Why Train Kakapo?

Conservation projects are all about saving wild birds, the emphasis of course being on the word “wild.” Training tends to conjure up images of pet birds and cute tricks and seems on the surface quite contradictory to keeping birds wild. However conservation involves more than breeding and releasing birds. Behavior plays an integral part. In recent years zoos have zoomed in on training and addressing behavioral needs as an essential part of caring for animals. I see the same thing happening in conservation. More conservation projects are looking into how behavior and learning experiences influence achieving their goals.

There are many ways training can facilitate projects. When we put field biologists and trainers together we discover the needs. And in reality whether we acknowledge it or not, birds in conservation projects are learning all the time. Why not add some structure and specific behavior goals to that learning to help the project succeed?

Kakapo feeding station

The Kakapo Recovery Program prior to me volunteering my services had already been utilizing training to facilitate their work. Even though the birds live freely on a protected, uninhabited island and forage naturally, they do receive supplemental feeding at hoppers. Each hopper has a platform. Sometimes that platform is a scale. Hop on the scale and the bird can access the hopper for a snack. Guess what? That is training! Right next to the hopper is a device that reads the transmitter of the bird and records the weight. In other training Rakiura and Sirocco both learned to go through a cat door to enter enclosed feeding stations that were designed to keep other native birds out.  All this is done without a human anywhere in sight. And technology keeps getting better. This leads to ideas to reduce stress in catching up wild birds for health checks using both technology and training. In my opinion this is just the beginning of ways we can reinforce desired behaviors remotely. And we are brainstorming more ways to do just that with kakapo.

Enclosed kakapo feeding station with cat door

The Kakapo Recovery Program has several behavioral objectives. As many know Sirocco has an important role as ambassador bird. However he also lives part of the year as a wild kakapo. His training has helped make his behavior manageable in the field and also when on display. When on display, he does respond favorably to people, however when in the wild he will often not visit rangers on the island for months. Instead he must be tracked and visually checked like the other wild kakapo. Additionally his interest in mating with people is now better managed by redirecting him to acceptable behavior thanks to training. (For more on his story see this blog about Training Sirocco)

There are three chicks that needed to be hand raised this year due to various challenges (cracked egg, weight loss, health issues) Ideally it is preferred that a female kakapo raises the chicks, however in some cases it is just not possible in order for the chick to survive. And at this stage, all chicks are very precious. All three chicks will be released into the wild on protected, predator free islands.

The Kakapo Recovery Program has successfully released at least 30 hand raised birds. Interestingly kakapo seem much more “hard wired” than other species of parrots. When hand-raised with other kakapo they tend to revert to natural kakapo behavior rather easily once transitioned into the wild. (Sirocco was raised solo due to an illness, which is believed to be a big part of why he has a strong attraction for humans over other kakapo) Because the three chicks are being hand raised they are in general more receptive to humans at the moment, but as they mature and segue into the wild we expect that interest to decrease, as evidenced by birds in the past.

At this stage this comfort level with people provides an important training opportunity. These chicks are in a critical period of development in which they are open and receptive to new experiences. Anyone who has had a baby parrot in their life will be able to relate. Young birds will often let you do just about anything to them. Once they mature that open and receptive attitude tends to go away and the once sweet baby parrot starts objecting to being manipulated by biting or running away. To avoid this, good things like hand feeding formula, favorite food items and enrichment can be paired with anything you are trying to do with a young parrot, such as restraint training, wing manipulation, etc. This can have long lasting effect into the future and can teach a young parrot that handling is associated with good things.

Each bird in The Kakapo Recovery Program is carefully monitored on a regular basis. This involves, at a minimum, hour long hikes into the forest over difficult terrain. One of our main goals is to help make health checks and transmitter changes a stress free process. Kakapo just like companion parrots usually don’t appreciate being captured and restrained. One of our goals is to train these young chicks for these procedures so that when health check/transmitter change time in the field comes around it will be as pleasant as possible. The idea is that the birds will lead their wild lives as normal and occasionally a ranger will visit for a stress free health check or transmitter change.

