Caique Podcast

Last year in July of 08 I was asked to do a podcast on the parrot species I know best- caiques. I did a ‘webinar’, or online training seminar through Ask The Bird Experts at www.askthebirdexperts.com and had a wonderful time, despite having to battle some technical difficulties. This past week I was asked to do another webinar with Ask The Bird Experts. I got to sit down with the wonderful host and discuss caiques at length, answer user questions, and also touch base on the importance of youth in aviculture and introducing the younger generation to our love of birds. It was great fun and I wanted to pass along the link where you can listen to the podcast. Go to askthebirdexperts.com and enter the requested information, then you will be directed to a page where you can download a version of the podcast for absolutely free. If you are reading this a bit late, I’ve put up both my 08 and my 09 talks on Caique Crazy- you can find them at http://caiquecrazy.org/emarticles.html

Hope you enjoy!

Using a Harness with Your Bird

I’ve been asked a lot about using harnesses: how I use them, what kind I use, how to train a bird to wear one, etc.

I find they’re a great way to allow our birds to go on outings with us, become acclimated to the outdoors, get some fresh air and sunshine, and generally improve their quality of life in captivity. I do not in general use harnesses for flying, except for a limited period when I’m practicing controlled A-B outdoor flights with a newly trained bird. The information here is intended for using harnesses as an alternative to carriers, or for short, controlled flights, not as an alternative for free-flight training.

Piper’s first walk to the beach, Fall 2008.

Training

Training a bird to use a harness involves more than just training to allow it to be put on. Another important component is making sure the bird is trained to remain calm when walking with you on your hand or shoulder, training to come when called, and getting acclimated to the outdoors.

For training to wear a harness, there is a good article by Barbara Heidenreich featuring Stephanie Ernst’s African Grey Dexter. Harness Training Your Bird. Before starting your bird should be hand tame and accepting of having his wings and head touched.

Before or during harness training, you can train your bird to walk around with you calmly and stay on your hand, if he doesn’t already, and also train recall. (See the Parrot Recall Training page for more info.) These are very important skills to have in place before going outside on a leash. If a bird startles outdoors and tries to fly on the harness, he will begin to dislike it and all your hard work training will go back to square one. Training recall is important in order to deal with a startle flight if it does occur, and also for safety in case of an accidental escape. These should be practiced regularly so the bird gains confidence.

Before going outside, you should test the harness indoors and practice there if needed, doing routine things around the house. When going outdoors for the first time, if your bird is not already used to it, it’s a good idea to take it slowly and not bombard him with too much at once. A short walk around the garden, or just sitting quietly with you may be enough for the first few days. Introduce new things at a pace he can handle, and always give lots of reinforcement. Pay attention to your bird’s body language for signs of stress, and call it a day or go to a more familiar location if he seems to be getting uneasy. You want to keep this a positive experience for the bird, since that’s the whole purpose!

What kind of harness is best?

I have used the Aviator, Feather Tether and Kaylor Collar (Fredbird). Each has its advantages and disadvantages, and these will also depend on the preferences of you and your bird. The general consensus about the Aviator and Kaylor Collar is that they are easy to handle and very lightweight, but the head loop is difficult for some birds to accept. Some like the more open buckle style of the Feather Tether, but some find it’s complicated to put on and somewhat bulky. Another product that often comes up in harness discussions is the Flight Suit/Bird Diaper. These are not intended to be used as an outdoor leash system, and I would not trust them to restrain birds larger than a small cockatiel. Even though they sell leashes for them, their main function is as a poop suit for indoor use.

