goodbid08v3_3

Good Bird®

magazine!Volume 3-3 Fall 2007

www.goodbirdinc.com

Empower the Human/Animal Bond with Positive Reinforcement

The S Files Addresses BitingWhen Going into the Cage

Prompting and Coercion

Anthropomorphism

Respecting the Bite

An Alaskan Aviary Experience

Training a Retrieve

Back Yard Habitats for Parrots

Breakthrough with a ParentRaised Bird

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4 Good Bird Magazine www.goodbirdinc.com

Photo credit: Ellen Aparacio

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Table of ContentsFROM THE EDITOR’S PERCHTraining is Fun!By Barbara Heidenreich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT FOR GOOD BIRD . . . . . . .19

FEATURE ARTICLESThe S Files Addresses Biting When Going into the Cage By Willynne Tully, S.G. Friedman, PhD and L. McGuire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Prompting and Coercion By Barbara Heidenreich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79

The Big “A”, Anthropomorphism By Rebecca K. O’Connor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Respecting the Bite By Barbara Heidenreich . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

An Alaskan Aviary ExperienceBy Kris Porter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Back Yard Habitats for ParrotsBy Sheralin Conkey and Noelle Fontaine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Table of ContentsREGULAR FEATURES

PROFILE OF AN ANIMAL LOVER –

LINDA MORROW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

HOW DID THEY TRAIN THAT? EXPERTS SHARE THEIR

TRAINING STRATEGIESHow I Taught Bertie to RetrieveBy Patricia A Phillips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36

WHAT IS YOUR BIRD SAYING? LEARN TO READ BIRD

BODY LANGUAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

YOUR GOOD BIRD! READER SUCCESS STORIESPerdy Becomes a Problem (Part One)By Dorothy Schwarz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

Bailey Learns to RecallBy Mona Delgado . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

Learning not to Reinforce Unwanted BehaviorBy Beverly Penny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Breakthrough with a Parent Raised Bird By Jennifer Ratliff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52

Table of ContentsOUT OF THE MOUTHS OF PARROTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

CONFERENCE, EVENT REVIEWS AND

PRESS RELEASES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56

Book Review - “Spix’s Macaw. The Race to Save the

World’s Rarest Bird”By Patricia A. Phillips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

UPCOMING EVENTS AND SEMINARS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .84

HOOKBILL HOLLER BACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .90

QUOTH THE RAVEN…ER, WE MEAN PARROT! . . . . . . . .22

Good Bird® magazine!“Empowering the human-animal bond with positive reinforcement”

Volume 3-3Fall 2007

Publisher:Good Bird Inc.

Editorial Director:Barbara Heidenreich

Contributors:Georgi AbbotSheralin ConkeyMona DelgadoNoelle Fontaine Susan Friedman, PhDBarbara HeidenreichLee McGuireLinda Morrow Rebecca K. O’ConnorBeverly Penny Pat PhillipsKris PorterJennifer Ratliff Dorothy SchwarzWillynne Tully

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Advertising Offices:Persidea, Inc.7600 Burnet Road, Suite 300Austin, TX 78757 USAPhone: 512-472-3636Email: [email protected]

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Trademark: Good Bird® is a registered trademark ofGood Bird Inc. It and other trademarks in this publica-tion are the property of their holders.

Copyright: Good Bird® Magazine may not be repro-duced in whole or in part in any form by any means ofelectronic or mechanical, including photocopying orrecording, by any information storage and retrievalsystem now known or hereafter invented without theexpress written permission from Good Bird Inc.Reproduction or use in whole or in part of the con-tents of this magazine is prohibited.

Disclaimer: Good Bird Inc. does not necessarily endorseor assume liability for any of the advertisers, products orservices listed in this publication. Good Bird® Magazineis an entertainment and information resource on posi-tive reinforcement training. Good Bird Inc. does notaccept responsibility for any loss, injury, or inconven-ience sustained by anyone using this publication.

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GOOD BIRD® MAGAZINE is the ultimate resource forcompanion parrot owners seeking information on pos-itive reinforcement training.

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Front Cover: “Moby” a Yellow Naped Amazon Parrotowned and photographed by Matt Edmonds. To purchasephotographs by Matt visit www.mewondersofnature.com

Back Cover: Slender Billed Corella in flight. Photographedby Dean Moser of www.shadesofeclectus.com. Bird modelcourtesy of Tex Gagliano.


TRAINING IS FUN!

Next time I visit Joseph I am bringing my videocamera. Readers may have seen Joseph andToby, his Meyer’s parrot on the Good Bird Inc

You Tube site or in the Good Bird Parrot Behavior andTraining DVD. When I first met these two, Toby wasquite intimidating for his less than 100 grams size. Ihave been fortunate to watch the progress these twohave made over the last two years. And it is just fan-tastic. On this most recent visit I was witness to a slewof new behaviors Toby has learned. To add to his list oftarget, turn around, wave, return to the cage, step upon a stick and step up on a hand, Toby also now knowshow to run an obstacle course of sorts. Toby pushes apiece of wood to one end of a perch (similar to an aba-cas), picks up an object and puts it in a bowl, runsthrough a tube, climbs a ladder and rings a bell, andalso hoists a bucket up with his feet and beak. Josephalso shaped Toby’s wave to include some enthusiasticfoot wiggling. How is that for a bird that was onceexhibiting so much aggressive behavior his caregiverwas at a loss for what to do?

