Sirocco the Kakapo Talks!

This is the third blog in the series of Training Sirocco the Kakapo. Click here to read from the beginning.

Parrots have their unique calls and as any parrot owner can attest you quickly learn which calls are associated with fear responses, well being, contact calls and so on. I didn’t know kakapo language when I was working with Sirocco and at first it was perplexing.

I finally heard the call so many describe as a “skraaak” on my second or third night working with Sirocco at Zealandia. The trainer in me wanted to know why did he do that? What does it mean? It happened after we had finished training, attended to his feeding station and were half way down the trail back to the house. My first thought was all our interactions had been really pleasant maybe it is a contact call and the skraak was his way of saying “come back”. Then it happened one night while we were heading back down the hill after Sirocco had displayed some aggressive behavior. That made me think maybe it was his way of saying “go away”. Finally longtime member of the kakapo recovery team Daryl Eason arrived to work with us. He is a walking encyclopedia on all things kakapo. We asked him what the call means and it soon became clear a ‘skraak” can mean different things under different circumstances.

Up to this point we had not observed Sirocco when he called. We only heard it. One night he skraaked during a training session! It was pretty fascinating to watch him do it. An innocent touch to his tail caused him to belt out a skraak. In this case he seemed mildly perturbed and perhaps a bit surprised by the tail touch. However he carried on with training right after the incident. Other times he skraaked when he was ready to exit the display area and another time he skraaked when he was perfectly calm and relaxed.



There was another vocalization we were lucky to experience almost every night. We were getting much better at reading Siroccos body language at this point and felt we had a good handle on what a “happy” kakapo looked like. Sirocco’s facial feathers would be nice and round, his body weight low on the perch and he would often start to get a half lidded sleepy look. This usually happened after he had consumed a few nuts and was starting to slow down in the training session. It was at this point he would start to “talk.” Sirocco didn’t talk the way we think of parrots talking, as in mimicking human sounds. Instead he would make this gentle, breathy chortling sound. He seemed to be more inclined to make the sound if people spoke gently to him or mimicked his sounds. To me it sounded similar to the noises an African grey parrot might make when feeling a bit “in the mood.” But Sirocco's gentle sounds were never followed by anything sexual. I would get to see what sexual behavior looked like on another night. More on that in the next blog.

Barbara Heidenreich
Good Bird Inc
Copyright Good Bird Inc 2011

Happy Parrot Sounds!

“Happy” is one of those words that is open to interpretation. However anyone who shares their life with a companion animal knows there are definitely times when our parrots seem to be happy.

One moment for me in which I am pretty sure my blue-throated macaw Blu Lu is happy is when she first goes out into her aviary every day. After she takes a few bites of her diet she starts to squeal. She seems to be expressing a joy for life in those moments. Because I tend to associate the squeal with moments of fun for her it is a sound I have tried to reinforce in the house. For example if she happens to squeal when inside I give her lots of attention or squeal back. At first I was reinforcing squealing because I thought it was cute. It turns out my decision was beneficial in other ways.

When I return to the house after errands or travel, my parrots tend to greet me with a plethora of vocalizations. Delbert my yellow-naped Amazon parrot offers every word and song he knows, which I love. Blu Lu used to let out a blood curdling scream when she was thrilled I was home. I definitely did not want to reinforce that behavior. She quickly learned the scream got her nothing. However the squeal most definitely got a response and pretty soon my welcome home from Blu Lu turned into a squeal.

Listen to Blu Lu's squeals. Note there is no picture for this example.

My other Amazon Tarah also learned to replace screaming with a pleasant sound. Tarah now whistles when she wants attention or recognizes I am home. When you look at vocalizations, even language, as just another set of behaviors that get reinforced you begin to see how much influence we have over the sounds our parrots emit.

Many people speak of their birds learning to say the right thing at the right moment. If you look at the principles of learning it certainly makes sense that a parrot can learn to generalize a series of words for certain conditions. For example, anytime Delbert shows body language that indicates a fear response, I usually say “That was scary.” He has now associated that phrase with a fear response. He often will say “That was scary” right after he was frightened by something. Of course had I used the words “That was fun” in those moments, he would have learned a phrase that seems inappropriate to us. It is not so much the words that matter, but what they are paired with and under what conditions. Delbert will also say “That was scary” at other times when no fear response is happening. And because I might decide to put the words on cue, I could train him to say the phrase whenever I cue him. It truly is amazing the power we have to shape what and when our birds say when they vocalize.

When Blu Lu vocalizes outside in her aviary I am not in control of the reinforcer. She is! For her in those moments those vocalizations seem to be intrinsically rewarding. I am usually far from her sight, listening and smiling knowing my parrot is having a great time. Pay attention to your parrot’s vocalizations. You might find you are reinforcing some great sounds, and maybe some not so pleasant ones. Fortunately you have the power to make sure the great ones happen more frequently. To learn more about stopping your parrot from screaming for attention just fill out the form below to receive a free article about how I trained my parrot Tarah to whistle for my attention. Keep an eye out for the Fall 2011 issue of the digital publication Good Bird Magazine. It also has an article about common mistakes people make when trying to address parrot screaming problems. It is due out soon!

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Barbara Heidenreich
Copyright 2011 Good Bird Inc
www.GoodBirdInc.com

Train Your Parrot to Talk

Have you ever wondered how to get a parrot to talk? They say all parrots can mimic sounds, but we all know not every parrot is a talker. The good news is there are some techniques you can utilize to increase the odds of creating a great talking parrot. I have had the good fortune to work with a number of amazing talking parrots over the years. But of course my personal favorite is my own Yellow Naped Amazon parrot, Delbert. I applied all the techniques I have learned over the years as a professional animal trainer to train Delbert to talk and sing. And I am pleased to report the results have been beyond my expectations.

So others can enjoy the pleasure of sharing their life with a talking parrot I have created a new resource for parrot enthusiasts. It is a new DVD CD-ROM set called “Train Your Parrot to Talk”




In this DVD I address common myths about talking parrots, which birds make ideal candidates for talking, the most effective ways to expose your parrot to sounds you want repeated, proven methods for encouraging your parrot to vocalize and most importantly how to train your parrot to talk on cue. Also included is an appearance by Einstein, the Talking Texan Parrot, plus an interview with her human companions. The bonus CD ROM includes recordings of a variety of species of parrots vocalizing to inspire your bird to talk. The recordings feature participants in our Best Talking Parrot contest and also my Amazon parrot Delbert, plus Einstein!

You can play just the species most closely related to your bird or you can play the mp3 of the entire collection of vocalizations if you live in a mixed species household. In the DVD I explain how I use this tool to train Delbert to pick up new things. I have a special set up that makes it super easy.

Besides being a great training resource I find the recordings are a wonderful form of enrichment for my birds. It makes me feel good to see and hear my parrots having such a great time listening to the mp3's.

I was at a conference recently and when I mentioned how much I enjoyed having parrots in my life, everyone in the room seemed to know just what I meant. I also received many emails from people who told me how much they enjoyed watching the videos of people interacting with their birds in The Best Talking Parrot contest. It was that special connection that was having such an impact.

Training is such a wonderful way to build that special connection. And training your bird to talk just takes it to a whole new level. I gotta say I love having my bird sing "happy birthday" to me every day. (Lately the new favorite has been "I feel good" by James Brown. I can’t wait to share that one with everyone.)

You can order your copy of “Train Your Parrot to Talk” by visiting the Good Bird Inc website.

Happy Training!

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