Rules for Parrots

Sometimes it seems there are a lot of rules when it comes to parrots.

Never have a parrot on your shoulder.
Your parrot should always be clipped.
Your parrot must obey the step up command.
You must show your parrot you are the boss.
Never let your parrot higher than your heart.
Never let your parrot out when other pets are around.
Your parrot must sleep in a sleep cage.
Your parrot must get 12 hours of sleep at night.

That is just a short list of things we have been told about parrots. And I am here to say I do not ascribe to a single one of those rules. I am sure those rules were designed with the intent to help people with their parrots. However I often find when I challenge commonly held beliefs about animals it opens the door to a whole new way of thinking. And in many cases it enhances my life with my parrots and other animals in ways I never could have imagined.

Here is an example of “rule breaking” in my house and why it is absolutely permitted. I allow my pets to learn to interact with each other. I recently added a new member to the family. A bunny! Her name is Loretta and she is a Holland Lop Eared rabbit. Initially she was intended to be a temporary visitor, but it soon became clear she and I made a connection. My spare bedroom became her new home. She is litter box trained so it was no trouble to give her free range of the room. My two cockatiels also fly free in this room. They are skilled fliers and I quite rightly assumed if they ever felt uncomfortable near the rabbit they would just fly away.

However what I have discovered is that the rabbit is enriching for the cockatiels and vice versa. The rabbit will hop over to a pile of Timothy hay and immediately a cockatiel will fly down to join the bunny. I change out the litter in the litter box and everyone comes over to investigate. If I sit on the floor with the bunny, I immediately have a cockatiel fly down and land on my knee. Many times I walk into the room to find the cockatiels foraging on the ground while bunny is flopped on her side observing and relaxing.

It reminds me of when I worked in a behavior lab in college. There was a bunny and a crow that had free range of the lab. The two would often be found interacting together or with the same enrichment item. It also reminded of zoos that would put a snake in with a tortoise. There seemed to be evidence that the presence of another animal helped reduce stress.

I can relate. Some of my most relaxing moments are when my dog is resting by my side, while a parrot preens my eyebrows, or sitting with a bunny in my lap and a cockatiel on my head.

People sometimes are gravely concerned about having animals together such as dogs and parrots. Certainly some dogs may be a danger to another animal and are best kept separate. (Even rabbits are capable of some pretty scary stuff) However it is important to note that dogs can definitely be trained to behave around other pets. I have plenty of daily evidence in my home that parrots and dogs can coexist without incident. Rebecca O ‘Connor wrote a great piece about how dogs are very much able to differentiate their behavior around different birds. http://heckledbyparrots.com/blog/2008/12/dogs-parrots-some-training-tips/

And in this one from her falconry blog you can see pictures of her dog and falcon together. Falconry is a perfect example of how a dog and a bird can be trained to work as a team. Furthermore the dog has to know the difference between the bird that is hunting and the one being hunted. http://operationdeltaduck.com/blog/2010/12/looking-for-ducks-in-the-desert-part-3/

I think we often underestimate just what learning machines animals are. Rather than placing rules and restrictions on everything I think it is wise to assess the risk/benefit for each individual situation. Then decide what works best for your household.

Despite being told for years not to allow parrots on our shoulders, I have found roughly 90% of every audience I lecture to does not follow this rule. My guess is that for those folks the benefits far outweighs the risk. And it certainly does in my household. Time to see if my Blue Fronted Amazon parrot is in the mood to sit on my shoulder and preen my eyebrows! This is one rule I look forward to breaking every evening.

Barbara Heidenreich
http://www.goodbirdinc.com/
Copyright 2011 Good Bird Inc

Lecture on Parrot Behavior Problems

I was going through some old video footage and I found a lecture I gave at Parrot Festival 2010. The lecture was on Addressing Parrot Behavior Problems. It was a particularly interesting lecture because about three quarters of the way through the power went out! It turned out the entire grid had gone down. For about fifteen minutes I fielded questions on parrot behavior in complete darkness. The room we were in had no windows. What an experience!

It actually turned out to be pretty fun and I was amazed that most people stayed engaged in the Q & A and were still in attendance when the lights came back on and I was able to finish my lecture. I even got a special “The Show Must Go On Award” at the final banquet. It sits proudly on the bookshelf in my office.

I thought I would share a part of that video footage with everyone. It will give you a taste of what it is like to attend a parrot training event. Here are some of the main points the lecture covered.

• Parrot behavior (good and bad) happens for a reason.

• Changing the environment is one good strategy to address a parrot behavior problem.

• Make it irresistible to your parrot to do something else, instead of the undesired behavior.

• It is important to avoid using force, coercion or aversives with your parrot.