While I was there we also had a training session withToby to learn a new behavior. His annual exam with theveterinarian was on the horizon and Joseph wanted tofacilitate a successful experience. The goal behavior forthis training session was for Toby to become comfort-able with restraint in a towel. Joseph set up two towelssimilar to what can be seen in the Good Bird DVDTraining your Parrot for the Veterinary Exam. I should-n’t be surprised, but all I can say is “wow.” In less thantwenty minutes Toby was sitting calmly with a towelwrapped around his body while he stood on a table.My guess is that it won’t take many more sessions forToby to learn to be comfortable with being picked upoff of the table and even held on his back. It is obviousToby has learned how to learn and no doubt this con-tributed to this super fast process for the towelingbehavior, but I still get a kick out of watching this pos-itive reinforcement stuff work. It really does work.Every time I experience a session like the one with Tobythis is validated for me.

Another behavior that Joseph has worked on withToby is head scratching. Toby has not been receptive toa head scratch in a long, long time. Joseph wanted to

add this potential positive reinforcer back into therepertoire. What I normally suggest is for the trainer tostart with his or her finger at a distance from the bird.The bird is reinforced for remaining calm and still withthe finger at this distance. Gradually the finger ismoved closer. Once close enough to touch the bird, thefirst touch is very brief. Movement of the finger andmore time touching the bird are criteria added in slow-ly. While I have given this advice often, I must say it israre that I hear of someone following through with theshaping plan. In part I imagine this might be becausethis behavior can be time consuming to train and oftenrequires some very tiny, tiny approximations. Oh was Ipleased when Joseph said “scratch” and little Tobycurled his beak down to his chest for a head scratch.Joseph agreed that it took some tiny approximations.But look at the result!

Besides achieving behavior goals, it is obvious thattraining has become something fun for everyoneinvolved. Joseph described how his birds look forward tothe sessions, and from what I observed I would sayJoseph looks forward to them too. Training really is fun.I describe the sensation as the “training rush.” There isquite a feeling of exhilaration one experiences when ananimal starts to figure out what it is you are trying toteach. Some call that the “light bulb moment.” And Imust admit getting to that moment can be addictive. It issuch a thrill. I know I often want to create that experienceover and over again. Perhaps that is why training israrely boring, especially with a skilled learner such asToby. Yup, next time I am bringing my video camera andwith Joseph’s permission everyone will have a chance tosee and to be inspired by Toby’s progress. Thanks toJoseph and Toby for being such fine examples of thepower of positive reinforcement training.

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The Success FilesCASE STUDY GABRIEL: BITING WHEN GOING INTO THE CAGEReported by: Willynne Tully, S.G. Friedman, PhD and L. McGuire

The S Files are real case studies of behavior chal-lenges faced by companion parrots that weresuccessfully resolved using systematic, non-

forceful behavior change strategies. In all cases, theinterventionists were the parrots’ actual caregivers,most of whom had a strong commitment to changingbehavior with the most positive, least intrusive effec-tive strategies but little or no prior experience applyingthe teaching technology of applied behavior analysis.

The S Files are not behavior-change recipes. Train-by-numbers approaches often fail because every bird is astudy of one and every relationship and setting isunique. However, the steps used in these case studiescan provide the scaffolding to better understand, pre-dict, and change behavior. Appreciation and admira-tion is extended to the many caregivers, families, andprecious parrots for their willingness to share theirdedication and behavior programs here.

MEET: Willynne Tully (Caregiver), Gabriel (3 year-old Eleanora Cockatoo)

I. TARGET BEHAVIOR: What is the one problembehavior you want to change? Describe it in unam-biguous, observable terms.Gabriel bites hard enough to draw blood.

II. ANTECEDENTS: What events or conditionsimmediately precede the behavior that may set it off?Specifically, consider the following possibilities:

A. WHEN is the problem behavior most likely tooccur?When it is time for Willynne to go to work.

B. WHERE does the problem behavior occur?In front of the cage in the living room.

C. WHO is present when the problem behavioroccurs (people and pets)?Willynne and Gabriel

D. Are there any other antecedents that precede theproblem behavior such as a demand or request, per-son entering or leaving the area?Willynne opens the cage door and starts to putGabriel in his cage.

E. When is the parrot most successful, that is, whendoesn’t the problem behavior occur?The problem behavior doesn’t occur at other timesduring the day. At other times during the day, he goesin his cage without biting.


Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich

Going back into the cage in the morning presents a problem.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich


F. How might the behavior relate to behavior in thewild?Perhaps this is related to defensive behavior in thewild used to protect a nest site or himself from beingattacked.

