Ask An Expert

Answered by E.B. Cravens:

Dear Lee, First of all congratulations for allowing your parrots to retain their wing feathers and fly around!
 
More and more conscientious pet bird owners are discovering the joy (and convenience) of having flighted psittacines in the home.
 
It is usual that the larger the parrot, the more it will have to work and hence tire when flying inside a house. This explains why the Jardine's pants more strongly than the Senegal after flight. Just maneuvering indoors is much more difficult for a larger bird. In an outside or wild situation, the Jardine's would be flapping briskly and flying very long distances in order to keep fit. This is not possible indoors.
 
The way I have solved this problem with many of my flighted indoor pets is to trim the first two narrow strong ribbed primary flight feathers at the front of the wing. This effectively cuts down the flight capacity for speed by about 15% depending upon species and athleticism of the parrot; but it does not seriously affect maneuverability. The pet will then begin to flap more exuberantly to accomplish the same flight skills it is used to and will begin getting stronger and making up the 15% difference. The choice can then be made whether to take a third feather or part of the third outermost feather--something we do not always do.
 
Pay particular attention to the speed and noise of your Jardine's flight as that will tell you how much effort he or she is expending. As Jardine's are stocky psittacines, they do need more primaries to get around easily--than say a cockatiel or conure. So it would be most prudent to trim only one of the first two feathers, on both wings the same of course, at a time; then wait a week and do the second.
 
Also it would be well to take the time to examine your feeding regimen. Most of us overfeed our parrots and keep them 5-10% overweight all the time--especially in the overheating of winter homes. Cut back the fat and heavy carbs in a few food items and replace it with sprouted pulses, fruit pips like pomegranate, melon, papaya, passion fruit, fig, etc. and your bird will trim down accordingly.
 
Good luck.
Aloha, EB

Answered by Dr. Brian Speer, DVM:

I have no factual basis to form any opinion, based on the information provided. My best suggestions would be to return to your veterinarian, and either ask for a diagnosis to be established, or for referral / consultation with an expert qualified to deliver you the same.

You could have some sort of a physically painful condition that is influencing his behavior, toxic issue, neurologic condition, OR, possibly a behavioral problem that warrants more accurate diagnosis and address.

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

There are several problems (infections, obstructions, etc.) that can cause a cockatiel to exhibit the symptoms that yours has. Birds are skilled at masking signs of illness, so I am most concerned about any unusual behavior I observe in a bird. I would recommend that you have your 'tiel examined by a qualified avian veterinarian as soon as possible.

Dr.Cook

Answered by Dr. Brian Speer, DVM:

The behavior you describe could easily be normal regurgitative behavior of your bird, but if there is persistent behavior of this nature, you should have your bird physically examined by your veterinarian.

Answered by E.B. Cravens:

Dear ??? (you did not give your name...):
I searched my sources and the internet and could not find any reference to weight charts for fledgling DuCorps Cockatoo chicks of six months age. Therefore, as I am in no way a cockatoo expert, I will offer what I can about your new fledgling parrot.

The weight drop that you describe is less than 8%. If the cockatoo baby is the same as many I have known, then he or she will be eating very well at the home breeder aviary and will not necessarily lose the amount of weight considered normal and/or acceptable for a bird of that age and species. Much has to do with whether it is a flighted fledgling or whether the wings have been trimmed, thus keeping it rather chunky and overweight up until the time it moves to a new home and leaves behind many of its baby eating tendencies....that is when it might slim down.

The history of this cockatoo is essential to your knowing whether it weaned "fat" or weaned "lean" and active--hence the fledging routine, amount of calories it was being fed, whether it rejected the syringe hand-feeding process or was slowly moved onto a finger-food warm mush diet dispensing with the syringe entirely, and the like. If you choose to reintroduce warm soft food and you are not syringe competent, then the best way is to offer hot soaked warm wheat bread, adult avian pellets, tofu, oatmeal or the like which are all just as good as hand-feeding formula for a parrot of this age.

Be aware that some needy cockatoos are manipulative and WANT their keepers to revert to baby feeding foods, especially if unsure of new life situations..

If your veterinarian recommends that you do an x-ray to ascertain that there is no consumed foreign body in the digestive tract that could be hampering assimilation of nourishment or passage of foodstuffs--it would be foolish of you--or me with one of my birds for that matter--to opt out of such a safety precautionary and simple med procedure. This is one of the first things I like to authorize if there is confusion about what is going on inside a bird. Fledglings DO imbibe odd things from wood chips to cloth fragments to metal casings. Unless you suspect your vet of being untrustworthy, it is not
appropriate to suggest that he or she has money on the mind when proposing a diagnostic procedure...

Now, you did state that you worried about this weight loss being stress related, but I do not know what stress that would be. A new pet entering a home should have as much or more nourishment, affection, privacy, sleep time, stimuli, comfort and familiar dishes, treats, toys, etc. as it had in it's previous location. There will be many changes, to be sure, but a well-raised youngster is both ready for new adventures, and strong enough to make changes in its lifestyle without suffering malnutrition or depression....