This focus on training at just the right time in a young bird’s life can help make future care and specific procedures pleasant. However someday in the future the hope is for the population to become large enough that such intensive monitoring and care of each wild bird and chick won’t be necessary. The population would be stable and self-sufficient. Unfortunately we are not there yet. So for now training any birds we can to make their care as stress free as possible is a big plus.

Keep your on eye on my blog for more updates soon!

Barbara Heidenreich
www.BarbarasFFAT.com
Copyright 2014

Get to Know the Wild Side of Your Pet Parrot

Having a parrot as a pet is pretty special. Because so many families have dogs and cats as companions, many people are very familiar with the behavior of these animals. But parrots are a bit different. Even though our companion parrots live in our homes, they still do things their wild cousins do. This means it is very important for people who live with birds to learn about the natural history of the parrots in their lives. For example if you share your home with a cockatiel you may have noticed he likes to spend time on the ground or that he prefers certain types of treats for training, like millet spray. If you were to look at wild cockatiels you would understand that foraging for grass seeds is a very normal behavior for them and it would help explain why your bird likes being on the ground and eating millet sprays so much.

I recently was lucky enough to work with a very unusual parrot named Sirocco. Sirocco is a kakapo. This is a very rare parrot found in New Zealand. Even though kakapo are parrots, they are very different from other species of parrots. Learning about kakapo natural history became very important when it came time to train Sirocco. Here are some things I learned about kakapo and how they affected Sirocco’s training.

Kakapo are nocturnal. This means they are active at night. Because of this our training sessions with Sirocco did not happen until the sun went down.

Kakapo are very solitary birds and do not preen each other in the wild. This meant we would not be able to use head scratches to reward Sirocco for good behavior. To him this would not be a fun experience. So instead we focused on using his favorite treats.

Kakapo are flightless. Even though kakapo have very big beautiful wings, they do not fly. Instead of training for flight we focused on things like targeting, step up and walking alongside us.

Kakapo can eat very large amounts of food. Just before breeding season the males put on a lot of weight so they can focus on calling for females instead of spending time on eating. When I was working with Sirocco it was at the time of year when the males are gaining weight. Sirocco was very interested in treats and our training sessions could go on for a long time. This meant I needed to have lots of treats with me and also have lots of ideas for behavior to train during a session.

Kakapo are excellent climbers. They like to roost in trees in the daytime. Remember kakapo can’t fly, so they have to climb up there. This means they have very powerful legs and a strong grip. For some of our training we wanted Sirocco to stand on a platform or station. This meant we had to build something that was easy for a kakapo to climb.

All the facts I learned about kakapo were very helpful to know when it came time to train Sirocco. Pick up a book about wild parrots and study the species you have in your home. If you can, go outside and watch parrots in the wild. There is so much information you can learn about wild parrots that will help you be a better caregiver and trainer to the feathered companion in your home.

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Good Bird Inc (www.GoodBirdInc.com) provides parrot training DVDs, books and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara also consults on animal training in zoos. 

Barbara Heidenreich

For more information on how to train your parrot visit Good Bird Inc  

Barbara's Force Free Animal Training www.BarbarasFFAT.com

Copyright 2014  First appears in Fledglings Magazine by The Parrot Society of Australia

Parrot Conservation and You!

Parrot people are pretty amazing. One of the things I find so wonderful about people who share their lives with parrots is that they often are the same folks who are saving parrots in the wild. Yup, it’s true. Parrot owners are a huge source of funding for parrot conservation. I love that!


The connection they make with the parrots in their home often leads to learning more about their wild counterparts and what is being done to protect them. I have to say that is exactly what happened to me. I had budgies as a child, but my first large parrot came into my life in 1987. Ever since then I have been fascinated with learning more about parrots. Not long after that I learned about a very unique parrot called the Kakapo.

