Feather Snipping in Free-flighted Parrots

This is an excerpt from a post I made to the Good Bird group this week:

Carly started barbering (snipping feather tips) last February when she was 3 years old. It coincided with the first instances of nesting- or mating-type behaviors (shredding paper, cardboard, wood, when she had never chewed at all before, and becoming obsessed with seeking out men at the beach to the point where she was uncontrollable.) She snipped her lower belly and the top of her wings, and it subsided in late spring.

This year her chewing started in December, along with some new behaviors such as incessantly seeking out small dark places (in bookcases, cupboards) and doing the squat-and-grunt routine (this has even occurred during a target training session). I have been doing extensive training with her to remedy her flying to strangers, and so far that has not been a problem; we’re just about back to normal flying routines, though I am very cautious to look for signs of distraction.

This year those behaviors are accompanied by even worse snipping of feather tips, all the way up her chest, further down her wings, and repeated snipping to the point where she now has patches of skin showing along her keel.

I took Carly out flying this afternoon at the beach and she did great. It’s starting to be fun again! Afterwards, in the office, she and Piper were playing with toys and preening. And as she was preening, she snipped, snipped, snipped. This is when she normally does it, during her usual preening. Preens gently down the feather shaft, then at the end, snip!

She’s getting daily baths, lots of foraging toys, twice daily training sessions, socializing, and flying
every few days. Today she had all of that, came home and ate dinner, then started relaxed preening alongside Piper. Within 10 minutes she had snipped off 20 feathers.

Carly is rarely caged, and since learning from Susan F and others a few years ago I make a concerted effort to “empower through choice” as much as possible in all of our daily routines.

I know it is an unpopular diagnosis, but this seems related to the onset of sexual maturity. Whether it is an excess of hormones, sexual frustration, or what, I don’t know. But as this is still early in the season, I am seriously considering something like Lupron injections. Just very frustrating. I am taking her in to my very good avian vet next week for a consult and exam to check other possible causes.

But maybe this puts to rest the idea that birds who are flighted, go outdoors, and have lots of enrichment don’t engage in FDB?

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Adventures in Animal Training!

January 26, 2009 by Barbara  
Filed under Friends Of Parrot Ezine

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Yeah, I admit it. I have a pretty decent job. In this economy when most are doing they best they can to make ends meet, actually getting paid and enjoying the heck out of your work is quite a blessing.

I just returned from a few days of zoo consulting work. Even though I worked a number of animal related jobs as a teen and through my college years, I started my real animal training career working as a zookeeper 19 years ago. It was there I was introduced to training animals with positive reinforcement and have stuck with it ever since. In those 19 years I have met a lot of animals....and certainly parrots are probably the ones I have met the most now that I also lecture extensively to the companion parrot community. But even with the parrots, every single time I meet an new animal it is an adventure.

My adventure this time included some time spent with elephants, gorillas, a red tailed hawk, a raven, a sulphur crested cockatoo, a dwarf caimen, African crested porcupines, a turkey vulture, pigs, giraffes, southern ground hornbills, rhinoceros hornbills and a cute penguin named Pigloo. (I apologize to anyone I may have left out!)

Although I occasionally get some time to interact with the animals myself. My job is really to coach those who already have a relationship with the training subjects. But did I get to pet Pigloo? and feed biscuits to a gorilla? and get sniffed by a giraffe? Happily.... the answer is yes!

Although I love the animal encounters, there are other parts that mean just as much to me. I so enjoy when I get feedback that the material/information I offer has been helpful. This was a super appreciative audience. Plus they sacrificed a lot of their free time to take advantage of the few days I was there. That is HUGE! And it was a big positive reinforcer for me that they were willing to spend so much time with me.

And of course, I always learn something new too. While I have been fortunate to work with the species mentioned prior to this trip, every animal is an individual and every situation presents it's own unique challenges. Therefore there is always a bit or brain power involved to get the job done. I love that!