So, as I see it, there are two options. One is to call the breeder or pet source of the fledgling bird and arrange to have it returned to that person for stabilization and observance--something we have had to do in the past with (not coincidentally) Goffin's cockatoos; so that the bird can re-adapt, begin eating well of all types of things again, and be moved into your home a bit more carefully when it is totally prepared...

The second is to realize that it is not unusual for parrots that are not adept fliers to lose 15% or more of their weight mass upon fledging and moving to new homes. Monitor the fledgling carefully; make sure that it eats well things like millet spray, cooked lentils, buckwheat, mung beans and green stems and twigs, crumbled walnuts, canary seed, and anything it really takes to as a youngster; realize that cockatoos are not such big eaters and your new pet will most likely lose some weight, then gain it back as muscle when it begins flying around its new home; and step back a little bit without worry that this bird if well brought up from a breeder that you trust, will adapt and be fine in the long run. (We all worry about our new additions to the flock, I might add!!).

Weight loss with accompanied lethargy, emotional neediness, poor digestion or suspect excrement are one thing. Just a bit of fasting and new-home weight drop are something else and can be interpreted safely by the observant owner...Good luck. I wish I had known the name of your DuCorps to refer to in this message.

With aloha, EB

Answered by Dr. Brian Speer, DVM:

Symptomatically, I would be hesitant to make any recommendations for you and your bird here. What your best course of action probably is, would be to ask your veterinarian for an outside consultation or referral to another colleague who may be better able to help you address the concerns at hand. There are many, many reasons why this may be occurring, and by applying a more systematic approach to diagnosis and therapy, you should be more capable of achieving the desired result(s).

Answered by E.B. Cravens:

Dear Dot,

It is not at all unusual for amazon parrots, especially if they are former wild-trapped ones, to prefer perching outside rather than being under shelter. Sheltered roofs can be a perceived "trap" for many psittacine species.

If you catch the two or four elderly ones and place them inside for the winter, they will most likely live longer. You also could give them a late afternoon seed or nut feeding inside and coax them to come in before sunset, then lock them in. If your indoor arrangement does not provide a lock, then it is time to put one on. Parrots even on the verge of dying will retain
their sleeping habits to the detriment of their well being.

I do not know why your vet has said to stop hand-feeding one bird who is getting thin, but perhaps he does not want to stress it more---sometimes it is not necessary to use a syringe and hold the bird, but instead one can just provide soaked warm sprouted wheat bread and extruded adult pellets and tofu and the like in a small cup, which the bird will then gulp like a baby would. Often a bird with a weak liver will lose weight because it is having real difficulty digesting the foods being offered. Easily digestible foods will be accepted more readily, certainly those that do not require crunching and are already in wet, warm form--a low, low fat diet is best .

I would be feeding this bird and keeping it and its mate in my house on a heating pad so that it would either recover slowly or would pass away in the most comfortable, gentle way possible. If you do hand feed it, do not use commercial baby formula as most of those are for growing birds and have far too much fat in them for a bird with liver disease. Also I would be giving that bird milk thistle extract in its water and on its wet food at least three times a week for liver health.

Good luck and my prayers are with these four old amazons. They have suffered a lot due to humans and deserve to be as comfortable as possible now.

Thank you for rescuing them.
With aloha, EB

Answered by Steve Martin & Staff:

Hello Lisa! My name is Chris Jenkins, and I am one of the Supervisors with Natural Encounters, Inc. I would be happy to offer some advice that might help you out with the issue that you are having with your cockatoo. I’d like to commend you on seeking out information on training your bird to step up using positive reinforcement, as too often this is something that many companion parrot owners choose to simply force their birds to do.

In order train your bird to step up, we have to figure out a way to make the behavior of doing so motivating for your bird. When looking to train any behavior at Natural Encounters, Inc, we always start by asking the following question from the bird’s perspective: “What’s in it for me?” In other words, we have to figure out why the animal would be motivated to perform the behavior in question.

From what you’ve described, when present your hand for your parrot to step up, it is immediately soliciting head scratches. This is a behavior that I have seen in birds before, and I think that the best thing to do is to simply ignore it. The key to successful positive reinforcement training is to reward behaviors that you like, while at the same time ignoring those that you do not. If you present your hand persistently or at an increasingly close distance to the bird when it’s not doing what you want it to, frustration can build up within the animal to the point that it may become aggressive.

It sounds like you are having some success with stepping your bird up in some situations, so we will seek to build on these experiences and hope to translate them to stepping up your bird regardless of where in its cage or in your house she may be. I think it’s important to look at how the situations where you’ve said the bird will step up to you are different from other situations. In the case of being on the floor, my guess would be that the bird willingly steps up because, for a parrot, being on the ground puts them in a very vulnerable position, and she has probably learned that stepping up to your hand from there is the fastest way for her to get up from there and to someplace where she likely feels more comfortable. As for stepping up at night, it may well be the opposite situation; while she may step up from the floor to get away from a place where she might feel uncomfortable, I would guess that she steps up to your hand at night in order to move towards a place where she wants to be at that time (her cage, as it’s time to “roost” for the night). Every action an animal performs is done to either get something that it wants or to avoid something that it doesn’t want. Our goal for your cockatoo is to teach her to step up when you want her to, so we need to figure out the best way to make stepping up, in a variety of different places, times, and circumstances, to be a good thing that she looks forward to doing.

