Behavior Problems

Liz Wilson, an avian behavior consultant from the Philadelphia area, has some strong opinions about how birds should be treated. She advises, "Don't dump the bird. Fix the problem." If you can't fix the problem, don't get another bird. Birds are not used cars. They should not be considered disposable pets.

If you look in the "Pets for Sale" columns around the country, most of the birds for sale are 6 to 18 months old, which implies that people are dumping babies as soon as they develop problems. To fix a problem with a pet bird, the human has to change. Liz has Blue and Gold Macaw, which she has had 20 years. When she got Sam, Sam had been owned by her previous owner for 12 years.. When she surveys audiences around the country, on the average only 5 hands go up in a crowd of 50, when she asks how many of you have had your bird longer than 5 years.

It's not proof of sanity to own parrots. You are taking on the responsibility of living with a 2 year old for the next 50 years. All parrot babies are cute. When they grow up, and you allow them to gain control of the relationship, in the long run the bird suffers for your inability to stay in control. If you get rid of the bird, who suffers? The bird does.

If you allow your bird to fly away, you will live through it. The bird might not.

Birds do not give unconditional love. If you are a jerk, they will not love you.

Advice from behavior consultants has changed over the years, as more knowledge is gained. The advice used to be to grab the bird's beak, and say "No!" in a biting situation. We now know that beak wrestling in the wild in many species is sexual foreplay, and confuses the bird when used for training.

Large scale domestic breeding of parrots was started only about 15 years ago. After so many young, handfed birds were on the market, the need for training to commands became evident. Sally Blanchard devised a set of 4 commands which all parrots should be taught. The commands are:

1) Up -- this command tells the bird to step on a human hand now.
2) Down -- this command tells the bird to step on an object other than a hand now.
3) No -- This command tells the bird to stop the behavior it is doing.
4) OK -- This command tells the bird that its behavior is allowed.

When a bird is trained to a command, it will always obey the command. It will obey the command all the time, and will obey the command immediately when it is given. If the bird only sometimes obeys the command, or only obeys on its schedule, it is not trained to the command. "Up" and "Down" are the most commonly used commands and should be obeyed without hesitation or question by the bird. "No" is the least effective, and the one hardest to train to. "OK" is to take control away from the bird. "OK" is useful when the bird has decided to do something, which you may or may not want it to do. You know that the bird is going to do the action, so you use "OK" to take control of the action away from the bird. When you give permission with "OK" the bird does not feel that it is controlling the situation.

Birds grow up so slowly that we forget they will grow up. They stay at the "bassinet and goo" stage for a long time, and we indulge them because they are so lovable and cute. Birds do not get too old to learn the commands. Liz taught her Blue and Gold after she got it at 12 years old.

To establish control of the bird, there are certain guidelines which must be followed: Consistency. You must be consistent. Clear guidelines set a safe place for parrots. Parrots will re-test rules. In the wild, parrots switch flock leadership roles on a frequent basis, sometimes in terms of minutes. They will re-challenge your rules every few minutes also, and you must give the same response to each test. Negative versus Positive Feedback. The parrot wants your approval. If the behavior continues, you are not giving negative feedback. You are somehow rewarding the behavior you want to stop.

Liz gave two examples of positive feedback causing a behavior to continue.

1. One involved Sally Blanchard's African Grey, Bongo Marie. Bongo Marie started to chew Sally's wood doors. Crunching the doors made loud sounds. Sally ran and told Bongo Marie to stop. Bongo Marie continued to chew the doors every time Sally was out of the room, and Sally continued to react. Sally finally noticed that the crunching sounds were occurring, and she was reacting, when Bongo Marie was nowhere near the door. Bongo Marie had learned the crunching sound caused Sally to run and yell, thus giving Bongo Marie a drama reward.

2. The second example was with Liz's Blue and Gold. Sam. Sam has lived in a large German Shepherd cage for 20 years, because when Liz got the bird, large macaw cages were not readily available. The bird is happy in the cage, and Liz sees no reason to change, since the cage is large enough for a blue and gold. Liz is not into giving parties, and being a hostess, but had decided to take the big step of having a dinner party. She was nervous and anxious. Sam took that opportunity to discover that a loud screech could be produced by biting the edge of the cage where the two sides met. Liz yelled. Sam loved it. Liz lost control and reinforced Sam's behavior with a big drama reward. After a few days, Liz was able to get desensitized to the sound, and show no reaction. After 4 days, Sam stopped making the sound.

You must change your behavior to stop the biting. If you think about it,. a large macaw is about the overall weight of a Cornish game hen. Liz has never heard of anyone losing a finger to a bird bite. Don't let your fear control the situation.

If the bird is below eye level, you outrank the bird. Don't let the bird close to your face, or on your shoulder. Liz speaks from experience when she says that being bitten in the face (as she was by a Great Dane) is a traumatic experience, and it will probably change your attitude toward your bird, even if you don't think it will. If you allow the bird on your shoulder, which as we all know is very convenient, then receive a facial bite which causes you to get rid of the bird, or not to love it, the bird, not you, suffers for your decision.

Your bird should not decide when to come out of the cage or go into the cage. If you allow your bird on your shoulder, the bird should know it is your decision to allow it. If you have a problem, get help. Do not abandon your bird.

One last piece of advice. Clipped birds can fly. Do not assume they can't, because you will lose your bird.