Answered by E.B. Cravens:

Dear S. Mylam: What you refer to by the common name 'Sago' Palm is in fact not a true palm at all (common greenhouse names can be confusing!) but is a member of the cycad family and related to the gymnosperms like ginkgo and the pines.

You are correct that this plant is not safe for livestock, pets, or humans and should not be in your planted aviary.

Though 'sago' palms produce edible starch, their pith must be processed to remove toxins before being safe to consume.

I would recommend replacing it with a small clumping bamboo, maybe a cluster palm like 'areca', or perhaps a mulberry tree so your birds could eat the fruits.

Cheers, EB

Answered by Ellen K. Cook, D.V.M.:

Hi Gemma, Pododermatitis can be very difficult to treat. The main problem is that one of the criteria of treatment is to get the bird's weight off his feet, an impossible task for an animal who spends most of his time on his feet! One of the best things you can do for your rosella is to provide clean, soft, padded surfaces for him to perch. The only ointment I recommend using on birds is Silvadene; place a thin layer on any open sores on the feet daily.

There are many various causes for sore feet in parrots and it is impossible to diagnose and prescribe treatment without actually "laying hands" on the bird. While small animal veterinarians may not be skilled at treating birds, they are skilled in the art of practicing medicine. A physical examination has the same elements whether you are dealing with a Rosella or a Rottweiler. Would your small animal veterinarians be willing to examine your bird and consult with an avian veterinarian via phone or email? That would be the best thing you could do. Good luck!

Answered by Steve Martin & Staff:

Dear "Merlinsmom", Hello, my name is Courtney Festa and I am an Avian Trainer at Natural Encounters, Inc. With regards to your concerns with Merlin's behavior I have a few suggestions, but first I would like to commend you on reaching out for help in order to provide the best environment for both you and Merlin.

When looking at any behavior with our own birds here at Natural Encounters, Inc., we put ourselves in the place of the bird and ask "What's in it for me?" We can never know what a bird is thinking, but we can gain valuable insights from learning to read the bird's body language. We always strive to make all interactions with our birds positive, and in order to do this we have to examine what encourages the bird to do the wanted or unwanted behavior. Behavior can be influenced by anything in the environment including the relationships we have formed with them.

Parrots are very social creatures. In the wild, a bird Merlin's age would likely be bonded to a mate. Companion parrots in the home usually form this sort of bond as well, oftentimes with a human in its environment if there are no other birds around. Is there someone in your home who Merlin has developed a strong bond with? If so this may be a contributing factor to the increased aggression towards you as he tries to protect a territory with his perceived mate. However, by increasing your positive interactions you can strengthen the bond between the two of you.

Another contributing factor that may be causing the unexplained burst of aggression by flying at you could be environmental. Parrots in the wild are very territorial. You had mentioned in your question that his cage door is always open giving him the freedom to be anywhere in the house. This in turn may cause him to claim a room as his territory instead of just his cage especially if he is strongly bonded to another bird or a person in the house. With our birds here at Natural Encounters, Inc., we like to empower the birds and always give them the option of allowing us into their territory. Again I'm making some assumptions here, but Merlin may have claimed the room where his cage is located as his territory and the aggressive behavior may just be him chasing what he views as intruders out of his territory when people are inside it. Another possibility that could cause an increase in aggression may be that he might be trying to protect something he holds valuable, such as his food or maybe even a favorite toy within his territory. Parrots are very sensitive to their environment, so if there have been any changes to his environment that may also lead to an increase in aggression. Any small change may be a big change to a parrot, for example, new furniture, a new pet, or a new family member all can trigger a behavior that, once practiced, can become a habit whether it being a desired or in your case a undesired behavior. Repetition builds confidence, so once a behavior has been practiced the bird often gets better at it.