A big part of this will be making sure to create as many positive interactions between yourself and the bird as possible. I like to think of my relationship with a particular animal as a sort of bank account – I can make deposits into this account by creating positive, rewarding experiences for the bird, but I can also make withdrawals from it whenever I am a part of an interaction that the bird sees as a negative experience. If I build up a high enough “balance” from a long history of positive interactions, then the relationship doesn’t suffer too badly when I make a small withdrawal (maybe by startling the bird or taking an item away that I don’t want the bird to play with). However, if I don’t have a strong relationship (that is, if my account balance is low), then negative experiences can severely harm the overall relationship, even “bankrupting” it to the point where the bird wants nothing to do with me!

Before we even go into the details of training a bird to step up, I would like to make two suggestions that I think will help immensely. The first is to take every opportunity to try to create positive interactions with your bird on a daily basis. This may sound basic, but unfortunately many companion parrot owners just want someone to “fix” their birds, and don’t spend enough time building up the strong history of positive interactions that are the building blocks of a bond that hopefully will last many years. In my opinion, the most fun way to do this is to work on training your bird a variety of different behaviors. The basic rules of positive reinforcement training are simple – reinforce behaviors that you like, while ignoring those that you don’t – but they can be used to train any number of behaviors that you might want your bird to learn. One of our favorite behaviors is to train our birds to put themselves away when they are on top of their cages. You can do this by first showing them a treat and using it to try to bait them into their cage, and then fading out this bait and replacing it with a cue to go inside. We usually use a treat to lure them down the front of their cage, and then dropping a treat or two into their bowl from the outside so that they have to go inside to get it. We then let them climb back out and they do it all over again – it’s important to not close the door behind them too fast, as our goal is not to “trick” the bird into going inside, but rather to make going inside be something that it likes to do. After going inside a few times to grab a treat, you might try just pointing towards the bowl where you’ve been dropping treats. The bird might make a small movement towards the inside of the cage, and you can then drop a treat in the bowl to reward them for that. Over time and with patience you can eventually get to where you can simply gesture towards the bowl, your bird will go inside, you can shut the door, and then give them treats in their bowl. Each and every step in this training process creates more and more positive history between you and your bird.

My second suggestion is to try whenever possible to avoid negative interactions with your bird. Negative interactions, such as forcing the bird to step up by pushing a hand upwards into their chest, can have a variety of undesirable consequences. Not only are these interactions unpleasant (or, at worst, harmful) for your bird, but they will take away the trust and progress that is made in your positive interactions. From what you’ve detailed in your question, a negative interaction that I would try to avoid whenever at all possible is the use of a towel or gloves to grab, secure, or otherwise immobilize your bird. I would suggest that if you think that there is any chance that you may have to be able to secure your bird in a rapid fashion, then it is probably best to not let your bird out at this time or in this situation. Severe negative experiences such as this make large withdrawals from our trust accounts that we build up with our animals, and the stronger the history they have with a particular negative stimulus, the more damage it does to our ability to maintain the trust that it takes to maintain our bonds with them.

Now that I’ve gone over some of the preliminary guidelines that I think will help you with your cockatoo, I will detail to you how we go about teaching a bird to step up. Many of the details may be a repeat of things that you have heard in the past, but it will give you a good look at the things that we look at in the behavior of our birds in order to evaluate how to progress in our training with them.

Because biting is an issue that many companion parrot owners run into in regards to trying to step them up, we sometimes suggest that people train this behavior with their bird in its cage, so that the bird is secured in a safe area while training progresses. Because it sounds like your bird already spends a lot of time outside his cage, you might also follow the steps below with her on top of her cage, which gives her a bit more freedom of movement. The first step in this training is to evaluate the behavior of the bird when we first step up to them. In order for a training session to be successful, we want to make sure the bird is not exhibiting any signs of discomfort or aggression that may be a sign to us that the bird does not want to interact with us at the time. With cockatoos, we look at erect crest feathers, slow or rigid body movements, and tightened body feathers as signs that something in their environment is making them uncomfortable. Some cockatoos will raise their crests when they are simply excited, so we will often look for several of these signs to be exhibited at once to determine whether or not it is a good idea to approach the bird in question. We always want to set our animals up for success, and look to whether or not they want us to interact with them at the time is always the first step in this.

