Category: Parrot Nutrition

Easiest Behavior Fixes Ever!

It seems sometimes that the bulk of our days is spent trying to change the behavior of other species – spouses, co-workers, children, pets, and even pests.

We struggle to get our kids to do their homework, rather than stare at screens. We want the dog to sit rather than jump up on a guest. We search for non-toxic snail control. We stress out over parrots who scream, display aggression, or pull feathers, trying one tactic and then another to get them to stop. At the same time, we can’t get them to eat vegetables, play with toys, or accept a bath.

Consequences and Punishment

When it comes to problem behavior, our first impulse is usually to try to find a consequence to make it stop. Further, that consequence often takes the shape of punishment. 

We take away screen time if the homework doesn’t get done. We lock the dog into his crate when he jumps up. When the parrot screams, we spray him with water or cover his cage. If the bird bites, we put him into his cage for a “time out.”

Why are we so focused on the use of consequences to change behavior? Perhaps because it feels so familiar.

We are all familiar with the painful consequences of failure to plan or of our own miscalculations. We learn to use a hammer correctly when we bang our fingers often enough. We fix that step after we trip. We avoid jalapenos after a sleepless night of indigestion.

For many of us, consequences in the form of punishment from others are also very familiar. If we run a red light, we pay the price of a ticket. If kids misbehave in school, they get a visit with the principal. If we break a law, we go to jail. For those of us who have taken a spin around the sun more than a few times, we can remember being spanked by our parents for wrongdoing – an accepted practice back when we were young.  

We live in a society in which consequences, especially the consequence of punishment, is the first “go to” method for changing behavior. Is it any wonder then that we focus on consequences when we need to change a parrot’s behavior?

Of course not! It feels familiar and punishment, delivered skillfully, will serve to decrease the problem behavior in the future. Moreover, it often feels good to the punisher, since it can relieve frustration and anger.

However, many problems derive from the use of punishment. Results of positive punishment may include a desire to escape, with a display of either fear or aggression. Another unforeseen result is apathy, in that other behaviors may be suppressed as well. Results of negative punishment include stress and frustration.

In general, taking action to punish a behavior often results in broken trust and increased problems of another sort. (Chance, 1999) We do not want to be in the position of punishing our parrots as our primary tactic for changing behavior.

Applied Behavior Analysis

There is, thankfully, a much better way to successfully solve many behavior issues. By changing antecedents, we can both make problem behaviors less likely and cause desired behaviors to occur more often.  

I have brought you through the backdoor into the house of applied behavior analysis. Applied behavior analysis (the science of behavior) gives us a systematic, scientifically-proven method for changing behavior.

Please note that most of the behavior suggestions found on Facebook and other social media sites are not science-based. Most offering advice have a bad case of not knowing what they don’t know. Anyone “researching” behavior problems must question the credentials of anyone offering advice.

In contrast, the approach provided by applied behavior analysis can be trusted to work if practiced correctly.

We need focus on only three things when we need to change a specific behavior. In addition to the behavior itself, we examine the antecedents and the consequences. We are all familiar with the consequences of course. They are the events that occur immediately after a behavior that influence the rate at which that behavior will be offered in the future. (Luescher, 2006) Punishment is a consequence that reduces a particular behavior in the future.

A far better strategy whenever possible is to deftly arrange antecedents in order to support the likelihood of a desired outcome.

Antecedent-based Interventions

According to Friedman, Martin and Brinker, “Antecedents are the stimuli, events, and conditions that immediately precede a behavior.” Antecedents set the stage for the behavior to occur; the behavior will not occur without the presence of the antecedent.

Changing antecedents in order to change behavior is a more ethical, often simpler and easier way to change behavior. So easy in fact that, when I suggest such a change, clients will look at me with a bit of skepticism. I can see them thinking that things really can’t be that easy. 

Antecedent changes can be used in order to make it easy for our birds to perform the behaviors we do want and to make it hard or impossible to perform the behaviors that we don’t want to see.

Let’s review some examples of using antecedent changes both to decrease problem behaviors and to set birds up for success when performing new or unfamiliar behaviors.

Decreasing Problem Behaviors

Aggression and “Nippiness”

Antecedent changes are the “name of the game” when it comes to solving problems of aggression.

Example One: Some types of misbehavior occur when a bird is on the shoulder. Perhaps a bird, who has been sitting on your shoulder for three years without problem, suddenly begins to bite when up there. Perhaps he nips your earlobes or pulls your glasses off or rips an earring out.

Antecedent Change: In this case, the recommended antecedent change is simple – just don’t allow the bird onto your shoulder. Instead, you can teach him to station on a perch near you by offering reinforcers frequently. This will actually increase his quality of life more than sitting on your shoulder does. It both encourages independent behavior and offers him control over access to reinforcers.

Example Two: Your bird lunges at you when you are changing out food dishes.

Antecedent Change: Teach him to station up on a perch in the cage located furthest from the food dishes. When you show up with the food dishes, have with you a good-sized favorite treat that will take him a minute to eat. By moving your hand on the outside of the cage, lure him up to the designated perch and then give him the treat through the cage bars. Quickly switch out the dishes. Continue to do this every time you feed him. He will begin to scramble up to the preferred perch as soon as he sees you arrive with his food.

Example Three: Your flighted bird attacks your hands when you hold a book or tablet.

Antecedent Change: Either put him into his cage or outdoor aviary while you read or read in another room.

Example Four: Your bird bites when you ask him to step up.

Antecedent Change: You begin to reinforce stepping up by first showing and then immediately delivering a preferred food treat. At the same time, you read your bird’s body language and honor that by making use of a start button.

Screaming or Other Problem Noise

Example One: Your parrot enjoys perching where he can look out the window, but screams frequently when he sees neighborhood action taking place outside.

Antecedent Change: Purchase some sheer curtains and keep those closed when the noise will be inconvenient. You can still have the light without the noise.

Example Two: Your parrot is too loud when you have company. You might have learned to live with this, but it may upset your visitors and make it hard to enjoy yourselves. 

Antecedent Change: If you have a sleep cage, turn it into a “siesta cage.” Add a hanging perch above and a playstand beside, then place toys and foraging projects there. This way, your parrot can be relocated before your visitors arrive.

Example Three: Your parrot screams when you get on the phone.

Antecedent Change: Go into another room or outside to talk, if the call cannot be predicted. You might also try using the speaker phone function, since it is often holding the phone to your ear that acts as the stimulus for the noise.

Example Four: Your parrot screams when you and your spouse have a conversation in another room. This often results when a pair bond exists between the parrot and one of the partners. Additional measures will be necessary to resolve this social dynamic.

Antecedent Change: A simple antecedent change for the short term is to have the parrot present for the conversation. In this case, isolation is a problem.

Increasing Desirable Behaviors

Improving the Diet of Small Birds

It’s common for small parrots like budgerigars, cockatiels and lovebirds to eat a seed mix as the dietary staple. After all, that’s what the breeder or pet store sent you home with, along with that too-small cage, the cuttlebone, and the plastic toy with a bell inside.

If you have a bird like this and have learned about the dangers of such a diet, you may have struggled to get your bird converted to pellets and other foods.

Antecedent Change: Offer new foods in dishes that are right near to the bird’s favorite perches. They are more likely to accept these new foods sooner when they are right under that beak. This means that eating the new foods is easier, in terms of energy use.  

Teaching Larger Parrots to Eat Vegetables

Many parrots who have been eating a seed mix typically resist the consumption of both vegetables and pellets. In part, this is due to their neophobic nature. The other problem is their tendency to be naturally drawn to high-fat, carbohydrate-rich foods.

Antecedent Change: Measure out the amount of seed that your parrot eats in a day. This is important. You can’t decrease it if you don’t know what quantity you are offering to begin with. Before feeding, mix the seed into an equal measure of finely chopped vegetables or Chop Mix. Gradually begin to incrementally decrease the amount of seed offered daily as your parrot begins to eat the vegetable mix. By the time that you have stopped offering the seed mix at all, your parrot will have begun to eat both the pellets (if offering those also) and the vegetables.

Antecedent Change #2: Offer the pellets or vegetables in a different location, such as on top of the cage or on a play stand. This will often encourage consumption and I have no idea why. When I was working full time, my parrots ignored pellets in their cages. When I put them on play stands, they began eating them eagerly.

Playing with Toys

I hear many owners complain that their parrot doesn’t play with toys. There are certainly parrots who do not interact with any enrichment. These birds can be taught to interact with toys and foraging opportunities, but this requires consistent and focused training.

Still other birds might interact with toys, but do not do so because it is too difficult or inconvenient. For example, many wooden toys sold for certain species are actually too difficult for them to chew. Either the wood itself is too hard or the pieces are too big. Toy manufacturers have caught onto the fact that you won’t be happy if your parrot destroys in 15 minutes a toy that cost you $15.00. The problem with this is that the sorts of things that interest parrots are those that they can destroy quickly.

Antecedent Change: Make toys at home, using designs from my pamphlet Parrot Enrichment Made Easy. This includes suggestions for making quick, easy-to-chew wooden toys, in addition to those made of paper, cardboard, and fabric.

Antecedent Change #2: In addition, make sure that toys and foraging options are placed very near perches on which your bird chooses to spend time. I have seen toys attached to the inside back of the cage with no perch in sight. I have seen toys placed near perches that are so close to the back of the cage that the parrot can’t comfortably turn around on the perch and can only sit on it facing backwards. Pretend you are your parrot and ask yourself if you can easily interact with the enrichment you have in the cage. Make sure that your parrot can perch easily in a spot where he can easily reach his enrichment items and won’t bang his tail if he turns around.

Encouraging a Bath

Another common complaint concerns the larger parrot who won’t accept a bath. This bird might bathe in the water dish occasionally, but doesn’t get wet enough.

Antecedent Change: Many owners have noticed that their parrot displays bathing behavior, usually in the water dish, when the vacuum cleaner is running. In addition to marveling at this strange phenomenon, you might also choose this as a time to offer a few spritzes from a spray bottle, especially if the parrot isn’t scared by the sight of the bottle. And if he is, perhaps you can conceal the bottle with a kitchen towel or piece of cardboard so that just the nozzle is visible.

Fun with Antecedents

I’ve provided examples of very simple antecedent changes for very simple problems so that you could get the idea. The whole process can be, and usually is, more complicated, and this is where the fun comes in.

In most cases, there are several possible antecedent changes that might work. So, when you identify that you have a problem, sit down with a piece of paper and brainstorm as many as you possibly can, even if a few seem unlikely or even silly.(You may also need to teach other, new behaviors using positive reinforcement, but you can at least get a head start on a solution in this way.)

Remember not to get caught up in trying to figure out what the parrot is feeling or thinking. Instead, just focus on the behavior itself. Then, implement for a week or so the one that you think is most likely to work. Measure the results by observing closely what happens. If that tactic seems to not be working, go on to the next most likely.

I’ll give you an example from my own case files. I know a particular parrot who pulls pin feathers during the night. These are observed on the floor of the cage or the cage cover in the morning. This is a perfectly well-adjusted, flighted parrot on a good diet with an excellent environment that encourages movement and provides lots of enrichment.

Possible antecedent changes include the following: (1) Encouraging more food consumption before bed; (2) Encouraging more exercise before bed; (3) Partially, rather than completely, covering her cage; (4) Giving her some enrichment in her cage to chew on during the night; and (5) Allowing her to stay up a bit later.

This case remains a work in progress. Since the feather damage is occurring only at night, it may well be related to a disease process. However, since veterinary treatment has been completed, it still makes sense to examine antecedents.

A Last Word

Antecedent changes provide us with science-based, ethical, and effective tactics for behavior change. Many simple problems can be resolved through these alone. Using antecedent changes, we can set our birds up for success by encouraging behaviors we would like to see.

