Their agenda might involve food (survival), rights to the highest perch (survival) or convincing a human to tend to its needs (survival).  I think you can see where I’m going with this.  A bird doesn’t place any importance on values, morals or ethics.  Its only directive is survival.  Realizing this will help you better understand the things that he does.

Don’t get me wrong, in trying to assure their own survival, they are often steps ahead of we humans.  They know how we are going to respond to their behavior long before we have even figured out that we object to it. They are quite capable of scheming and deception, and are known to have a sense of humor, so there are some fun and games thrown in to the mix just for grins.

Blue throated macaw

It is unreasonable for us to expect that a bird, or any animal, might be able to fill the shoes of a human child.  And given that they are the wonderful companions that they are, it isn’t necessary that they do.  Care for them, comfort them and offer them your love, but remember that they are birds, wild things, not small, feathered children.

Food Diet vs. Social Diets

In the previous two posts, I discussed the types of non food diets that can be used on your bird. Now that you are aware of other ways to ration something your bird wants, you can turn that into a reward and controlling its hand out. In turn, you can use those rewards to motivate your bird to do certain behaviors that you desire.

I would like to outline the difference between food diet and social diets in their practical application and use. The fact is, a food diet is the most concrete, easy to control, and predictable diet that is guaranteed to motivate your bird to learn. This is why the BirdTricks system emphasizes this rationing of food. The food training diet is very effective and will help you get 90% out of your birds motivation.

But what about the other 10%? If you really want to get 100% out of your bird, if you want more than just a bird who will wave/play dead, if you want a well behaved, well vocalized, happy, loving companion for life, you should use the social diets previously outlined. The reduction in daily attention that the bird receives will just make the interaction that it does that much more enjoyable. The limit of number of toys will make new toys all the more exciting. The withholding of petting until a favorable behavior is performed will make the bird learn acceptable behavior.

For every diet (food, social, petting, etc), there is an X amount that your bird needs to satisfy its hunger. This may be (hypothetically) 10 grams of food, 3 hours of attention, and 2x 20 second petting sessions. Any more than this may be bonus or may just be fattening and unnecessary. So for food, you would ration out 1 out of 10 grams to feed exclusively during trick training. For social attention, you would ration 3 out of 24 hours to spend out of the cage with you. Finally you would pet it twice that day when it is sitting quietly on its perch and not flying off.

Sometimes you can emphasize a particularly desired behavior by giving a bigger helping (of whatever diet you are using for that). For instance, I will let my bird stay out of the cage longer when there is company around because she is learning how to behave around strangers and to reward her for being good with other people. This will help the bird remember that other people are good, she gets to spend more time out. My bird has been prone to one-person-bird challenges but by giving her greater petting, attention, etc around other people, she is beginning to look forward to social outings more. As you may have read, I give my bird greater than usual attention when I take it driving or out on trips as a reward for the stress of being in the carrier and traveling. It would not even be possible to reward my bird with a food reward for doing this because she will often be scared and not eat or just eat a normal meal. That extra motivation for being good while traveling comes from all the bonus attention I give to her.

You can only use a particular motivator for as much as the bird wants. You can only feed a bird till it’s full, pet a bird till it’s satisfied, or keep it out of the cage until it’s tired. This is a great reason to use a variety of motivators and diets for your bird because when one runs out, you may still be able to influence your bird by using another. You can also use different types of motivators for different behaviors. A lot of these social motivators are very long term while click/treat is direct. These are both good for their individual purposes. A click/treat is excellent and pin pointing the exact way to hold the foot while teaching the wave trick. On the other hand, there is no real click for sitting on the perch quietly. This is where all of these toys, attention, and petting come in. While you may be able to do 50 repetitions of a particular trick using a food reward, you might only be able to do one or two rewards per day for sitting quietly. But if you do this over a long stretch of time, your bird will realize that actually being calm and quiet earns it attention more reliably than screaming and being a nuisance. In this case, food would not be such a good reward because the bird would not be receiving food for all times it is relaxed and also the bird may still be receiving food when it is rambunctious. But if you are limiting attention, talking, and petting to only a relaxed bird, it will soon catch on. Don’t give your bird food for not doing anything (being calm) because that will hurt your ability to get the bird to do something (a trick). Teaching it to be calm for food will extinguish its desire to try new behaviors that may lead to a trick for food. So reserve those non-food rewards for those calm behaviors and food for teaching tricks.

By rationing and rewarding your bird with everything it wants (and not only food), you can build a much stronger relationship. Not only will your bird learn better behavior but it will also be thrilled because it is receiving all this stuff from you and it knows exactly what to do in order to get it. If you pet the bird randomly, it doesn’t know how to ask. If you pet it when it is calm and well behaved and bends its head over to you, and you pet it, the bird will know what to do.

This all may sound very regimental but really it is quite simple. Give your bird what it wants only if it is giving you what you want. In turn your bird will only give you what you want if you give it what it wants. The bird wants food, you ask it to do a trick, it does trick, you give it a seed. If the bird does the trick wrong, you do not give it the seed. Apply the same thing to something like petting/attention. If the bird is sitting calm/quiet/relaxed you can talk to it, give it attention, pet it. If the bird is running around and screaming, you ignore it. So just remember, never to give the bird anything that it wants if it is going to be used to reinforce undesirable behavior but to hold it off until the bird is doing what you want.

Conclusion

A real “training diet” should actually be rationing everything that your bird enjoys and not just food. This way you always have something that the bird will try hard to earn from you. Whether that is food, attention, being left alone, time out of the cage, time in the cage, toys, vocalization, petting, training, or just playing together, you have full control over how much of that your bird can get. If you leave your bird always wanting more, you have the power to influence your avian friend about proper and improper behavior. If you give your bird too much, your bird will feel like it doesn’t have to listen to you. If you don’t give enough, your bird will be lonely, upset, and neglected. Finding the proper balance is key to a healthy owner to bird relationship. And it is this balance that will be the subject of the next article in this series about the healthy balance for birds.