This large (2000 gram) flightless bird struck me as the coolest parrot ever! I thought it was so interesting that the males climb mountains, build a bowl, suck in air and boom for a mate. For a behavior geek like me this is truly fascinating. When I also learned they were one of the rarest parrots on earth I became even more interested.

When I finally had a chance to visit New Zealand (the home of the Kakapo) I did my best to try to connect with the folks saving these birds in the wild. On my third trip to this beautiful country I finally had my opportunity.

The story of the Kakapo Recovery Programme is pretty inspiring. Kakapos were nearly wiped out completely by introduced stoats, rats, dogs and cats. Animal heroes such as Richard Henry and Don Merton went to great lengths to find safe island homes for the few remaining birds. These birds now live on Codfish Island and are closely monitored. Unfortunately they need more than an island to survive. They need genetic diversity, higher numbers and a plentiful food supply during breeding season. Different strategies have been implemented to address these issues and so far they seem to be working. Kakapo numbers are up to 131 individuals (from a low of 50). However as you can imagine 131 birds is still a small population and there is much more work to be done.

As a parrot enthusiast I wanted to know what I could do to help. As with any conservation project it requires people who care and of course funding to keep it going. We brainstormed some ideas on that day (and my head was spinning with even more on the flight home.)

Our visit took a pleasant unexpected twist. An opportunity to visit with some Kakapo chicks was possible. We only had one spare day to make it happen. The odds were against us. It was a 12 hour drive, flights were coming up as $1000! And time was not on our side. Miraculously we found a travel agent who found us reasonable flights. The next day however the airport closed down due to weather and our scheduled flight was canceled. We finally took off at 4PM. The next flight was delayed due to mechanical errors. My heart was sinking. Finally we made it into the air! We landed at our destination around 8PM and were whisked away straight to seven Kakapo chicks!

Have you ever met someone that awed you? That moved you? That made you want do important and worthwhile things with your life? Meeting the Kakapo chicks did just that for me. Knowing these individuals represented hope for the species and that each bird was so incredibly important made this encounter so emotionally moving for me. I could not stop replaying the events in my head for days. Here is a video clip of the encounter. http://youtu.be/GI4Q0KvaDD0

I hope the video gives you a little taste of the moment and hopefully moves you to take action to save rare parrot species. You can support the Kakapo Recovery Programme directly via their website. You can learn more about the Kakapo from the film The Unnatural History of the Kakapo. You can also follow Sirocco the official Spokesbird for the project on facebook.

The parrots in our lives give us such joy. I know every time I interact with my birds I will reflect upon my Kakapo encounter and be inspired to help parrots in the wild. If you have additional ideas to help raise awareness and funding please be sure to add your comments. Your ideas can help Kakapo and other species such as the Blue Throated Macaw.

Barbara Heidenreich
http://www.goodbirdinc.com/
Copyright 2011

Sirocco the Kakapo Finds Love in an Unusual Place

Crocs shoe company I hope you are listening because I have a story for you. Those of you who have been following my blogs on training Sirocco the very rare and endangered kakapo may recall he has a little behavior problem.

Male kakapo are very unique parrots. They double in size in preparation for breeding season. They climb mountains and build bowls in the ground. They sit in these bowls and “boom” for females eight hours every night for three months. They hope their exquisite vocalizations will draw in females for a midnight rendezvous. They will mate with as many females as they can in a season. Once mating is over the males go back to being solitary, nocturnal parrots, discretely roaming the forest floor of their predator free islands. They have nothing to do with the chicks or their mothers. In other words a male kakapo has only one thing on his mind when breeding season rolls around….mating!