All behavior principles that are scientifically proven, like the use of positive reinforcement and antecedent changes, work for humans too. They work across all species lines.

Perhaps we reach so readily for punishment when dealing with parrots is because we as a society use punishment almost exclusively to deal with our children and others.

It’s been a long time since my own kids were young. I was lucky enough back then to discover the book “How to Discipline with Love: From Crib to College” by Dr. Fitzhugh Dodson, which was published in 1992. As Fitzhugh points out, parents all across America are teaching their children to behave badly.

They ignore them when they are behaving well, usually desperately trying to get something else done, and instead provide attention (reinforcement) when they behave badly – throwing a tantrum in the grocery store, fighting with siblings, or refusing to go to bed.

He provides clear instructions for how we can turn that dynamic around. As we all struggle now with staying in place, physical or emotional isolation, and the anxieties related to contracting COVID-19, there is no better time than the present to begin practicing both antecedent changes and the use of positive reinforcement with our parrots, our children, and other family members. “They” say that things won’t be the same once this is all over. This is one change I would like to see that would benefit us all.

Resources:

Chance, Paul. Learning and Behavior. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company, 1999

Friedman, S. G. (2009). “Behavior fundamentals: Filling the behavior-change toolbox.” Journal of Applied Companion Animal Behavior, 3(1), 36–40. http://www.behaviorworks.org/files/journals/Behavior%20Fundamentals%20JACAB.pdf

Friedman, S.G. (2008) “10 Things Your Parrot Wants You to Know About Behavior.” Psittacine Magazine, May 2008. Pgs 14-16. http://www.behaviorworks.org/files/articles/10%20Things%20Your%20Parrots%20Want%20You%20to%20Know.pdf

Friedman, S. G. (2001) “The ABCs of Behavior.” Original Flying Machine, Issue 9: Nov-Dec, 2001. http://www.behaviorworks.org/files/articles/ABCs%20of%20Behavior%202004.pdf

Luescher, Andrew. The Manual of Parrot Behavior. Ames: Blackwell Publishing, 2006. Chapter 14: Friedman, S.G., Martin, Steve, Brinker, Bobbie. “Behavior Analysis and Parrot Learning.” Pg. 147-163.

McGuire, L. (2015) “The Parrot That Screams.” Psittacine Magazine. Pgs 10-11. http://www.behaviorworks.org/files/offshoots/Parrot%20that%20Screams%20-%20WPT%20PS%20Summer%202015.pdf

a.k.a. “Hormonal Behavior”

What you will read below has not been proven scientifically, so I have few resources of that nature to offer you to substantiate what I am about to say. However, my own anecdotal experience, as well as that of other respected professionals and the experiences of my clients, have convinced me of the veracity of the information in this post.

Those of us who live with adult companion parrots are familiar with behavior changes that occur at certain times of the year or in response to certain activities in which the parrot participates. We have collectively labeled these changes as “hormonal” behavior.

What is “Hormonal” Behavior?

The behaviors that typically result from this turned on reproductive desire include intense bonding with one person in the family, cavity-seeking behavior, paper shredding on the bottom of the cage, loud demanding vocalizations, and fierce territoriality (resource guarding). Parrot owners often initially consider it cute when their parrot wants to be with them constantly and becomes obsessed with getting into dark drawers or closets, but over time these behaviors become problematic.

While these behaviors may happen only seasonally in the beginning, they can progress in some individuals until they occur year round. In many cases, they lead to problems such as feather damaging behavior, self-mutilation, regurgitation of food, masturbation, chronic egg-laying, egg binding and cloacal prolapse. It is not unusual for these behaviors to surface when the parrot is well into adulthood, often coming as a surprise to the owner who has come to take for granted more stable conduct.

What Is Not Hormonal Behavior?

I want to make one thing clear before we go on. There is a lot of misbehavior that gets blamed on “hormones” that actually is the result of a lack of behavioral guidance and training.

For example, screaming for extended periods and biting are not “hormonal” behaviors. While a parrot may reach a more heightened state of arousal during periods of increased hormone production, which may predispose him to aggressive or excessively loud behavior, this does not automatically evolve into a behavior problem simply because of the presence of reproductive hormones. These problem behaviors instead reflect a lack of appropriate training and need to be targeted as such to effect a resolution, in addition perhaps to making the changes suggested below.

Our Lack of Preparation

Our decades of experience living with dogs and cats has done little to prepare us for the realities of living with parrots. We typically neuter dogs and cats. Further, having relatively short life spans, they do not change their behavior much once adulthood is reached.

We have yet to discover a safe way to neuter parrots en mass. Further, many parrots change their behavior with each year. I would be a rich consultant if I had a dollar for every client who has said to me, “Well…he never did that before!”  The bird you have in your home today is likely not the bird you had in your home a year or two ago.

I believe that we don’t quite yet grasp the ramifications of this for parrots in our homes and our responsibilities for guiding our parrots’ behavior so that these problems can be prevented.

Here is what we fail to understand: The scarily intelligent and reproductively driven adult parrot will be a genius at teaching us to provide for him the conditions that will support increased production of reproductive hormones.

We also fail to grasp how the conditions we provide in captivity differ from those in the wild. Since most of our parrot species are not yet domesticated, we must take this fact into consideration.

According to Dr. Fern Van Sant, there are two key issues that have lacked consideration. First, parrots in the wild are normally “turned off” or reproductively inactive when out of breeding season. Second, the “surroundings of abundance” which we provide in captivity often have the effect of keeping companion parrots reproductively active throughout the year. “As pets, the conditions of abundant food, bonded owners, comfortable cages and considerable physical contact seem to initiate breeding behaviors that become long term drives. Without the naturally occurring environmental pressure of dwindling food supplies, changing conditions, and competition for resources that limit breeding behavior in wild populations, breeding behaviors and hormonal drives persist unchecked.” (Van Sant, 2006)

A Serious Problem

This is a very serious problem. It is exceedingly difficult to control this phenomenon, once the parrot enters this physiological and behavioral tunnel. The complex of behaviors driven by reproductive hormones is at the heart of the vast majority of parrot behavior problems. It frequently leads to the parrot losing his home. For the parrot, it likely results in a constant state of frustration and chronic stress.

Getting your parrot out of this “hormonal tunnel” will require consistent effort over months and years. However, if you make the changes indicated herein, you will see slow and steady improvement.

These are the primary triggers that I believe sponsor this increased production of reproductive hormones:

  • Diet
  • Existence of a pair bond
  • Close physical contact and inappropriately affectionate interactions with the human
  • Ability to engage in cavity seeking and “nesting” behavior
  • A controlled environment lacking challenge

Trigger #1: Diet

I have a question on my behavior consulting intake form:  What are your bird’s favorite foods? 

The answers I receive are always the same: seed mixes, tree nuts, peanuts, white rice, mashed potatoes, pasta, grapes, bananas, dried fruit, crackers, bread, pancakes, pastries, peanut butter filled pretzels, French fries, chips and other human snack foods. These foods have a great deal in common. High in fats and/or simple carbohydrates, they provide more energy to the body. Energy is needed for breeding. Our parrots can show a strong preference for these types of foods, thereby “teaching” us to offer them.

Thus, the types and quantity of the foods you feed your parrots are the first triggers for the increased production of reproductive hormones. Foods that contain higher levels of fat and simple carbohydrates appear to trigger increased production of reproductive hormones. As Dr. Scott Ford explains in his article Balancing Your Parrot’s Lifestyle, “An overabundance of food, foods high in fat and calories, and too many food choices can all ‘turn on’ your bird’s reproductive desire.” (Ford, S. 2009)

Dietary Action Steps

The best diet for limiting hormone production is one that incorporates appropriate amounts of formulated foods, fresh vegetables, limited whole grains and limited fruit. The foods listed above as parrot favorites should not be fed at all – ever.

The only exception that exists to this rule is that of using seeds and nuts as reinforcers for training. A best practice: Never give a parrot a treat (preferred food) for no reason.

We must also be on the look-out for excessive food consumption. While I believe a good quality pellet is a wise addition to the parrot’s staple diet, some birds will overeat even pellets. Look for your manufacturer’s recommendation about the correct amount to feed as a starting point. 

Know what your bird is actually eating. Remember the relative size of the creature you are feeding; your parrot probably only weighs one or two pounds at the most.

Trigger #2: The Pair Bond

Although some variation exists among species, parrots in the wild display a tendency toward social monogamy  – the primary breeding unit consists of one female and one male.

Therefore, companion parrots have a tendency to bond with one person or bird or animal within the home. Unfortunately, a pair bond between the parrot and one owner is the standard in most companion parrot homes.

The presence of this pair bond stimulates cavity-seeking behavior and increased aggression, which results from resource guarding around the preferred human. In other words, if another person or animal comes near the preferred human and parrot when they are together, biting of one or the other is likely to result. This type of aggression often worsens as the years pass.

A pair bond appears to be stimulated and maintained primarily through time spent physically close. Two parrots will often form a pair bond if kept in the same cage. Pair bonds between the owner and her parrot result from cuddling, allowing the parrot under the covers or down the shirt, petting down the back and under the wings, in addition to time spent perching on the shoulder, lap, knee or chest.

How do you know if your parrot has formed a pair bond with you? You may observe masturbation in any location and regurgitation when near you. The bird may scream non-stop when you leave the room. He refuses to perch independently and constantly seeks out shoulder time or other close contact. Egg laying may also result.

It is always best to prevent the formation of a pair bond in a companion parrot:

  • If you have two parrots who get along, keep them in two separate cages, while still allowing them to enjoy a communal play area. (This is a best practice for many reasons.)
  • If you have recently adopted a parrot, use great care in how you interact. Keep him off of your shoulder and reward him for perching independently. Keep your hands off of him, except for occasional head scratches (if he enjoys those).

If your bird has already formed a pair bond with you, this can be evolved over time:

  • Gradually reduce the amount of time the bird spends perched on your body by providing several appropriate perches and teach stationing so that he can still perch near you (but not on you).
  • As you decrease your time spent physically close, focus on training instead – teach targeting and other fun behaviors, as well as those needed for husbandry. Over time, he will come to look to you for guidance, rather than physical affection.
  • Walk away if he regurgitates for you or displays in other ways sexually – be friendly but clear that these behaviors are unwelcome.
  • Keep your hands off the bird! No cuddling or petting down the back. (Brief head scratches occasionally are the only appropriate physical contact. )

Trigger #3: Cavity Seeking

Many adult parrots, especially if they have a pair bond, begin to display cavity-seeking behavior. They will attempt to access closets, drawers, bookcases – any spot in the home that is at least partially enclosed.

Spots with less light around the home become more fascinating. African Greys may show a preference for hanging out in the bathroom for long periods. Your parrot may want to play inside of large cardboard boxes or brown grocery bags. Many parrots begin to roam the floor to access spots under furniture, in corners, and other spaces that are small and enclosed. Small cockatoos and others will dig in the couch cushions.

A parrot will tell you if he’s relating to a particular spot as a potential “nesting site” by the way he interacts with it. He will want to spend extended periods there and may strongly resist coming away from that particular place.

Again, the best solution is prevention. Keep parrots out of drawers and closets. Keep them off the floor by teaching them to station and work on this on a daily basis. Do not allow parrots to hang out in bathrooms in your absence. Do not provide cardboard boxes that your parrot can get inside of. The same advice goes for brown grocery bags. If your parrot displays an intense desire to access a particular spot in the house, prevent access.

Trigger #4: The Controlled Environment that Lacks Challenge

I have never seen any other professional address this as a potential trigger. However, I do believe that a home that lacks “benevolent” challenges will foster more production of reproductive hormones than one in which challenge exists. I do have some anecdotal evidence in the form of one story, as well as ongoing success with clients, to support this.