III. CONSEQUENCES: What is the “payoff” forengaging in the behavior?

A. Positive reinforcers gained:

Social: Willynne’s reaction; proximity to Willynne.

Tangible: Continued access to items on play gym.

Sensory: Skin in beak, the sensations associatedwith the bite itself.

Activity: Continued access to play gym; freedomof movement out of cage.

B. Negative reinforcers removed, escaped or avoided: Being locked in cage avoided.

IV. SUMMARY: FUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENT OFTHE PROBLEM BEHAVIOR:Background: Time for Willynne to go to work.Antecedent (A): Willynne asks Gabriel to step downinto cage.Behavior (B): Gabriel bites Willynne’s hand.Consequence (C): Willynne yells and lets Gabriel go.Prediction of future behavior if nothing changes:Gabriel will continue biting.

V. REPLACEMENT BEHAVIOR: What alternatebehavior(s) could meet the same function for theparrot if the environment was carefully rearranged?In other words, what do you want the parrot TODO?Voluntarily step onto perch in cage.

VI. PRELIMINARY STRATEGIES: How can youadjust the environment, including what you do, sothat the behavior doesn’t occur in the first place?And, what behavior can you teach or re-teach so theparrot will successfully demonstrate the replacementbehavior?

How might the behavior relate to behavior in the wild?Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich

A payoff for the behavior could be continued access to items on play gym.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich


VII. PRINCIPLES, PROCEDURES AND OUT-COMES

Willynne chose to change the antecedent environ-ment making the cage a more inviting place to be withmore activities to keep Gabriel occupied. This resultedin positive reinforcement for stepping into his cage toaccess a variety of toys, not available to him at anyother time or location, which increased the value of thetoys due to their relative rarity. This strategy is knownas a motivating operation; using rarity or excess to alterthe value of a reinforcer. The toys included up to 25items in a basket that was hooked onto the side of thecage, plus hanging toys, foot toys, and foraging toys.Willynne made Gabriel a new toy almost everyday sothat he there was always something different to findinside the cage, using novelty to add to the reinforcingvalue of the item. By rearranging the cage and givingGabriel more to do, he became more willing to go intothe cage without biting. Since he had more reinforcingactivities to do inside the cage, he eventually started tostep down without biting and with nothing in hismouth. This may be due in part to the matching law:Given a choice between two different behaviors, ani-mals tend to do the behavior that yields the most rein-

forcement. Given all these great antecedent arrange-ments, stepping in his cage offered Gabriel much morereinforcement than staying on his play gym.

Again relying on motivating operations, Willynnedrained the value of spending time with her by dedi-cating a few minutes of focused one on one time withGabriel before asking him to return to his cage.

Antecedent Changes to Preventthe Behavior

Consequence Changes toReinforce Alternate Behaviors

New Skills and TeachingStrategies

• Offer Gabriel a treat or toyprior to putting him inside thecage so that he had it in hisbeak and is unable to bite.

• Provide one on one time beforework.

• Enrich cage environment.Suggestions include the follow-ing: Add food on skewers to thecage. Add wood toys, shred-ders, plastic balls, hanging toys,foot toys, coconuts, popcorn onthe cob, baby keys, safe babytoys, 99 cent store toys, roundrings, plastic napkins holders,whole garlic bulbs, anything hecould hold, chew, and tear up.

• Praise

• Access to other enrichmentitems listed in AntecedentChange Column.

• Do not force him to step upwhen he refuses. Respect hisability to say no, especiallywhen time is not a factor. At thesame time reduce the likelihoodthat he will refuse by reinforc-ing high frequency of positivepractice step-ups.

• Work on training other behav-iors so as to build up trust.Teach him to present vocalbehaviors on cue. Teach him toturn in a circle on a perch.Teach him to give a kiss andwave goodbye.

Willynne chose to change the antecedent environment making the cage amore inviting place to be with more activities to keep Gabriel occupiedPhoto credit: Noelle Fontaine

Willynne also gave Gabriel a favorite toy just prior toasking him to step down so that he had something inhis beak and couldn’t bite. This is known as differentialreinforcement of an incompatible behavior. This is agood way to decrease a problem behavior by increasingan incompatible, alternate behavior that can’t occur atthe same time.

By respecting Gabriel’s refusal to step-up and notforcing him, she was able to gain his trust. She workedwith step-ups and step-downs at times that didn’t mat-ter, so that he eventually stepped up most of the timewhen asked. This built fluency in the step-up behaviorand increased Gabriel’s overall level of access to posi-tive reinforcement. Giving Gabriel the freedom to makechoices didn’t result in birdie bedlam as some mightsuggest. Instead it resulted in a cockatoo that chose todo as Willynne requested.

VIII. FOLLOW-UP Four years later, Gabriel goes into his cage by himself

in the morning. Willynne leaves the door open, Gabrielwill fly to the cage, voluntarily enter, pick up the mostrecent toy addition and start to destroy it. There areeven times when Willynne needs to shut the door of thecage in order to keep Gabriel out long enough for someone-on-one time before she goes to work. Now that is aturn of events!