Now that we have examined some possible causes for the problem behavior, let's investigate your relationship with Merlin and some possible solutions that may help resolve some issues. My first suggestion would be to close his cage door for just a day or two while you're rebuilding your relationship with him. By shutting his door it will help build both your confidence in him and his in you. You've now given him a safe spot that is his own. Rebuilding relationships takes time and patience. Closing his cage door at this point also eliminates some of the safety issues that arise for both you and Merlin while these aggressive behaviors are being practiced. Also, now, when you do open the cage door in the future, you remain a positive in the bird's life, and there may be value in the fact that you are the one who gives Merlin access to be out of his cage, as long as he displays good behavior while still inside the cage.

I would first start out by just reinforcing him with his favorite treat by dropping it in his food bowl when just walking by his cage, as long as Merlin is displaying good body language, like sitting quietly on his perch. In order to establish what his favorite treat may be, try giving your bird a bowl of food with a nice variety of fruits, veggies, pellets, nuts, seeds, and any other treats he may have been getting in the past like dried pasta. What Merlin goes for first is most likely his favorite treat, and can be set aside just for those times when the two of you are working on your relationship together. Feel free at these times to hang out next to his cage for a second and interact with him by just talking, if the bird's body language suggests that he is comfortable with your presence. If your Amazon's eyes are pinning (the pupils are rapidly expanding and contracting), if its feathers are slicked tightly to its body, if its tail feathers are fanned out, or if it's lunging at you or biting at the cage bars these are good signs that your bird is uncomfortable, and you should simply walk away until he is showing signs that he is calm. These displays of discomfort are often precursors to aggression, and if you continue to stand there when they are displayed you are actually increasing the chances that the bird will want to bite once the cage door is opened again. Let Merlin's body language shape yours. If he is calm then you can calmly give him attention, if he seems worked up then just ignore him and walk away.

Once you feel that both of you have a little better relationship, try hand feeding him his favorite treat through the cage bars. Make sure when offering him the treat that the communication between the two of you is clear. Hold the treat between your two fingers to avoid any miscommunications. If Merlin happens to offer any behaviors such as talking or maybe lifting his foot, or something as simple as touching his toy, you could train these behaviors to make your interactions with Merlin even more positive. When training these behaviors you may not be able to give Merlin his treat quick enough, for instance if you are across the room when he offers a behavior. In that case you can use what is called a bridging stimulus, or "bridge." At Natural Encounters, Inc., we use a quick verbal "good". The use of the bridge tells the bird that what they have done at that exact moment was good, and that a treat is on its way. You may even want to keep a handful of treats on you and whenever you hear Merlin make the noise or do whatever behavior you decide, you can bridge him and give him the treat. When Merlin is making the noise or doing the behavior consistently you can start to cue him for the noise or behavior. A cue is a sound or an action that lets the bird know you want him to make that noise. You may notice that before Merlin makes the desired noise, he flaps his wings or does some sort of behavior just before the noise is about to occur. When you see this, you can cue Merlin for the desired noise, bridge after it is presented, and then walk over and provide the reinforcement.

Remember all this may take time. Work at the birds pace. Eventually down the line when you and Merlin have had many positive interactions with one another you may be able to open his cage and offer him his favorite treat through the doorway. However, remember the object is to make all interactions positive and avoid all negative interactions that may lead to aggressive behaviors. If Merlin shows body language that suggests he chooses not to participate in the training or perform the desired behavior, simply close the door and leave with the treats and try again later in the day. The more times the bird practices the aggressive behavior, the better at it the bird may get. So keep all interactions short to be sure to avoid the opportunity for aggression to even occur. By ending training sessions at the first signs of subtle body language behaviors that suggest the bird no longer wants to participate, you can better insure all sessions are positive. The key is to give the bird the power over its environment to choose to participate or not, and to not force the bird to do anything its behavior indicates it does not want to do. We try to create opportunities for birds to perform the behaviors we want to see and then reinforce those behaviors with something the bird wants, like a scratch on the head, verbal praise, a favorite treat, etc.