On the one hand this is a very good thing. There are only125 kakapo left in the entire world. We need the boys to be very interested in making babies. Sirocco, on the other hand presents a unique case. Sirocco is imprinted on humans. His preferred partner is a human head. Because male kakapo are so driven to mate, Sirocco can be relentless in his efforts. This has lead to aggressive behavior directed at people not receptive to his advances and injury to Sirocco when one person attempted to thwart his overtures. My job was to help address his obsession with mating with human heads.

Last year we successfully transferred his affections to a stuffed owl. However upon learning kakapo can mate for 40 minutes we abandoned that idea. Hello Crocs! The team informed me Sirocco had a history of taking Crocs shoes from the ranger houses. By the time we decided to try a shoe, I was already on my way back to the US. Plus Sirocco was not sexually motivated last year. This year was different. Sirocco was most definitely interested in mating with heads.

It was time to test all of our hard work. Our goal was to teach Sirocco that presenting an acceptable behavior would earn him the opportunity to mate with a Crocs shoe. Sirocco had already learned how to target, station, step up, move from point A to B when cued and more. His reinforcers in the past had all been favorite nuts. It was time to see if access to a shoe could also be used to reinforce good behavior.

Sirocco certainly demonstrated he was interested in mating. He made many attempts to climb to heads when the opportunity was there. The team started looking for the tiniest body language that meant he wanted to mate. In those moments we asked him to target or station. If he responded we offered him the shoe. As you can see from the video the reaction is pretty strong! It seems to be a combo of amorous and aggressive behavior.

Whatever it was, it worked! Sirocco responded quite strongly to the Crocs. He did so well, we kept raising the criteria. We started making heads more tempting. We targeted him to climb onto a head and what did he do? Nothing! As one ranger put it “In the past he would not have been able to help himself.” We also tried a few other things that often get him going, like walking quickly down the trail. Fast moving boots used to be quite a trigger for Sirocco to attempt to climb up a leg and work his way towards someone’s head. Instead he targeted away from feet when prompted.

The plan was working. Sirocco was doing acceptable behavior and it was getting reinforced with the opportunity to mate with a Crocs shoe (or a favorite treat). This was HUGE! Sirocco is a well-loved ambassador for the Kakapo Recovery Programme. Although his behavioral issues made him famous, at times they made it difficult for him to do his job. And more importantly his safety came into question. Now we had a way to manage his behavior and make sure his interactions with people were safe.

Crocs shoes before (Right) and after

People often ask why we did not train Sirocco to mate with a female kakapo. Fortunately Sirocco is well represented in the gene pool. His services as an ambassador bird are currently more important. So for now the only object of his affection will be his beloved Crocs shoe whom we have officially dubbed the “Krokapo.” Like many conservation programs, kakapo recovery is dependent on funding….what do you say Crocs? I see a beautiful relationship developing between your shoes and a very special species on the brink of extinction.

Barbara Heidenreich
Copyright Good Bird Inc 2012
www.GoodBirdInc.com

Training Sirocco the Kakapo

Last May I had the incredible opportunity to meet seven highly endangered kakapo chicks. (Read more and see video here) During my visit one of our conversations centered on a very famous kakapo named Sirocco. Many of you may know Sirocco from the viral video from the BBC TV Series Last Chance to See. Sirocco mated with zoologist Mark Cawardine’s head. I came to learn his behavior was a mixed blessing. On the one hand it lead to a video that threw a great deal of attention to the Kakapo Recovery Program, a program that is having success in part due to public support. On the other hand Sirocco’s persistence was endangering his safety.

During breeding season male kakapo have a desire to mate that is quite likely stronger than any other parrot species I have encountered. Males have nothing to do with nest building or raising offspring. There job is to attract females and mate with as many as possible. They do this through a unique series of tracks (trails) and bowls (small depressions in the ground). Each night these flightless and nocturnal parrots march up the tracks to their bowls. Once the bowl is tidied up the male settles in and begins to suck air into air sacks on his chest. This allows him to produce a low frequency booming call designed to entice females to visit. If a female or just about anything passes near his bowl, the males charges and mounts.