I once, as a veterinary technician, assisted with the rehabilitation of a budgerigar who chronically laid eggs. We tried Lupron injections. We removed the bird’s favorite toy. We did some training. All without success.

Finally, we made two changes that stopped the egg laying. We put a new object into the bird’s cage every day and began the practice of moving the cage into a different room of the house every day. These were pretty extreme measures, but chronic egg laying was a life threatening problem for this particular patient. And it worked! She went on to live a long, healthy life.

What type of challenges am I recommending? Learning opportunities that take the bird slightly out of his comfort zone:

  • The regular introduction of new toys, perches, and activities. (If he is afraid of new things, acceptance can be taught.)
  • Rides in the car (once you have trained the behaviors of going into the carrier and remaining calm while this is moved).
  • Visits to friends’ homes
  • Regular time spent in an outdoor aviary (not a small cage – the experience is vastly different)
  • Training – teaching new behaviors

Other Interventions: Day Length and Medications

Altering Day Length

There are some species who display increased signs of hormone production as the day length increases. Typically, these are New World parrots – those who originated in the Americas.

This observation has led to the blanket, frequently offered advice to artificially alter the day length the parrot experiences by providing 10-12 hours of darkness each night. However, the effectiveness of this measure is largely misunderstood.

First, it only works with New World parrots – Amazons, macaws, Pionus, etc. Old World parrots (African greys, cockatoos, etc) typically go to nest first as the day length decreases. Thus, providing these species with an increased period of darkness can make matters worse.

Second, this advice often strips the owner of an opportunity to interact socially with the bird at least once a day, which deprives both of training opportunities, which might be more beneficial.

Third, most who try this approach don’t understand that the darkness must be absolute. Simply covering the cage at night doesn’t work, if any light can creep under the cover at any time. Usually the bird must be placed in a separate room that is outfitted with black-out shades so that light can be 100% controlled.

Lupron Injections and Deslorelin Implants

These medications can be helpful, but they too have limitations on their effectiveness. They will help “around the edges,” but will not be appreciably effective unless you also implement the dietary, social and environmental measures in this post. Please consult your avian veterinarian as to whether one of these might be appropriate for an individual parrot. As a technician, I prefer to see their use reserved for extreme cases in which egg binding is a present danger.

A Plan for Prevention

If you are just starting out with a parrot, please take the following advice to heart. It will prevent much heartache for you and will go a long way toward ensuring the highest quality of life for you and your parrot.

  • Encourage your parrot to look to you for guidance, rather than physical affection.
  • Encourage independence.
  • Foster equal social bonds with all family members.
  • Provide plenty of enrichment, frequently.
  • Provide an outdoor aviary.
  • Feed an optimal diet.
  • Train new behaviors.
  • Reinforce stationing.

Thoughts for Your Consideration

Sometimes we can love our parrots a bit too much – often to the point of inhabiting the shifting sands of good sense. Many have asked me if perhaps the parrot doesn’t need a mate and close physical contact, even if breeding is not possible. Often to them, the plan I suggest (as it appears in this post) seems to be one of social deprivation.

Historically, there has been great debate regarding whether animals are more influenced by “nature” or “nurture” – by their biology or their learning experiences. Certainly reflexes, fixed action patterns, and inherited traits influence behavior in our parrots. In layperson’s terms, these are often lumped into one category and referred to as “instinctive behavior.”

Science has proven however, (1) that these are largely modifiable through learning, (2) that learning is necessary for their development, and (3) that learning plays a much larger role in the behavior we see than does genetics. For example, a young parrot may have the urge to fly, but it is only through the practice of flying that skills develop to competency.

So it is with pair bonding and cavity seeking. Sexual urges may exist in our parrots, but these will not become full-blown drivers of behavior unless practiced. Through practice they are reinforced and become ever stronger and more influential on the bird’s behavior.

Companion parrots live happier and healthier lives if never allowed to practice these behaviors. None of my own parrots has formed a pair bond with me and I believe that this is due to my relatively “hands off” approach with them. I interact with them frequently when training, reinforcing desirable behaviors when I see them, giving occasional head scratches, and providing care. Otherwise, we live a pretty parallel existence. They are not allowed on my shoulder. I don’t pet them. I don’t cuddle with them. We are all happier as a result.

References:

Brue, Randal. Avian Medicine: Principles and Application. “Nutrition.” Pages 23-46. Lake Worth: Wingers Publishing. 1997

Chance, P. Learning and Behavior, 4th Edition. Pacific Grove: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company. 1999

Ford, Scott, DVM, Dipl ABVP. (Date uncertain). Balancing Your Parrot’s Lifestyle. http://www.avian-vet.com/sites/site-2271/documents/asvsa-client%20handouts-balancing%20parrot%20lifestyle.pdf. [Accessed 3 Sept. 2009]

Hoppes, Sharman. DVM, Dipl ABVP. (2018) Reproductive Diseases of Pet Birds. Merck Veterinary Manual. [online] Available at: https://www.merckvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/pet-birds/reproductive-diseases-of-pet-birds. [Accessed 25 June 2018]

Nijboer, J. (2018) Nutrition in Psittacines. In: Merck Veterinary Manual. [online] Available at: https://www.merckvetmanual.com/management-and-nutrition/nutrition-exotic-and-zoo-animals/nutrition-in-psittacines. [Accessed 25 June 2018]

Orosz, s. DVM, DABVP, DECAMS. (2006) Avian Nutrition Demystified. In: North American Veterinary Conference Proceedings, Volume 20. [online] Orlando: IVIS. Available at: http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/navc/2006/SAE/565.pdf?LA=1.  [Accessed 23 June 2018]

Ritzman, T. DVM, DABVP. (2008) Practical Avian Nutrition (Proceedings). CVC In San Diego. Lenexa: UBM Animal Care. Available at: http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/practical-avian-nutrition-proceedings. [Accessed: 25 June 2018]

Van Sant, F. DVM. (2011) Hormones: The Downside of the Good Life.[Blog] Phoenix Landing Blog. Available at: https://blog.phoenixlanding.org/2011/04/30/544. [Accessed 25 June 2018]

Van Sant, F. DVM. 2018. Hormonal Behavior in Pet Birds – Introduction. [Newsletter] For the Birds DVM. Available at: https://www.forthebirdsdvm.com/pages/hormonal-behavior-in-pet-birds-pt-1. [Accessed 25 June 2018]

Van Sant, F. 2019. “Hormonal Behavior in Pet Birds, Part One. For the Birds Blog. https://www.forthebirdsdvm.com/pages/hormonal-behavior-in-pet-birds-pt-1. Accessed 8/17/19.

Thank you for reading my blog. I am Pamela Clark, an IAABC Certified Parrot Behavior Consultant. My passion is helping people with parrots by offering behavior consultations and publishing information you can trust. To access free resources, schedule a consultation, or subscribe to my newsletter please visit http://www.pamelaclarkonline.com. Until next time!

 

Environmental Enrichment and Learning

A pair of wild cockatoos going to nest encompasses a lot of work. They must find a nest cavity, prepare it, defend it, and after a bit of romance, eggs are made and laid. They then take turns brooding the eggs, feeding and caring for the chicks, which all leads, hopefully, to the successful fledging of the babies.

I let my pair of Bare-eyed Cockatoos go to nest in May so the chicks could be trained for free flight. Mr. and Mrs. Flash and Bebe Bare-eyed Cockatoo accomplished all of the prerequisites with success.

Their chick, Star, fledged at 9 weeks of age. With relief, I thought the hard parts were over for the couple. But, I was wrong. From what I observed from the parents’ behavior, having a youngster out of the nest can be stressful for them—at least it seemed so for Bebe, the mom.

While Flash was handing out cigars at the chick’s successful emergence from the nest box, Bebe fretted over Star. The first few days she stayed close at Star’s side as if to reassure her about her new world.  She persistently preened Star and touched her beak to keep her at ease. Star didn’t go exploring much and that seemed fine with Bebe.

Parenting and Contrary Behavior

Though Flash and Bebe appeared to me to be excellent parents, I noticed a behavior that I didn’t understand. It took the form of a power struggle before fledging over who was allowed access to the nest box to brood the eggs.

For example, if Bebe wanted to enter the box, sometimes Flash would chase her away, or vice versa. Once either of them claimed the box there was no more strife, meaning the “winner” was never made to relinquish the nest box once he or she was inside. It wasn’t a frequent occurrence, but it happened enough to catch my attention and cause concern.

Why would this behavior take place? This didn’t make sense. Do wild Bare-eyed Cockatoos do this in nature? To me it didn’t seem to be conducive to successful chick raising. Was this just a behavior imposed by captivity? I don’t have the answers.

One way I thought to modify or change this antagonistic behavior was to let one or both birds out to free fly when I saw the clashes happening. Since flying uses lots of energy, it did seem to help calm them down upon returning to the aviary after their fly-abouts.

Flash and Bebe Out for a Fly About

Typically, when they left the aviary giving each other the hairy eyeball, they almost immediately paired up and flew together in synchronicity, which helped them re-establish a compatible pair bond. However, with one especially hostile encounter in the aviary, I let them out to fly and they even argued while flying. That changed when they spotted a hawk in a nearby tree. They put their differences aside to band together to harass the hawk and all was well.

Star Talk

Let’s talk about baby Star. I admit that the morning Star made her appearance I was momentarily confused. I saw three birds instead of two sitting together on a perch. Did one of the neighbor cockatoos find a way into Bebe and Flash’s aviary? No, my slow witted brain figured out the third cockatoo was the baby!

After silently shouting for joy, I watched in amazement the little one taking in her new environment. I couldn’t imagine what she was thinking, after growing up looking at four walls and not much else. When I first saw her, Star had already flown to the front of the aviary. Bebe was sitting securely by her side and she was not letting Flash close to Star.

Star was adorable. Her feathers were perfect. Her tail had yet to reach full length so she appeared smaller than her parents. (As of this writing, her tail has reached full length and she looks almost to be the same size as her folks.) She didn’t do much exploring the first few days and seemed content to stay by her mom’s side.

Flight Skills

Gradually, Star started taking control of her new surroundings. When I observed Star’s first flights, it was like watching a butterfly. She was kind of wobbly and there was not much umph in her propeller. Her directional flying was suspect. She’d pick out a destination, but sometimes didn’t accomplished her goal. That didn’t deter her as she would gather her determination and try again.

Star Practices Flying and Landing on Perches that Move

Of course, with each new effort she was more frequently successful in landing where she wanted. Behavior is a function of its consequences and Star was showing me exactly how that worked. Successfully landing on her goal perch was positively reinforcing for her so, of course, she’d attempt it again all the while becoming more competent in her landing skills.

From ten days onward her flight mastery greatly improved. Her progress was impeded by aviary living, however, and I’m sure if she were in the wild, her flight development would proceed more rapidly. During this time, the parents were acutely conscious of her movements and one or both would follow her everywhere in the aviary.

Learning in Action

One of the fascinating things about watching Star grow is the marvel of seeing learning in action. We sometimes take for granted or don’t even think about how we and our fellow animal friends learn. Of course, we learn every single day; and, watching someone, in this case, Star, learn about what works and what doesn’t work is thrilling to me. And, boy, she has lots to assimilate.

Star needs to learn flight, of course, but also proper Bare-eyed Cockatoo vocalizations, fine motor skills, foraging, social skills, and much more. Because there are so many things that affect Star’s learning progress, I’ll be focusing on only one influence in this article. I’ll start off with the importance of environment enrichment and its effect on learning.

Environmental Enrichment

As described by the website Why Animals Do the Thing, “Environmental enrichment is the process of enhancing an animal’s environment to increase their physical activity, fulfill their psychological needs, and encourage engagement in species-typical behavior.” This is exactly what Star needs to develop into a competent, resilient, and confident adult.