• Sometimes solving parrot behavior problems requires creative thinking.

• Instead of focuses on stopping bad behavior, focus on training your parrot to do what it is you want.

• 10 common parrot training mistakes.

The player will show in this paragraph

I should remind everyone that Parrot Festival is coming up again in January 2011. I will be there again as well as Robin Shewokis of the Leather Elves. Both she and I are offering a special 10% discount on online purchases made between November 21, 2010 and December 3, 2010.

PARROT PRODUCT DISCOUNT CODES:

To get your discount on parrot training products from Good Bird Inc just visit the Good Bird Inc website. When you are ready to checkout enter the code GBHDZE10. This should show a 10% discount off your order (discount does not apply to shipping or taxes)

To get your discount on parrot toys and enrichment information visit The Leather Elves website. When you are ready to check out enter the code BIRDBF. This should show a 10% discount off your order (discount does not apply to shipping or taxes)

Orders placed in the US by December 3rd will be shipped in time for the Holidays.

Barbara Heidenreich
http://www.goodbirdinc.com/
Copyright 2010 Good Bird Inc



Enrichment! More than Just Parrot Toys

I love the word “enriching.” Everything about it just sounds glorious. It seems to suggest being immersed in bountiful fun. Who can say “no” to that? Certainly not the animals in my household! They love enrichment and I love providing it. I can easily spend the entire morning offering fun activities for my pets and watching them revel in it.

One of the great things about enrichment is that it does not have to be all that difficult to include in your parrot’s (and other pet’s) life. Enrichment can be as simple as providing a head of lettuce as seen in this clip with some sun conures at a zoo.

It can also be playing some fun audio sounds for your parrot. I like to use one of those digital pictures frames to play bird sounds for my Amazon parrot Delbert. He sings along while I clean house or hop in the shower. I play this for him almost every day and simply mix up the recordings to add variety.

I also love to take items destined for the trash or recycling and turn them into parrot toys. Clean empty plastic vitamin bottles, plastic caps, and empty cardboard cereal boxes can be big fun! I stuff shredded paper and treats in the boxes and string them up with untreated leather strips. Who cares if they get destroyed? They were destined for recycling anyway. Kris Porter has a site called http://www.parrotenrichment.com/ in which she shares many inexpensive ideas for parrot toys you can make at home.

I also use enrichment as a way to help reinforce behaviors I want to keep strong. For example every time my yellow naped Amazon parrot Delbert is out of his cage I rotate out old toys and put in different ones. This can happen several times a day. This means every time my bird enters his cage something fun and interesting is waiting for him. This helps reinforce going back into the cage when asked. I keep a nice supply of toys on hand to make sure there is lots of variety.

Having worked in zoos for many years I also take advantage of an old zoo enrichment favorite…non toxic browse. I grow my own lemongrass and snip bamboo from a friend’s yard to also offer as enrichment. These are usually only good for a day, but they add yet another fun enrichment item to the list. (Always be sure any plant items you offer are non toxic, free of chemical, pesticides and road grime)

Here is a short list of some of the enrichment items I have on hand for my parrots:

Lemongrass
Bamboo
Plastic straws
Lots of foot toys to stuff into other toys
Untreated wood pieces
Old phone books
Plastic bottles (vitamin- remove any foil)
Cardboard boxes (cereal, crackers, etc)

My dog gets in on the action too. Not only does he forage for his food, but he also chases soap bubbles, plays in the sprinkler, tears apart boxes and even loves to pop bubble wrap. I am not sure who has more fun, my animals or me! Ah yes, enrichment truly is enriching.

Barbra Heidenreich
http://www.goodbirdinc.com/
Copyright Good Bird Inc 2010

Parrot Play Time and You. AKA Stop and Smell the Amazon Parrot

All day long I found myself saying "lovely fatty bum, bum." Why you may ask? It is this dude's fault. This particular you tube clip has cracked me up more than his famous potty mouthed parrot (warning! not for those offended by curse words). I am not sure if it is the accent (Americans love those English accents), the phrase or perhaps that he is just having a fabulous time playing with his dog. Or maybe it is just that everyone needs to hear they have a lovely fatty bum, bum from time to time. Here is one for you dear reader "lovely fatty bum bum!"

Anyway, I think the real message in the clip has to do with taking time out to have some fun time with your companion animals. I must wrestle, hug and love on my dog countless times throughout the day. I whistle, sing, scritch and play with parrots off and on all day as well. (Now everyone knows the real secret as to why it takes so long to answer my emails. Busted!)

Sometimes this means typing with one hand as I give a nice little preen to my cockatiel. Usually I try to make my work time, fun time for my parrots. The cockatiel not only visits with me but also wanders around the window sill where I stash lots of parrot safe toys.

