Ask An Expert: Steve Martin & Staff

Answered by Steve Martin & Staff:

Hello Alex! My name is Chris Jenkins, and I am one of the Supervisors with Natural Encounters, Inc. I received your question about your screaming macaw, Thor, and I’d be happy to offer you some advice that should be helpful in dealing with it.

Screaming is a natural behavior for parrots, and is therefore a behavior that can never be eliminated completely. That being said, it is well within your ability to use positive reinforcement to train your bird to reduce the frequency and duration of these screams, and to replace them with other vocalizations that you find more acceptable.

From what you’ve detailed, it sounds like you’ve gotten some good training information that can give you a head start on working to reduce the incidence of Thor’s screaming. The basic plan that we try to follow when dealing with a screaming parrot is two-fold. First, we try to make sure that we don’t do anything to reinforce the screaming as it occurs. Second, we work to train the bird to perform behaviors that are incompatible with screaming in order to get what it wants. We’ll tackle these two aspects one at a time.

First, it is important to not reinforce the behavior that you want to see eliminated. Parrots have the ability to call very loudly, as you have heard. What we want to make sure is that we don’t inadvertently train our birds to scream in order to get what they want. Some companion owners will give their birds treats or toys when they are screaming in hopes that it will shift their focus and keep them occupied. Others will ignore their birds when they scream until it reaches an intensity that they can’t tolerate, and then go to their birds to either console or scold them. Both of these scenarios send the message that screaming will earn the bird a desirable consequence. In the first case, the bird learns that it can earn a variety of treats or toys by screaming. The second case is basically the same, as the bird learns not only that it can get attention (even if it is negative attention) by screaming, but that in order for it to work they have to scream very, very loudly!

It is important, then, for the bird to learn that screaming will not earn it something that it wants. If the bird learns that there is no positive consequence to screaming, then over time the bird will spend less time and energy performing this behavior in order to achieve that outcome. Be aware, though, that a behavior that was previously reinforced and is now ignored will usually go through what is know in the training world as an “extinction burst.” This means that, before giving up, the animal will likely perform the previously reinforced behavior with a higher intensity or duration than they ever have before in a last ditch effort to earn reinforcement. In Thor’s case, this means that the screaming will likely get worse before it gets better. Think of it as when you are trying to call someone to get his or her attention. If a soft “Hey there” doesn’t work, you say “Hey” a little louder. If that doesn’t work, you say it even louder than that. If that doesn’t work, you may yell “HEEEEEYYYYYY!!!” before giving up and realizing that the person isn’t going to pay attention to you. Thor’s screaming will likely follow the same progression, and it is vitally important that you resist the temptation to respond in any way during this “burst”, as doing so sends the message to him that he can only get your attention by screaming really, really, REALLY loudly. We know of one companion parrot owner who has taken up the habit of freezing in place wherever she is in her home when her cockatoo screams, for fear that she might in some way make a movement or sound that could inadvertently reinforce the bird. That might be a bit of an extreme example, but it definitely takes to heart the importance of not reinforcing an unwanted behavior.

So must you sit idly by while your bird screams louder and louder? Not at all. At the same time that you are ignoring the unwanted behavior, you can work to train your bird to perform behaviors that you like in order for it to earn desirable consequences. From what you’ve said you’ve already been reinforcing Thor for vocalizations that you like, “Hello” and “Never more”. By pairing these vocalizations with the reinforcers that you mentioned, you’ve strengthened them to a point that they are now offered more and more frequently. This is to be expected, as he has learned that there are desirable consequences to these particular behaviors. In order to avoid the screaming that occurs when he doesn’t get these reinforcers, there are a few different strategies that you might find helpful to try. If you want to maintain the two vocalizations above, I would suggest working to slowly increase the length of time between when the vocalization occurs and when he gets reinforced for it. We’ve worked with a number of people who’ve had this exact same issue, and what seems to work well is to introduce a secondary reinforcer – perhaps verbal praise like the word “Good” – that happens after he vocalizes but before you give him the treat or attention. This praise, if presented consistently, will tell the bird that what it’s just done was good, and that a treat or attention will follow. In the training world this is known as a “bridge” because it bridges the length of time between when the behavior occurred and when the treat is delivered. In the early stages of training you can bridge and reinforce the bird right after the behavior occurs, but the goal will be to slowly lengthen the time between the behavior and it’s consequences. This is not a quick fix, and will take some time, but it is a very reliable method that has been successful for a number of companion parrot owners over the years. At first this may involve making fairly frequent trips from your chair to his cage, but with time and consistency you should be able to stretch the time between these trips out to whatever length of time you think is appropriate. Also, your response of “Good” can be a reinforcer in and of itself. If the bird vocalizes in a way you like and you answer back, this “call and response” can become an additional form of attention that Thor can learn that he will get for performing this desirable vocalizations, thus giving you another way to reinforce him without always having to get up to do so.

