People still seem to think discipline works with birds. IT DOESN’T! Yet I’ve been teaching a person how to touch train and when they don’t get a reaction they want or when the bird looks to bite them, they – without even THINKING – immediately react to hitting the bird on the head with the target stick… WHAT?!?!

Or shouting a firm, “NO! That’s not allowed!”

I can tell you right now if I told my husband that stuff, he’d do it anyway JUST to prove a point that he CAN and I can’t tell him what to do.

Umm… sound like 100% of parrots? Do you really think your bird is going to react like a dog and feel bad for hurting you?

Sometimes, no matter how much I told someone “Stop yelling at your bird, distract it with something else.” they just wouldn’t listen and nothing is more frustrating to me than having someone ask for my help and then not take it and then COMPLAIN that whatever they are doing isn’t working. Ummm…? Maybe you should stop what you’re doing since it’s not working and listen. Kind of like the reaction you want from your bird, huh?

Many people don’t hang out with their birds because they’re destructive. I get that. I spent a lot of money on my furniture, I don’t want it ruined. But I still keep my birds out on it with me, and I keep a PILE stock full of TOYS for them, things I use to distract them with when they’re up to no good. It works like a charm! I keep a variety, things they haven’t seen before, colors and textures and everything you could think of, I also use myself. You can always click and reward your bird for just being cool and collected, not doing anything but being a sweet bird. Nothing wrong with that, everything right with that.

It seems to me people (ie: humans) have much more tolerance with kids (grandchildren and the like) than they do their birds. Well, your birds are pretty much like children.

If you look at it like that you might treat them differently, you might PREPARE to have them out and about by having things for them to do instead of yelling at them for trying to find something to do on their own that only gets them hit or yelled at or put back in their cage.

I hope I don’t sound too much like I’m ranting…

Above is my toy box I keep around the TV. We only watch TV in our den and we love to do so with our birds a bit so they can hang out and have no expectations of us or themselves to do anything. I keep lots of balls and a variety of weird things (I shop in the cat toy section for these because they’re different and only serve this single purpose) the birds are supervised with them and spend the whole time playing with them while I can calmly watch TV or chill out and talk with Dave. It’s nice, it’s peaceful and it includes them.

It’s not disciplining, it’s distracting.

Hyacinth macaw

If I’m going to be honest, I have to admit that I used to have a real problem with the idea of a training diet. It seemed unthinkable that a bird, virtually a wild animal in terms of its lack of domestication, should be locked in a cage and then denied food, something it would be free to acquire in the wild. It is psychologically damaging for any sentient being to be kept at another’s mercy, how could this ever be considered a good thing?

Training bridges a gap, fills in the blanks in the relationship between a human and a parrot. Where there was an inability to communicate, there is now established a “language” that both could understand and build a relationship around. Instead of looking at each other like aliens, you and your bird are comrades, teammates. It changes everything.

Blue and Gold Macaw

Of course, I wanted this for me and my bird, but I didn’t want to have to starve him to get there. I was afraid that while I was laying the groundwork for communication, that I would be violating the very basic understanding and trust that I would care for him and see to his needs. One step forward and two steps back – it didn’t seem worth it.

It took me a while to come around to the notion that food management did not equal suffering, but I had to let go of some of my “old” thinking to reach that conclusion.

Budgie

My first hint came when I began studying the habits of wild birds – looking at the ways they spent their time and realizing the difficulties they face everyday. Life in the wild isn’t easy. There are times when food sources are not abundant and birds may go to roost at night having had barely enough food to get by.

With the best intentions at heart, we have the tendency to feel that we owe our birds the ultimate in comfort in our homes. There are likely many different reasons for that thinking, but this is not necessarily what is best for our birds. It is unnatural for birds NOT to work for their food, which never, ever appears to them in the wild by way of a hand out.

When done properly, food management will teach your bird to see his empty food dish as an opportunity to train – something he will anticipate as the bonding and learning experience it is, but also as a way to earn his food.

Congo african grey

Trainers will refer to “motivation” in the training diet. This speaks to the level of hunger your bird is experiencing. A properly motivated bird is hungry enough to want to train and be eager to go through the steps. A bird that is too hungry will be uncoopereative and unwilling to “earn” food. Letting your bird get to that point is not only unproductive from a training standpoint, but it will damage your relationship with your bird.

If you are doing it right, your bird should never even be aware that you are managing his food. Using measurement, and through trial and error, you can get a fairly accurate idea of how much your bird eats and limit his portions to only that amount.