I hope that this information is helpful to you and Merlin. If you have any additional questions about anything involving you and Merlin please feel free to contact us again. On our website, http://www.naturalencounters.com, you can find additional responses to companion parrot owner questions such as yours, as well as articles on training, enrichment, and behavior that are great resources for all companion parrot owners to have handy. On our site you can also read more about the companion parrot owner training workshops that we offer several times a year at our facility in Winter Haven, Florida, if you interested in getting some more hands-on experience. Another resource we like to recommend for those seeking to further their knowledge of training is an online course taught by Susan Friedman, a behaviorist that we as a company have a long history with. Susan is a psychology professor at Utah State University who has worked in applied psychology for over 25 years. Susan oversees an 8-week online course called Living and Learning with Parrots: The Fundamental Principles of Behavior. The goal of the course is to teach participants how parrots learn in order to better understand what caregivers can do to improve their birds' quality of life, eliminate unwanted behaviors, and enrich the relationships they have with their birds. More information about Susan Friedman and the course itself can be found online at http://www.behaviorworks.org.

Good luck, and we look forward to hearing more about your future successes!

Sincerely,
Courtney Festa
Avian Trainer
Natural Encounters, Inc.

Answered by Steve Martin & Staff:

Hello Mary! My name is Chris Jenkins, and I am one of the Senior Avian Trainers at Natural Encounters, Inc. I recently received your question about training your budgie, and I'd be happy to help make some suggestions.

First off, I'd like to commend you for seeking to further your knowledge of training and to continue to grow your relationship with your bird. It sounds like the two of you already have a great relationship, and it's great that you want to try to find a way to make it even better. At Natural Encounters, Inc., we strive to train all of our animals through a system of positive reinforcement -- put simply, whenever an animal does something that we like, we make sure that animal gets a reward (or, as you put it, giving the animal "rewards when he acts as requested"). If the animal does something else or chooses not to do the desired behavior, we simply ignore it and try again later. Too many people attempt to teach their animals to do things using punishment, and, while it can be effective in some situations and can produce results, it can be confusing, frustrating, and (in its worst form) painful for the animal, and produces a wide variety of unwanted side affects. That you understand the importance of positive reinforcement puts you one step ahead of many pet owners, and should provide the backbone of all the training that you do with Pepito.

Here at Natural Encounters, Inc., we like to think of "training" as something that occurs each and every time we interact with an animal. Training, in its most basic form, occurs when an animal learns to direct its behavior in such a way as to receive a desired consequence. Without really realizing it, you've been training your bird since the day it came into your home! All of the things that you've listed above -- approaching you as you move near the cage, stepping on your hand, flying to you -- are all behaviors that your bird has learned to perform. Many of the questions that we receive from companion bird owners are requests about how to get their birds to do the things your bird is already doing -- give yourself a pat on the back, because you've already taught your bird more than many companion birds learn to do in their lifetimes!

What it sounds like you are looking for is where to start with a more formal system of training, where you are setting goals for a behavior you want and then trying to figure out how best to go about the process of teaching those behaviors. I can give you insight into how we do this with our animals, and I think you'll find that the same system can be highly effective for you as well.

When we set out to train a behavior, we first have to define what the final behavior will look like. Behavior, by definition, is anything that can be observed, so we try to be as specific as possible -- for example, "I want the bird to walk over and grab a string and shake it with its beak to make it ring a bell." The better we can define the behavior itself, the easier it will be for us to break the behavior down into smaller approximations, the "baby steps" that the bird will take until it is performing the final behavior from start to finish.

In any training, it's important to be able to tell your bird when it is doing something right. Depending on the behavior that is being performed, it may be difficult for you to give Pepito a treat at the exact moment that he is doing what you want him to be rewarded for. In order to let our birds know when they have done something right, we at Natural Encounters, Inc., use what we call a "bridge," normally a quick verbal "good!" The use of the bridge tells the bird that what they have done at that exact moment was good, and that a treat is on its way. It is called a bridge because it "bridges" the gap in time between when the desired behavior has occurred and when the animal actually gets its reward for doing it. When we say "good!" to our birds, it is the same as when a dog trainer makes a clicking noise with a clicker, or when a marine mammal trainer blows their high-pitched whistle.

