An Interview with Jim McKendry BTeach BAppSc (Wildlife Biology).

1. What first got you interested in working with parrots? With birds in general?

Birds and flight have fascinated me since childhood. Growing up in Australia, I was surrounded by wild parrots and was fortunate to have a number of formative experiences with birdlife from a very young age. My Dad kept birds when he was young, so whenever I arrived home with a rescued chick or injured bird, it made for some wonderful opportunities for my interest to be fostered. As a child, I kept Budgerigars, Java Sparrows and King Quail. The aviary that my Dad and I built had a very natural theme – complete with a large hollow log with multiple nest entrances that enabled two and sometimes three Budgie pairs to breed at once. From that time, I seemed to maintain an awareness of what an enriched environment for a captive bird can be.

[While] every species of bird absolutely fascinates me, my real passion for parrots developed in my late teens and early twenties. Around this time I spent a lot of hours bushwalking and birdwatching. I had also started an applied science degree, majoring in wildlife biology, so I was really developing a Darwinian eye on the natural world around me and my childhood interest in parrots was rekindled, due to encounters with them in the field and the acquisition of a Conure as a pet. Sharing life with a parrot presented many challenges and it was really through trying to overcome these challenges that I developed an intense focus on wanting to understand them better.

The knowledge I gained led me to seek opportunities to work in the field of birdkeeping and I eventually became a birdkeeper at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, where more than 20 mixed collection and specialist breeding aviaries housing over 100 birds were on my round. My birdkeeping role at the Sanctuary was short-lived though, as I soon moved into the Presentations Department where I had the opportunity to develop my main interest and skills in free-flight bird training. Although we presented snake shows and a mixed animal species show each day, the free-flight bird shows were my major focus. Throughout the show we would fly up to 15 different species, including raptors, waterbirds and of course, parrots! During this period my main mentor was a very gifted bird trainer by the name of Phil Ghamraoui. Phil was passing on to me the knowledge and skills he had acquired through being trained by the Natural Encounters/Steve Martin team [while] he was a keeper at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. In retrospect, I was extremely lucky to have been tutored via an approach to training birds and animals that is based on a sensitive understanding of their behaviour, the relationship the trainer develops with the bird and of course, how positive reinforcement is critical in establishing the most effective learning environment for flighted birds.

I have since left the Sanctuary to return to teaching science and senior biology at a secondary college in my home shire of Noosa, on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia. This is an incredible part of the world for a parrot enthusiast to live as it is home to two of my favourite species of birds – the Glossy and Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos. I return to the Sanctuary a few times each year to present a series of 'Parrot Workshops' that I am extremely proud of, as they represent the most in-depth educational opportunity for companion parrot owners offered in Australia. I also provide private consultation services for companion parrot owners and work actively with the Parrot Society of Australia on the organization of the biennial 'Parrots' Convention that is held in Brisbane. Just to make sure I'm completely immersed in work related to parrots, I am also the editorial consultant on parrot behaviour for Australian Birdkeeper Publications and write a regular column for Australian Birdkeeper Magazine.

Tell us a little about your work with cockatoos and Gang-Gang Cockatoos in particular.

Most of us who have held a long-time interest in parrots usually gravitate towards a particular family or species group at some stage. For me, that has been the Cockatoos. Where I live, there are 6 different species of cockatoo that occur naturally so I am most comfortable with cockatoos in regards to having an understanding of their life experiences in the wild. I also keep a small number of cockatoos, mostly birds that I have acquired to work with on behavioural issues. This is where the Gang-Gang Cockatoos have come into the picture for me. Gang-Gang Cockatoos have established a well-deserved reputation as birds that feather pluck in captive conditions. In my experience, along with the African Grey, Gang-Gang Cockatoos exhibit the highest incidence of feather picking issues relative to the number of individuals that we maintain in captivity. I’ve spent the past 6 years developing insights into why Gang-Gang Cockatoos are so prone to developing this behaviour. It has been the single most humbling experience in my time working with parrot behaviour and certainly the greatest challenge. Hopefully, many of the insights I have gained will be shared within the pages of a book I am currently developing. They are very different to all other genera of the cockatoo family, a really unique bird in many respects. They are certainly a species that needs careful consideration as a captive animal as they have a very narrow tolerance for captive conditions that do not optimally provide for their needs. The Gang-Gang Cockatoo is certainly the parrot I know better than any other that I have been privileged to work with and I’ve probably barely scratched the surface – a remarkable animal.

How important is it that we, as parrot caregivers, mimic their natural conditions as closely as possible in captivity?