If your bird seems comfortable and interested in interacting with you, we then try to figure out what we can use as a treat in order to reinforce good behaviors during our training sessions. The best way to figure out what to use for a treat is to take those items that are favored treats (which for many birds is a particular type of nut or seed) and to withhold them from your bird’s regular diet and only use them in your training sessions. This will ensure that these items retain a very high value, and the bird will learn quickly that participating in these sessions is the way to get these things that it likes so much. If you find that your bird continues to ignore or reject food treat, you may be able to use small scratches on the head as a reinforcer instead. The trick is to find something that your bird really likes and try to only use it during these sessions, as it will give this reinforcer special value that, at least initially, it can only get when you are playing the “training game.”

Once you have a reinforcer that the bird likes and you’ve determined that the bird is comfortable with your presence, you can begin to reward the bird for maintaining its calm demeanor while you progress in your session. If the bird approaches you as you approach her, try offering her a small treat or scratch. We like to use small treats because they can be eaten quickly so that training doesn’t slow down. If she takes the treat gently from your fingers, then next you can present your flat hand at a safe distance away. While many companion parrot owners let their birds stand on the side of their hand (on top of the thumb, with the palm perpendicular to the ground), we like to use a flat palm as it is a larger area for the bird to stand on, and can be held steadily more easily and will therefore be a more stable and comfortable “perch” for your bird to stand on. Depending on the set up of the cage, you might be able to get your hand onto a perch in her cage while she sits a safe and comfortable distance away. If not, then it's ok to present your hand through the doorway, while she sits on a perch just inside. Regardless of whether she is inside or on top of her cage during this training, I’d suggest trying to rest your hand on either a perch inside or on the cage itself (if she’s on top of the cage), as this will make your hand much steadier. If she puts her head down for scratches, lunges, or tries to bite when you present your hand, then back your hand further out of her space until you can reinforce her for comfortable, upright body language. You can then start your approximations from there, edging your hand closer as she demonstrates good body language. If she lifts her foot, reinforce her for that. The next step would be to reinforce her for touching your hand with her foot. How to do this will depend on where your hand is in her environment. If your hand is resting on her perch, then simply bait her (show her the treat) so that she needs to move close enough to touch your hand in order to get the treat. This may be where working with your bird on top of her cage may be an advantage, as she will have the power to choose to walk to where your hand is, as opposed to you having to encroach on her space in the cage by moving your hand continually closer to her in the cage.

The important point in all of this is to give your bird power in his environment. If she isn't comfortable with your hand moving in (i.e. she's lunging or biting), then it would be best to keep a distance where she is comfortable (i.e. sitting still, not showing aggression). When she does show good body language while she touches your hand, reinforce her for that. Next, give her the opportunity to step up with both feet, and reinforce her for that if she chooses to do so. It’s possible that she may step up confidently and willingly right away, or you made need several repetitions at each step. It all depends on her, and how comfortable she is at each step. Her body language and behavior will tell you her level of comfort, and that’s what contributes to her part in the communication going on between the two of you. Your ability to read that body language and react accordingly is your part in this two-way communication.

If she is stepping up confidently, then go right ahead and ask her to step right back off (having never taken your hand out of the cage if this is where your training is happening). Birds like to step up onto things, so make sure your hand is slightly above the level of the perch/top of the cage when she steps onto your hand and slightly below the level of the perch/top of the cage when she steps back onto the perch. Because you’ve probably given your cockatoo many treats for getting onto your hand at this point, she may not want to get off! It’s important that she does, though, so that you can continue to practice repetitions of stepping onto and off of your hand, so you may need to show her a treat on the opposite side of her perch to get her to step off initially. When she does steps off, make sure to reinforce her right away.

There are a couple of things to consider when you’re deciding how much to reinforce her for stepping onto and off your hand. It’s possible that stepping off your hand may be more negative than stepping on, so be prepared to give her lots of treats and attention for going back onto her perch if she seems hesitant to do so. It may also be possible that, if she’s nervous stepping on the hand, she’d rather go back to the perch and, therefore more reinforcement should come for stepping on the hand and less for stepping on the perch. But be prepared to change where she gets the most reinforcement. What was her strongest behavior at the beginning of the session may not be her strongest behavior at the end. This is another example of how good training techniques create two-way communication between the trainer and the animal. Her behavior will dictate how you reinforce her, and how you reinforce her will influence her future behaviors.

Once you are both comfortable at these steps and ready to move on, you can try to move her around a bit on the hand (take her out of her cage if that’s where you’ve been working). But I would encourage you to do lots of repetition stepping her up from a spot and putting her right back down again first. Once she learns that stepping up doesn’t mean that she’s going anywhere, and she’s doing it without hesitation, you can step her up, move her around a little, and put her right back in the same spot. That can progress to where you’re moving her around even more, and then even putting her down in different spots, first away from the cage, then towards the cage. Once she’s stepping up comfortably and coming with you towards the cage, you can try putting her inside and then bringing her right back out again. Next, put her in the cage and ask her to step onto the perch, then step her right back up and bring her out. Lots of repetition at each step is the key. You can then generalize this behavior to other places – from the top of the cage, off of a climbing toy, off a table, off of the floor, etc. One of the sayings that make up the backbone of our training philosophy at Natural Encounters, Inc, is “Repetition builds confidence.” It’s a gradual process, and one that requires lots of time and patience, but it’s one that has been successful in the training that we’ve done with literally hundreds of birds over the years.