There were a number of "feel good" training moments in this trip. The elephant session, turkey vulture, and pigs maybe stand out the most for being thrilling in the sense that we really saw the animals learning during their sessions.

So now it is onto other events. Next up, I will be teaching a parrot training seminar at Cornell University. (I think that makes 4 vet schools now for me?) A few years ago I was invited to speak at my alma mater UC Davis. The event was one I had attended 20 years earlier as a student. I even brought the seminar notebook I had received all those years ago to show everyone. You can even see where my Amazon parrot had made his mark on it. I had him in my life, even way back then.

I often get emails from people asking to be stuffed in my suitcase when I head out on the road. OK, but you must weigh less than 50 lbs or I get charged extra at check in. Seriously, I would love for everyone to share in the experience. It is for that reason I became a part of the Twitter community. If I can squeeze in a moment I try to offer a little "tweet" to fill followers in on the day to day activities of an animal training consultant. You can become a follower at this link here. It also automatically updates on my Facebook and if I can figure out how to do it...on my blog here. Wish me luck!

Barbara Heidenreich

Copyright 2009 Good Bird Inc

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Training Tips and Parrot Bites

January 25, 2009 by Barbara  
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As a proponent of positive reinforcement training, one of my goals is to avoiding doing anything that creates the situation in which a parrot may be inclined to bite. That means avoiding force, reinforcing for desired behavior like stepping onto my hand when cued or off as the case may be, and paying close attention to my parrot’s body language that says “back off”…..and respecting it by doing just that.

In the long run these strategies make it less likely the bird will be inclined to present aggressive behavior in the future. Trust is built as the parrot learns I wont force him to do anything against his will and if he chooses to present certain behaviors (like stepping up) he earns desired outcomes….which often means treats. Yea!

However I thought I would share a few “techniquey” type things I have been using for years. Meeting parrots for the first time is a big part of what I do when I travel to teach seminars. Many of these birds have histories that may have taught them to present aggressive behaviors towards hands. However I purposely ask the owners to refrain from telling me the parrot’s histories.

This is because I want to base my actions on what the bird shows me with his body language. If I am unsure I have a few little strategies that help me have some confidence as I start to interact with the parrot.

1. Reach for the Treat


Offer a treat to the bird by holding it far enough away that the parrot must reach for it. Hold the treat in your fingertips so that the only thing the bird can reach is the treat. This way he won’t be able to get to your fingers to bite. Plus he gets a treat which can reinforce his calm acceptance of the treat. I repeat this a few times and watch the parrot’s response before venturing in closer. (I have more detail about this in the article "Training your new Parrot" on my website)

2. Do the Tighten Up


When asking a parrot I have just met to step up for the first time, I often keep my hand in a tight closed fist as pictured above. If a bird tries to bite, my first choice is to pull my hand and the treats away (time out from positive reinforcement aka negative punishment) But even the best of us may not react fast enough. Having your hand in a tight fist makes it difficult for the parrot to grab a hold of anything with his beak. I still don’t leave the fist there for the bird to gnaw on…I am not trying to flood the bird to accept a hand. The fist is just to avoid injury should I fail to respond to the parrot’s signals fast enough.

3. Hair Play


My final tip has to do with my hair. Some parrots show quite an adverse response to hands. In those cases I will sometimes lower my head and see if they might like to play with my hair. I offer the very top of my head as once again there is no flesh they can grasp. Many times parrots will start preening or playing with hair. This in some cases can get some pleasant interaction going with a parrot.

Keep these tips in mind when you are meeting a parrot for the first time or if you have a parrot that presents aggressive behavior. Hope they help.


Barbara Heidenreich


Copyright 2009 Good Bird Inc

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questions for what you are looking for in a foraging toy?