Willynne drained the value of spending time with her by dedicating a fewminutes of focused one on one time with Gabriel before asking him toreturn to his cage.Photo credit: Hilary Herron

Willynne worked with step-ups and step-downs at times that didn’t mat-ter, so that Gabriel eventually stepped up most of the time when asked.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich

Anthropomorphize (v) - to attribute human form or per-sonality to things not human

For the last twenty years or so the word “anthro-pomorphic” has been an insult to a scientist oranimal behavior specialist. To give animals

human qualities and emotions was the true mark of apoor scientist and possibly a new-age feel-good fanatic.In the last decade, the “A” word has become a less fre-quent insult as pet owners engage in evolving relation-ships with their animals, often primary supportive rela-tionships with their animals, dogs and parrots alike.

I have to admit that it’s nice to see that there has beena lifting of this stigma. Sometimes I’m anthropomor-phic when I talk about my animals. It’s an easier lan-guage, a short-hand to compare animals to humans.That said, I worry about the growing body of literaturethat gives animals an array of human feelings andmakes them well… human.

MAKING PARROTS INTO PEOPLEThe return to using anthropomorphism to narrate

animal behavior in the general populace is perhapsbacklash towards scientists who are thought to believeanimals are only stimulus-response machines.


The Big “A”AnthropomorphismWHY IT ISN’T A SIN, BUT IT ISN’T A TRAINING TOOL EITHERBy Rebecca K. O’Connor

Photo Credit: Barbara Heidenreich

Is this macaw preening to look pretty? We can’t know because we cannotquantify thoughts and emotions.Photo Credit: Barbara Heidenreich

Saying this cockatoo looks “happy” can be easier language to understand.But it can also lead to misinterpretation of behavior.Photo Credit: David Kuehn


However, the desire to avoid using human emotions todescribe behavior does not mean that serious behavior-ists don’t baby-talk to their animals in private.

I have worked in various capacities around conser-vationists, ethologists, veterinarians and a vast array ofanimal scientists for fifteen years. I have never met ascientist who argued that animals had no emotions orthoughts. What scientists — good scientists– do argueis that we cannot quantify these thoughts and emo-tions. I know of no lab that can demonstrate exactlywhat an animal is feeling or thinking outside of theirbehavior. Good science and future advancementsdepend on what can honestly be quantified and repli-cated. When they create a way to read animal minds Iwill sell everything I own to buy that machine. Untilthen, all we can go by is hard science.

Layering emotions on pets makes my job helpingpeople with their parrots terribly difficult. YES, parrotshave emotions and plenty of thoughts. Are their emo-tions comparable to people? I don’t know. I personallythink that animals do not imagine themselves in futureor past situations, only the present. This means thatthey don’t wonder if you’re going to leave and notcome back, that they don’t worry over and fear death,they don’t imagine annihilating their rival so that in thefuture they can have you to themselves to live happilyever after. Being able to do this is a component ofhuman emotions and to me that means their emotionsfunction differently. However, I can’t prove this. I can’tquantify this. Therefore I can’t use it to problem solve.

I encourage my clients and those who attend myworkshops to spout it out and get it out of the way.Heck I do it. My falcon is stubborn and insubordinate.My parrot is jealous of the dog. My dog feels needy andis clingy. Okay, we got it out of the way. Animals arethinking feeling beings. Now forget about it and look atthe problem behavior you want to address. Applyingemotions and constructs to animals is a roadblock.

A TRAININGROADBLOCK

If I say my parrot isjealous the party is over.I can’t fix that. I can’ttalk to him about hisfeelings and work it out.(Nor can I explain to myfalcon that his attitudeis ruining our relation-ship or to my dog thatclinginess will onlydrive a wedge betweenus.) You have to getyour animals off thepsychologist’s couchand examine the behav-ior; meaning examineyour responsibility foraiding and abetting it.

YES, parrots have emotions and plenty of thoughts. Photo Credit: Helen Dishaw

Animals are thinking feeling beings. Now forget about it and look at theproblem behavior you want to address.Photo Credit: David Kuehn

If I say my parrot is jealous the partyis over. I can’t fix that. I can’t talk tohim about his feelings and work it out.Photo Credit: Barbara Heidenreich


Instead of saying my parrot is jealous, what if I say“Every time my parrot and dog are free in the sameroom the parrot attacks the dog.” Ah ha!! Behavior.Now I can get somewhere. What happens before theattack? What happens after? Will the consequenceincrease the likelihood the parrot will attack again orwill it decrease the likelihood? (If every time the par-rot attacks you pick her up, laugh at her antics, puther in her cage and give her a treat– She’s probablygoing to keep doing it.) Is there something I can do toavoid the behavior from happening in the first place?(Hmm, maybe I don’t let them in the room loose atthe same time?)

Check it out. We might be able to fix the problem.Not because we refused to acknowledge that parrotsand dogs have emotions, but because we cannotquantify, comprehend and therefore cannot be certainhow to influence those emotions.