The key to integrating the above into your work with your Goffin’s cockatoo will be to always pay attention to what your bird is telling you in with her body language, and to only push forward in your training at a rate that your bird is comfortable with. If you are interested in reading more about bird behavior and training, I recommend you check out information on our website, http://www.naturalencounters.com, where you can find a variety of papers and articles that have valuable information for concerned companion parrot owners such as yourself. If you are interested in a more hands-on approach to learning about the care, training, and enrichment of your cockatoos, you may also want to consider attending one of our Companion Parrot Owner Workshops. Held at the Natural Encounters Training Facility in Winter Haven, FL, this 6-day lecture and hands-on training workshop teaches the principals and applications of the art and science of using positive reinforcement techniques in working with companion parrots. Our president, Steve Martin, teaches the lecture portion of the workshop himself, while outside the classroom participants work with our Senior Trainers and other parrot owners to apply the information covered to a wide variety of parrot species. Space in these workshops is limited and they usually fill to capacity quite quickly. More information can be found on our website, http://www.naturalencounters.com, or by calling 407-938-0847.

Best of luck!

Sincerely,

Chris Jenkins
Supervisor
Natural Encounters, Inc

Answered by Steve Martin & Staff:

Hello Melanie! My name is Chris Jenkins, and I am one of the Supervisors with Natural Encounters, Inc. I recently received your question about your new Amazon and his interaction with your other birds, and I’d be happy to offer my advice.

First off, I’d like to thank you for seeking advice on the care of your companion parrots. It sounds like you have several large and enriching enclosures for your birds, and the fact that you are looking to do what's best for all your parrots in regards to the aggression that you’ve seen shows that you are a caring and responsible companion parrot owner.

The kind of aggression that you’ve described from your Amazon is what is known as “redirected aggression.” An animal cannot take out its aggression on the target of its frustration (you), and therefore redirects it to another object in its environment (your cockatoo). I’m happy to hear that you separated the birds, as we’ve found that a bird that practices aggression only gets better at it, and it’s possible that the aggression between the Amazon and the cockatoo may have just gotten worse and worse.

As for what is best for all of your birds, you need to take into consideration both their health and their safety. From a safety standpoint, I think it is probably best to keep your Amazon separated from the other birds at this point. Even though they are in a very large aviary, if the Amazon decides to pursue aggressive behaviors towards your other birds, they only have so much room until they cannot avoid it any longer. This may in turn lead to defensive aggression on the part of your other birds, and you may soon find yourself with three aggressive birds instead of one!

As for the mental wellbeing of your birds, I think all three would be just fine with the Amazon separated from the other two. At 12 feet in length, this second aviary that you have is far larger than the enclosures that most companion parrot owners are able to provide for their birds, and if it is filled with toys, perches, and other enrichment items, then your Amazon’s new environment should provide a fun and stimulating environment. Many people think that companion parrots have to be housed in pairs or groups for them to be happy, but some parrots prefer to have an environment that is all their own over which they have control and free reign. Keeping your Amazon in this new, enriching environment also has the added benefit of keeping your cockatoo and macaw in a separate environment where they feel safe, happy, and secure, which I know is of equal concern to you as well. This may be more comfortable for the two of them as parrots generally pair off when in groups, thus creating a situation where your Amazon might be the “odd man out.”

The biggest thing that I think will ultimately end up benefiting all the parrots you own is to try to build a more positive relationship between yourself and your Amazon parrot. No matter how aversive the bird’s relationship with humans has been in the past, each and every day is a chance for him to start over, because animals live in the here and now. If you have taught your Amazon to fly into a separate cage so that you can enter his enclosure, then you’ve already proven that you are a skillful trainer, and I would utilize this skill to try to build up your history of positive interactions with your Amazon outside of his cage. By offering him treats and attention from outside of his cage when he is playing, sitting calmly, or displaying other desirable behaviors, you strengthen the positive bond between the bird and yourself. A good way to go about this is to take whatever your Amazon’s favorite treat is (maybe a particular seed, nut, or type of fruit) and save it so that he only gets it from you, given by hand either to him or into a bowl in his cage, when you want to reinforce him for performing behaviors that you like – making sure this treat is something he doesn’t get everyday along with the rest of his diet gives that treat special value, and will help your bird to more quickly the distinguish the behaviors that you like from anything else he might be doing. When he realizes what it is that he has to do to get this favored item, chances are you’ll start seeing these desirable behaviors a lot more frequently!

Another great way to strengthen this bond is to teach your bird other behaviors from outside of his cage. Training behaviors from outside the cage (or, in this case, from outside the aviary) is one of the best ways that you can both mentally stimulate and increase your positive history with your bird, and what you can train him is only limited by the bird’s physical capabilities and your own imagination. You might want to consider training him behaviors that will help you to be able to work with and manage your birds’ care in the future, such as being able to call him to different perches around the aviary or to “station” (what we call it when we teach an animal to sit/hold still in a particular place and stay there) on a particular perch where you’d like him to be. The possibilities really are limitless!