Several times a day I also take short breaks for training sessions. I actually find them a nice relief from the computer and of course my parrots benefit as well. A session might be followed up by lunch for me and more playtime on the counter for my birds.

When my brain can't take any more work, I do like many and find TV to be a nice way to clear out thoughts about work and drift into someone else's story. This too is also parrot time, as my Amazon parrot of 21 years likes to make sure my eyebrows get a good preening. It's Extreme EyeBrow Make Over for me if he is on a roll.

While I know many are often seeking help for behavior problems with parrots, I hope they also are also having some moments to stop and as I like to say "smell the Amazon" (Those Amazon parrots do have a very distinctive odor. All the Amazon people are nodding their heads. )

Amazon smell for me is associated with all things warm and fuzzy from the many years of enjoying sharing my life with an Amazon parrot. Hope you get a warm fuzzy feeling all over from your parrots too!

Barbara Heidenreich

Copyright 2009 Good Bird Inc

Listen to the New Parrot Podcast! It's Free

Enrichment Specialist Robin Shewokis and I have been doing a weekly podcast on Pet Life Radio. And we are pleased to hear the response has been great! Even better news is that anyone can listen to the podcast for free. If you listen via itunes you can subscribe and never miss an episode.(just click on the itunes icon under the episode title) We have a ton more topics scheduled to air in upcoming weeks. Here is the list of episodes available now. Click on the titles for links to each. Hope you enjoy them!

Meet Sid Price of Avian Ambassadors

Sid Price is a professional bird trainer, President Elect of the International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators and a regular contributor to online training discussions in the companion parrot community. He and Barbara chat about some of the hot topics in parrot training.

Let’s Talk Wild Amazons with Michael Schindlinger

In this week’s episode Robin interviews bioacoustic researcher, Michael Schindlinger. Michael is probably best known for his field work with wild Amazons in the creation of the film Stalking the Wild Amazons. Robin and Michael discuss his findings and how they relate to caring for your companion parrot. Michael also shares an exciting ecotourism project that is helping parrots in the wild.

Australian Aviculture and the Next Generation

Vice President of the Parrot Society of Australia, Shane Hancock gives insights into the differences between aviculture in the United States and Australia. He also shares his efforts to get kids excited about birds via the very innovative “Fledglings” program.

Conservation of Spix Macaws through Training

Australian bird trainer Nicholas Bishop shares his love of birds and his ground breaking adventure training the highly endangered Spix Macaw for a medical procedure at Al Wabra Wildlife Preservation.

Finding Reinforcers & Creative Forms of Enrichment

So much to talk about…so little time! In this week’s episode Barbara and Robin discuss reinforcers for training and offer numerous suggestions for creating a vast menu of options for your parrot.

Einstein

Meet Einstein! A very articulate parrot who lives in Texas. To clarify….. this is not the Einstein featured on Animal Planet’s Pet Star, but she can give that one a run for her money. This chatty parrot runs through her vocabulary, including phrases such as “What does E=?” “Look at the grackle” and “Who let the dogs out? Who?” Barbara also interviews Einstein’s caregivers Marcia and Jeff to find out how they came to have such a special parrot in their home.

Feather Destructive Behavior... Possible Causes and Cures.

In this week’s episode Barbara and Robin tackle a widespread issue in the companion parrot community, Feather Destructive Behavior. They review some of the many causes and make suggestions for alleviating this very common behavior.

Screaming for Attention

In this week’s episode Barbara and Robin discuss the often lamented challenge of the screaming parrot. Training and enrichment strategies that address this behavior are reviewed.

A Visit to the Avian Veterinarian

In this week's episode Barbara and Robin discuss choosing an avian vet and ways to build a relationship with that avian professional that will most benefit you and your companion bird. Some training techniques for preparing for the visit are also discussed.

New Parrot Podcast on Pet Life Radio

Robin Shewokis enrichment guru and owner of The Leather Elves (http://www.theleatherelves.com/) and I are now hosting a pod cast. The first show was recently posted on http://www.petliferadio.com/ We are the new hosts of a show formerly presented by Susan Chamberlain called "Wings 'n Things" The current show description will soon be changed to reflect the new direction we are taking things.

The show will be a bit more focused on behavior, training and enrichment. However we anticipate we will cover more topics, especially when we get to interview some of the many inspiring people we have met traveling for speaking engagements. To listen go to http://www.petliferadio.com/ and click on Wings N Things.

Please feel free to spread the word, cross post and also drop me a line if you have a suggestion for a show topic.

Enjoy!

Barbara Heidenreich