To that end, I have equipped Star and her parents’ aviary with a wide variety of enrichment. Let’s take the availability to forage, for example. I allow different weeds and grasses to grow in the aviary. These serve as foraging opportunities for the cockatoos.

I also harvest and install a variety of plant matter such as mustard seed pods, blackberry stems with berries, hawthorn berry branches with berries, ash tree branches with seed pods, barnyard grass, millet spray, crab apple branches with apples, and anything else that might be of interest to the birds.

Bebe Teaches Perseverance to Star

All of these foraging opportunities are everyday occurrences for Star’s parents who take full advantage of them. But to Star they are important learning opportunities. The parents are skilled and eager foragers and Star follows their foraging behavior by learning how to manipulate and eat the offerings.

Star Forages Up High on Mustard Seed

It was touching to watch Star learn to forage. While mom easily snapped a small stem of browse off a mustard plant and held it steadily in her foot while opening the seed pod to eat the seeds, it wasn’t so easy for baby Star.

This Isn’t As Easy as It Looks!

It would take her a while to zero in on a piece of the plant, get it in her beak, and snap it off. Then she’d take several attempts to hold it with her foot to munch on. In the beginning, she’d sometimes drop the plant stem and have to start all over. That didn’t deter her, however. She kept at it and kept getting better.

Perching is another environmental enrichment that gives Star chances to learn and practice motor skills. I have furnished the aviary with boings, orbits, rope perches, 2×4 wood perches, and natural branch perches. There’s even a small live birch tree available to perch in. Each helps Star develop skills such as balancing, landing, playing, all while developing her strength and confidence.

Look Hard to See Baby Star

Yet another environmental enrichment for Star is simply living outdoors in her aviary. Star learns all about the weather, the sun, the wind, the rain, the cold, the horse and donkey who walk by her aviary each day, her cockatoo neighbors and the cockatoos who free fly over her aviary, the vultures who soar above, the swallows swooping and swerving catching insects, the bats who come out in the evening to hunt those same insects, the bellowing of the cows at night, as well as the songs of the coyotes. These and many other wonders and surprises are available for Star to learn about while living outdoors.

I remember one instance when only a few days after fledging, we had a very strong late afternoon wind. Star had been sitting on the front perch of the aviary when the wind picked up. It got so strong that it made her wobble on the perch. She was very reluctant to fly to the back perch, which was out of the wind. Instead, with her mom by her side, she held on tight to the perch leaning into the wind and learning about balancing in the blustery air. Although it was a bit distressing to watch her seesaw about, I’m happy she had this important learning experience.

I found this quote while reading, Learning and Behavior, by Paul Chance: “Our environment exerts control over our behavior [by stimulus control or cues]. Paradoxically, that can increase control we have over our lives.” In other words, the more variety of learning options that stimulate Star to explore and learn what works and doesn’t work, the more control she has over which options with which to engage.

Providing Star with an enriched positive environment will build her behavioral repertoire that will aid her during difficulties or opposition. I look forward to watching her behavioral education expand her ability to function successfully in her new world and look forward to sharing that with you.

Latest News!

Ellie Bare-Eyed Cockatoo came to live with me over a month ago. In my last blog I described how we are learning about each other’s quirks, both good and bad.

I described how Ellie has the unfortunate alter ego that I call, The Flying Dragon Lady. The Flying Dragon Lady’s (FDL) job is to drive me from my home by flying at my head with her scary beak wide open, ready for the attack.

I told FDL that this behavior is not conducive to a friendly, safe home environment. She refused to listen. So I went about changing the environment to make it harder for FDL to function, which I explained in the last blog.

As Ellie’s and my time together continues, FDL has made minimum appearances, but she still exists. What is really cool is that I’ve worked everyday to have Ellie touch a target and get a pine nut for doing so. This is a miraculous training tool and I’ll give an example why.

FDL showed herself the other day. I took out the target and while FDL was sitting on her cage thinking about her next attack, I had her target the chop stick and then gave her a pine nut. Before my very eyes, FDL vanished and sweet, calm Ellie emerged. It truly was astounding. This episode shows the power of using a well-learned and consistently positively reinforced behavior to change an emotion. FDL is capable only of being harsh and discordant, so away she went allowing sweet Ellie to return.

Just for Fun!

I want Ellie to grow comfortable with the free flyers, so that she won’t be startled when they come to visit her aviary. So, I have been practicing her targeting in the aviary while another cockatoo remains outside.

The delivery of reinforcers to them both teaches them that good things happen when in the proximity of the other!

Chris Shank’s love of parrots and knowledge of animal training began several decades ago. Her professional experiences include a degree from the Exotic Animal Training and Management Program at Moorpark College in California, an internship at Busch Gardens’ parrot show, work as a dolphin trainer at Marriott’s Great America in Santa Clara and later in Hassloch, Germany.

Her love for cockatoos came after a relocation to the Philippines. Once back in the United States, she established her aviary Cockatoo Downs, where she has regularly offered training and education to parrot owners for many years now. She is an internationally-recognized expert in free flight.

Atherosclerosis: The Hidden Killer

Atherosclerosis is a common disease in companion parrots – one we must all take seriously. If you have ever heard of an older parrot who died suddenly, without apparent cause, there is a good chance that this progressive disease was a primary factor in the demise.

What is Atherosclerosis?

Atherosclerosis is one type of arteriosclerosis.  The word atherosclerosis derives from the Greek words athero, which means “gruel or porridge,” and sclerosis, which means “hardness.” This is a fairly descriptive term for the disease itself, in which cholesterol is deposited onto the sides of arteries, creating hard plaques. Once build-up is great enough, plaques can dislodge; these cause blockages, which lead to heart attack.

It is primarily a disease of inflammation. The more inflammation, the greater the risk of atherosclerosis.Blue and Gold by Engin Akyurt

Birds are more susceptible to atherosclerosis than any mammal, with the exception of humans. “The reported incidence rates in avian species range widely from 1.9% to 91.9%.”(Powers, 2015)

A Confusion of Information

While much is known about atherosclerosis in humans, this information cannot be readily transferred with reliability to birds. Reading through scientific papers about the disease causes consternation and befuddlement. Undeniable conclusions are lacking, although more recent research does point to strong correlations.

Much of the research has been done on bird species other than parrots, such as quail, waterfowl, and chickens. Diagnosis on parrot species who have succumbed to this illness has been conducted on a very mixed population, particularly those kept previously in zoos, who have been maintained under a variety of conditions and fed a mix of diets.

Moreover, the studies that are being done on risk factors that exist for parrots are being performed on the known risk factors for humans and other mammals. There may, however, be other risk factors specific to avian species that may take longer to uncover, such as individual species’ genetics.

Thus, I will warn you that what I write today may well be something I will edit extensively in another five years.  The danger is significant and real for our parrots, so an examination now of what we know is important. However, I have every expectation that some of what you read below may be proved wrong in the future, while additional details will in turn come to light.

Which Parrots Are At Risk?

While we have a very good understanding of risk factors in mammals, this is not so with parrots. But, a few things we do know.

Speciesparrot-2005767__340

It is currently agreed that Amazon parrots, African Grey parrots, quaker parakeets, and cockatiels appear to be at greatest risk. While the disease has been seen in cockatoos and macaws, they are not believed to be quite as susceptible. Many avian species, though not all, have been found to develop atherosclerosis in captivity.

Age

Increased age is a significant risk factor. However, while more common in older parrots, Nemeth states that atherosclerosis has been found in birds aged 1 to 42 years. (Nemeth at al, 2016) It is most common in companion parrots over the age of 10.

Gender

Female parrots have been proven statistically to be at greater risk. Female birds in reproductive mode generally have elevated levels of cholesterol, triglycerides and lipoproteins, as well as calcium, creating greater susceptibility.

Diet and Nutrition

“The inclusion of cholesterol in the diet of birds that consume non-animal protein, even as low as 0.25% of the diet, dramatically increases plasma and serum cholesterol levels.” (Petzinger and Bauer, 2013).

Petzinger also mentions a 2003 paper by Bavelaar and Beynen that found that African grey parrots fed a high-fat diet containing palm kernel oil (saturated fatty acids) had increased cholesterol levels.cockatiel-1213758__340

Petzinger also reports on the findings of yet another study from 2012. In this research, a total of 47 cockatiels who were supplemented with fish oil had lower plasma cholesterol than cockatiels fed flaxseed oil. The conclusion? “Thus, dietary fish oil (and possibly dried algae products) may be more beneficial than oils high in A-linolenic acid on reducing risk factors and prevalence of atherosclerosis in avian species.” (Petzinger and Bauer, 2013)

Another nutrient capable of lowering cholesterol levels in birds is pectin. Pectin is the soluble fiber contained in fruit and some vegetables.

The overall amount of food eaten may also contribute to the development of atherosclerosis. Overeating and obesity are proven risk factors for mammals. This correlation has been studied in birds with varying conclusions.

Physical Inactivity

Every research paper I read reported a presumed link between inactivity and the development of atherosclerosis. However, I could find no evidence that any link between exercise and this illness had actually been researched in avian species.Conure2

Since such a strong link exists between the two in mammals, including humans, it would be foolish to ignore it here and the papers I read did include recommendations for exercise in companion parrots.

Inflammation

The literature on human health names inflammation in the body as a primary cause for the development of atherosclerosis. In fact, inflammation is currently being discussed in what is being called “a unifying theory of disease.” (Harvard Health, 2006) In other words, inflammation is now considered as a significant factor in the development of many chronic human illnesses.

Nevertheless, inflammation as a process “remains a mystery.” (Anft, 2016) However, scientists are beginning to agree that lifestyle choices like diet and exercise may increase (or reduce)  inflammation.parrot eating cracker

Common foods that cause inflammation, which are often fed to parrots, are fried foods and those containing refined carbohydrates (white flours and sugars).

Co-Infection with Psittacosis

The disease Psittacosis, also known as Parrot Fever, is more accurately referred to as Chlamydia psittaci. This disease is still relatively common among companion parrots, especially those who have come from large collections. While researchers disagree about whether there is a conclusive correlation between infection with Chlamydia and atherosclerosis, some studies appear to agree on this.

Signs and Symptoms

Sadly, the most common sign of atherosclerosis is sudden death. In the late stages, there may be symptoms such as weakness, lethargy, neurological  signs (including seizure-like activity), trouble breathing and exercise intolerance. However, these may be less observable due to parrots spending long hours in cages. It is easier to identify exercise intolerance, for example, in parrots who fly.

At this point in time, diagnosis is extremely difficult. Most people will never imagine that their parrots are ill until they lose them unexpectedly, well before their time. With better imaging techniques, as well as a better understanding of identifying factors in serum chemistries, this may change in the future.

What Can We Do?

Atherosclerosis in companion parrots is still not well-understood. Direct and specific correlations from the human health field may only be suggestive. Thus, we do not have well-defined risk factors that would allow us to target flawless measures for prevention.

FoodSkewerMoreComplexSuggested lifestyle changes reported in the literature include “increasing physical activity by providing more opportunities for locomotion and foraging behaviors and decreasing the stress level  in their captive environment. Limiting dietary excess and obesity also seem to be a reasonable strategy, but species-specific dietary needs should be considered.”(Beaufrere, 2013)

“Birds should be provided ample opportunities for exercise and activities such as foraging, and even flight, if considered safe for the bird. Excessive energy content in the food should be avoided, such as excess carbohydrates and fats. Birds should receive regular preventative veterinary care with periodic bloodwork monitoring.” (Powers, 2015)

Diets that contain relatively high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids reduce the prevalence of the disease. (Petzinger and Bauer, 2013) Nordic NaturalsNewer research indicates that fish oil may be more effective in this than alpha-linolenic acid, the type of omega-3 found in plants, such as in flax seed oil. Supplementation with fish oil may be an excellent addition to the diets of many companion parrots, but this should not be undertaken without the advice of your veterinarian.