THE COST OF ANTHROPOMORPHISMBasing training techniques and decisions on anthro-

pomorphism can have disastrous effects. It is humanto see other creatures as human though. Even trainerssuccumb to the big “A”. Last year I was reminded thehard way with a Brittany spaniel named Cali. Shecame to me as a surrendered adult and I had hopedshe would learn to work in the field with my falcon.

With all my dogs and birds, even fosters that comethrough my house, I work on some basic behaviors.This isn’t so much for the purposes of teaching tricksas it is for building a basis for communication. A dogthat has worked with me to sit, roll over, stand, jump,target, etc. learns body language, tone of voice andbegins a relationship based on rewards. I have cups oftreats in all the rooms in my house. A dog neverknows if she might be asked to sit and get a treat, soshe is always paying attention to me. This laterbecomes important in the field. I have a similar phi-losophy for relationship building with parrots.

So Cali and I spent some time on training basics.From our first training session I thought someone hadbeen heavy-handed with her if not physically, thenemotionally. I thought this because whenever I start-ed to get a little gruff in demeanor or shrill in voice

when we were training, she would go submissive,giving me her belly. “She’s emotionally damaged,” Ithought. “She’s wounded.” And I would be kinder,gentler and try to end the session on a positive note.

This interpretation was my downfall. It’s a con-struct. She may have been emotionally wounded, butthat wasn’t going to get me to the bottom of thebehavior. I should have asked, “What is happeningbefore my dog offers submissive behavior and whathappens afterwards.” Had I looked at this behaviorunemotionally, I would have seen that my dogappeared submissive when she didn’t understandwhat I was asking and my tone of voice anddemeanor was changing. I would have seen thatwhen she offered her belly, I backed off which for herwas reinforcing. I would have seen that I taught herin order to get what she wanted all she had to do wasoffer submissive behavior. I taught her this. She was-n’t trying necessarily, but she trained me and I nevergot a handle on her.

In the field, out of my reach, she did as she pleased.She was always looking for a way out of the house orthe yard. She was always running without structure.I was confounded. How could such a submissive dogseem so good in close range yet also be looking for away to do her own thing and get to a place where Icouldn’t reach her? Cali died right after I had realizedthe relationship I had built and before I had a chanceto undo it. She saw the door ajar, sprinted off to crossmy quiet street and somehow managed the timing toencounter an oncoming car. It was a high cost for lay-ering my own emotions on my dog.

GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION AND THEN GETSCIENTIFIC

It’s okay to anthropomorphize in passing. You’rehuman and see things through the lens of your expe-rience. Go ahead and do it. I won’t make you wear ascarlet “A” on your chest for your sins. I just wantyou to practice recognizing when you do it. Thenwhen it comes to training and welfare issues call itwhat it is and set it aside.

I have been preaching to other trainers and clientsfor ten years now about the importance of avoiding


anthropomorphism. My opinion has shifted over theyears. I once thought the big A was the source of allevil in animal training. Now I believe it’s an impor-tant component of being human, but it’s still danger-ous. It has a place, but it should be named and rec-ognized. Had I seen my dog as a dog and not ahuman (poor broken abused woman that she was),had I avoided the construct, I might have solved herbehavior problems quickly enough to save her life.This too is how I attempt to assist in parrot behaviorproblems.

Making animals into humans is a welfare issue aswell. It stops people from examining what animalsactually need physically and emotionally. We want togive them what people need instead. And worse…making animals into humans means that we stop rec-ognizing the greatest things about other living crea-tures, the things that make them better than human.

Rebecca K. O'Connor has been training birds for over adecade. She has worked and consulted at free flight birdshows in Mexico, Australia, Ohio, Florida, Texas, andCalifornia. Believing in empowering parrots and their

human friends, she is a frequent contributor to Good BirdMagazine and her book, A Parrot for Life! was released inFebruary 2007 from TFH Publications. She consults withparrot owners helping them to problem solve and enjoy anenhanced and meaningful life with the birds in their home.Lectures and workshops are also an important aspect of thework that she does. She is a falconer, constantly workingwith her own birds, occasional foster parrots and lives withthree African parrots, a flock of homing pigeons and aBrittany spaniel. Read more about Rebecca at: www.rebec-cakoconnor.com


Positive Reinforcement for Good Bird IncREADERS SPEAK UP ABOUT GOOD BIRD MAGAZINE

Hello,

I happen to think Good Bird is the best magazine Iget to read. It is extremely understandable and hashelped me tremendously with my adopted caiques. Iam totally blessed to have been able to work with theseguys to get them to the point they are. And I can't waituntil they really get used to me and reach their fullpotential.

Margot Dobrinsky

Hello,

I really do enjoy your magazine (and personally Ithink that it is a lot better than others out there) I enjoyit best because it relates to me and the problems that Imay have with my bird. Also most of the articles dealwith teaching a bird through positive reinforcement!Once again I can not thank you enough for all of yourtime and effort that you may put in to ensuring that Ireceive my new magazines! I can hardly wait!