Features that you’ll want to consider when making a choice are

• whether or not there is a loop you have to put over the head (as opposed to buckling it around their neck) and if your bird will allow it
• how heavy the harness is (Aviator and Kaylor are very light and have only one buckle; the Feather Tether is a bit bulkier).
• what style of buckle it uses. Some have metal slide buckles (A, KC) while some have clips (FT)The consideration here is whether your bird can unbuckle or unclip it, as well as how easy it is to put on.
• how the wings fit through it. Some require the wings to be pulled through a loop (KC, A) and some have straps that buckle around the wings (FT).
• what kind of leash is used. Most have nylon web leashes like a small dog leash (FT, KC) which are quite sturdy. The Aviator has a built in elastic leash which is nice in case of a startle flight, but I’d test out it’s sturdiness with larger parrots.
• how the leash is attached. Some parrots are very quick to unclip a dog-leash style clip if it’s nearby. A pear clip is more difficult to undo, though it can be done with a lot of fiddling. With any clip, keep a watch on what your bird is doing with it. Carly never touches any kind of clip, and Piper tries to undo everything.

. . .
Homemade Harnesses

Because I use these so much, and no one harness has all the features I want, I make my own using 3/8″ nylon webbing, D-rings and buckles that can be purchased online. The source I use is Creative Design Works (http://www.cdwplus.com/). They have a wide variety of buckles, clips, and webbing colors to choose from.

This is the design I’m currently using, which has a slide buckle on both the chest strap and neck strap, so there is no loop that goes over the head, and you don’t have to pull the wings through a loop either. But it is still relatively lightweight and not bulky.

A full set of photos showing how it is put on are here.

The harnesses are constructed using superglue and/or sewing machine stitching. The ends can be cut and singed with a match to prevent unraveling, and adding a bit of superglue on the end makes it even sturdier.

If you’re using metal slide buckles, they can be secured better by tying a knot in the end of the strap but you have to plan for an extra long waist strap (see photographs).

Safety Precautions

• Always link the leash to your body (or some other secure object like a chair if you’re staying put.) There are many types of clips that can be used for this (trigger hooks, snap hooks, caribiners). Creative Design Works has a wide variety, and you can find some at local marine supply or hardware stores. Do not rely on a leash loop held in your hand or around your wrist unless it can be tightened enough that it won’t come off without direct effort.
• It takes training to keep the harness experience a positive one. A harness is not a substitute for training. The best way to ensure the harness doesn’t become an aversive, holding the bird back if it tries to fly, is to prevent startle flights as much as possible. This includes training your bird to ride calmly on your hand in a variety of indoor environments; training a reliable recall so the bird is familiar with flying on cue, and can be retrieved more easily if there is an accidental escape; and acclimating gradually to the outdoors. As with any training, repetition and practice create confidence, so the more this is part of your regular routine the better.
• Be aware of your environment. Just as with outdoor free-flying, having a bird outdoors on a harness involves paying very close attention to your surroundings. Keep an eye open for things that might startle your bird, as well as physical dangers such as hawks or unruly dogs. Also, since you’re the anchor, be aware of things that might startle you.
• Use a short leash for the most control. If it is not used for flying, a leash doesn’t need to be any longer than a couple feet. Keeping it short gives you more control if the bird becomes agitated or startles, and prevents a severe jerk if it suddenly flies. I have also put extra loops or hooks on my leashes about a foot from the bird where I can hold on or attach it to me if I think it’s necessary.

. . .
Using harnesses for freeflight training

Although I don’t fly my birds on a harness for recreation, I do use it when introducing a bird to outdoor flight. I like it for acclimating a bird to the outdoors without the barrier of a cage. Also, before free-flying, we do practice sessions of short A-B recalls on on a harness with a 10-15 foot retractable leash. This allows me to test the bird’s focus outdoors without the risk of a fly-off. Once a bird is free-flying, I use it at the very beginning of each session for a week or two to make sure all systems are go (focused, motivated, relaxed). Again, it’s not a substitute for training; it’s just an extra precaution for those first few days when everything is very new to the bird.
. . .
Piper busy acclimating in Balboa Park,



and readying for take-off during some practice at home.


. . .