You never want to take your bird’s food away, instead, you want it to run out. There is different psychology involved between the two actions. When you remove a dish from your bird’s cage containing food, you might be presumed to be the cause of your bird’s hunger. If the food runs out, there is simply no food, just an empty bowl. Once you begin training, your bird will see the empty bowl as an opportunity, as I said before.

Blue throated macaw

Another advantage, two actually, in using a training diet and feeding your bird at a later time in the day is that: 1) your bird loses his expectation for timely feeding, something else that rarely happens in the wild. He will no longer call out demanding to be fed when he sees the first rays of dawn or at another time of his choosing, and 2) if you feed him just before he normally starts his sundown calls, it can eliminate a potentially loud and unnerving part of the day for your neighborhood.

I promise you that your bird will not starve to death if you don’t place a bowl of food in the cage at the crack of dawn, or even at the crack of noon. After observing how food management lends itself to the training experience, I now know that it does not cause hardship, but helps to set the stage for success in what is one of the most rewarding parts of your bird’s life.

female eclectus

I try to cover this topic at least twice a year because it’s so important. I never have to look hard to find an event to inspire one of these posts.

I needed some supplies the other day and went to the local bird store where they have a few parrots for sale, among them a female eclectus and a cherry headed conure. Both of the birds had been in the store for several months awaiting purchase. They were, by this time, well adjusted to strangers gathering by their cages for a closer look, and sometimes little fingers would poke through the bars. They always handled the intrusions without a fuss.
This day, there were two women admiring the birds. One was a young woman, probably in her early 20′s looking at the conure. She was set back about three feet from the cage, kneeling. The other woman was older, perhaps in her 40′s, and had a toddler in a stroller with her. She had her hands resting on the cage bars as she spoke boisterously to the eclectus.

photo of cherry headed conure by sfcitizen.com/blog

I stood back and observed the two women interacting with the parrots, and watched each parrot’s response. I remember feeling very impressed with the young woman. She had positioned herself so that she and the bird had level eye contact and she stayed at a non-threatening and respectful distance.

It seemed that she was intuitively aware the the dynamic between herself, a much larger predatory animal, and the bird, a small, caged prey animal. She spoke quietly, but engagingly, to the bird, who was clearly taken with her. It moved to the side of the cage closest to her and turned its head to the side to get a better look. The bird’s body language said comfort.

camelot macaw

The older woman, the one with the apparent child rearing experience, was far less impressive. She was forceful and discourteous. She made no attempt to connect with the bird and it sat tensely at the point furthest from her in its cage.

She talked with the man accompanying her about how important it is for a child to have the responsibility of a pet and that this one would be a perfect choice. I hoped that the child she referred to wasn’t the toddler. When the man protested about owning a bird, she reminded him that “birds live in cages. What could be easier than that?” He didn’t disagree.
I was suddenly nervous for the future of this bird and felt inclined to say something, so I joked that birds no more “live” in cages than people do in bedrooms. I mentioned their need for out of cage time and human interaction and exaggerated the behavioral issues that result from inadequate care as best I could.
She smiled at me politely and then excitedly turned to the man and anounced that the red on the ecletus was a perfect match for the drapes – now they HAD to get it. I think that’s when the gloves came off for me. Imagine the deciding factor being compatibility with the home decor! At that time, I MIGHT have made up a horrible story about someone’s extensive plastic surgery nightmare following the bite of an angry parrot. I’m not admitting to anything, but if I DID fabricate that story, I’m not at all ashamed.

female eclectus

I am pleased to announce that they left empty handed! That lady, who I don’t fault for her ignorance about parrots, is not someone who should own one, at least not at this point in her life. Her energy level and body language were stressful to the bird, and she never even noticed. She was clueless about the needs of a parrot. She was ready to make an impulse purchase that might have had horrible consequences for this very sweet bird.

By contrast, the younger, much wiser, woman looking at the conure would have made an ideal home for a parrot. She was, by nature, exactly what a bird needs in a human: she was thoughtful, and deliberate and had clearly taken the time to check out parrot ownership. I had a chance to talk with her for a moment. Her reason for not getting the conure was the best one there is: she wasnt ready for the commitment.

Blue and gold macaw

We are parrot owners. And we are GOOD ones, I will venture to say, since I am taking the time to write this and you are caring enough to read it. We love our birds, and, in fact, everyone else’s too. It’s who we are.