In addition to lengthening the amount of time between when these vocalizations occur and when reinforcement arrives, you should also train him to perform other behaviors that are incompatible with screaming. The behaviors that we suggest for this particular case would be any soft call, whistle, or vocalization that you find acceptable. The more these sounds are reinforced, the more likely your bird will be to perform them, and because you will be making sure to not reinforce unwanted vocalizations like screaming, Thor will learn that it is much more worth his while to spend his time performing the behaviors that have consequences that he likes instead of those that are ignored. At the same time, I would think about how else you might set up your environment to give Thor the best chance to be successful in the training that you’ll be doing. If you find that he’s most likely to scream during dinner, you might consider giving him lots of attention just prior to dinnertime, and then leaving him with some treats or a favorite toy during dinnertime. You may also consider making this his dinnertime as well, as he will likely be more occupied with what he’s been given to eat at that time than with what’s going on at the dinner table. If you feel that the screaming is a function of his being out of the sight of you during dinner, you can do a test and see if moving his cage so that he can see you while you eat makes a difference, as he may just be calling because he can hear people but can’t see what’s going on.

In summary, the best way to teach Thor that he can’t always get what he wants is by making sure you provide clear, consistent communication about what the consequences of his various behaviors will be. Making sure that he gets lots of attention and reinforcement when he is performing behaviors that you like, ignoring and not reinforcing behaviors that you don’t like, and actively working to replace unwanted behaviors with more desirable, incompatible ones will give Thor a new vocabulary for how he should interact with the humans that he shares him home with, and will hopefully give your ears a much needed rest.

With patience, determination, and consistency, I have no doubt that the above methods can begin to lead to a significant decline in Thor’s screaming. If you haven’t done so already, I’d also suggest checking out the articles we have posted at http://www.naturalencounters.com, as they contain information about bird training, behavior, and enrichment that you may find interesting and useful.

Best of luck to you both!

Sincerely,

Chris Jenkins
Supervisor
Natural Encounters, Inc.

Answered by Steve Martin & Staff:

Hello Elizabeth, My name is Miranda DeVries and I am an avian trainer at Natural Encounters, Inc. I would first like to commend you on seeking help for yourself and your cockatiel so quickly. It says a lot about your compassion for your bird ‘family’ that you want to make sure your new family member has a positive and reinforcing relationship with you.

There could be a variety of factors in your new birds past experiences that contributed to the behaviors you are experiencing today. The good thing is the past does not equal the future, and we have the ability through new training to modify any behavior.

My first thoughts when reading your question is that you may need to get your bird a bigger cage, or at least find a way to give him more space when you interact with him. You say in your question that when you put your hand in his cage he acts terrified and runs away. This tells me that you putting your hand in his cage is a very negative experience for your bird. The only way your bird has to communicate to you that he does not like this is to run away. You are lucky that you have had your bird for only a short period of time because this running away could easily lead to biting when all his other escape options are taken away. By being more respectful and attentive to trying to give your bird more space when you interact with him, he will have more power over his environment in choosing to get away from your hand.

By giving this control or power over his environment it will make your bird more comfortable and thus start you both on the road to a more positive relationship. One of the most important keys to a positive relationship is a solid history of positive interactions, so our strategy will be to create as many of these as possible. A good first step towards making him more comfortable is to work on some training that can be done from the outside of the cage. When interacting with your bird from outside the cage you should always watch for body language that indicates the bird is uncomfortable with the situation. Some behaviors to watch for might be feathers slicked tightly to the body, eye pinning, open mouth lunging at people or the bars of his cage, flapping wings, or ruffled head feathers. If your bird displays any of these behaviors wait for an upright calm body behavior and offer a treat through the cage bars. The goal should be, though, to reinforce and walk away at first before the bird has the chance to display these behaviors. You’re allowing your bird to decide whether or not he wants the treat without being in his space. You are also allowing your bird to choose to come to you instead of you chasing him all over his cage. For the treat, try finding something that the bird really enjoys - seeds, nuts, millet, pellets or maybe even a fruit or vegetable – and then only use that item for training, and not as part of their regular diet so that it retains special value.