Sincerely Kodi PS We loved the new video!

Hi Barbara,

I just received my “Good Bird” magazine today andas usual I had to sit down and start reading it rightaway. I loved your article, “Breaking the Old Rules ofParrot Behavior.” Thank you for sharing your secrets!(And I’d love to hear more about how you managedTarah’s “wandering around the house looking for nestsites.” We’re dealing with that now!)

Keep up the great work. Your magazine is a goldmine of information and it’s definitely appreciated!!

Gina Bridwell

Hi Barbara,

Just a quick note to say your parcel arrived on Fridayand that I'm finding it very difficult to get any workdone because of it!!! I keep seeing articles that I want toread and I'm spending ages on the body languagephoto tests (absolutely fantastic teaching tool). Reallythis is a bad thing because our tax return is due today,but I can't seem to stop!

As soon as we've sorted out the tax (yuck) we plan toget the most recent magazine up on our website alongwith the DVD’s etc. We might have to order more backissues too, as I suspect we'll have a customer or twothat would be interested after we talk about the maga-zine in our next newsletter.

We also wouldn't mind knowing a little bit aboutadvertising. I figure you must have a few subscribersfrom Australia and New Zealand. Jen and I are just sopleased to have gained access to a well managed, qual-ity magazine for companion parrot owners

Anyway, thanks and best wishes,Caroline Grevillewww.myparrotshop.comAustralia

Editor’s note: Retailers can get information on placingwholesale orders for Good Bird Magazine , DVD’s and booksby Barbara Heidenreich by contacting [email protected] calling 512-423-7734 9AM-5PM CST. For advertisinginformation email Tom Matula at [email protected] phone 512-472-3636 9AM-5PM CST

Thanks Barbara,

I truly love your magazine. It is the most wonderfulinformation on behavior. I have had birds for 20 yearsand they are the most fascinating feather covered bun-dles of joy. The articles in Good Bird bring it all togeth-er and then some. My sincere thanks.

I am 76 years old and am president of a new organi-zation (50l (c) 3 charity) creating a program to help sen-

iors maintain their beloved pets at home as long as theycan. We are still working on policies and proceduresand are not "open for business" yet. I would like tokeep you informed and perhaps you might put a notelater in the magazine about the project. A website iscurrently being designed among other things. TheExecutive Board is a small group of pet lovers commit-ted to the mission. I must add that I am the residentsenior. All others are brilliant young professionals Ihappened to be privileged to know and they are goingto make this happen. With parrots long lives this maybe a major help.

BestAdelle M. Taylor

PARROT BEHAVIOR AND TRAINING SEMINARS ARE A HIT!

Hello Barbara,

Please excuse me for not dropping you a note sooner.

I just wanted to let you know that I enjoyed theworkshops that you did here in Des Moines last week-end so much.

Everyone that I spoke with seemed to feel the sameway and was very pleased that they had attendedthem.

I hope to cultivate enough interest to have you comeback to Des Moines again. Perhaps next year. The clubwill be planning our events for 2008 in the next coupleof months.

Thank you so much Barbara,Dave MarquisPresident Mid America Cage Bird Society Des Moines, IAwww.macbs.org

Barbara,

I just wanted to say "Thank You!" again for the week-end and all of the new techniques for us to use. You'reso right, information overload! It's just what we need-ed though, a whole new way of training/teaching forthe parrots and us.

My cockatiels responded quickly to the new tech-niques….. and all just for some lovin'.

I'd like to keep in touch and we will certainly let youknow our successes. Dave (the club president) is goingto try his best to have you back next year and I certain-ly support that! We will be promoting this programfrom here on to our club. We are hosting GABS, theGreat American Bird Show in October and can pass onyour name there also. I know I will.

I'll say so long for now and be touch with you later.I was an absolute pleasure for me to meet you and ahope you enjoyed working weekend here in DesMoines.

Sincerely,John Grim Vice PresidentMid America Cage Bird SocietyDes Moines, IAwww.macbs.org

Hello,

I just attended the seminar that Barbara Heidenreichand Robin Shewokis presented at Bird Paradise in NewJersey. Thank you sooo much. I learned quite a bit. Iapologize for asking so many questions but you folksare a wealth of information that is seldom tapped inperson by me.

One segment was definitely a first for me. I was incomplete awe when I saw the macaw getting blooddrawn, without so much as a flinch. Kudos to you both,as well as Bird Paradise for the spread that was put out.Now to tackle the books and DVD’s.

Therese Sutedja


continued on page 23


What is Your Bird Saying?LEARNING TO READ AND INTERPRET BIRD BODY LANGUAGEBy Barbara Heidenreich

1._____________________ 2._____________________ 3._____________________

5.___________________________________

Training is a way for people to communicate to parrots. But how do parrots communicate to us? They commu-nicate through their body language. Subtle changes in feather position, eye position and body posture can give usa glimpse into what a bird might be thinking. Some postures indicate fear or aggression. Other let us know ourbirds are relaxed and comfortable. The greater our sensitivity is to our bird’s body language the easier it will be forus to avoid doing things that might cause our birds to be uncomfortable. In turn we can help foster an evenstronger relationship based on trust.