As far as what to use as a reward during your training, only your bird can tell you what it likes. Many parakeet owners I have talked to say that their birds like millet above all other treats, while others prefer small seed treats you can find at most pet stores. It should be noted, however, that some birds seem to ignore food treats altogether and instead prefer the presence of their favorite person or toy as a reward. Since your bird eats from your hand it should be no problem getting him to take treats from you during training, although if your bird likes being handled, then a small scratch may be an equally effective reward as well.

As for what to train your bird, the possibilities are only limited by what your bird is physically capable of doing, and by your own imagination! If there is a particular activity that your bird enjoys doing, using that as a starting point may be a great way to get things started. For example, if there's a particular toy or object that your bird likes to play with, you might start out by bridging and reinforcing Pepito every time he touches his beak to that object. This is what is known as target training. When an animal learns that it gets a treat when it touches a particular object with a particular part of its body, you can start to move this object (or "target") around, and the bird will likely move to where the object is in order to be able to touch it and earn a treat. Target training can be the basis of a wide variety of behaviors - going from point A to point B, maneuvering through a maze or obstacle course, or turning around in a circle can all be taught by using target training. The key is to think about what small steps need to be performed in order for the whole behavior to occur, and then training these smaller steps one at a time, only moving ahead when the animal is performing the current step each time without hesitation. One of the nice things about breaking behaviors into steps is that if for some reason during your training you find that Pepito gets lost, confused, or frustrated, all you need to do is go back a step or two until he's back on track again.

Another method of training is what is known as capturing. Instead of teaching an animal to perform a behavior by teaching it in small steps, capturing consists of taking a behavior that the animal is already doing on its own, and then trying to put that behavior on cue so it can be performed when you request it. For example, there may be a particular sound or whistle that you've heard Pepito make in the past. In order to get this behavior on cue, any time you hear him make that sound, immediately bridge the behavior (that is, say "good!"), and then give him a treat. From doing this over and over, the bird will likely figure out the connection between this behavior and the treats that you're giving, and will likely begin to offer it more often. You may notice that every time Pepito makes the desired noise, beforehand he flaps his wings or does some sort of behavior just before the noise is about to occur. This is a good time to present whatever cue you want him to learn, maybe a certain gesture of the hand or you saying the word "sing". When you see this first behavior, you can give your cue, bridge after the noise is presented, and then walk over and provide the reinforcement. It sounds like a lot, but with practice it becomes very second nature -- the basic order is 1) present cue, 2) behavior is performed, 3) present the bridge ("good!"), 4) present the reward. This will, of course, take some practice for both of you, but sticking with it and just doing it over and over again is the best way to cement in your bird's mind exactly what it is that you're looking for.

Another behavior that a lot of people like to train is to teach the bird to wave. While the behavior itself seems fairly simple, training it can be a fairly detailed process. There are many ways to do this, and I'll share with you how we do it with our birds. You mentioned that your bird steps on your finger. This is the where we start with our birds. When we present a hand for a bird to step on, the first thing they will do is lift a foot up. As soon as we see this, we gently pull our hand away, say "good!" and then give them a treat. This behavior of picking up the foot is the start of a very crude wave, and a great beginning. We then repeat this process again and again (present hand, watch foot go up, pull away hand, bridge and reinforce; present hand, watch foot go up and then maybe down a little, bridge and reinforce; etc, etc) until we are getting what looks to us like a wave. Budgies are very small and very quick, so you'll have to be equally quick and accurate in the timing of your bridging while you do this, otherwise your bird may think that it's simply supposed to jump to your finger. At the same time, we want to make sure that in training this new behavior we do not end up simply punishing the behavior of actually stepping up, as this is something we still want the bird to do when we ask for it. Because of this, as soon as you are confident that the bird understands the concept of putting the foot up to gain reinforcement, you'll then want to start changing the cue to something other than just bringing your hand in (we often do this by introducing a small "wiggle" of the finger on the hand we are presenting, and then with each repetition making the wiggle bigger while at the same time fading out the original cue by not bringing the hand itself in as close anymore). By presenting this new cue from a slightly farther distance, we help clarify our communication to the bird about what it is that we are asking for (i.e. -- a stable finger close up means "step up", while a wiggling finger further away means "wave").