In your question you say that your bird chirped and talked when you walked over to him. To help build a positive relationship with him you can offer treats for certain sounds or words that you like. If you want to you can even try to put some of the sounds on cue. When trying to put a sound on cue you will have to use a training tool called a bridge. Here at NEI we simply say, ‘good,’ to cover the time between the desired sound and the delivery of a treat; it is called a bridge because it “bridges” the gap in time between the two. I would just do one sound first and when the bird starts to consistently do the sound try to add in the cue. A cue is anything you want that lets the bird know you want the desired sound. Try to do your cue just before he does his sound, if you notice that there is maybe some other behavior or vocalization that he consistently performs just before the desired vocalization. Get comfortable with this and then cue the behavior before he has even offered it. Lastly, just reinforce the behavior when it follows the cue. I suggest you interact with your bird on this level until you have built up a positive enough relationship with him to move on to learning to step up. When your bird is consistently sitting calmly while you approach the cage or touch and open the cage door, this is an indicator that you are ready to move to this next step. Be careful to not be tempted to rush to get to this point, though. One of the keys to successful training is to always train at the bird’s pace, so taking your time and not being afraid to take a step or two back if progress slows are important things to keep in mind at all times.

Teaching your bird to step up willingly will be a very different process from simply scooping the bird up off the perch. It gives the bird the power to decide whether or not he wants to step up, and therefore gives him a stronger voice in the two-way communication that you have developed through the training outlined above. To begin training the stepping up behavior, we offer our birds a treat with our right hand and have our left hand held out palm flat and resting on a perch if possible between the bird and the treat. We use a flat palm because it is a large, stable surface for them to stand on. The goal is to position the palm hand in such a way that it becomes a platform for the bird to step on in order to get to the treat that you have for him. The key is to keep your hands at enough distance from the bird that he must choose to approach them. That way you can give him a treat for every small step he makes towards coming towards and stepping onto your hand. If you simply put your hands all the way into the cage, he won’t have a lot of choice in the matter about whether or not to interact with you. With a small bird like a cockatiel, it is best to use tiny pieces of the treats so you can repeat your steps several times and make progress on the final behavior before the bird gets satiated and no longer wants to train.

Start by placing your left hand palm up on the perch away from the bird and showing him treats with your right hand; having your right hand over the left so you are giving treats for every tiny step the bird makes towards you and the treat. Make sure you give the bird the treat and don’t try to bait or lure him with it because that is dishonest. You don’t want to inadvertently damage the positive relationship you have built. It is important to rest your palm hand on the perch so that when the bird does put a foot on it, it is a very steady surface for him to stand on. Slowly start moving the treat back so he has to approach your flat hand to get to it. If he chooses not to approach your flat hand, take it as a sign that he is uncomfortable, and go back a step and remove your palm so that he simply is approaching the treat hand. Once he is comfortable to the point that he will approach you with your palm present, remember to rest your hand on maybe a perch in the cage so that your hand is very stable to step up on. To begin hold the treat in such a way that he has to put one foot on your palm to reach it. When he does this behavior you can bridge him by saying ‘good’ and giving him a treat. You can then build on this by positioning the treat so that he has to step onto your hand with both feet to reach it.

When doing these behaviors always allow your bird the option of stepping back off your hand. Keep the treats that you are giving your bird variable and hidden inside your closed hand once he knows treats are there so he never knows exactly what he is going to get for doing the behavior. Once your bird is comfortable stepping on your hand with both feet try increasing the amount of time he is on your hand. Do this by waiting a couple seconds before you reinforce him for stepping up, and then give him the option to step back to the perch if he wants to. Repetition is important for an animal to gain confidence in a new behavior, and if you see his attention starting to wane don’t be afraid to end the session and try picking up again at that point later in the day. If he continues to show interest and step up without hesitation, you can begin to increase the duration of time on your hand slowly. Once he has mastered staying on your hand comfortably for a period of time try moving him around while on your hand. Keep your pace slow and steady. You can bridge and reinforce him for good body posture while on your hand. If he seems nervous at all allow him to step off and go back to making only very small movements with your hand. When your bird steps back off your hand you may not have to bridge and reinforce because he already knows that his cage is a positive place to be from all your trust building you did before training the step up, but if you find that he is hesitant to leave your hand (which is understandable given how you’ve helped establish it as a really fun place to be), you may have to offer treats for stepping off as well.