Look at the following photos and see if you can read and interpret the body language of these birds. A practicethat can help you fine tune your skills is to try to describe the exact body postures you are observing, rather thanusing general labels such as content or nervous. Answers are on page 33

WHAT IS THIS BIRD’S BODY LANGUAGE SAYING?

Photo credit: Beverly PennyPhoto credit: Barbara Heidenreich Photo credit: Noelle Fontaine

Photo credit: Hilary Heron

5.___________________________________

Photo credit: David Kuehn

“Quoth the Raven...er, we mean the Parrot”

Photo credit: Matt Edmonds www.mewondersofnature.com

Use what talents you possess: the woods wouldbe very silent if no birds sang there except thosethat sang best.

Henry Van Dyke



Hi Barbara,

I need to know how to get more books and DVDs. Ibought a TV/DVD player and put it in the bird depart-ment playing your first DVD. You’re a hit!!!!

I only got copies of one of the books and I think youhave two books out right? I need several copies of bothbooks, and the second DVD.

I also want to talk to you about a workshop here atthe store for our employees and/or customers. Youhave no idea how much I have talked about the classthe other night. You have changed the way I thinkabout training after 32 years of being in the petindustry.

I couldn’t go to sleep the other night when I got homethinking about all of this.

Thanks,Glenda BoneGallery of Pets11689 Research Blvd #107Austin, Texas 78759512-345-8920

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT WORKS!

Hi Barbara,

You know that former breeder scarlet macaw I havebeen telling you about? Well, the training is stillintermittent, but, Barbara - SHE STEPPED UP ONTOMY HAND LAST NIGHT!!!! I couldn't believe it!!She comes on to the perch with no problem and I canscratch her head as long as I am careful (and she hasmango in her mouth to keep it busy!) I have beenusing the bridging stimulus and giving her themango when she had been moving her foot towardmy hand. Well, last night the magic happened!!! Iput the mango out and asked her to step up. She did- just stepped right up as though she had been doingit all her life!! I just stood there, afraid to move, hold-

ing her. She put her head down to be preened and satas quietly as could be!!!

How good can life get?!?!?

Terri JonesDirectorArcadia Bird Sanctuary and Educational Centerwww.ArcadiaBirdSanctuary.org

SHARING INFORMATION ON PARROT BEHAVIOR AND LEARNING

Hi Barbara

I just finished the Fundamentals of Aviculture courseand I want to thank you for your tremendous contribu-tion. I just want you to know that I appreciate you andall that you have done to bring parrot behavior into the21st century.

I appreciate you!

Jamie WhittakerABC PetsHumble, Texas www.abcbirds.com

Editor’s note: The Fundamentals of Aviculture is an onlinecourse available through the American Federations ofAviculture. Rick Jordan of Hill Country Aviaries did thelion’s share of the work, with Barbara Heidenreich contribut-ing to the section focused on behavior and learning. Visit theAFA website to participate in this informative coursewww.afabirds.org

Positive Reinforcement for Good Bird Inc(continued from page 20)


Back Yard Habitats for Parrots

HABITAT PROFILE By Sheralin Conkey

When selling my beach condo and moving toan inland desert home, I had two prioritiesin mind: first, a great room large enough to

house the day cages and play gyms of my companionparrots and second, a safe outdoor space for them toacquire sun, fresh air, and exercise. The first require-ment proved easy. The second took some thought.

At first, I thought I’d construct a traditional aviarysituation. For several reasons, I rejected that idea infavor of using my somewhat limited space across theback of the house as a multipurpose area – one whereparrots, friends, and I could all hang out together invirtually the same space.

What evolved is a natural sandstone patio floorextending across the back of the house with access fromthe master bedroom and the living room, as well asfrom the yard itself. The roof is an open lattice-like pat-tern constructed of alumawood to filter out some of thesun and allow a shaded arbor-like design. Drop downscreens surround the area to the back and sides, and areremote-controlled so they can be fully or partiallyclosed in any combination. The screens filter some ofthe sun, making it cooler in summer months that canexceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Predators cannot seeinside, but the lovely, rugged mountain view is notobscured. A mister system has been installed acrossone-third of the area over a huge play tree.

The area easily accommodates my five companionparrots, Shiloh, an African grey; CoCo, a Moluccancockatoo female; Penelope, a Buffon’s macaw; andRiver and Rain, male and female Hyacinth macaws. Inaddition it takes into consideration their personal playstyles and needs.

They say birds head south for the winter, but I know Iwouldn’t be going anywhere if I were a bird lucky enoughto live at Sheralin Conkey’s or Noelle Fontaine’s. TheseGood Bird Magazine readers and parrot enthusiasts havebeen kind enough to share what they have done to turntheir backyard habitats into a true Parrot-dise. Get out apaper and pen. I bet you will be designing you own par-rot playground by the end of this article.