Once the bird learns that your new cue means "foot up", you might be able to get a bigger wave by only bridging and reinforcing Pepito for waves that are at least as big as a larger criteria than what you were accepting before. This process takes advantage of what is known as an "extinction burst." The extinction burst happens when an animal, in seeing that it's no longer getting reinforcement for performing a behavior at a level at which it used to get reinforced for, will make a larger, more robust attempt at the behavior before giving up. An example of this phenomenon in the human world might be raising your voice to get someone's attention: you first say "Hey..." and get no response, so then you offer a slightly louder "HEY..." and still get no response, so you then holler "HEEEYYY!!!" If you don't get a response after that, you might simply give up. In Pepito's case, he might make a small wave once and not get a response, then another small wave and not get a response, and then try a slightly bigger wave to see if that works. If he then gets bridged and reinforced for this larger wave, it's likely that he'll stick to bigger waves from then on. The trick here, though, is to keep your criteria reasonable -- if you try to wait too long for a bigger wave, Pepito will likely just stop waving altogether. Rest assured, this process will take time. We've found in our experience that it's better to work with our birds in frequent, short training sessions than in longer ones that occur with larger gaps of time between them. One of our mantras at Natural Encounters, Inc., is "Repetition builds confidence", not only for the bird doing the behavior but also for the person presenting the cues, so practice and clear communication will be your greatest assets as you attempt to train this (or any other) behavior.

The final thing that I can offer you in your training adventure is a simple piece of advice: remember to be patient. Even the smallest, simplest behaviors may not be so small and simple in the mind of your bird, but what we have found time and time again is that repetition is the best way for you and your bird to build confidence in one and other. Just as the old saying goes, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again! Another saying that we have at Natural Encounters, Inc., is that "The animal is never wrong." If our birds are falling short of our expectations in their behaviors, we take responsibility for it and say that it is probably a breakdown in our own communication to them that is causing the problem. Two-way communication -- that is, communication where we are being clear in our cues, criteria, bridges, and reinforcements, and where we are always paying attention to the body language and behavior of the animal in front of us as this is how they communicate back to us their understanding of what we are asking -- is the single most important tool we have as animal trainers. If an animal is not interested in participating with us in training at a certain time, we simply walk away and try again later. Giving our animals the power to tell us when they are and aren't interested in playing "the training game" is a way to give them power over their environment, and an animal that is empowered is one that will be happier, healthier, and more confident, three goals that we should strive to achieve each and every day with our birds.

I hope that what I've written above gives you some idea of the many possibilities that lie ahead for you and Pepito where training is concerned, and gives you an idea of where you might get started to begin to make some of these ideas become a reality. If you would like to learn more, I suggest you begin by checking out our website, http://www.naturalencounters.com, where you can find a variety of articles on bird training, enrichment, and behavior that may be helpful in your efforts to continue to learn about Pepito and how to continue to build and improve your relationship with him.

Thank you again for writing to us, Mary. Best of luck in your training endeavors, and we look forward to hearing about your future successes!

Sincerely,

Chris Jenkins
Senior Avian Trainer
Natural Encounters, Inc.

