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Falcons More Closely Related to Parrots than to Hawks?

by Rebecca K. OConnor

The idea of it leaves me a little spun, but makes sense when I think about it. A study done by the Field Museum involving a detailed look at the genetics of 169 birds had some surprising results. Convergent evolution is a lot more prevalent in the bird world than we guessed.

I've trained birds professionally for 15 years, but my affinity has always been for parrots and falcons. I find myself speaking more and more in lectures about how my falconry informs my training style and critical thinking when working with parrots. Now perhaps I can claim the link between the two was always intuitive. Maybe people won't look at me like I'm insane when I explain the training the two families of birds is not so very different. Well, that may be too hopeful, but this is one more fabulous example of why parrot owners should keep reading and learning. Exciting times!

Related??

Posted by Rebecca K. OConnor on 06/29 at 01:34 PM
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Getting Bit Is Just Part of Caring for Parrots, Right?

by Rebecca K. OConnor

WRONG.

There are many reasons that a parrot might bite. Some may not be as predictable or make as much sense to us as others, but the one thing you can count on is that repetitive biting is rewarding to the parrot somehow. This means that parrots bite because it gets them something they want. It also means that if you can figure out what your parrot gets from the biting behavior, then you can lessen the behavior or quite possibly put a stop to it.

If you reach in your parrot’s cage to pick him up and he doesn’t want to come out he may retreat to the back of the cage or turn his back to you. If you persist, even though he’s tried to let you know he doesn’t want to go with you, then he may resort to biting you. If he bites you and you leave him alone, he may have an “ah ha” moment. “Ah ha! If I want her to know that I don’t want to come out, all I have to do is bite her!” He may stop retreating, turning his back on you or any other variety of more acceptable behaviors that mean “no” and go straight for the bite in the future. Why not? It’s the only thing you seem to understand.

Shouldn’t you just take the bite and pretend like it doesn’t hurt so your parrot doesn’t get what he wants? Absolutely not! You don’t deserve to get bit. How can you have a great relationship with your bird if you’re afraid one on one time will lead to bloodletting? How can your parrot trust you and enjoy your company if he might get dropped, yelled at or worse? Instead, you both need to learn to have a conversation with each other that doesn’t involve biting.

So what do you do?

• Learn to read and be respectful of your parrot’s body language. No means no. Respect that.

• Find ways to get your parrot to say “yes.” Make what you’re asking worth your parrot’s while. Offer a treat, time out on the play stand, some cuddle time or whatever your parrot really enjoys.

• Don’t get bit. Biting begets biting because it almost always rewarding. A behavior that is rewarding will repeat itself.

More positive communicating. Less biting. It’s a great way to thing to strive for in all our relationships!

Posted by Rebecca K. OConnor on 02/11 at 02:16 PM
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Share your parrot rescue or foster story!

by Rebecca K. OConnor

Do you have a great story about a parrot that you rescued or fostered? Do you run a rescue and have a story that would save parrot owners a lot of potential heartbreak? Rebecca K. O’Connor, author of A Parrot for Life! is looking for stories for her next book, Rescue Me! A Guide to Living with a Re-Homed Parrot.

Rebecca believes that the best way to convince potential parrot owners to adopt and foster is through imparting key information in an easy to read, entertaining manner. Rescue Me!, like the well-received A Parrot for Life! will cover the most up-date-information and resources available, but she wants to add one more thing…true stories. Rebecca fosters and has some stories of her own, but your personal experiences may make the difference in a parrot’s life! If that’s not enough of a reason here’s more incentive:

•Twelve stories will be chosen. Authors will receive a copy of Rescue Me! published by TFH Publications upon its release.

•Authors of the top three stories will also receive a copy of A Parrot for Life!

•The author of the top story will receive a free lecture/workshop presented by Rebecca at the Parrot Rescue of their choice with all proceeds going to the Rescue. (The parrot rescue will need to provide space for the workshop, but will not need to cover travel or pay a presentation fee.)

So what are you waiting for??

Please send your adoption/foster story of 400 words or less to:

or even better, post them as comments here on the blog. Let's got a dialogue started about fostering and rescuing and behavior!

Authors will need to provide permission for the use of their stories upon acceptance and agree to editing for style and length. Payment will be in the form of a copy of the book.

Posted by Rebecca K. OConnor on 11/07 at 11:47 AM
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Rebecca K. O’Connor on “Calling all Pets”

by Rebecca K. OConnor

http://www.wpr.org/PETS/index.htm Check out Rebecca on Patricia McConnell's radio show "Calling All Pets". Rebecca only says one really stupid thing. (along with a lot of ums and a couple of semi-stupid things) Answer the trivia question and win a copy of her book! --but hurry, you have to do it this week!

Posted by Rebecca K. OConnor on 10/06 at 12:31 AM
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