Once he is comfortable with the step up you can help him become comfortable with other perches (furniture, other perches, etc.) throughout your house by approximating him onto these objects basically the same way you did onto your hand through bridging and reinforcements and moving at his own pace. Don’t be afraid to take steps back as needed, and to keep your sessions short in order to ensure that you don’t lose the bird’s attention span. As you make progress with each step, your bird should become more and more eager to interact with you, and therefore will likely be very eager to play “the training game” when the time comes!

Elizabeth, I hope this helps you and your cockatiel build a positive relationship. If you have any further questions I recommend our website http://www.naturalencounters.com or one of our many companion parrot workshops that are offered throughout the year.

Sincerely,

Miranda DeVries
Avian Trainer
Natural Encounters, Inc.

Answered by Steve Martin & Staff:

Dear Miriam,

My name is Corey Derryberry and I am an avian trainer with Natural Encounters, Inc. I received your e-mail and am looking forward to sharing some advice with you, Frans, and Rocco. First of all, I would like to commend all of you for seeking help with Rocco. It is always great to see parrot owners invested in improving the quality of life and the relationships with the birds in their care.

One of the first things we teach new trainers is to understand that every parrot is an individual and each training situation is a study of one. Not only does this mean that each bird’s behavior may be different in the presence of similar environmental changes, such new objects, people, food, or even sounds, but the bird’s behavior may be different with various trainers (as you have seen with Rocco’s interactions with Susi and Frans). Therefore, the best way to build a relationship with Rocco is to allow him to choose when he wants to move on in the training process. What this means is that training is a two-way communication. Just as our body language is telling our bird what we would like them to do, their body language will tell us what they are willing to do.

By watching Rocco’s body language, we can determine the best place to start. If Rocco is showing signs of fear or aggression, such as eyes pinning (the pupils contracting and expanding quickly), tail fanning, raised neck feathers or feathers slicked tightly to the body, lunging and biting, or simply moving away, as Frans enters the room, this should serve as a clear sign that he is uncomfortable, and if Frans would continue to approach the enclosure, it could easily cause the relationship to worsen. There are, however, steps that Frans can take to work to make Rocco more comfortable with his presence. First, it is helpful to find Rocco’s favorite treats to use as reinforcers. A reinforcer is anything that increases the likelihood that a behavior will increase in frequency. Early on, treats such as peanuts, sunflower seeds, or grapes may be the best reinforcers, but again it depends on Rocco’s behavior to tell us what the best reinforcer is. Frans could put a wide variety of treats in Rocco’s food dish and watch which treats he eats first. These are most likely the best reinforcers. Once Frans has found the best treats, they should only be given as part of the training process and not as part of Rocco’s daily food. When Frans enters the room he should go straight to Rocco’s bowl and drop one of these treats in, but then quickly remove himself from the room. Not only will this build the relationship with Frans by pairing him with something positive, but by not lingering, Rocco will learn that the aversive, the source of his discomfort, is only temporary. In time, Rocco’s negative response to Frans’ presence will lessen. Once Rocco does not show any aggressive or fearful behavior, or even better, if Rocco begins to come over to the bowl when Frans enters the room, we know it is time to move on.

At this point, Frans can start increasing the amount of time spent near Rocco’s enclosure and may begin to give Rocco treats directly from the hand through the bars. Again, let Rocco’s body language determine Frans’ behavior. If Rocco begins to show any unwanted body language, it is time for Frans to back away.

When Rocco is comfortable with Frans outside the enclosure, he can start feeding Rocco through the open door. One thing to remember at this point, Rocco seems to have a long history of when hands come into his enclosure it means something bad is about to happen to him. Whether or not this is true, that is how Rocco reacts, so we need to respect this. By allowing Rocco to come to the treat (and therefore Frans) rather than Frans approaching Rocco, his confidence and trust increase. If an aversive, or anything that causes Rocco to be fearful or uncomfortable, enters into his enclosure and Rocco has no way to escape it, it can be a terrible detriment to the relationship. In my opinion, it is highly likely that a long history of this scenario may be the cause of Rocco’s current behavior. My suggestion is to give Rocco a treat through the bars, then open the door gently and offer a second treat at the entrance of the enclosure. If Rocco seems reluctant to come towards the door, use the best treats here, and use a lot of them. This could be a difficult step, so he should get a really good reward for coming to the door.