Pectin in the diet has also decreased the occurrence of atherosclerosis. (Petzinger and Bauer, 2013) Pectin is the soluble fiber found in fruit. Too much pectin can result in a decrease in the absorption of nutrients from the intestine, however. Thus, fruit should be fed in moderation for most species.

Reducing the overall amount of food, i.e. not over-feeding, can also decrease the prevalence of atherosclerosis. This  information too, however, could be harmful if implemented to the extreme. Hunger and malnutrition do nothing to improve overall health. It is best to consult with your veterinarian about the quantity of foods to offer.

Suggested Action Steps:

After as thorough a review as I could muster with the research I was able to access, I think the following steps are prudent:

  • Identify an avian vet who specializes in birds and schedule annual visits.
  • If your veterinarian tells you your bird is fat, take this seriously and formulate a plan for gradual weight reduction.
  • Discuss with your veterinarian supplementation with fish oil. (The correct dose is important and should be obtained from your vet.) Nordic Naturals is an excellent choice.
  • If you have a female parrot, do everything you can to minimize triggers for the increased production of reproductive hormones. (You should do this for males too.)
    • Discourage a pair bond
    • Avoid cuddling and other highly affectionate interactions
    • Prevent cavity seeking (getting into closets, boxes, etc.)
    • Feed a low-fat, low-carbohydrate diet013
  • Do not feed foods high in saturated fat (fatty meats, butter, margarine, cheese, coconut oil, palm oil, fried food, or snack foods).
  • Do not feed pasta, white rice, or any foods that contain white flour or sugar and other sweeteners.
  • If your bird eats a seed mix as a dietary staple, convert him to a pelleted diet with supplementation of fresh foods.
  • Avoid overfeeding. Remember the size of the creature you are feeding.
  • Encourage foraging and try to incorporate some physical activity into this.
  • Encourage exercise.
    • Determine whether you and your bird might be a candidate for flight in the home.
    • If not, work to discover ways to encourage as much movement as possible.Green And Red Healthy Food
  • Do feed foods high in pectin, in moderation (apples, pears, plums, peaches, apricots, cherries, strawberries, guava, carrots and peas). Apples are especially high.
  • Do feed foods high in omega-3 fatty acids or that are otherwise known to reduce cholesterol (oats, barley and other grains, walnuts, flax seeds, chia seeds, hemp seeds, edamame, almonds, beans, tofu, salmon)
  • Do feed foods that fight inflammation (green leafy vegetables, blueberries, salmon, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, peppers, grapes, celery, ginger, tumeric)

parrot-2960562__340Atherosclerosis is a scary prospect, given what we now know about the susceptibility of our companion parrots. However, I suspect that we have in our hands the tools for prevention, just as people do. Granted, risk factors outside of our control exist, such as age and gender. However, we do have enough information to take action and keep our parrots as healthy as absolutely possible.

Thank you for reading my blog. I am Pamela Clark, an IAABC Certified Parrot Behavior Consultant. My passion is helping people with parrots by offering behavior consultations and publishing information you can trust. To access free resources, schedule a consultation, or subscribe to my newsletter (which is a different publication from this blog), please visit me at http://www.pamelaclarkonline.com. Until next time!

References:

Anft, M. 2016. “Understanding Inflammation.” Johns Hopkins Health Review. Volume 3, Issue 1. https://www.johnshopkinshealthreview.com/issues/spring-summer-2016/articles/understanding-inflammation

Beaufrere, H.  Dr. Med Vet, PhD, Dip. ECZM, Dip. ABVP. 2013. “Avian Atherosclerosis: Parrots and Beyond. Topics in Medicine and Surgery.” http://dx.doi.org/10.1053/j.jepm.2013.10.015.  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1557506313001754?via%3Dihub

Bavelaar F. J. & Beynen, A.C. (2004) “Atherosclerosis in Parrots: A Review. Veterinary Quarterly, 26:2, 50-60. https://doi.org/10.1080/01652176.2004.9695168

Nemeth, N.M. , Gonzaliz-Astudillo, V., Oesterle, P.T. Howerth. E. W.  “A 5-Year Retrospective Review of Avian Diseases Diagnosed at the Department of Pathology, University of Georgia”. Journal of Comparative Pathology. Volume 155, Issues 2–3, August–October 2016, Pages 105-120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcpa.2016.05.006

Harvard Health Publishing. April 2006. Harvard Medical School. “Inflammation: A Unifying Theory of Disease. https://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletter_article/Inflammation_A_unifying_theory_of_disease

Petzinger, C. PhD, Bauer, J, DVM, PhD, Dip. ACVN. 2013. Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine. Volume 22, Issue 4, October 2013, Pages 358-365. “Dietary Considerations for Atherosclerosis in Common Companion Avian Species. https://doi.org/10.1053/j.jepm.2013.10.013

Petzinger,C BS, Heatley, J DVM, MS, DABVP, DACZM, Cornejo,J BS, Brightsmith, D. PhD; Bauer, J DVM, PhD, DACVN. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. March 1, 2010, Vol. 236, No. 5, Pages 523-528. https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.236.5.523

Powers, L. DVM, DABVP. 2015. “The Silent Killer: Atherosclerosis in Pet Birds.” CVC in Washington, D.C. Proceedings.  Published on DVM 360. http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/silent-killer-atherosclerosis-pet-birds-proceedings.

Siljan and Dorris

Occasionally, I am gifted with an experience that is mind-blowingly remarkable.

Siljan Anna Jørnsdatter Nikolaisen contacted me on December 1, 2018 with a request that read as follows:

“Hi! I was sent here to you by Barbara Heidenreich, and I really hope you can help me with the issues I have with my parrot. I am from Norway, so my English isn’t so very good, but I hope you will understand. I have seen several training videos by Heidenreich about positive reinforcement and clicker training, and I have also read some in my own language, but i feel still cant start doing this in practise with my own bird. Her name is Dorris, and she is a 9 year old Indian Ringneck. The problem is, she wont even give me a chance to start training her. She is flying all over the place, and wont stay still a second. (She is NOT wing clipped, and i absolutely won’t do it) so I feel I cant start with anything. She is a fast flyer, and i’m pretty afraid that there is no hope for Dorris, my crazy bird at all, before I have even tried. Anyway, I have problems with understanding english when people speak to me, so if we could only write, I would be very happy about it.  I really hope you have the opportunity to help me with some tricks, one way or the other. Best regards Siljan and Dorris!”

Challenge Gladly Accepted

And so began the journey of helping Siljan to train “crazy” Dorris through email correspondence from over 4,000 miles away.

Siljan is 36 years old and lives in the small town of ​Bodø in northern Norway. She adopted Dorris 6 years ago. Before that, she had a Jenday Conure who passed away at the age of 31. She had never trained before.

At the time that Siljan wrote to me, Dorris would not consistently step up. When she did, wouldn’t stay on Siljan’s hand for long. Thus there were times, such as when visitors arrived, when Siljan needed to use coercion to get Dorris into her bedroom or back into her cage. This had broken trust and explained some of Dorris’ behavior. As Siljan wrote: “Then I sadly sometimes need to pick her up and put her inside the cage against her will, and that is awful.”

Finding Reinforcers

During initial sessions, Dorris was not particularly motivated to earn food reinforcers. We needed to clean up her diet. She was already eating pellets, but also got nuts and some types of table food. Raspberry jam was a favorite. Dorris, like most parrots, prefers foods that are high in fats and carbohydrates. And Siljan, like most bird owners, loved to treat her to these to make her happy.

We eliminated these treat foods, refining her staple diet down over time to just pellets and vegetables. Dorris could still have her treats, but she was going to have to earn them. This change produced the motivation we needed. We simply took the treats she used to enjoy for no reason and used them in our training.

Initial Concepts

As we began our work together, I offered an analogy: “Building behavior is like building a brick wall. You have to lay down the first course of bricks, put the mortar between them so that all cracks are filled, then let it dry before you lay down the next course. You have to teach the simple things before you can teach more complex ones.  And, you absolutely must first have a trusting handling relationship.” Thus, our first step was to teach Dorris to step up reliably and then to stay on Siljan’s hand instead of flying off.

We got a strong start, but then our efforts had to be put on hold when Siljan went to visit her mother over the Christmas holiday.  She took Dorris with her, but she had to be confined to her cage during this time. This hampered our ability to make progress on what we had begun, but we simply shifted our focus.

Targeting Through Protected Contact

Siljan purchased a GoPro video camera for recording training sessions. I suggested that she begin to work with Dorris on targeting. She could work with Dorris from outside the cage while Dorris remained inside.  

Very early sessions

This is called working “through protected contact” and is a great way to begin training fearful or aggressive parrots, as well as those who will not step up at all. None of these issues applied to Dorris, but this was a type of training that was possible during this period of physical restriction. Further, targeting is a behavior that assists in the training of other behaviors so we could use this skill later once learned.

Our Real Work Began

By January 9, 2019 Siljan was back in her own home again and our real work began.

Since Dorris often flew away when Siljan approached her, we began with some CAT training. This too is a training strategy that works extraordinarily well with fearful and aggressive parrots. While typically referred to as Constructional Aggression Treatment, in this case it might be more correctly called Constructional Aversion Treatment.  My instructions were:

  • Stand as far back from Dorris as you can, given the physical arrangement of your house. 
  • Begin to slowly walk toward her, one step at a time. Don’t talk to her.
  • As you do, watch her body language for any sign of movement. Go slowly and take your time.
  • At the very first sign of discomfort on Dorris’ part, stop where you are and stand still. (Signs of discomfort might include standing up straighter, eyes wider, feathers held tight against the body, leaning or moving away from you.)
  • After you have stopped, watch for signs of another (hopefully more relaxed) behavior. For example, she relaxes her position a bit, her feathers puff up or she turns her head – anything that looks less tense than before you stopped.
  • As soon as you see any behavior indicative of less stress, turn around and immediately walk away, back to where you started. (Try to find a behavior that will allow you to retreat within just a minute or less.)
  • Approach again and continue to repeat the process for up to 15 minutes at a time. 

Once Siljan could walk all the way up to Dorris without her flying off, we began to work on teaching her to step up with greater compliance. It was only a few days before Dorris was stepping up readily. By the time another few days had elapsed, she would remain on Siljan’s hand for extended periods since she knew that was the place where the goodies appeared. Soon after, Siljan was able to walk with her slowly around the apartment, offering reinforcers frequently for continuing to stay on the hand.

Our work together began to take on a rhythm that continues today. Siljan films her training sessions and sends the videos to me through a file sharing service. I respond with tips on how to improve her technique and suggestions on when to move to the next approximations. This system has been remarkably successful and demonstrates just how much can be accomplished at long distance, even with a bit of a language barrier.

The Human Side of Training

Siljan has frequently expressed anxiety and doubt over her own ability to perform the training correctly, even in the face of obvious success, and this has become an underlying theme of our work. As she voiced one day: “This is a little bit exciting, i’ll try not to be too disapointed if it doesn’t work at first try. I am actually a little bit nervous to fail and not make it work at all, but I would never give up trying, because I know Dorris can do it!

Her expressions of self-doubt always surprised me. I saw no reason for it. She made amazing progress with everything I asked her to do. Our exchange often reminded me of James Clear’s words: “Successful people start before they feel ready.” Consider the timeline below:

  • By January 24th, Siljan had taught Dorris to willingly get on a scale to be weighed.
  • By January 28th, Dorris was flying back and forth between two perches when cued to do so with the target.
  • By February 3rd, Siljan was teaching Dorris to fly to her hand using the target stick. Within only a day or two, we were able to fade out the use of the target so that Dorris was flying to Siljan’s hand on cue.
  • By February 4th, Siljan could transport Dorris into her bedroom when people came to visit and to get her back into the cage without any use of force.
  • By February 8th, Dorris was flying a good distance to Siljan’s hand and was learning to fly back to the perch instead of being carried back.
  • By February 20th, Siljan had taught Dorris to turn around on cue and was preparing to phase out the use of the target as a lure.
The beginning stages of teaching Dorris to fly back to the perch
  • By February 8th, Dorris was flying a good distance to Siljan’s hand and was learning to fly back to the perch instead of being carried back.
  • By February 20th, Siljan had taught Dorris to turn around on cue and was preparing to phase out the use of the target as a lure.