But, we have a responsibility. While we are singing the praises of our beloved companions, we must be certain to avoid “selling” parrot ownership to the wrong people. Parrots do not make good pets for all people. Whenever we are faced with the opportunity, we must let prospective new owners know the real truths: while parrots are beautiful, intelligent and fun – they are also loud, messy and destructive. Their basic care is costly and very time consuming.
If you are able to get across only a single idea, let it be that, aside from providing the aspects of care that are necessary to maintain life, failure to provide the care necessary to promote good mental health can result in emotional issues ranging from biting and screaming to feather destruction and self mutilation. Hopefully that will give some people pause.

Mitred conure

Try to remember that every time you let someone walk away with the notion that a bird makes the perfect pet, that person might just go out and get one. If you don’t inspire caution, some pet store parrot could begin a life of constant rehoming as one owner after another fails.

With the right education, even the lady who wanted a bird to match her drapes might be taught to be a good owner, but first we have to guide her. Let’s make that our mission in 2012. Let’s help birds by helping people understand their needs – or understand that they are unable to provide them.

Umbrella cockatoo Linus

With the holidays behind us, I can finally find the time to breathe. The chaos of the Christmas season is always very stressful for me and sometimes I can be a little less than festive this time of year.

Jamie and I have been working closely lately on a project she is developing and she had to point out to me that I have been a bit abrasive. She brings ideas to the table and counts on me to help her find a way to make them a reality. I have been quick to shoot them down and it is deflating to her creativity.  I’ve been kind of…begins with b…rhymes with itchy. I  hate it that she had to point this out to me and that I wasn’t able to see it for myself.

It makes me wonder how I have been around the birds. I have always found them relaxing.  Sure, they are a lot of work and sometimes loud, but I find it peaceful to have them nearby. They make me think about the unsophisticated elegance of nature and they remind me of how simple life is supposed to be. I seem to lose sight of that during this time of year.

The birds are so receptive to my emotions that I wonder how much of my stress I might have passed on to them. Unfortunately, Linus, my umbrella cockatoo, is not here this season because he is always my gauge. He’s like a mirror. I could always see my own mood reflected back at me through him. If I was impatient with him, he was impatient with me. He always told me when I needed to decompress.

This year I had to be told by Jamie.  So I am letting go of the holiday stress. I am going to find a new appreciation for the things around me and let the birds and everyone else know how much they mean to me.  Happy New Year to you all.

Photo of african grey by parrotsancturay.co.cc

Just like people, parrots sometimes find themselves in a place in life where they have a hard time getting around. This might be the result of a deformity, an injury or the struggles of old age. And, just like people, parrots learn to adapt to their circumstances with a little help from those around them.

To most people it makes sense that a parrot hatched with a deformity would be better able to learn to get by. After all, it has never known any other way. But how could a parrot that lost a foot in an injury learn to adapt when everything a parrot does involves its feet? How could a blind parrot learn to navigate it’s cage without hands to guide him in the darkness?

The answer to these questions is quite simple: a parrot makes the difficult adjustment because it must in order to survive. And frankly, it is a lot easier for a parrot to adapt because they don’t suffer from bouts of self pity the way humans do. They don’t waste time or energy thinking “Why me?”, or considering “If only…” They see a task ahead of them and they get to it. The footless parrot plots out another means of getting from point A to B. The blind parrot learns to rely more heavily on its other senses.

This is not to say that we shouldn’t do everything we can to make the cage more practical for our special needs parrots. Our highest priority should be in the matter of safety. Until which time the bird recovers or has adapted to its infirmity, we must be certain they are not in danger when perching or moving around the cage.

Footless african grey photo by Anna Sloan

A few years ago, a friend took in two handicapped african greys. Shortly after hatching, their parents bit off their feet, for reasons no one will ever know. If I remember correctly, the breeder’s solution to the problem was a river and a bag of rocks, but fortunately someone stepped in and they wound up in the care of my friend. Each bird had a different degree of “disability”. One had remnants of feet, one had only stumps. They both needed special considerations for their care.

Obviously, the biggest obstacle was finding a way to offer comfort and stability in perching. Below is a photo of a starter cage that my friend modified to suit the needs of one of the birds. The cage is large enough to encourage active play, but small enough to prevent injury during a fall from any real height. Everything is padded for comfort, while offering help with balance. The climbing ramp is wound with rope to add traction for footless-ness.