Once Rocco is comfortable with Frans opening the door and handing him a treat, Frans will have his “In” and can start to train more behaviors and open Rocco up to a whole new world. I suggest starting small, such as training a wave or a turn on the perch using similar steps as mentioned above, before training Rocco to step onto a hand. The more positive interactions Frans has with Rocco before stepping him up and walking into a new, novel area, the more likely Rocco will trust Frans and be comfortable in these new environments. Here at Natural Encounters we often refer to this as a “Trust Account”. The more trust or positive experiences (i.e., “deposits”) we put into the relationship, when we have to break that trust, by catching him up or putting him in another stressful situation, the less of a dent it will put in that account and it is that much easier to build up that trust again.

There are a few things for everyone involved to remember during this process. As I mentioned, every training process is the study of one. Rocco’s behavior at that moment should guide the training process. The bird’s history does not determine his future behavior. We avoid using words such as “phobic” or “fearful” because they describe a mental state which we can never know. As trainers, we can only change the behavior we can see so that is what we focus on. If we label a bird as “phobic”, we have given the bird an excuse for its behavior. We will then begin to expect that behavior, thus allowing it to continue. By avoiding such labels, we also avoid self-imposed obstacles to the training process and allow us to devise strategies to reshape these behaviors and build up positive history.

Also, because every bird is an individual, what is reinforcing to one bird, may not be reinforcing to another. Treats are not the only reinforcers out there. A special toy or a scratch on the head may be reinforcing, but only if the bird enjoys it and we see the frequency of the behavior increase to obtain that reinforcement. But this may also mean that certain situations are reinforcing in and of themselves. We have birds, that as soon as you open the door they will scramble out of the enclosure and play with anything they find lying around. We also have birds that we could leave the door open for an entire day and they will never leave the comfort of their enclosure. The same principle applies to social interactions as well. Some of our parrots live in large flight enclosures with nine or ten other birds, and do quite well there. But we also have birds that stay alone and when we do put them with other birds they often start aggressing towards the other birds. In similar situations, once again let Rocco’s behavior dictate what to do. A good starting point may be to move the parrots’ enclosures near one another and watch their body language. If they move away from each other or start fighting even in the safety and comfort of their own enclosures, it is a good sign that they should be kept separated. On the other hand, if the parrots show comfortable body language then you can slowly increase their contact until eventually they have full contact with one another.

As you have seen Rocco will also interact differently with different people. As you have seen with Frans and Susi, Rocco seems to have a better relationship with Susi. I do not know how much interaction Susi has with the birds beyond giving the occasional treat or scratch on the head. There may be an advantage to Susi using this process to build a relationship with Rocco first, then have Susi step away and Frans begin building his relationship. This has a few advantages. Because of the more positive starting point, it may improve Rocco’s comfort and quality of life more quickly than if Frans starts the process first. Rocco may also be more comfortable with Frans coming near the enclosure to drop treats in if he already has a strong history of Susi doing the same thing. We have several birds that during a show will fly to a new trainer’s hand even when they have not had other contact simply because of the long history of being reinforced for that behavior.

Susi’s involvement may have another advantage. You mentioned in your e-mail that Rocco will fling himself against the wall of the enclosure if Frans approaches. If this happens every single time Frans enters the room to drop a treat in Rocco’s bowl, Rocco may not connect Frans with the treat. If Rocco is hanging on the side of his enclosure and it takes some time to calm enough to find the treat Frans left, it is as if Frans never left the treat. Studies have shown that the closer the delivery of the reinforcer is to the behavior (in this case Rocco’s calm behavior to Frans’ treat), the quicker the subject will learn the behavior. So in the early stages of training, if Susi could stand near Rocco’s enclosure when Frans walks in the room, she could hand Rocco a treat, then Frans could quickly leave again. Starting out Frans would be able to stay far enough away so that Rocco remains calm. As training progresses Frans can move closer and closer to the enclosure as long as Rocco stays calm, and Susi can reward this calm behavior as it is occurring. If Rocco does show signs of distress, Frans can take a step back. Eventually Rocco will be calm enough with Frans for him to start dropping the treats in. At the same time, once Frans is able to approach and deliver the treats himself, Susi should begin to remove herself, first by moving away from the cage and moving towards leaving the room altogether, such that Rocco’s calm behavior around Frans does not have to completely depend on the additional presence of Susi in the future.