Nevertheless, I continued to receive Siljan’s input about her own emotional experience. No matter how much she achieved, she continued to experience anxiety. She would send me a video, believing that she had done a terrible job and I would watch it, thinking that she had done extraordinarily well.

The funny thing about training is that it creates a new world of intimacy between the animal and the trainer. It also creates greater intimacy between trainer and coach.

When I questioned her self-doubt, Siljan quite openly explained that she suffers from mental illness and severe self-injurious behavior to the degree that she once spent 16 years in a mental hospital, 9 of them in a high-security ward. She has never been to school or held a job. She has improved now to the extent that she can live independently, in a building with others who also have behavioral challenges, with staff on-site who can look in on them to make sure that all is well. She has important goals for the future.

In Siljan’s words: “I have a mental ilness, and my days can be rough and long, but Dorris is the one to get me trough it. After I met you, I have now become so much closer to Dorris, and for me, it opened a whole new world when I started to train her. With hard work, everything is possible!” 

A Graceful Gift

Every once in a while, we have the rare gift of stumbling upon greatness. Often, it shows up in the most unexpected of places. I wrote to her not too long ago: “What makes greatness is attitude, compassion, acceptance. You have them all, Siljan. I’m happy to know you.”

Her response: “And, who would believe that I should be an inspiration to others? That. That is amazing…”

Written with full permission from Siljan and Dorris.

(We did, however, have to bribe Dorris with a pomegranate.)

Credit for all photos and videos goes to Siljan Nicholaisen.

​
Thank you for reading my blog. I am Pamela Clark, an IAABC Certified Parrot Behavior Consultant and veterinary technician. My passion is helping people with parrots. To access free resources or subscribe to my newsletter (which is a different publication from this blog), please visit me at http://www.pamelaclarkonline.com. Also, don’t forget my Q & A Sessions every Sunday at 1:00 pm PT. Sign up on the Products page. Until next time!

Parrots: Navigating the Ocean of (Mis)Information

Rarely do I work with a client when I don’t spend time debunking myths. I do this patiently most of the time.download (4) I enjoy talking with my clients and getting to the truth about things. I feel genuine distress, however, for those who experience such frustration at hearing that the information they worked so hard to find and have trusted is not reliable.

Mostly, I marvel at how resistant to extinction this incorrect information has become. I have been around long enough now that I was there when some of this material was originally published decades ago. It wasn’t true then and it’s not true now. Nevertheless, it gets repeated ad infinitum online and in print. At this point, some of it qualifies as urban companion parrot legend.

Here are a few of the myths that I have addressed with people within the last two months.

Myth #1: Parrots need 10 to 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night.”  Not true. I believe that I have put this issue to bed with this previous blog post.

Myth #2:  Parrots must be kept at warm temperatures since they originate in equatorial regions. Not even close. Parrots, like all animals, acclimate to the temperatures at which they live. (Dawson, Marsh. 1989)

Myth #3: Parrots must be protected from drafts. Not true…mostly.  “Contrary to popular opinion, drafts are not harmful to healthy pet birds. A draft is really nothing more than a slight movement of air, usually accompanied by a mild temperature drop. A bird’s feathers provide insulation against temperature extremes far in excess of what a draft represents.” (Animal Hospitals USA, 2018)

This information about the need to protect against drafts originated decades ago when homes were not well-insulated.  People would place canaries in front of windows, around which there was an icy draft in winter. This set the bird up for illness.

These days, most of us live in well-insulated homes that don’t have drafts, unless we create them artificially by using window air conditioners.  These should not be placed where they will blow directly on a parrot.

photo-1521776384459-82edfd790487Myth #4:  Cockatoos are cuddly, needs birds who require more attention than other companion parrot species. Definitely not true. The real truth is that cockatoos display different behavior characteristics depending upon how they are reared. Current rearing practices that remove babies from their parents early on and force wean them to increase profits produce birds who arrive in their homes with a wealth of unmet needs.  They appear cuddly and needy because they didn’t get the nurturing they needed in their early stages. Those who are parent-reared until weaning do not display these qualities. They are independent parrots who need no more attention than others.

How does it happen that incorrect information gets repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact? How do people get away with posting information that is untrue?

I’ve given this problem a lot of thought and have decided that the following factors all contribute to this problem. If we can understand how a problem occurs, we can get closer to a solution.

First, material written by experts is not updated regularly.  This means that you can pick up readily available books and magazines that contain incorrect information.  Knowledge is always evolving, but what gets published doesn’t always reflect this increased understanding.

If someone wants to reprint an older article of mine, I make sure that I update it first.  My own knowledge has grown over the years and I want to ensure that people are reading what most clearly represents my current thinking. (I was wrong about a lot of things early on.) Authors of hard-cover books don’t always have that luxury.

Second, many people have a bad case of not knowing what they don’t know, coupled with a strong desire to be helpful. downloadIt feels good to dispense advice that fills a need someone else has. The opportunity to sound like an authority is very compelling. This leads to an endless amount of incorrect information being repeated online, since these helpful folks don’t check their facts before offering advice.

Third, the internet erases our ability to evaluate the signals we usually rely on when it comes to judging people and their information. Experts differ in their exact estimate of just how much of communication is non-verbal, but a range of 60% to 90% is generally accepted as accurate. (Eastman, 2018)

The largest component of any communication is non-verbal – body language, tone of voice, inflection, eye contact, facial expression. images (24)This means that, when you read online something that someone else has written, you are missing between 60% and 90% of important information about them and their message. On social media and websites, anyone can appear to be an authority.

Fourth, speaking as an authority is seductive. Some individuals who are very knowledgeable in some areas still give advice in others in which they are not, apparently unable to stop themselves.

Last, tribalism is alive and well in the “parrot community,” just as it is in politics. It is difficult to know when those publishing on social media have an agenda that is driving their posts. images (25)Much incorrect information is published with a real sense of urgency and commitment, simply because the speaker seeks to validate herself and her friends’ information.

I first decided on this topic two weeks ago, and spent some time searching online for examples to illustrate my points. Oddly, I was having a difficult time. The usual crap I read was absent from social media that day. Then, the two posts below dropped into my lap when a friend sent me these screen shots. These were published publicly on a Facebook group within the past week. Since they came to me unbidden, I deem it within the bounds of fair play to use them here.

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Now, let me be clear before I go further. I believe this author has good intentions and I don’t think she meant any harm. (I did contact her personally when I received the posts and she understands that I would be using them here.) She clearly cares about nutrition and wants every parrot to be eating a healthy diet.

However, as so often happens, she dispenses valid information along with some very incorrect details. This illustrates the BIGGEST problem with online sources, which I did not list above.  Most sources offer mixed advice – some good, some bad. This astronomically complicates the issue of finding trustworthy information.

Let’s examine these posts using critical thinking (the objective analysis of facts to form a judgment):

  1. I am not a parrot behaviorist. I do not have the credentials. I am certified as a parrot behavior consultant through the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC).
  2. There is no such thing as a “parrot nutritionist.” There is no educational program or certification for this title. Instead, many of us are knowledgeable about nutrition due to intensive self-study. This is an extremely complex topic due to the number of parrot species and their diverse regions of origin, making it highly unlikely that anyone will be sporting this title in the near future.
  3. Vitamin supplementation will not cause organ damage when a parrot is severely deficient in nutrients. Added vitamins will never be a valid replacement for a good diet, but can be very helpful in the sort term. Calcium is especially helpful and is used widely in cases of chronic egg-laying. Any vitamin supplementation undertaken should always be at the direction of an avian veterinarian.
  4. These posts were written in response to something one of my previous clients had just contributed on that forum. Unintentionally, this client had misrepresented the recommendations I had given her. The author of these posts did not contact me to verify that the information was correct before publishing her opinion.
  5. The author dispenses nutritional advice for a parrot who has had a life-threatening medical condition in the past, without asking the individual what her veterinarian had advised her to feed.
  6. The author herself provides a great deal of nutritional advice in her posts, although she herself is not an avian nutritionist.  Her qualifications, according to her profile, are that she is a “diamontolgist” (which is misspelled) and “former esthetician.”

To correct the record for those of you who care:

  • I do recommend pellets as a staple in the diet, as a recent blog post discusses.
  • I do not recommend TOPs pellets as the primary dietary staple.
  • I do not recommend a plant-based, mostly veggie diet.
  • I do recommend limiting carbohydrates and excessive fats in the diet.
  • I do not recommend vitamin supplements unless a veterinarian has suggested their use.
  • The diet I had been coaching the client to feed had been recommended by her veterinarian.

I will leave you to arrive at your own judgement, but I think that these posts are an excellent example of the ways in which misleading information gets established as fact each second of every day online on websites and parrot forums.

So, how can you protect yourself when you go online for information about parrots?  images (16)We certainly can’t ignore the value of the internet when it comes to researching and learning, but how can you identify sources that you can trust?  How do you decide who really knows what they are talking about?

I suggest asking the following questions and evaluating the following criteria when deciding whose information to trust. They have served me well over the years.

  • What is the educational level of the author? People can certainly become well-educated through independent effort, and well-educated people can certainly publish incorrect information. Therefore, this criterion will not serve as a definitive indicator. However, I believe that those with higher education will be more likely to research their topic, have a higher commitment to publishing truth, and may be better able themselves to identify trust-worthy information.
  • Spelling matters. If you see someone dispensing information about Scarlet McCaws, that should serve as a red flag.
  • What credentials does the speaker have and are these related to the information being posted? We should hold people accountable for what they publish. It should be acceptable to ask about a speaker’s depth of experience in the topic under discussion and the speaker should graciously welcome the chance to explain how she knows what she knows.
  • Does the individual provide sources to support the information being published? When research about a given topic is available, it should be cited.
  • Does the information posted contain generalizations, such as “Amazons need….?” Behavior is a study of one. What any given parrot needs depends upon his previous socialization and training. Such declarations cannot possibly be accurate when we are speaking about parrots.
  • Is the speaker a recognized expert in the field? Has she published peer-reviewed journal articles? Is she certified by any institutions who recognize knowledge and achievement?
  • If the speaker is dispensing nutritional or veterinary information, does she herself have real work experience of any duration in the field of avian medicine?
  • Does the speaker publicly criticize or speak poorly of others? True professionals are respectful and are supportive of others in the field.
  • Follow a resource trail. Identify someone you consider to be a knowledgeable resource, and then ask who they promote and whose information they trust.

One excellent resource recommends evaluating information for: Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose (CRAAP.) (Illinois State University. 2018) To paraphrase, this source recommends asking the following questions:

  • Determine the date of publication. Is the information outdated?
  • How applicable is the information for your needs? For what audience was the information intended?
  • Is the author a knowledgeable source? Examine the author’s credentials or organizational affiliation.
  • What is the accuracy of the content? What type of language is used and does the information seem to be well-researched?
  • Why was the information written? How might the author’s affiliations affect the slant or bias of the information?

This is a problem that belongs to us all. If we are ever to be able to go online and trust what we read, we must each take individual responsibility for evaluating the information we find and for being careful about what we post. Thus, the most important question of all becomes this: photo-1522272556107-2a2b67715093

Where does YOUR level of commitment lie when it comes to the welfare of companion parrots? When you are online, is it more important to be liked and validated or more important to stand up for parrots and their welfare?