At the same time that you are working to reinforce behaviors from your Amazon that you like, you should try to take yourself out of his environment if he is exhibiting undesirable behaviors such as screaming, biting, or lunging at the cage walls, or if he is displaying body language that suggests that he is uncomfortable with your presence. Some signs of an uncomfortable Amazon that we’ve seen in the past include slicked down body feathers, alarm calling, pupils that are rapidly expanding and contracting, and tail feathers that are spread out in the shape of a fan. If your bird begins to display these behaviors when you approach his aviary, he is uncomfortable with having you approach him at that time, and you should simply walk away and try again later.

Over time, your positive interactions with your bird may lead to a relationship that might allow you to go into the Amazon’s aviary without having to have him fly into a separate cage first. Given time, you may even be able to try to reintroduce your Amazon to the larger aviary, perhaps by first letting him spend time (maybe in a smaller cage, if you have one) just outside the large aviary to see how the birds all react to each other. At the same time that you are working on teaching your Amazon new behaviors in his enclosure, it may also be beneficial for you to work on training your cockatoo and macaw to “station” on different perches in their aviary as well. Giving them a job to do will give them something to focus on other than the Amazon, and you might even consider training the two of them to fly into different cages within their enclosure so that you can bring your Amazon into the larger aviary alone and train him to station on his own perch as well. Strong stationing behaviors are important for the management of animals in groups, and can help you to calm things down if you see aggression flare up amongst them in the future. Note that it is important during this process to notice and be ready to avoid any patterns that you see amongst your birds that might potentially lead to aggressive behavior, and to try to notice whether that aggression is something that only occurs when you are around the birds. If the cause of the aggression between your birds was the relationship you have with your Amazon, then first building a strong, positive relationship with that bird will be a huge first step towards your three birds having strong, positive, and rewarding bonds between the three of them.

We hope that your relationship with your birds continues to grow, and that the advice we’ve provided helps to build your levels of skill, sensitivity, and enjoyment of your birds for many years to come. If you are interested in learning more about the care and behavior of companion parrots, please check out our website at http://www.naturalencounters.com, which features a variety of papers and articles on the training, enrichment, and behavior of companion parrots. If you are interested in a more hands-on approach to learning about the care, training, and enrichment of your parrots, you may also want to consider attending one of our Companion Parrot Owner Workshops. Held at the Natural Encounters Training Facility in Winter Haven, FL, this 6-day lecture and hands-on training workshop teaches the principals and applications of the art and science of using positive reinforcement techniques in working with companion parrots. Our president, Steve Martin, teaches the lecture portion of the workshop himself, while outside the classroom participants work with our Senior Trainers and other parrot owners to apply the information covered to a wide variety of parrot species. Space in these workshops is limited and they usually fill to capacity quite quickly. More information can be found on our website, http://www.naturalencounters.com, or by calling 407-938-0847.

Best of luck, and we look forward to hearing about your future successes!

Sincerely,

Chris Jenkins
Supervisor
Natural Encounters, Inc

Answered by Dr. Brian Speer, DVM:

Sorry for your loss. The best person to answer your question about what came out of that sinus flush would be the person who actually saw it - your veterinarian. This could have been a dried concretion of keratinaceous material. a foreign body or theoretically an infected piece of bone that was dislodged in the flushing process. Was there a post mortem examination performed to determine the factual cause of death? In general, recurring "sinus infections" happen for a reason, and are a call to establish an accurate diagnosis if at all possible.

Answered by Dr. Brian Speer, DVM:

You have reason to be concerned. Increased respiratory effort is not a normal thing that occurs with age. Particularly in older birds, these signs could be early warnings of a multitude of potential problems. If these signs are significant enough to raise your concern, I'd strongly recommend that you have a proper physical examination performed by an experienced and competent avian veterinarian.

Answered by Jim McKendry:

G’day Asa, Thought provoking question – I’m glad you asked ☺.

Debate, generalisations and assumptions about the comparative `intelligence’ level of different parrot species has long been an issue that seems to generate some poorly considered discussion amongst parrot keepers. Most of what I read on parrot intelligence has a tendency to set criteria for making judgements on perceived `intelligence’ that has little relevance to what would be considered `intelligent’ for that species in the wild. As a wildlife biologist, if I have to consider the `intelligence’ of different parrot species then it’s in an ecological and environmental context – relevant to the behaviour of the individual in the wild.

Unfortunately, the criterion for intelligence usually set by parrot owners is often highly anthropomorphic and I rarely see any discussion of parrot intelligence accompanied by a suitable and appropriate definition. Perhaps we can consider that here. A quick look at a variety of available definitions for `intelligence' suggest that it can be defined as an ability to comprehend, understand, benefit from experience, solve problems, use language and learn. These are all skills that every parrot, regardless of the species, needs to employ to be successful in their natural environment. When we appreciate the huge variation in ecological contexts that the 350+ different parrots species that we are concerned with come from, we realise that all have learned how to solve the key problem of surviving and succeeding to the next generation. That, for me, is my best indicator of `intelligence’ – success of an animal in its natural environmental state. Drop me off somewhere deep in the jungles of South America, or the arid inland of Australia, and I’m not sure that I’d last more than a couple of days - and I'm supposed to be a fairly intelligent guy.