Aside from the obvious special caging and perching needs of the greys, some unanticipated problems arose, such as how to confidently step up a footless bird. It is difficult for a human to be a stable perch for a bird with no toes to grasp fingers or wrists. This resulted in some trust issues as the birds struggled to feel secure when being held by humans, but it was sorted out with patience and diligence. There is more to tending to special needs than meets the eye but the birds did remarkably well and have since gone on to new homes.

Photo and cage modification by Anna Sloan

Recently, someone contacted me because her bird was going blind. She was very upset, but I explained to her that this was not the end of the world – for her or her bird. She sent me some video footage of her bird’s cage and in the end we decided to change nothing. Her bird had been in that cage for its entire life and was quite aware of where the food bowls were and how the perching was laid out. As its vision declined, the bird was showing that it was quite capable of navigating the cage without any problems.

I think one of the biggest challenges with having a special needs parrot comes from within ourselves. Very often, their physical shortcomings are a bigger deal to us than it is to them.  Birds are very reactive to the stress levels of their people, and wouldn’t it be ironic that while we fret over making their lives livable in the face of their handicap, that we are actually making it more tense with our own stress?

Photo of handicapped budgie by avianweb.com

Once we have tended to their health issues and to their safety, we really must learn to back away and let the bird take it from there. Their perseverence will astound you. It’s important that we don’t over-assist our birds. In doing so, we might take away opportunities for exercise, which might be somewhat limited anyways. Once your bird has adjusted to his new way of life, be sure to allow him opportunities to explore and play like any other bird. We want to help make life do-able without crossing the line to where it is sedentary or boring.

Rosebreasted cockatoo and cat

There have been so many pictures posted on the the Facebook page recently depicting parrots playing with the family pets that I thought a post on the subject was a needed. I know this is is going to make me seem like a killjoy, but I feel it’s necessary to warn you of the dangers of allowing members of your feathered and furry family to interact.

When I was younger, I always had any number of different animals sharing my home. Most of them were not species that we traditionally think of as being compatible: dogs-cats-rodents-birds. However, they all managed to get along and some even became good friends. It wasn’t unusual to find one of my daughters missing rats curled under the chin of our sleeping dog, or one of the cockatiels preening the fur on our cat’s head.

It was kind of cool, and was always a surprise to our houseguests that our menageie of animals were all so willing to interact and share quarters. I always though of our home as a place where all creatures, big and small, could come and be part of a larger family. We all got along.

Blue throated macaw and cat

Then, one summer, on separate nights, my cat brought home the remains of a field mouse and a sparrow. Lovingly, she left them in my bed in the middle of the night for me to discover in the morning. The only thing more horrible than finding their tiny corpses was the realization that my cat had killed both a mouse and a bird – two species with which she freely interacted in the house.

I had no choice but to rethink the way we were doing things with our animals. I began to study animal insticts in depth. I read about the dogs that were bred as “birders” in hunting sports (retrievers, spaniels, pointers). I eventually came to the understanding that while an animal’s wild instincts might be repressed, buried under years of domestication and training, they are still present and are sometimes expressed at the most unexpected times.

I discovered that instincts are not entirely controllable in animals, and are definitely beyond the understanding of the human race. When a cat is paired with a bird or a rodent, instict bubbles just under the surface waiting for the right trigger to set the hunt into motion. We can’t fully fathom what those triggers are, and we cannot keep them at bay.

Rosebreasted cockatoo and cat

In just the past year, I have had two people tell me of the deaths of their beloved birds following attacks by their family dogs. One death was immediate, the other bird died as a result of infection. My friend hadn’t noticed that the bird had been scratched by the dog’s nail or tooth. All mammals (including us!) carry gram negative bacteria in our mouths, which is transferred to other parts of the body – such as claws and fur – through saliva. Bird’s bodies do not harbor this bacteria naturally and it can be deadly to them when left untreated. (For this same reason, we should not let our birds play with the toys of any pet mammals in the house.)

We all love the romantic notion that our home is a place where all species show respect and love for one another. While we may live in peace and harmony on most days, this can change in the blink of an eye when a single, unobservable event triggers the hunting instinct in one of your animals resulting in the death of another.

Blue fronted amazon and cat

Please be VERY AWARE AT ALL TIMES if you allow your pets to share a communal play area. I don’t want you to discover a tragedy by noticing a blue and gold feather hanging from the chin of your dog like someone I know recently did.