If it’s the latter, you will ask for credentials before trusting information that you apply to your birds or pass along to others.

If it’s the latter, you will question everything you read and use the criteria above to evaluate the information you accept as true.

images (1)If it’s the latter, you will not repeat information or offer advice unless you yourself have hands-on experience in the area under discussion and/or have absolutely verified it to be true.  “I heard it somewhere” or “I read it in a book” is not good enough.

If it’s the latter, you will support those who work hard to publish truth about parrots.

If you just want to chat online for fun or to get validation, be clear about what it is you are about. On the other hand, if you are trying to learn, then please first don your critical thinking cap. Don’t lend truth to this slogan: Critical Thinking Skills… the Other National Deficit!

It’s up to all of us to stem this never-ending tide of misinformation, disinformation and malinformation that undermines our ability to provide a good quality of life for our birds, to effectively deal with behavior problems, and to maintain their physical health over their optimal lifespans.images (18)

If we step up and accept this challenge, just think what we might accomplish when it comes to the political climate in this country!  Get out there and vote everybody!

Thank you for reading my blog. I am Pamela Clark, an IAABC Certified Parrot Behavior Consultant and licensed veterinary technician. My passion is helping people with parrots. To access many free resources or subscribe to my newsletter, please visit me at http://www.pamelaclarkonline.com. Until next time!

References:

Animal Hospitals USA website. 2018. “Bird Care: Drafts.” Accessed October 22, 2018. http://www.animalhospitals-usa.com/birds/bird-care.html

Dawson W.R., Marsh R.L. (1989) “Metabolic Acclimatization to Cold and Season in Birds.” In: Bech C., Reinertsen R.E. (eds) Physiology of Cold Adaptation in Birds. NATO ASI Series (Series A: Life Sciences), vol 173. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0031-2_9

Eastman, B. 2018. “How Much of Communication is Really Non-verbal?”  The Non-Verbal Group, 548 West 28th St, Ste. 231, New York, NY.  http://www.nonverbalgroup.com/2011/08/how-much-of-communication-is-really-nonverbal

University of Illinois, Guides at Milner Library. May 2018. “Determine Credibility (Evaluating): CRAAP (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose).” https://guides.library.illinoisstate.edu/evaluating/craap

 

My Parrot Won’t Play With Toys!

This is a claim I hear often from parrot owners who are totally frustrated in their efforts to offer enrichment in the form of toys or foraging, only to see their birds ignoring it.  Many simply give up, after spending what seems like endless amounts of time and money, having achieved no success at all.

And, after all… isn’t it okay if we have a bird who doesn’t play with toys if he seems happy enough? If he’s not displaying behavior problems and he’s healthy, why keep trying? Keeping parrots seems to be a lot of work at times. Many ask, “Do I really need to keep working on this too?”

I hate to disappoint you…but the answer is yes.photo-1519165209234-0545d0e2c755  You do need to keep working on this.  Your parrot does need to interact with enrichment for the very best quality of life.  If you want him to enjoy physical, emotional, and intellectual health, you’ve got to keep trying.

Parrots, like all creatures, evolved to act upon their environment in different ways. When they do, the environment gives them feedback. This feedback from the environment offers them the chance to learn. This learning process enriches their lives much of the time in different ways.

A parrot who doesn’t know how to keep himself busy is a lot more likely to develop behavior problems such as screaming or chewing off feathers.  “Captive settings may limit the expression of normal behaviours and, as a consequence, abnormal behaviours may develop.” (Rodriguez-Lopez, 2016)

Glove StufferYour parrot can work on a foraging project for 30 minutes, finally accessing his treat.  Or he can scream for 30 minutes until you finally react.  The treat and your reaction are both “feedback” from the environment. Both types of feedback enrich his life because he acted on the environment in order to get a certain result.

His existence is enriched by your social attention when you react, even if you sound angry or use a swear word or two.  It can be quite enjoyable for a bored parrot to figure out what he can do to get a reaction out of you. He is hard-wired to act upon his environment. He will do so independently of you and your desires.

I have always thought of a parrot’s day as similar to a “pie chart of activity.”  In other words, they operate in our homes within an “activity budget.”  I want my parrots’ activity budget to look something like this pie graph. Granted, the time spent in each activity likely would not be the same, but you get the idea. Foraging

If your parrot doesn’t fly or interact with wood or other enrichment, there’s a much greater chance that some of those pie wedges may read “screaming” or “biting” or “feather destruction.”

There is a second reason why we can’t give up on trying to get our parrots to interact with physical enrichment. Life in captivity is stressful  for our companion parrots, no matter how good a job we do with them.  “Captive animals are susceptible to chronic stress due to restricted space, lack of hiding places, presence of visitors, or the lack of resources that promote physical and mental stimuli. In birds, chronic stress can promote stereotypes, self-mutilation, feather picking, chewing on cage bars and walls, fearfulness and excessive aggression. Environmental enrichment (EE) becomes an important management tool to decrease chronic stress in captive animals.” (de Almeida, Palme, and Moreira 2018)

Thus, it is a real problem when a parrot doesn’t interact with enrichment or know how to forage.  It’s enough of a problem that it deserves dissection. If we can come to a better understanding of the problem, we can both prevent it AND solve it.

The problem begins with our own expectations. Everyone talks about parrots “playing,” so we expect our parrots to play.   This expectation is not a reasonable one, if applied to all parrots.

Mylas+and+Severe+2+7-20-2009+6-02-44+PM[1] (2)Baby parrots play.  One of the happiest periods of my life was when I was breeding a small number of African Greys each year.  There is nothing more fun that watching the development of baby parrots. They are learning machines. They are eager to investigate anything you give them. Like all baby animals, they are playful. That is their job –  it’s how they learn about the world.

Once mature, however, most adult parrots don’t play. It’s not their nature to be playful. Granted, there are exceptions.  Some individuals are more playful than others. Some species tend to be more playful  than others – caiques, lorikeets, small macaws and some conures, to name a few. Some individuals within those species could play for hours with a simple object. If you need cheering up, check this video out.

However, if you expect an African Grey, one of the Poicephalus species, or an Eclectus to be playful, you could wait a very long time. Thus, the first problem is thinking there is something wrong with your parrot if he doesn’t play.

An adult parrot has a different job – to stay safe with the knowledge he’s learned to date. They are often suspicious, if not downright afraid, of new things.  If you expect your adult parrot to immediately interact with a new toy or project, you may be sadly disappointed. It could very well take a week or longer before your bird decides that object is safe enough for exploration.  So, that’s the second problem – expecting your parrot to interact with new enrichment items without a proper period of introduction.

If your older parrot was raised by a breeder who didn’t offer enrichment to the babies and then went into a first home or two where this need was also neglected, he may have temporarily lost that once-important desire to investigate, even once an item does become familiar. Both situations can lead to that diagnosis – My parrot doesn’t play with toys!

The third problem we create for ourselves with this issue has to do with perception. Dr. Susan Friedman has made enormous contributions to our understanding of behavior. In many of her articles, she discusses the problems that result when we label parrot behavior. For example, if I think of my parrot as aggressive, this leads me nowhere, in terms of arriving at a solution to that problem. However, if I look at the circumstances surrounding the bites, I see that there are some things I can change.  Changing the right circumstances in an effective way does lead to a solution to the problem.

When you tell yourself …My parrot doesn’t play with toys!…it’s the same thing as imposing a label on your parrot. photo-1538440694107-8448c848ad97That statement in itself will prevent you from solving this problem because you will believe it. To move toward a solution, you must look at what the parrot does do and build from there. Every parrot interacts with some objects, even if you don’t think of them as toys.

A fourth obstacle to having a parrot who interacts with enrichment is the type of things manufactured and sold to parrot owners. Often these are targeted at you and your pocketbook, rather than your parrot’s preferences. Purchasing the wrong type of toys can lead to the same conclusion – My parrot doesn’t play with toys! 

For one thing, the desires of a parrot and the desires of a parrot owner are not the same and toy manufacturers know this.  A parrot wants to destroy a wood toy quickly and easily.  He wants to act on his environment. A parrot owner wants to buy a toy that will last due to the expense. He wants to spend his money wisely. images (15)

How many of us have wasted our money on the toy to the right?  Those alphabet blocks and round wooden beads are so hard that only the very largest of parrots can chew them up. Most parrots will simply give up after a short while. But, the important thing to the owner is that he didn’t spend $25.00 on a toy that only lasted a brief while.

The second problem is the power of advertising. We love parrots and we love photos of parrots.  Therefore, as a selling tool the manufacturer or company will position a toy with a parrot suggesting interest in the parrot towards the toy.91M9oTClGZL._SL1500_  You’ve got to use your critical thinking skills to question the advertising before moving the item into your shopping cart.  Look at the toy to the left. Suggested by the photo as appropriate for a cockatiel, this toy is totally unsatisfactory for a bird of that size…or any bird.  Those coconuts are very hard and the holes are so small that getting anything out of them would be difficult.

Let the buyer beware.

So, what are you supposed to do if you have a bird doesn’t play with toys?

First, find a starting place.  Most parrots interact with something. If you have a parrot who loves to play with bottle caps (and doesn’t chew on them), hide bottle caps in a foraging toy so that it takes some work for him to get at them.

If your parrot loves to chew the back of your sofa, create toys made of fabric. Get a cotton gardening glove and stuff it with interesting items and food treats and hang this in the cage. Or find a pair of baby overalls at Goodwill and use zip ties to close up the legs.  Then, stuff the pockets with foot toys and treats.

If your parrot loves paper and cardboard, but won’t chew wood, then give him foraging projects made from those materials. If your parrot only chews on smaller wood toys, but demolishes them too quickly, then create these with wood slices and beads on a stainless skewer sold for parrots.

Second, make sure that the perching you provide sets the bird up for success and makes it easy for him to interact with the item.  I often see toys hung in the cage without any perch nearby.  Put yourself in your parrot’s feathers.  If he perches there, can he reach that toy comfortably?

Third, provide reinforcement.  Once you have found an item with which your parrot interacts, keep a soft focus on his behavior. When you see him touch or chew the toy…or even just look at it…immediately tell him “Good!” and quickly offer a preferred food treat. Soon he will learn that messing around with things in his cage earns him food!

Fourth, experiment.  Gradually, add a wider variety of toys – stainless steel bells, paper, fabric, easy-to-chew wood, puzzle toys, etc.  Through this process, you can discover a lot about your bird.  Don’t pre-judge his interests and preferences.  Perhaps you’ve always just given him wood toys, only to find that he’s insane for bells.  Many small macaws for example, enjoy sitting underneath bells.  One caveat:  most parrots prefer toys made of natural materials; my advice would be to leave those acrylic toys at the bird store, unless they offer a foraging challenge.

One small study found that parrots interacted with their staple diet of pellets for longer periods if they were provided with “over-sized” pellets.  (Rozek, Danner, Stucky, Millam, 2010) These required longer periods of time for consumption, given the additional challenges of manipulation. If your parrot consumes one size of pellet, perhaps providing much larger pellets in or out of foraging toys could be an important type of enrichment.

The most difficult challenge can be teaching an older parrot to forage who never learned the skill in the first place. Baby parrots are naturally curious, but they have to be provided with the raw materials to develop this into the skill of exploration. Older parrots can still learn this, however, and it is important that they do. “Enrichment is more successful it if is aimed at soliciting species-specific behaviours such as foraging.” (Coulton, Waran, Young, 1997)

BobbingForApplesTeaching a parrot to forage requires starting with very basic challenges and then making them incrementally more difficult in small steps.  Many of you may have already seen this, either on my website or on Facebook, but I have completed a pamphlet of foraging challenges that are easily made at home from inexpensive materials.  It demonstrates how to start out simple and gradually add complexity. This is free to all of you for download: Parrot Enrichment Made Easy: Low Cost Tips and Tricks.