Sirocco is different from other kakapo in that he was hand raised. A respitory illness when he was just a nestling meant he needed extra care. It was learned too late that having been raised without other birds meant Sirocco would never develop an interest in female kakapo. Instead the objects of his affections are people.

The way kakapo live and are now managed is to allow them to behave as naturally as possible. This means they are free to roam their island habitat. Sirocco was no exception. However unlike other kakapo he chose to visit the human accommodations on the island. For a newcomer to the island a Sirocco encounter was at first thrilling. However as the videos I watched revealed things turned sour quickly when Sirocco would relentlessly try to climb up to people’s head to mate. Sirocco even built his bowl near the trail to the outhouse and would ambush rangers on their way for a pit stop. Imagine a 3000 gram parrot who is determined to climb to your head? Even for those with experience with parrots this could be a challenging situation. The concern was that someone might accidentally hurt Sirocco trying to deter his advances.

Having learned Siroccos story I realized positive reinforcement training could help! I was determined to come back and help get Sirocco’s behavior on a better track. I had been traveling to lecture like crazy this fall. I literally came back from one event on a Sunday and flew to New Zealand the next day. But this trip felt more like vacation than work. Even after 20 hours of flying and a 7 hour time difference, I was energized when I landed in Wellington.

My first night meeting Sirocco was one of observation and lots of discussion. He was living in an enclosure at Zealandia, a haven for New Zealand wildlife. Sirocco was there temporarily as an ambassador bird for the project. Over 4000 people came to see a kakapo, for many their first ever. The second night was when the fun really began. It was time to see if Sirocco would respond to training. I like to think I projected a calm exterior, but inside I was tingling with excitement. I approached Sirocco exactly the same way I do any parrot I am meeting for the first time. I showed him what I had (pieces of macadamia nuts), assessed his body language to see if he had any interest and then slowly and carefully offered a treat. His reaction? More macadamia nuts please. Sirocco was clearly going to be an excellent student. He quickly learned to target. He started stepping on arms when cued, and stepping off. It soon became clear we were going to need to come up with a long list of behaviors to have on stand-by because he was learning so fast.

Although it was a blast for me to train Sirocco, the goal was for his caregivers to learn how to influence his behavior. Subsequent sessions were spent making sure the rangers were feeling comfortable with getting Sirocco to do some simple behaviors and train new ones. Things were going so well Sirocco’s minder, Linda and I were wondering if we were ever going to see any of the problem behavior I was there to address. Our moment came several days into his training. I will save that story for the next blog. More to come!

Barbara Heidenreich
Good Bird Inc
Copyright Good Bird Inc 2011

Powerful Parrot Training - The Impact of Early Learning Experiences on Kakapo

Feeding berries to kakapo chicks

Our last night of kakapo training was quite exciting. A three year old bird who had been hand raised several years ago had discovered a way to enter the large enclosure where the chicks are housed as they prepare for release into the wild. We think she was attracted by the chicks and food. This wild older bird generally does what the other kakapo do and is rarely seen unless sought out by rangers for a health check.

As the three chicks were being fed, she actually tentatively approached and accepted a few food items tossed on the ground near her. She also stepped onto the perch used to weigh the chicks when prompted. This would have been the same perch used to weigh her when she was a chick. This three year old bird who gets very little interaction with people was actually an important indicator of what is possible with the hand raised chicks and their behavioral management once released into the wild.

Heather 1

This bird demonstrated that the pleasant experiences associated with hand rearing can have an impact that can help with future care of wild birds. By targeting the specific behaviors we want the birds to do and actively training them during hand rearing, there is a very good chance they will present those behaviors when needed in the field, yet still remain very much a wild kakapo. At this stage the chicks have learned a number of important behaviors for their health care and for making it easier to check on them when roaming in the wild. Now it is just a matter of maintaining them as they transition to the wild.