Some people also do short A-B recalls for fun and exercise when they have their bird on outings. As a final shot, here is Barb Saunders’ Ducorp Cockatoo, Daphne, on vacation in Lake Tahoe (sporting a turquoise blue Aviator). It’s hard not to think that’s a look of joy.

Harness links:

Aviator Harness
Feather Tether (many online and local vendors)
Kaylor Collar
Flight Suits (outdoors for tiny birds only)

Note: Freeflight Warning

3 Wonderful Years

Its hard to believe that on Monday the 23rd the caique forum celebrated its 3rd birthday! The forum has been online 3 years now, and that also marks the 2 year anniversary of our informational website as well. We started out with one member.. then two.. and slowly grew to over 100 members. Learning as I went along, the forum has hopped from one server to another, starting out on freebie software and sites, then moving to fully functional and paid software and hosting, which is largely supported by our wonderful member base, which numbers at more then 400 now! Over the years we’ve had guest speakers join us in live chat, from Sally Blanchard to John McMichael.

I find it amazing that some of our founding members that joined the forum long long ago are still active on the forum today! We have some wonderful people that participate. If you haven’t already, come join the fun. We’d love to have you.

nom nom nom — our foraging stuff

Breakfast is served: our morning foraging tray

Those little brown paper things contain seeds, sprouts, pellets, and are stuffed inside things everywhere. Sometimes they’re also put inside little plastic zip bags with beads & small toys.

I try to put small quantities (1/2 tsp or so) in each pack, so there are enough of them to spread out well and keep them busy for a long time. Afterwards, a lot of the goodies, as well as the paper, beads, etc., have fallen on the cage floor and they go down there to rummage the scraps. I also hide some things inside their buckets of toys so they don’t find them until later.

Some long lasting things help keep things available during the day too, like carrots, and branches of parsley or kale stuck in their hanging toys.

Sometimes they are still going back to rummage through stuff in the evening after I’m home.

Yep, it takes 20-30 min to get all this ready in the morning (or night before), but they enjoy it so much it’s a battle to keep them out of their cage once it’s set up. I bring the same things to work with me when they come along, and I can’t tell you how much calmer they are during the day. It’s well worth the time!

Updating the Parrot Blogroll

Parrot Hormones – Is Brat Bird Season Over Yet?!

ASU Researchers Finds Novel Chemistry At Work To Provide Parrot’s Vibrant Red Colors

— TEMPE, Ariz. – Parrots, long a favorite pet animal, are attractive to owners because of their vibrant colors. But those colors may mean more to parrots than what meets the eye. For more than a century, biochemists have known that parrots use an unusual set of pigments to produce their rainbow of plumage colors, but their biochemical identity has remained elusive. Now, an Arizona State University researcher has uncovered the chemistry behind the colors of parrots, describing on a molecular level what is responsible for their bright red feathers.

The work casts a new light on what is chemically responsible for the colors of birds, and defies previous assumptions and explanations for color variations in parrots, said Kevin McGraw, an assistant professor in ASU’s School of Life Sciences.

“Evolutionary biologists have not really thought hard about parrot coloration,” said McGraw. “This research is exposing a whole new world of color communication in parrots and the potential physiological and biochemical roles of the new molecules we found in our work.”

Details of the work are in a paper, “Distribution of unique red feather pigments in parrots,” by McGraw and Mary Nogare, a parrot fancier from Snoqualmie, Wash., published in the Feb. 16, 2005 issue of the journal Biology Letters.

Animals, like birds and fishes, commonly use biochromes like carotenoids to acquire red, orange or yellow coloration, but McGraw and Nogare found that these compounds are not responsible for the red colors found in the parrot species they sampled.

The researchers used a chemical analysis technique called high-performance liquid chromatography to survey the pigments present in red parrot feathers. McGraw and Nogare collected and analyzed samples from 44 parrot species that have red feathers. Overall, there are some 350 species of parrots, 80 percent of which have red in their plumage.