In captive environments we have a tendency to place demands on parrots and make judgements about their `intelligence’ in contexts that often have a huge set of unrealistic expectations embedded in them. These captive contexts often also fail to provide the most appropriate conditions, stimuli and teaching practices that are required to set the bird up to succeed. What might be best to question is the `intelligence’ of the keeper and whether or not they have provided the environmental conditions required to facilitate their parrot demonstrating its capacity to engage effectively with its surrounds, whether that be in performing a trick, extending their vocabulary or simply flying to the hand on cue. The parrot, whether it’s an African Grey, Lovebird, Budgerigar or Hyacinth Macaw, has the capacity to learn – do we have the capacity to be the good teacher they need and set up the environment they require for their `true’ intelligence to shine?

Kind Regards from `Down Under’
Jim McKendry
http://www.pbec.com.au

Answered by Susan Friedman & LLP Course Graduates:

What a great question Antonia. It's one that generated a good deal of discussion amongst out group of LLP graduates who have an interest in the behavior of parrots both free range and in the home. Rather than come up with suggestions as to the species that might co-existed best with your Ducorp's cockatoo, we felt that it might be more prudent to discuss whether or not another bird in the home was necessary.

To that end, after editing for readability, we decided to answer in a point- counterpoint fashion so that you could review different thoughts that arose during the discussion.

One point we were unclear about was whether or not the "month" you speak of meant you would be busy for just one month or if in a month's time you would be begin working longer hours which would reduce the time spent with your current bird. That is an important factor to weigh in making your decision.

1) Can a single bird thrive in the home?

*Lee said:
Certainly! In the late 60s into the early 80s, before I took in a re-homed birds, I only ever had one bird at a time. Can that one bird thrive and survive while I was away all day at work? You bet. But there are some correlates to be considered. Enough enrichment to keep the bird busy during the day when it is not napping, work for it to do in the form of foraging for food; audio/visual stimulation of some sort and assorted toys with differing textures to play with during the day were items that I addressed.. Additionally, when at home, both ambient and direct attention were provided along with some form of exercise. We also taught the parrot some bird tricks a along with new new behaviors which added to the one on one interaction time, increased my observation skills when it cam to body language as well as made me a bigger reinforcer for my bird. In lay terms that means we developed a closer bond.

2) Bringing a new bird into the home as a companion.

*Lee said:
Bringing another bird into the home whether it be the same or a different species can bring problems of it's own? If a new bird reduces the time the caregiver spends with the in situ bird and that time is, as I suspect, very reinforcing to the bird, then behavioral trouble such as screaming and biting might be on the horizon with a reduction of the overall level of available positive reinforcement. It seems to me that we can't take for granted that the two birds of the same species, or a different species, would interact although they might be company for one another even with out observable interaction. Are there "solo" birds in the wild? I suspect so but can't prove it other than that loan wild Spix's macaw that was last seen in 2000. .

**Gay said:
I would advise not to though. I don't get this one month of change versus a whole lifetime of change.

Nothing says the birds will be friends no matter what type of bird they get. So you put two birds in proximity that really aren't friends and I personally am not sure if you've done anything good. Far more important to me to compensate for that month of more alone time by giving the bird lots of enrichment and giving it some good personal time. People get the idea that the birds needs hours and hours of your undivided attention and it just isn't true.

A new bird would not be a month. It is supposedly a life long commitment. I would never advise buying a second bird solely for the first bird.

*Lee said:
Yes, you are right. Getting another bird as company for the existing bird in a situation where I was speaking one on one to a person, I might ask for more data including life style, current interaction level with the bird, fiscal and physical constraints, time available, etc before I would offer specific advice to the individual.

Another factor to consider would be the age of both birds. The research is there that we all need some sort of interactive relationship with the environment especially at key points in our lives and there after. Perhaps in an ideal world it would always be with the same species in a family unit but life sure isn't ideal and most of us adapt in one way or another including single birds.

How many times have we heard of a bird that begins to overpreen/pluck after a new bird is added? We wonder if you are prepared for any eventual behavioral or reproduction behaviors that might arise? Those are important points to ponder when considering both same species, same sex versus another species.

**Gay said:
People get the idea that the birds needs hours and hours of your undivided attention and it just isn't true. IF the only reason is for bird number 1, then I would still say nay. It's the wrong reason, for this human and for the new bird and possibly the existing bird.

*Lee said:
Agreed!

**Gay said:
Another point to bear in mind is that you are going to buy a new bird, bring it to a strange home, with another strange bird and desert it at a time when it might require greater interaction. IF the only reason is for bird number 1, then I would still say nay. It's the wrong reason, for this human and for the new bird and possibly the existing bird.