Needless to say all three kakapo chicks Lisa 1 (from the taped egg), Rakiura 2 and Heather 1 were wonderful students. They were always eager to participate. Each has their own personality. Little Heather1 is bold, always moving and almost always the first one to realize someone is in the pen. Check out this clip of Heather 1 and Rakiura 2 in a tree at sundown.

Lisa 1 is more laid back in general. He is the oldest of the three chicks. He and Heather1 have been very quick to learn behaviors that require them to think a bit about what actions they are doing that earn them desired consequences.

Lisa 1 during a training session

Rakiura 2 is an equally good student but excels mostly at things that require manipulating his body. He was a superstar when it came to allowing us to put on his transmitter without any restraint at all. He sat calmly through the entire 11 minute procedure. He also seems to benefit from watching Lisa 1 for behaviors in which he has to do something to earn the reinforcer.  

Time for me to leave the island now (via helicopter!) and training will be up to the rangers to maintain. Fortunately the chicks still have a few more weeks to go in their pre-release pen. There will be many more opportunities to fine tune behaviors, increase the difficulty of recalls, and practice what they now know. Building this reinforcement history will make it more likely the birds will present desired behaviors in the future. Once released, the chicks will be checked frequently which also gives staff

Rakiura 2 after eating red berries

members more opportunities for training sessions and reinforcement of desired behaviors. As the chicks mature, they will be checked less frequently. This will be the when we find out if the training has paid off as we hope. Maintenance of some of these behaviors may mean very infrequent reinforcement opportunities. However as our three year old visitor last night demonstrated, this may not be a problem at all. I will be looking forward to reports from the rangers on how the birds transition to the wild and how well they maintain the behaviors they have learned. There will be much more to learn and discover as we implement this plan in the next few years to come. Stay tuned for future updates! Learn more about the Kakapo Recovery Program here.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.BarbarasFFAT,com
Copyright 2014

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

Visiting Sirocco the Kakapo One Year Later

We found Sirocco on this hillside

Waiting for Sirocco to appear

Wow. I am tired. But it is a good tired. I was up at 3:30 AM to catch a flight and then a boat to Maud Island, current home of Sirocco the kakapo.  We headed out to find the nocturnal parrot around 7:30 PM, hoping he might be out and about a little early. He wears a telemetry transmitter so we zoned in on an approximate location. The problem was he was waaaaay down at the bottom of a steep incline. It was up to Sirocco to come visit us, not the other way around.

Sirocco is one of only 125 kakapo left in the world. He plays the role of ambassador for the Kakapo Recovery Programme raising awareness and funds to save his kind. When off duty he roams gorgeous Maud Island. Hand raised due to an illness he does enjoy human companionship (unlike his wilder counterparts.)

Tonight we were counting on his desire for our attention to lure him out of the forest. Our group of five chatted, laughed loudly and called his name. Two hours later a rather large green parrot crawled out of the brush onto the pathway near us. Our group took a seat on the ground and no sooner had we done so, Sirocco climbed in our laps.

Last year I worked with Sirocco to address a few behavior problems and improve his interactions with his handlers in general. This was my chance to see his progress. I was floored! Sirocco had blossomed. He clearly knew his behaviors well. He also had learned new ones. Normally a very solitary and non-tactile species of parrot, Sirocco was allowing and appeared to be enjoying being touched.  We started brainstorming ways to use this to help with his care, such as training him to allow his telemetry transmitter to be replaced with minimal or no restraint. He also readily offered a number of vocalizations including the infamous “Skraaaak!” He had only offered the call a few times last year.  We started working towards capturing the behavior right then and there he offered it so much. He also readily hopped onto the arms and legs of different members of our group when cued.

Sirocco also displayed some of the problem behavior we had experienced last year. At times he showed some aggressive behavior and thought about climbing up towards people’s shoulders. However he was very easily redirected to acceptable behavior and would relax quite quickly. This was HUGE! It was clear his handlers had learned what things might trigger bad behavior and were quite good at responding appropriately to prevent doing things that might escalate his problem behaviors.  This was very encouraging. As breeding season gets closer Sirocco is anticipated to be a bit more motivated to present some of these undesired behaviors. The more opportunities we get to reinforce acceptable behaviors now the more likely we will be able to get him on track when things get more challenging. 