For most parrot owners, it’s impossible to `mimic’ the natural conditions of the species they are caring for. I keep species that naturally occur in Africa, Indonesia, New Guinea and Australia. I can’t possibly recreate the varied environments that would represent ‘natural’ conditions for most of these birds. Instead, in my opinion, we should be challenged to provide a set of experiences for captive parrots that cater for the basic functional needs of the species, as suggested to us from our observations of their general behavioural characteristics in the wild. As an example, we may not be able to duplicate the conditions of the forest fringe zone for a Congo African Grey, but we can identify which experiences an African Grey may have in the wild that may have important functional implications in maintaining physical and behavioural health. It’s more about trying to identify what elements can be found in the natural, social and environmental dynamic of a species and seeking to provide opportunities for these elements to be catered for in an artificial environment. In its simplest form, this approach really just aims to ensure that parrots have access to flight, socialisation and environmental enrichment. The lack of one or more of those three essential elements often underlies the key precipitating issues leading to some of the more significant behavioural health issues we see in parrots. By reflecting on those general elements we can then break things down to developing a species-specific approach to the care of our birds. As just one example, in my experience, simply providing access to ground substrate for species that are terrestrial foragers can make the difference in avoiding the onset of stereotypical behaviours. Not surprising then that we see many behavioural stereotypies in species such as Galahs that are kept in small cages and never provided the opportunity to forage on the ground as they do in the wild. This is where the concept of `antecedent arrangement’ and setting up the environment so that it is conducive to desirable, functional behaviour is essential. It’s obviously where the linkage between ethology and behaviourism can be beautifully connected to provide effective solutions for the captive management of wildlife.

How socially ingrained is the concept of intimidation as a traditional approach to managing parrots?

I can only refer to my experience with the avicultural and parrot keeping community here in Australia and certainly, in that context, the approach taken to managing behavioural problems in parrots has indeed traditionally incorporated intimidation. Whilst this certainly still persists, over the past few years there has been a noticeable growth in the awareness of positive reinforcement based approaches that provide an alternative to the traditional paradigm of applying negative reinforcement and punishment to managing parrot behaviour. The work of Steve Martin, Barbara Heidenreich and Susan Friedman is starting to make significant pathways into the consciousness of the parrotkeeping community at a global level and I’ve been working extremely hard here in Australia for many years now to achieve the same. There’s still a lot of work to be done though. I encounter a lot of parrot owners who think they have the positive reinforcement concept nailed but they actually often use negative reinforcement to achieve a desired behavioural response from their bird. Because a `treat’ is thrown into the equation at some stage there’s a belief that the whole process is based on positive reinforcement when sometimes it’s clearly not. I borrow a little gem from Barbara Heidenreich when getting parrot owners to reflect on the approach they are taking and ask them to consider whether their parrot responds to a behavioural cue because it `wants’ to or because it `has’ to. If your parrot `wants’ to behave in response to a cue you have established then it’s probably an example of a positive reinforcement based learning environment.

What do you feel constitutes a good “relationship” with a pet parrot?

My particular approach to developing a relationship with a pet parrot probably differs considerably from the traditional concept of having a relationship with a `companion’ animal. For me, a `good’ relationship with a pet parrot should ultimately result in a minimal amount of dependency on the human carer. It would be characterised by a sensitive level of interaction between human and parrot, where learning experiences are built on a consistent and positively reinforcing schedule. A perceptive awareness of the need for a two-way communication dynamic where we respond as much to the behaviour of our birds as we expect them to respond to our expectations is critical. Reduced dependency issues can be achieved by ensuring that the social and environmental enrichment needs are adequately catered for. For many people this might represent a `loss’ in terms of the intensity of the relationship with the individual bird. That doesn’t have to be the case, but it may mean compromising a little on your expectations of the parrot. We perhaps need to be more considerate of what constitutes a `good’ relationship from the perspective of the parrot, rather than our own desires. I’ve found that a shift in my own thinking paradigm and approach towards keeping parrots as pets, to one that facilitates opportunities to broaden their relationship prospects to include other parrots, opportunities for flight and exposure to enriching stimulus in their environment provides a much richer experience for all concerned – human and parrot.

What is the most serious and/or prevalent behavioural issue you have worked with in your years of teaching pet parrots?

Without a doubt, feather picking and behavioural problems associated with self-mutilation are the most serious. This issue, in my mind, represents the greatest indictment on our approach to keeping parrots as captive animals. We simply must continue to challenge ourselves to provide the essential elements our parrots need to avoid such behaviour becoming established. The main impediment in reducing the frequency of feather picking problems seen in captive conditions is a failure on the part of the keeper to accept responsibility. It always seems to be `the bird’s fault’. No, it’s our fault because we failed to provide the prerequisite developmental, social, physical, nutritional and environmental enrichment needs of the animal. Until we get that right it is difficult to justify the keeping of some of the particularly prone species in captivity. There are however, many parrots and many species of parrot that adapt remarkably well to life as a companion animal or in an aviary environment. We just need to start thinking more creatively about the individuals that don’t do so well and work towards tailoring approaches to their care that reflect a sensitive awareness of the functional needs of the individual or species.

As for prevalence, here in Australia it’s probably shared equally between aggressive behaviour and excessive vocalisation. These two issues are the most common that I am asked to consult on and develop behaviour management plans for. They also seem to be the two most common causes behind a parrot losing its home. Now that we have such a brilliant toolkit of behaviour management and training strategies that have been shared with us by people like Steve, Susan and Barbara, hopefully we will be better equipped to avoid many of the problem issues that have become prevalent over the past decade.