I say these comments though, knowing that birds are more flock animals and living in segregation is (or should be) totally alien to them

*Lee said:
Don't forget that not all species of parrots live in large flocks (not sure about Ducorp's as I haven't researched them). Look at the South American birds who might show up at a clay lick for the “town hall meeting” and then be solitary or in pairs for the rest of the day. Even with those that live in pairs do you thing that nature always balances it out - exactly? My bet, although I don't know definitively nor do I even know if it's been researched, is that there will be spinsters or bachelors in the wild as well. What they are is adaptable given half a chance. What happens to the males that aren't colorful enough or sing great songs well enough to get a female? Wouldn't they some how adapt as evidenced by the period of time that last wild Spix's macaw was alone?

3) Quarantine concerns.

Dana said:
Shouldn't a new bird be quarantined from the original bird for about 3 months??

Lee said:
Valid point Dana. I'm afraid I don't know the disease status in Japan, if parrots are still imported or locally bred. Those should always be considerations when bringing a new bird into a home where an existing bird resides. A quick check reveals that Japan does still import parrots, without quarantine at the point of entry, so segregation prior to interaction with an existing flock would only be prudent,

There you have it Antonina. Some slightly differing opinions that are leaning toward not bringing in another bird at this time. . The bottom line is that we really don't have enough information about you, your circumstances, the existing bird nor the current status of parrot diseases in Japan to give an informed answer. Nor do we have enough inforamtion as to how you interact with the current resident. We do not know what your expectations are for the new bird in relation to yourself as well your yearling Ducorp's. As it stands, we don't know if you are just getting a new bird for your existing bird or for other reasons. That would be a key piece of information to have in order to better answer your question.

When a new bird arrives in one of our houses, great pains are taken to ensure that the routine of the resident flock isn't interrupted and the new one is introduced in a controlled supervised way as the helps to prevent behavior problems down the road.

Best of luck in making your decision

Lee McGuire, Gay Noeth, Dana McDonald for Susan Friedman Ph. D. and the LLP grads group.

Answered by Susan Friedman & LLP Course Graduates:

What an interesting question. If I understand you correctly, you are asking if parrots recognize their own species should a similarly colored species be nearby. Certainly they do. In much the same we way recognize immediate family members by size, height, skin color, hair color, specific possible idiosyncratic behaviors, how they talk, and the location in which we see them. We learn about family members via tiny observations that we are not aware of as well as making conscious observations. Moving onto birds in the wild, we find that ornithologists and bird watchers differentiate different species in a similar way using diagnostic field criteria. Observable factors such as size; color; identifying marks and color patterns on the head, body and wings of of the bird such as wing bars, eye stripes or spots; the bird's song or vocalization; the size and shape of the tail; the flight silhouette; it's feeding patterns; it's habitat and diet can all contribute to identification.

Now we've laid out how we humans differentiate different species of birds let's look at how birds might accomplish the same thing. When it comes to identification we move into an area where birds have a little bit more of an advantage. Not only are all of the above field marks available to birds but recent research has indicated that the bird's eye also see in the ultraviolet (UV) wavelength. Even when two species are difficult for the human to identify in those locations where their ranges overlap or they coexist, birds are able to distinguish their relatives. Robert Bleiweiss from the University of Wisconsin has been quoted as saying although two sibling species of the South Amercian mountain tanager are extraordinarily similar, other than back color which often difficult for observers to see from the ground, their feathers show distinct patterns when viewed under UV light. Budgerigars also have that same feather fluorescence when illuminated with UV light. Along with the factors we humans use to identify specific species, we can add another element - data from the UV wavelength light that only the birds can use without further equipment.

It's also wise to bear in mind that those parings you mention in your question for the most part have differing ranges where they live and breed in addition to identifiable field marks. For instance in your first example, the throat patch on the Blue (Ara glaucogularis) versus the Blue and Gold Macaw (B&G) (Ara ararauna) is clearly diagnostic to even the human eye. Although the ranges may overlap at the extreme southern end of the B&G range and the northern end of the Blues' range, I suspect it's not the norm given that B&Gs are far more numerous than the "Blues" who are endangered in the wild. It would seem they can easily tell their "own". The same criteria listed above could be used for the other pairings you mention.

Lee McGuire for Susan Friedman and the LLP Grad Team

Answered by Dr. Brian Speer, DVM:

My suggestions and comments are general, in the absence of direct history collection and physical examination of the patient in question. In principle, you need to ask your veterinarian to complete a bit more of a database here. A baseline complete blood count and biochemistry profile make very good sense, to try to ascertain the general health status of your bird. I agree - the use of cervical or Elizabethan collars would not and probably should not be an early or first choice intervention for feather damaging behavior. If you feel that your bird is in pain, ask your veterinarian about analgesia or pain relief. The likelihood of feather lice or mites having a primary role in this problem are very very low. Furthermore, in such a young parrot, it would be prudent to seek marked and obvious behavioral causes as well as physical pain or other issues that could have a causative role here with your bird.