January 21, 2009 by Captive Foraging for Parrots  
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I am a bird owner in the process of launching a bird toy making business. I have a few Ideas that seem to be fairly unique and not in use by any one else yet. But before I get to far into production I would love some feed back. So if any one wants to let me know what you and your parrots like in the way of foraging toys I would love to hear it. Feel free to pass this on to others. Either you can leave a response here or at this email address... I will try to respond to all emails sent to the email address. practicalparrots@gmail.com

Thanks,
txscyn

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Carly’s Spring Thang

January 18, 2009 by raz  
Filed under Carly Lu's Flight Blog, Friends Of Parrot Ezine

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I know, it’s hardly spring by any measure, but Carly is into nesting mode again. She spends much time shredding paper and crawling into small spaces like the nooks in bookcases. I can hardly open a cupboard without her trying to fly into it. I have to leave stacks of newspapers on top of her favorite places so she doesn’t shred books and files. I packed my Christmas presents with the piles of finely shredded newspaper she had created.

I have decided to start training some new tricks. It’s been a long time since we have done anything new, and I hope it will give her some more mental stimulation in a good direction, as well as more opportunities for positive reinforcement in general.

A strange thing happened last night when we started one of our new tricks. Part of it involves incorporating a turn-around and when she would get to that part instead of turning around she began to crouch low, hold her wings out from her body slightly, and make low grunting noises. Never seen this before. It looked a lot like a mating type behavior. sigh

When she was heavily into her nesting behaviors last year, she went through a phase of snipping the feather tips on her belly. (I’ve heard this called a “brood patch” that some birds make where their body will be in contacts eggs when sitting.) It went on for a few months last spring, and she has started that again too. I’m hoping some more bathing and getting a humidifier in here will help a bit. Oddly, it’s not something she does when she’s alone or not getting attention. It’s often when she is doing her regular preening, while hanging out in the evening on her perch or my laptop. Very distressing to see a beautiful fresh feather tip land on my keyboard.

Wendy calls her “one of those oversexed young girls.” Ah, adolescence….

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

January 16, 2009 by Barbara  
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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

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Clicker Training for Birds: My Parrot Training Bible

January 15, 2009 by Best in Flock  
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Parrots and Humidity (or lack thereof)

January 15, 2009 by raz  
Filed under Carly Lu's Flight Blog, Friends Of Parrot Ezine

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Just came across an excellent blog post that got me thinking about the huge humidity swings we are having in southern California this year. One week we are having cold rain and fog, the next a warm and extremely dry Santa Ana wind. We’re having the latter this week, and I’ve noticed much more vigorous preening going on with Carly and Piper. It was actually on my mind in the wee hours tonight before I just happened on this post by Jamie in Austin.

Importance of Humidity for Companion Parrots

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Brat Bird Strikes Again

January 13, 2009 by Best in Flock  
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Carly Log 2: Generalizing Recall

January 12, 2009 by raz  
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For background see Carly’s Super-Generalizing Recall Training.

Bad weather last weekend so we did some outings to indoor locations for socializing (and acclimation of Piper). We’ve been continuing to practice regularly before meals indoors, including some “emergency recalls” using a whistle and super-treats. We took a beach outing Saturday afternoon.

Set-up: she was barely below at-lib weight (458 g / at-lib 460) and we went out about 1-2 hrs after her normal first meal time. It was very warm and sunny, with a strong breeze from a Santa Ana wind. Used a variety of treats: butter toffee peanuts (super-treat), sunflower seeds (average), and peanut-butter cracker (jackpot, end of session).

Behavior: She did very energetic medium distance flights, dived over the waters, got some seagulls to chase her. We were approached by people a couple times. The second time there were 4 people who wanted to talk a lot, including a red-haired guy. She wanted to fly to him so I cued her to to go to his arm and back to me. That worked fine and she did quite a few of those back and forth between me and all four visitors. Didn’t get over-excited by the RHG. When we moved along she didn’t try to fly back. She did a very long flight but came right back to me at the end and made no stops along the way. Called it a day then with some jackpot treats as we headed back in.

Other notes:
Very good day. Carly got to experience many reinforcers: flying in wind, flying with gulls, and flying to and from other people, including a RHG. Kept her focus well.

Took Piper out on harness by himself afterwards.

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