We ended up sitting with Sirocco and enjoying his company for several hours. Our very pleasant interlude was interrupted occasionally by little blue penguins walking the trails to feed their chicks. Around midnight we finally decided to head back. Sirocco needed to continue his night of foraging and dining on plants in the forest.  It’s time to put on weight for booming season!

Read more about Sirocco’s training in this blog

Learn more about how you can help save kakapo parrots from extinction at the Kakapo Recovery Programme website.

More updates on Sirocco to come. Stay tuned!

Barbara Heidenreich
Copyright Good Bird Inc 2012
Good Bird Inc
www.goodbirdinc.com

Overcoming Parrot Training Challenges

Heather 1 resting during the afternoon

One of the cornerstones of animal training is to set your environment so that it is easy for your parrot to do what you want. This often means arranging your props just right, having a stash of the perfect training treats and making the set up comfortable for both you and your bird.  

As I am writing this I am on a remote island in New Zealand working with rare kakapo parrots. We are training three of this year’s chicks to cooperate in medical care and transmitter changes, among other things. Just as I would with a companion parrot, we are trying to create a great training environment. But working here has presented a few out of the ordinary challenges.

Kakapo chick pen number 1

The chicks live in an outdoor enclosure because they are being prepared to transition into the wild. Outdoors in New Zealand this time of year means temperatures mostly in the 30’s and 40’s F (-1 to 4 C).  It is also quite rainy and muddy.  This is all normal habitat and conditions for kakapo, so they are completely at home with such conditions. Humans on the other hand need to bundle up and plan to get wet and dirty.

Kakapo are also nocturnal and the chicks need to sleep in the daytime, so the bulk of the training sessions happen in the dark. We can use head lamps when training, but it is better to keep them on dim or green so as not to make the birds uncomfortable with bright lights. This is another adjustment for the humans to make sure the birds are receptive to training.

Kakapo are nocturnal. Training sessions happen at night.

The current enclosure has a low ceiling, sloping ground and is currently mostly covered in lush vegetation. This is great for kakapo! A little tough for training though. There isn’t really an easily accessed space for trainers and birds to comfortably hang out. Plus for added bio security for the chicks, we must dress in big white coveralls and specially designated boots before entering the pen. On the positive side, the suits help keep us warm and free of mud on our clothes.

Being on an island that is only accessed by plane or helicopter every two weeks there is no running to the store if you run out of training treats or supplies. We make do with what we have. This may mean raiding the scrap wood pile to make perches and gathering training treats from the forest (which in reality is a good thing since they are learning to  eat naturally growing food)

Many of these training challenges aren’t a big problem to overcome. They are just a bit of a nuisance to humans. And fortunately some will go away because the chicks are moving into a larger enclosure to prepare for release. We have already set up a training area in the larger pen. This will allow us to work on a number of behaviors on a flat surface, away from mud and while standing up. We will also have the room to practice some behaviors that take more space, like recall and climbing down to us when cued. We are excited about this upgrade!

One challenge that we are thankful for is that we have three very motivated students. Typically all three chicks are ready to engage in a training session when we enter the enclosure. On the other hand, it also means managing the behavior of three birds at once. Unlike muddy, dark, cold conditions, this is a problem other parrot enthusiasts may be encountering with their own birds. Sometimes training involves working with several birds at the same time. What has been working for us is to get started training one bird and reinforce the other two birds for staying out of the way. Once the first bird begins to satiate on favorite treats, we can redirect him or her to other activities and focus on another bird. Sometimes all three stay engaged and other items besides food, such as interesting browse or items to chew on, can be used to keep birds occupied and reinforced for staying out of the way.