They found a suite of five molecules, called polyenal lipochromes (or psittacofulvins), that color parrot plumage red in all of the species studied.

“We’ve uncovered a system where all red parrots use the same set of molecules to color themselves,” McGraw said. “It is a unique pigment found nowhere else in the world. We are fascinated at how parrots are able to do this.

“The fact that there is a single set of molecules unique to and widespread among parrots, suggests that it is a pretty important evolutionary novelty, and one we should carefully consider when we think about why parrots are so strikingly colorful,” McGraw said.

McGraw has been studying the colors of birds for seven years. He first became interested in the behavioral significance of bird colors as a form of visual communication within a species (e.g. to denote status or attractiveness). As he studied these aspects, he wanted to understand more about what makes the colors of the birds possible, and then focused on “deconstructing the color into its component parts.”

McGraw said an interesting aspect of the five polyenal lipochromes that provide the red in parrots, is that the pigment is found only in the bird’s feathers and nowhere else in the body of the bird, indicating that parrots manufacture these molecules internally and directly at the maturing follicles of the growing, colorful plumage.

In addition, these pigments may play a valuable role in maintaining the health of parrots. McGraw cites an independent study on the parrot pigments that suggests that they can act as anti-oxidants to quench free radicals and potentially protect cells and tissues in the body from oxidative damage.

Now, McGraw says, he’s interested in learning more about the connection between the red colors and anti-oxidants within and among parrot species, as well as “to specifically explore the balance of naturally and sexually selected costs and benefits to becoming colorful.

“Parrots are unusual among birds, in that they almost without exception display fantastic colors but exhibit very little variation in color within a species – at least in colors visible to us. Parrots in general may not be using color in the classic cases of mate choice or competitive ability,” he said. “Exactly why they are so uniformly colored remains an interesting mystery to us – one we want to investigate.”

“There is a sea of colors in birds,” he added. “Our goal is to learn why there is such a diversity from an evolutionary standpoint.”

from www.sciencedaily.com

One More Parrot Training Secret Revealed.Thanks!

I am most definitely ready to get back to blogging about parrot training. yea!!!


However this post was just the perfect compliment to the position statements that I had to share it. This explains why I wrote the positions statements. Cringely is the name of the guy's site. I do hope you will check it out as it is quite enlightening.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.GoodBirdInc.com

So much news!

So much to update.

The IAATE* annual meeting in Cincinnati was a great experience. Just a few highlights:

• The roundtable discussion on “Moody, Hormonal and Breeding Behavior” with participants including Cassie Maline (leader), Susan Friedman, Sid Price, Steve Martin, Dr. Ellen Cook, plus many zoo trainers with problem cases. What a treat to hear input from everyone.
• Susan Friedman’s 3 hour lecture on operant conditioning. I’m still digesting all of this in-depth talk. Everytime I hear Susan, I walk away with so many ideas for new things to think about and try.
• Barbara Heidenreich’s talk on innovative uses of positive reinforcement training with breeding and exhibit birds in zoos. Training isn’t just for showbirds anymore!
• Training talks by Wouter Stellaard (NEI), Cari Clements (NEI), Sid Price, and Steve Martin.

…
and…

The new IAATE Companion Parrot Committee was approved. This will feature a public web site specifically for pet owners, a newsletter, IAATE reviewed training articles, information on specific parrot species, enrichment, and more. Members of the committee are: Catherine Vine (chair), Sid Price, Barbara Heidenreich, Susan Friedman, Chris Shank, Dr. Ellen Cook, Lara Joseph, Wendy Craig, Robin Shewokis, Julie Murad (Gabriel Foundation), Rebecca O’Connor, Tex Hankey, Teresa Zakutansky, Linda Morrow (Clicking with Birds), and myself.

We’re very excited to get started!

*International Association of Avian Trainers & Educators

Frivolous Photo Friday

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