There is one risk to Susi’s involvement, though. In households with multiple people interacting with a parrot, sometimes the parrot will bond with one person and begin to show aggression to the other, especially when both trainers are present. It is important to keep an eye out for signs of this occurring for it can slow down the training process. If this does begin to happen, the person with the better relationship can back out of the training process for the time being, so that the other person can built up the relationship. It does take some vigilance and time, but this can be overcome.

Lastly, be patient. There are birds that will learn to step onto someone’s hand in only a few days and there are birds where it can take several months. As I have mentioned several times, work at the pace Rocco sets. If you try to move on when Rocco is not ready, the relationship, and therefore the behavior, can break down quickly.

If there is one theme I hope you, Frans, and Susi take from this is that Rocco should be empowered to make his own decisions. There are many people in this industry that say you should be a “flock leader” or that you should never allow a bird to be dominant over you. These are ideas that we avoid here at Natural Encounters. When a bird is forced to interact with someone or scooped up onto a hand without being given the choice, the bird can often become apathetic, attempt to avoid people, or even become aggressive to humans. By giving the bird a choice and therefore giving the bird control over its environment, not only does this build trust with the people with whom they interact, but also builds their confidence to explore the world. When we want our birds to step on our hand, we offer our hand a short distance away from them and wait for them to come to us. Not only does this teach our birds that we will not put them in a situation they do not want to be in, but also teaches them that if something does scare them and they fly off our hands, we become the safe point and the birds usually return to us without delay. By empowering our birds and giving them control over their environment, we believe we are giving them a richer, more fulfilling life.

I hope this information helps you, Frans, Susi, and especially Rocco. If you have any more questions, take a look at our website at http://www.naturalencounters.com where you can find papers on training, questions from other pet owners, and much more information. But also feel free to contact me directly with any follow-up questions you have. I will be happy to help out. Good luck to you, Frans, Susi, and Rocco.

Sincerely,

Corey Derryberry
Avian Trainer
Natural Encounter, Inc.

Answered by Steve Martin & Staff:

Dear Miriam,

My name is Jared Morgan and I am an avian trainer with Natural Encounters, Inc. I recently received your question regarding the loud calling and whistling from your African grey parrot. I hope to be able to provide you not only with some possible solutions to your problem but with some strategies that can add to your relationship with your parrot as well.

Firstly I want to commend you for your desire to work through your problems with your African grey. The ownership of a companion parrot can at times be very challenging and it could be easy to give up on them, but your determination to instead improve you situation is to be commended. From reading your email I saw what I think are two possible issues I could help you with. First is the piercing whistling sound that your African grey is making. Second was a possible worry about the relationship between your grey and your partner. Let’s begin with the screaming.

Screaming or noise making is very common in parrots. These behaviors in the wild occur most often around sunrise and sunset. It is a way for these birds to communicate when they may not be able to see each other. It is common then in the household for parrots to still scream in the morning or at night and possibly also when you go out of their sight as you may be considered a part of "the flock". I saw two ways you attempted to combat this, first by putting him in a time out cage and second by saying no. It is likely that, since the first thing that happens when he whistles is that you pick him up to put him in the cage, that it is not the time out cage, but rather being picked up that he associates with whistling. In addition, if you make any noise in response to his whistle, including raising your voice to scold him, it is probable that your bird will interpret this only as you calling back to him. Both of these things would likely reinforce the behavior, making it more likely that it will occur and occur more often.

The best strategy that I can suggest is to train what we would refer to as an "incompatible behavior". This could be anything you could train your bird to do that would mean he would not be able to scream while he does that other behavior. We would suggest you reward the vocalizations that you do like. If the bird mimics any sounds you like or is making soft calls you could reward your bird by responding back. This you can do from outside of the room when the calls most often occur. It is important to still ignore the vocalizations you don’t want as well. You could also train him to do other behaviors and make sure he is being quiet while doing them. This could be any number of things like having him go to a certain point in his cage, playing with a toy, or standing, and being quiet. This training will be good for your bird’s mental stimulation as well as your relationship.