Lastly, there are some foraging toys sold on the market today that do help beginning foragers to learn the skill.  My favorite is the Acrylic Foraging Kabob.  It triggers interest because the parrot can see that it has something inside of it, but offers enough of a challenge in extracting the items. It can be very helpful in introducing vegetables.  And, it includes a food skewer that is useful in making other toys.

A last word.  Remember – always watch your parrot with any new toy to make sure he’s interacting with it safely. Most parrots will not ingest non-food items, but watch nonetheless, especially if you are giving your parrot a toy with cotton strings attached.

End Note:  I attempt, whenever possible, to substantiate my anecdotal observations with scientific research. I have cited a number of studies at the end of this blog that help to support what I have said.  However, there has been a bit of a bias among researchers to focus more on enrichment for captive primates and carnivores. The studies that have been performed for captive parrots are few and often have been done on very small populations. They may be suggestive, rather than definitive.

Thank you for reading my blog. I am Pamela Clark, an IAABC Certified Parrot Behavior Consultant and licensed veterinary technician. My passion is helping people with parrots. For more information and to access many free resources, please visit me at http://www.pamelaclarkonline.com. Until next time!

Please note: Credit for the featured photo goes to Saeed Lajami on Unsplash.com.

References:

Coulton, LE, NK Waran, and RJ Young. 1997. “Effects of Foraging Enrichment on the Behaviour of Parrots.” Animal Welfare 1997, 6: 357-363. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Robert_Young15/publication/233642678_Effects_of_Foraging_Enrichment_on_The_Behaviour_of_Parrots/links/004635388f928d5693000000.pdf

De Almeida, Ana Claudia, Rupert Palm and Nei Moreira. 2018. “How Environmental Enrichment Affects Behavioral and Glucocorticoid Responses in Captive Blue-and-Yellow Macaws (Ara araruana).” Elsevior Applied Animal Behavior Science Journal 201: 125-135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2017.12.019

Meehan, CL, JP Garner, and JA Mench. 2004. “Environmental Enrichment and Development of Cage Stereotypy in Orange-winged Amazons (Amazona amazonica). Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Dev Psychogiol 44: 209-218. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/bbb2/a21684e23a62de973c1779e8d6a103f7463a.pdf

Rodriguez-Lopez, Rogelio. 2016. “Environmental Enrichment for Parrot Species: Are We Squawking Up the Wrong Tree?” Elsevior Applied Animal Behavior Science Journal 180: 1 – 10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2016.04.016

Rozek, Jessica, Lindsey Danner, Paul Stucky, and James Millam. 2010. “Over-sized pellets naturalize foraging time of captive Orange-winges Amazon parrots (Amazona amazonica).”  Elsevior Applied Animal Behavior Science Journal 125: 80-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2010.03.001

Chop Mix: Perfect Nutritional Supplement or Popular Nutritional Disaster?

I often choose blog topics because of something I’ve recently seen or heard that troubles me. This one is no exception. After talking to a few clients recently and reading comments online, I’ve grown concerned about how Chop Mix is being prepared and fed to companion parrots.

chop

What is Chop Mix, you ask?  Chop is a mixture of finely chopped vegetables with cooked grains, cooked legumes and/or beans, and other ingredients. It has been described as an “everything but the kitchen sink” approach to preparing supplemental food for birds.

I and others have used some form of the chop mix concept for a couple of decades.  However, in the past several years, this form of feeding parrots has gained huge popularity, mostly thanks to the efforts of Patricia Sund and others who have written so widely about it.

I love the concept and recommend it to others. Feeding Chop, in addition to high quality formulated foods, is a great way to get healthy variety into our birds’ diets. It makes conversion to new foods (pellets and vegetables) easier. It is relatively simple to prepare and serve, since it is typically frozen for storage, eliminating the need to prepare fresh food every morning.

veggies

So, why my recent concern?  I think there are a couple of problems with how Chop is being prepared. First of all, people seem to have gotten the idea that the sky’s the limit – that you can put anything into Chop and the resulting mix be a valuable thing to feed their birds. This is not the case.  The nutritional value of Chop is only as good as the ingredients you put into it. Some individuals are adding ingredients that really should not be offered in any quantity to companion parrots on a daily basis.

When I searched for the term “chop mix” as I prepared to write this, I immediately found 21 different websites that all offered recipes for Chop. I stopped counting after two minutes. I found chop mix for cockatiels, chop mix for Eclectus, chop mix for African greys…and the list goes on. The “recipes” were all quite different from each other, as was the advice directed at owners.

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On those 21 different websites, I found a lot of strongly-worded, very confusing advice. Some recommend including uncooked grains, which is definitely not a good idea. Grains should always be at least soaked and sprouted, if not cooked, in order to make them more digestible and eliminate the enzyme-inhibitors present. Some people advise adding raw yams or sweet potatoes; others say these must be cooked. Others include vegetable or whole wheat pasta, while their counterparts recommend no pasta at all. Some sites advise the addition of fruit; others warn against this, since it creates a wetter mix. How is anyone to understand that Chop must be prepared conscientiously with all of this different advice floating around?

I see two main problematic strategies being used when preparing Chop Mix. The first recommends the addition of high quantities of carbohydrates to prevent the mix from being too wet. The second involves adding too many “goodies” in the desire to create a mix the parrot will eat.

The creation of a truly great Chop poses one distinct challenge.  When you chop up a bunch of vegetables and then freeze them in a plastic bag, the cell membranes of those vegetables rupture, releasing all the moisture that was inside of them.  Thus, you can wind up with a very wet mess that your birds won’t eat.

Those dedicated to the Chop concept have gotten quite creative over the years as they have attempted to deal with this inconvenient problem. Some individuals recommend making large batches in the bathtub, advising that this way all the juice will go down the drain, thereby solving the problem.  Ahem.

I don’t care how much bleach you might have used, it’s not a good idea to prepare food in your bathroom, no matter who you intend to feed it to. Take it from one who has spent years staring at microbes through a microscope lens. If you need to make a large batch, you can always use large plastic storage tubs reserved just for that purpose.

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Second, “all the juice” contains many valuable nutrients. You don’t want that going down the drain. You want to preserve as much of it as possible, hopefully getting it into your bird at some point.  So, the second option to which people resort is the addition of dry ingredients that will soak up the moisture.  Suggestions for this include pasta, rolled grains, certain seeds and others.

Consider this photo, which I lifted off of the internet. Please ignore the fact that there seems to be a parrot taking a bath in the middle of a bowl of Chop. I want you to look at the ingredients. Can you see how much pasta is in there?!?

That is a problem. You simply can’t add that amount of refined carbohydrates to a mixture and believe that it’s going to be a healthy thing to feed your birds. I have written previously about the dangers of unbalancing your parrot’s diet by feeding high levels of fatty foods and simple carbohydrates in the diet. If you rely on dry carbohydrates to soak up excess moisture, you will have a parrot eating too many carbs in his diet.

Iggy.Chop.FB

I also see folks getting a little crazy with “additions.” I once watched a speaker at a conference prepare a large beautiful batch of Chop.  I then watched as she ruined it by dumping in whole bags of nuts, pumpkin seeds, and dried sweetened coconut. “Egads,” I thought. Any parrot eating that mix will be able to load up on goodies and ignore the grains and vegetables.

Chop can be a wonderful supplemental food for parrots…or a nutritional disaster. If we strive for the former, we must embrace the fact that a good Chop Mix must be prepared carefully according to certain guidelines.

First, it should conform roughly to the same percentages of protein and fats as balanced formulated diets contain. This can be estimated by simply looking at it, if you have a fundamental knowledge of the different categories of nutrients (protein, fat, etc) and which ingredients contain them.

Second, the overall percentages of “ingredient types” matters. A good Chop Mix should contain roughly 40% grains, 50% vegetables, and 10% other ingredients. By using that formula you stand a better chance of approximating the protein and fat percentages in formulated foods. You also will avoid creating a mix that allows your parrot the opportunity to fill up on things like coconut, nuts and pasta due to their too-high percentage in the mix.

whole grains

Third, the quality of your ingredients matters. The grains used should be in their most natural form, as close to their harvested state as possible. White rice and other refined grains should not be used.

no pasta

Nor should you include white or vegetable pasta. Cooked and/or sprouted whole grains are best. Vegetables must be in their freshest state and washed carefully. Additions to control moisture or create greater interest must be chosen very carefully and used sparingly.

I am not going to provide a complete description here of how to make Chop.  You too can Google “chop mix” and find 21 recipes in two minutes.  But I do have some tips for dealing with the excess moisture. I will share with you what works for me. I am able to create a mix my parrots love without sacrificing their nutritional status to the carbohydrate gods.

First, do not include:

  • Vegetables high in water content, such as cucumber, chayote squash, jicama, celery. These can always be added right before serving, once the base mix has been defrosted.
  • Fruit, unless this is freeze dried. Fruit has too much moisture to be included and should be limited in the diet anyway. A few pieces of fruit can be added to a Chop serving right before feeding.

Second, when creating your base mix that you will freeze:

  • Slightly undercook your grains, which will allow them to absorb a bit more moisture once mixed with the vegetables. Sample them yourself to determine doneness. The grains should be tender, but still a bit firm. Do not include mushy grains – these will support more bacterial growth and only contribute to your moisture problem.
  • Allow the grains to thoroughly cool before adding the finely chopped vegetables.
  • Add dry, uncooked pasta that is made from legumes, quinoa, or brown rice. If you’re going to do so, add in a small quantity only. Do not use pasta made from white flour, which includes most “veggie” pastas.
    TJs mix
  • Add a bag of Trader Joe’s Super Seed & Ancient Grains Blend – this works as well as pasta or better to absorb moisture and adds better nutrition.
  • Add raw, uncooked oat groats or a small amount of rolled grains.

After defrosting and before serving:

  • Cut a tiny corner off of the bottom of the defrosted bag of Chop. Allow the liquid to drain from the bag into a large measuring cup. Store this in the freezer for adding to birdie bread.
  • Add raw hulled hemp seed.
  • Add sprouts – these will continue growing slowly in the food dish or refrigerator, absorbing some moisture.
Chop Mix

This is the last Chop Mix that I prepared. It is dry, with individual pieces easily separated from each other. The ingredients I used this time included: kamut (cooked with cinnamon), broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, lightly cooked winter squash, sugar snap peas, green beans, red bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, parsnips, yellow squash, zucchini squash, sprouted white winter wheat, sprouted rye berries, sprouted sunflower seed, sprouted mung beans, sprouted lentils, sprouted millet, sprouted poppy seed, sprouted fenugreek, sprouted buckwheat, sprouted sesame seed, sprouted purple barley, corn kernels, 100% lentil pasta, garbanzo beans (canned and rinsed), raw oat groats and raw hulled hemp seed. 

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Greens and fruit are added right before serving, directly into the dish. This works best since they are such fragile foods.

A final tip: it’s important to limit the size of your servings. You will see that the portion of Chop I provide to my greys, Amazon and Moluccan is relatively small. They each get ¼ level cup of the mix each morning. By limiting the amount served, I further avoid the problem of any bird picking out only what he wants. They are encouraged to eat it all and they still have room for pellets, which they also enjoy. For more information on Chop, please go to Life from Scratch. This article is the best I have ever read about making Chop Mix.

I would love to hear from readers. I’m sure that many of you have better ideas than I do. If we collaborate, I’m sure that the quality of Parrot Chop will only improve for all parrots! Please add a comment to share your thoughts.

Thank you for reading my blog. I am Pamela Clark, an IAABC Certified Parrot Behavior Consultant and licensed veterinary technician. My passion is helping people with parrots. For more information and to access many free resources, please visit me at http://www.pamelaclarkonline.com. Until next time!