Answered by Dr. Brian Speer, DVM:

Ideally, it would probably be most appropriate to have someone check in on your birds while you are gone. 6-7 days unsupervised is quite a while, and many things (beyond food and water availability) can potentially go wrong. In a situation where there is concern about the regularity of cleaning of food items that can spoil, it probably would be best to feed the birds a dried food base diet.

Answered by E.B. Cravens:

Dear Debbie, Both crabapple and regular apple are safe trees. In fact, most temperate fruit tree foliage we have found are not toxic in moderate amounts, including plum, peach and cherry. A great time to feed crabapple and other trees is during and after first fruit set when tiny flowers and buds and green fruit starts make nutritious fare for psittacines.

Cleaning of foliage involves a brief visual inspection to make sure leaves are fairly free of wild bird droppings. Pluck or prune any suspect twigs or leaves. You can either hose the branch off in the yard or put it under your bath shower for a few minutes on warm. Boughs collected near considerable automobile traffic should also be rinsed for dust, etc. There is no need to bleach or sterilize tree chewing material.

Here is a picture of Chen, our hawkhead parrot, learning to eat in the apple tree!



Cheers, EB

Answered by Dr. Brian Speer, DVM:

Lots to say here in general, although specifics pertinent to your bird cannot be applied, of course. Hyperlipidemia is quite common in Amazon parrots, most frequently when there is overnutrition (fatty or calorie dense foods), or when combined with estrogenic hormonal activity. Frequntly, there will be fatty liver disease, with significant liver dysfunction involved. In this light, the finding of the symptom of hyperlipidemia is valid, and suggestive strongly of a need for change. This in your bird includes an absolute need to change the diet to a low energy diet (even though you say your bird will not eat a pelletized diet - there is a need to change), and behavioral modification to control and eliminate reproductive drive issues. Birds do not "come into season" as mammals do, and realistically respond with increases or decreased in reproductive drive in response to environmental ques. These include but are not limited to the perceived presence of a pair bonded mate, the perception of a nesting site, the perception that there are nutritional conditions of abundance, the presence of a high-calorie diet, etc. I would presume that the injection given was a counter-hormonal treatment to try to help stop oestrogenic activities in your bird - but the real fix comes from a combination of dietary and behaivoral modifications. The other very very very real risk to consider here would be that your bird can also have cardiovascular disease - yet another disease linked to fatty foods, inactivity and hyperlipidemia. A lack of balance and coordination, combined with weight loss is not uncommonly seen in Amazon parrots suffering with Athlerosclerosis. Fish oils should not realistically help your bird at present time in and of themselves. What you really need is a bit more accurate of a diagnosis in which to apply a balanced combination of behavioral guidance, nutritional modification and chemotherapeutic intervention. Flax oils also should not realistically help your bird at present time in and of themselves. What you really need is a bit more accurate of a diagnosis in which to apply a balanced combination of behavioral guidance, nutritional modification and chemotherapeutic intervention. A "standard set of drugs and pellets prescription" also should not realistically help your bird at present time in and of themselves. What you really need is a bit more accurate of a diagnosis in which to apply a balanced combination of behavioral guidance, nutritional modification and chemotherapeutic intervention. I wish you the best of fortune in sorting out your bird's problem a bit more accurately and formulating the needed lifestyle changes that she needs, Brian Speer, DVM. Diplomate, ABVP, Diplomate, ECAMS.

Answered by Jim McKendry:

Hi Petra, Your questions certainly highlight just how misleading so much of what is written and discussed about parrots can be. Whenever you read or hear something that doesn’t quite fit with your better logic then question it and challenge the person making those statements, such as the one you described, to qualify their thinking. For all of us it’s still a work in progress, but some obviously have more work to do than others! It’s really frustrating reading some of the generalisations people make about parrots when they obviously haven’t ever spent a minute of their time observing them in the wild. It’s a great leveller out there. Hopefully you can find a little more logic here at the WPT site. Take a holiday from the message boards and make sure you download all of those cool articles in the reference library, as there’s some real gold in there!

