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University
Help!
My bird is driving me crazy! Ways to address parrot behavior
problems
By
Barbara Heidenreich
Good Bird, Inc.
Parrots can provide us
great joy in our lives. However, at times their behavior seems
completely inappropriate for the home. Sometimes these unwanted
behaviors can lead to desperate efforts to find a new home for a
beloved parrot. While some unwanted behavior may be too difficult to
modify without help, many behaviors can be addressed by applying the
following simple principles.
Learn how to read and
interpret your bird’s body language:
This is how your bird
communicates to you. Notice how your bird holds his feathers, how
his eyes appear, what he is doing with his mouth, etc. during
different times of the day. Decide by what you see if your bird is
content, nervous, excited, scared, territorial, aggressive, etc. Try
to remember what body postures go with what state of mind. Use this
information when you interact with your bird. Try to avoid doing
things that cause your bird to display behavior that indicates he is
scared, nervous or aggressive. Focus on interactions that seem to
promote a relaxed and happy bird. For example, if you try to pick up
your bird and his body language shows that he might bite, respect
what he just told you with his body language and try again later.
You can also try to persuade your bird to look forward to stepping
up by using a treat or reward.
Find a treat that
works:
Having a food treat that
your bird really likes to use to reward good behavior is an
excellent tool for modifying behavior. The treat is your way of
communicating to your bird that what he just did was “good”. An easy
way to identify a good treat for your bird is to feed your bird his
normal diet in the morning. Notice what food item your bird eats
first. That is probably his favorite food. Take that item out of the
regular morning feeding and use it to reward your bird for good
behavior throughout the day. Many parrots also enjoy sunflower
seeds, peanuts, nuts, grapes, etc. Make sure to break big items into
smaller pieces for more opportunities to reward your bird and to
help avoid feeding your bird too many treats.
Don’t make your bird
do anything he doesn’t want to do:
This may seem like common
sense, but it is often easily overlooked. Reading your bird’s body
language is very important when trying to do this. Recognize when
your bird is telling you “no” with his body language. Instead of
continuing to force the issue, try to find a way to get your bird to
do what you want using positive methods, like using treats and
rewards for steps in the right direction. This will help build a
positive and trusting relationship between you and your bird.
Ignore bad behavior,
reward good behavior:
It is easy to
react to bad behavior when we see it. However, this isn’t always an
effective way to modify that behavior. For example, if your parrot
screams for attention, walking over to his cage to yell at
him can actually be the attention your bird was looking for. This
can teach your bird to scream to get you to come over to his cage.
If instead you wait until the bird stops screaming, or does
something else, and then go over to your bird, you will teach him
“quiet” or other behaviors will get the desired attention.
Teach your bird to do
what you want by rewarding little steps of progress towards the
desired behavior:
It may take longer to
teach your bird to do something using positive methods, but in the
long run both you and your bird will be happier. Instead of forcing
your bird to do whatever you would like him to do, break the
behavior down into little steps in your mind. After your bird
performs each step, give him a treat. Eventually you can get to the
desired behavior and the entire process will have been positive and
fun for your bird. For example you can teach your bird to step up by
rewarding him for taking a step towards your hand, for lifting a
foot, for putting a foot on your hand, for putting both feet on your
hand, for allowing you to move your hand and so on. By doing this,
you can create a bird that looks forward to doing what you ask him
to do.
Applying these basic
principles can help shape your birds behavior. This can lead to a
long, happy and harmonious relationship with your bird. Give it a
try!
Author Biographical
Sketch
Barbara has been a
professional in the field of animal behavior and training since
1990.
Her experience includes consulting on animal behavior and training
in zoos around the world. Her specialty is free flight bird
training. Barbara continues to provide consulting services to zoos,
nature centers and other animal facilities through her company
Animal Training and Consulting Services (www.ATandCS.com).
She also owns and operates a second company, Good Bird, Inc. (www.GoodBirdInc.com),
that provides behavior and training products to the companion parrot
community. These products include Good Bird™ Magazine, books,
videos, consulting services and behavior workshops. She is the
author of “Good Bird! A Guide to Solving Behavior Problems in
Companion Parrots” by Avian Publications and also “The Parrot
Problem Solver. Finding Solutions to Aggression” by TFH Publications
due out in 2005.
2005 Parrots Calendar
Parrots 2005 Wall Calendar
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