To get started with training, the first step is to find a treat to use to reward your bird for behaviors that you want to see more often to replace the unwanted vocalization. To find what treats to train with we suggest you put a bowl of food in your grey’s enclosure with all of the things you feed your bird in one bowl. Whatever it is that he eats first is probably his favorite item, and should be removed from his diet except for training, which will make sure that it keeps its special value. You could also remove a few treats so you could vary what you reward your bird with. You can then use these treats to reward the behaviors you want and to ignore the behaviors you do not want to see as we talked about above. If done consistently you should be able to see an increase in the desired behaviors and a drop in undesired ones.

We also suggest using small steps to help your bird learn what you are interested in teaching him. For example if you would like to train you bird to put his beak on a bar you may begin by rewarding him for coming close to the bars, then reward him for touching the bar with his beak briefly, then increase the time he touches it before rewarding. It is important to make sure that you take steps at the pace your bird is ready to make them, and to allow yourself to move back a step temporarily if and when needed.

It also could be helpful to establish what we refer to as a “bridge”. This is a word, noise, or movement that signifies to your bird that what it just did at that moment is going to get a reward. Here at Natural Encounters, we use a verbal bridge - the word “Good”. It is used to "bridge" the time between a desired behavior and when you are able to give your animal a reward. You can establish this by making a noise or movement and then immediately afterwards giving that special treat to your bird. After some time of doing this your grey should begin to associate the bridge with the reward and the bridge can then be used to let him know exactly when it was that he did what you want. To test if your bridge has been established make the noise or gesture and see if your bird responds.

On to the second issue, the relationship between your bird and your partner. If you would like to establish a better relationship between your grey and you partner there are a few things you could do. It would be helpful for a time to pull yourself back a little and have your partner do many of the things like feeding or training of the bird. I know this can be difficult for both you and your bird but it is natural in the wild for parrots to move on to new partners when theirs die or disappear, as well as to leave the parents when reaching maturity so he would be ready to form a new relationship readily. After they are able to improve their relationship, you can reintroduce yourself back in and reestablish your relationship again, now as part of a “three bird flock”.

It may take some time to train and maintain these behaviors, and it is important to remember that behaviors like loud vocalizations are natural and may never disappear completely. The strategies I suggested should however lead to a significant decrease in the undesired behaviors, as well as an increase in desired behaviors and a process that is great stimulation for your parrot and beneficial to your relationship with him as well.

We hope that your relationship with your bird continues to grow, and that the advice we’ve provided helps to build your levels of skill, sensitivity, and enjoyment of your bird 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. Best of luck, and we look forward to hearing about your future successes!

Sincerely,

Jared Morgan
Avian Trainer
Natural Encounter, Inc.

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 Steve Martin & Staff:

Hello Oliver! My name is Chris Jenkins, and I am one of the Senior Trainers at Natural Encounters, Inc. I would be happy to offer some advice on some strategies that may help you with the challenges that you are having with your new African Grey.

First off, I would like to commend you for the care that you are giving the companion parrots with which you share your home. It sounds like they are getting an excellent diet, an enriching environment, and lots of attention. It’s always heartening for us to hear about people who are as devoted to their companion parrots as you are, and the fact that you are seeking out advice from others is another example of that.

As far as the question about the behavior that you are seeing from Clayton at “bedtime” is concerned, my guess would be that it may actually be stemming from the care and attention that you have provided him. From what you’ve detailed above, it sounds like Clayton has become very fond of both you and the attention that he gets when he is outside of his cage. My guess is the loud calling and cage banging that you are seeing at night is an attempt to solicit more attention at a time when he knows it is going to be taken away for the night.

As to your specific question, I wouldn’t at all say that the behavior you are seeing is an example of Clayton being, as you put it, “fundamentally unhappy”. You are providing him with a very enriching environment, and it seems that he has really taken to his new environment during the time that you’ve had him. Instead, I would say that you are facing a situation in which the use of a few training strategies can help to make bedtime more enjoyable for Clayton, and far less of a headache for you.