First up, housing Rangi and Kea in the same enclosure is most certainly feasible – provided that your two African Greys are compatible and that the enclosure adequately caters for two parrots in terms of enrichment and access to shared resources and perches. Compatibility can be determined through your observations of the interactions that they are obviously already having away from the cages. You need to reflect on the frequency of antagonistic behaviour between them, how they react towards each other in the presence of a shared food bowl or enrichment item, tolerance levels towards each other on the same perch and observable body language indicators that suggest a degree of comfort in close proximity to each other. You mentioned that there is already regurgitation of food from one to another so I’m inclined to think there’s a pretty good situation developing there. Food regurgitation is classic pair solicitation behaviour between Greys so it’s a good guide to compatibility. Do you observe any other good compatibility indicators, such as mutual preening?

You mention that there is some occasional aggression from Rangi towards Kea. This doesn’t immediately mean they are not suitable for cohabitation in the same enclosure, as all of my pairs will at times be aggressive towards each other for a variety of reasons. With a bonded and compatible pair this rarely escalates beyond posturing but it is important to monitor such interactions to ensure that the frequency is not inappropriate or that physical encounters are quickly resolved. It comes down to good observational skills on your part.

Personally, I love the idea of working towards Rangi and Kea sharing an enclosure. It’s achievable but you must make sure that you cater for the transition with sensitivity to their observable level of comfort with each other and ensure that the shared enclosure is adequate in size to properly cater for two African Greys. That’s critical as there are pressures on each bird achieving spatial comfort within small indoor cages that are relieved in larger aviary type enclosures, thus potentially making it more of a challenge. Start with short durations of shared cage time when you are at home to observe the birds. As they become more familiar with the routine, and if it’s `happy families’, then the time can be extended. It’s also another tip to have a complete perch change and furnishing rearrangement if you are using an existing cage as the new, shared environment. This way you can introduce them both into a `new’ environment and give them time to explore it and establish their perching preferences without the variable of pre-existing favourites ☺.

Your next question was about your response to biting or beaking behaviour. Reflect on the function you think that Kea letting out a yelp serves when Rangi bites her. This is a clear and distinct communication between two parrots. We’re humans, not parrots. I’m not keen on setting up consequential responses to the behaviour of our parrots that mimics how we observe two parrots interacting with each other because, for a variety of reasons, it’s unlikely to be effective or appropriate over time as a learning/teaching tool. For starters, the fact that Rangi stops biting you immediately and redirects his focus may indicate that he finds your yelping an aversive stimulus. Effectively you are reverting back to using negative reinforcement in your behaviour management. My advice is to re-evaluate your interactions with Rangi and become more sensitive to indicators that you have by now associated with an impending bite or aggressive encounter and start rearranging your environment or handling criteria with him to avoid the encounters occurring. Time to replace your current response with new strategies based on differential reinforcement. Check out Susan Friedman and Lee McGuire’s ripper of a case study on biting at the WPT reference library in the article `The Success Files’. It’s a beauty. One contributing problem you are dealing with is the use of the beak to lead when stepping onto your hand. In my experience, true use of the beak to lead is done very gently, some large parrots even do so with the front of their upper mandible, not with an open beak grasp. If your `stepping up’ interaction is resulting in an uncomfortable level of beak use then you can start working on training your Greys to step up without leading with the beak. A great visual aid in achieving this can be accessed via Barbara Heidenreich’s DVD `Parrot Training & Behaviour’. It’s also time to have a read of Susan Friedman’s cracker of a `step by step guide’ (no pun intended) to improving step up behaviour titled `Empowering Parrots’, also available at the WPT one stop `free’ shop of good oil advice – the Reference Library ☺

Good luck with Rangi and Kea. I would love to hear how you go with them over the next few months.

Kind Regards from `Down Under’
Jim McKendry
Parrot Behaviour & Enrichment Consultations
http://www.pbec.com.au