Today is the day the chicks get their telemetry transmitters fitted. The device rests on the back and is held in place by a specially designed harness. We have put in some extra time on training for this behavior and anticipate it will go smoothly. Once this task is accomplished the birds will be moved to the big pen and our training will get a bit more intensive. Stay tuned for more blogs on the chick’s progress.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.BarbarasFFAT.com
Copyright 2014

A Commitment to Kakapo

I am currently in New Zealand working with the Kakapo Recovery Program once again.  Sirocco is doing fine and is happily roaming his own Island. This time the focus is on this year’s chicks that are living on Codfish Island, a very special private island close to Stewart Island.

I have only been here a day, but already I can’t help but take note of the kind of work and commitment that goes into this conservation project. Clearly “good enough” is not satisfactory here. What I have already observed is a level of commitment and work ethic that exceeds what you might expect in the average workplace. These folks live, breathe…maybe even ooze conservation.

The work day starts with a kind of plane ride most of us have never experienced. The commute occurs in a small 5 seat plane that lands on the beach. The pilot first makes a thrilling swoop over to make sure the “runway” is safe for landing. I must admit as a nervous flyer I was bit apprehensive.  But in reality it was more like a thrilling roller coaster ride.  Check out the video clip of the first landing on Stewart Island to see what it is like.

This isn’t a daily commute, just a drop off. Some stay weeks. Some stay months. And this is another part of the commitment. Life on the island isn’t glamorous and work doesn’t happen only Monday through Friday from 9-5. Kakapo don’t take days off and neither does the team. And remember kakapo are nocturnal.  This often means loooong night time hikes up muddy hilly terrain in the cold to check on individuals.

And this is exactly what happened my first night. We needed to check on two of the chicks that were being raised by their mothers. The chicks have already left the nest, but do stick close by, as does mom.  The rangers knew where to go. Once near the nest, telemetry is used to pin point the chick who is already wearing a transmitter.  The first chick Heather 2 hardly gave us a chance to check on her, only peering out from behind a tree. But it was easy to see she appeared to be alive and well.

The second chick was found near his foster mom Esperance. Her nest was the one featured on the streaming live camera.  In fact we found Esperance first, sitting calmly and quietly in a tree. Thinking she was one of the chicks we were hoping to train, we ventured close enough to offer a pine nut. The bird actually gently took two nuts, before we realized “That’s mom!” The chick Rakiura 3 was nearby and the rangers got onto the task of checking his transmitter for appropriate fit.

One of our training tasks for the wild birds is to work on ways to reduce or eliminate stress with capture and restraint for health checks and transmitter changes. These birds are not pets, nor are they meant to be, so this type of training challenge requires some special consideration. While we want them to allow us to approach, we don’t want them seeking human contact in general.  This first night out was a chance to see how they normally react. Overtime we plan to implement some strategies to help achieve our goals.

Back at the accommodations, the three hand raised chicks, Lisa 1 (from the taped egg), Rakiura 2 and Heather 1 also got started on training. All three birds are currently living in a large enclosure that is being used to acclimate them to living in the wild. The three birds will all be trained to make care in the wild easier. We already saw good response during our first two training sessions. Here is a short clip. I will share much more on these three in the next blogs.

This was all in just the first 24 hours.  The night time hike was cold, hard (for me) and long (4 hours) yet the rangers spent the time required to make sure Rakiura 3 had the perfect fit on his telemetry transmitter. And when it was time to leave Rakiura 3, one ranger raced back through the bush to make sure the hand raised chicks could get a late night feed and was up again bright and early the next day for another feeding and our first training session.

My first impressions…..we are in paradise. But this is no vacation, this is extremely fulfilling work that is implemented by very dedicated people. And to them every chick (and adult kakapo) is very special indeed.

Follow my blog for more updates on our training of the kakapo chicks.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.BarbarasFFAT.com
Copyright 2014