When looking at a behavior like unwanted vocalizations, ignoring it is a good bit of advice that we offer people. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that screaming and contact calling are natural, hard-wired behaviors that may never disappear completely. Parrots in the wild tend to scream first thing in the morning and in the evening, so dealing with loud vocalizations at these times of the day is a fairly typical thing many companion parrot owners deal with. I would definitely make sure that you are not reinforcing this behavior by giving the bird attention or treats when it is screaming – even going as far as making sure to not walk into the room or to let him hear you approaching - otherwise you may end up actually making the situation worse. If Clayton learns that he can get a desired response by calling loudly, he will definitely continue to do so. We’ve heard of one companion parrot owner who, when they hear their bird screaming, actually freezes in place wherever they are, therefore making sure that they’re not in some way reinforcing their bird’s screaming behavior.

In addition to ignoring behaviors that you don’t want to see from Clayton, a great strategy is to train him to do things that you want him to do. A great way to get an animal to stop doing an unwanted behavior is to train it to do something that is incompatible with it. In your specific example, some incompatible behaviors might include sitting quietly on a perch, interacting with a specific toy in his cage, or offering non-screaming vocalizations. It sounds like you are already offering Clayton some of his favorite treat in his cage at night. I would suggest using this treat not only for being in his cage, but specifically for doing something that you want him to while he is in there. One of our general rules of training is “You get what you reinforce”, so you want to make sure that when you are offering him the treats he is doing something at that moment that you want to see more of. If he gets something he likes while he is calling loudly or banging on the bars, you may end up actually training Clayton to do the things that you want to see less of!

One of the other things I noticed in your question was that you said that, while you are experiencing Clayton’s “tantrums” at night, he readily goes in and out of his cage during the day with no issue. I think that it’s important to note how different these two things are, and to look at how we might take advantage of this in order to help troubleshoot the issues that you are having with Clayton at “bedtime”. I would guess that one of the reasons that Clayton goes into his cage so easily during the daytime is that he always has the ability to come back out again if he wants to. At night when he goes in, that’s where he stays until morning, a very different situation. Everything you’ve detailed above makes me think that it’s not that he has any issue with being inside his cage, just that he would rather be outside of it, as he has a history of so many positive interactions happening there. I would suggest maybe changing up Clayton’s routine a little bit in order to make being inside the cage just as much fun as being outside of it. Instead of having the cage be a place that he only gets shut inside of at night, I would work towards being able to have him in the cage at other times as well, and making sure he gets just as much attention and head scratches there as he has been in other places in the home. In working to make being in the cage more fun, I’d also suggest that you start with him only being closed inside the cage for short periods of time, and always letting him come back out again if he wants while he is continuing to offer acceptable behaviors (sitting quietly, soft vocalizations, playing with toys, etc). For example, you might try shutting him in his cage for a short time in the early evening, giving him some of his treats, talking to him and scratching his head, and then opening the cage back up again. By opening the cage back up again, you are empowering Clayton to be able to leave the cage by choice, which will ultimately increase his level of comfort with being closed into the cage. The goal is to be able to do this for progressively longer periods of time at various times in the day, and to give him the option of coming back out during these sessions before he displays behaviors such as loud calling or banging at the bars. Just as if you were to give him treats while he is displaying undesirable behaviors, letting him out while his is screaming or banging at the bars will teach him to do those things more often.

Another fun option might be to train Clayton to go into his cage by himself in order to be shut in for the night. You might start with him on top of his cage, and then first begin baiting him inside with one of his favorite treats. While you are baiting him in, you can also introduce a cue that will ultimately replace the bait itself – I’d suggest some sort of a hand cue, such as a twirl of your index finger, as birds are very visually oriented. By repeatedly pairing this cue with the bait, Clayton will learn the connection between the two, and the bait can eventually be faded out so that he performs this behavior when the cue is performed all on its own, and then he can get a nice big treat once he’s inside the cage. It’s a fun learning experience for the both of you, and once Clayton understands the basics of this “training game”, you are only limited in your imagination in the things that you can try to train him to do in the future!

The key to success in all of the above is to be clear in your communication to your bird, to be consistent in what you are reinforcing and what you are ignoring, and to be patient and remember that while this process can take some time, the rewards that you will reap will be well worth it. I hope you’ll find that the suggestions I’ve made not only help you with the bedtime issues that you are having with your new companion parrot, but also helps you to build a better relationship overall that will keep your bird enriched and stimulated for many years to come.

Sincerely,
Chris Jenkins
Senior Trainer
Natural Encounters, Inc.

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.