Photo credit: Sheralin Conkey

A plus for this design is that if I ever decide to move, all is easily disas-sembled to take to a new home, reverting the patio area to a the tradition-al non-bird owner’s expectations.Photo credit: Sheralin Conkey


With safety in mind, pieces of stainless steelchain link are looped over the lattice, each con-nected at the bottom by a large stainless steelquick link. From each quick link, a ceiling saveris hung to prevent birds from climbing beyondmy reach using a hand-held T-perch. Anotherlink is attached to the bottom of the ceiling saverwith various apparatus, toys, and cargo nethung from those. Because I have a variety ofspecies, area for each is expansive but isarranged where it also has natural boundaryspaces if all five are out at the same time. Allhanging items can easily be rearranged by a per-son alone using a step ladder. A plus for thisdesign is that if I ever decide to move, all is eas-ily disassembled to take to a new home, revert-ing the patio area to a the traditional non-birdowner’s expectations.

Observing the birds using this space has beenan education in itself. The Hyacinths will sittogether for long periods on the play gym underthe mister. One or the other will periodicallymove from there with a stretch of neck and reachof beak to play on the Kitchen Sink toy. Whileon that hanging toy, each plays in the same man-ner – chewing on and jingling the variousintriguing items at will. Both will move on toseveral Mother Pluckin’ Bird Toys: swing, boingor giant atom, each laden with wood itemsstrung on a rigid stainless spiral.

The Star Bird cargo net is the hangout ofchoice by Penelope, the Buffon’s macaw wholoves to navigate from one end to the other,climbing to the highest corners to flap or hangupside down, spinning on one foot, wings akim-bo. Several refillable stainless, wood-filled spi-rals provide her with endless chewing timebefore she heads off to her own personal boingand atom.

Shiloh, the grey, came to me as a fearful andfeather-plucked ten-month-old. I adopted himas my first bird and at his tender age, I wasalready his third human companion. Now inlovely feather, on a healthy diet, he continues towork through new experiences with caution.One new experience is his outdoor play areawhere he has a cage identical to the one inside

Photo caption: The Hyacinth macaws pre and post bathing.Photo credit: Sheralin Conkey


the house. The door is always open and attached to afamiliar play gym where he visits as it fancies him. Awork in progress is continuing to desensitize him to thewider outdoor space. He’s making consistent strides asI read his body language and take my clues from hiscomfort type behaviors.

CoCo, the Moluccan cockatoo is also dubbed Slo-Mofor slow motion. She has embraced the outdoor areausing the various play trees, gyms, and perches. Shehas full access to all areas but gravitates to toy-ladenplay trees where she chews wood blocks to toothpicks.She also slowly surveys her surroundings, feathersover her beak, standing on one foot while ever-so-slow-ly scratching her head and neck with the other foot.Usually her eyes are closed or slowly blinking whileshe checks everything out.

Of course, I’m not to be left out. I often join my feath-ered companions, sometimes with bird-loving friends,or with fascinated neighbors who call my home BirdieDisneyland. I enjoy sitting at the table by the smallfountain or on the patio chairs. Yes, all people areas aresafely out of the falling poop zones. It’s a peacefulspace to read, use the phone, work at the laptop orobserve my magnificent and adored companions.

Climbing the cargo net is one of Penelope’s favorite activities.Photo credit: Sheralin Conkey

Photo credit: Sheralin Conkey

Coco has embraced the outdoor area using the various play trees, gyms,and perches. Photo credit: Sheralin Conkey

Of course, I’m not to be left out. I often join my feathered companions,sometimes with bird-loving friends, or with fascinated neighbors who callmy home Birdie Disneyland Photo credit: Sheralin Conkey

RESOURCES:

For the Kitchen Sink Toy visitwww.birdtoysetc.com

For the Get a Grip Cargo Nets visit www.estarbird.com

For the Atom visit www.motherpluckinbirdtoys.com


HABITAT PROFILE By Noelle Fontaine

Activity! Activity! Activity! My daily goal is tosee how much activity I can entice from eachvisitor or resident. Knowing they have to be

caged while I'm at work, setting up an environmentthat encourages motion is a fun challenge. There is justno substitute for sunshine and weather and allowing anatural boundary seems to do wonders for those deal-

ing with the effects of long term confinement. Flexiblefooting from wispy branches to plastic chain encour-ages learning balance and brings out their playfulnatures. Everyone is well trimmed, but hopefully wellpaid back for that sacrifice for safety.

How to keep a Cockatoo busy. Setting up the gym isa matter of collecting children's toys, buckets, baskets,hoops, swings and “wrap around” toys of all kinds.The color is not only irresistible to them, its fun for me.Using natural branches of Eucalyptus and Mesquitecreates an inexpensive fun foundation. Boings can bewrapped around branches, rug toys wrapped aroundtrunks, and legs of children's toys hung on branches.This gym is the size of a swimming pool and is usedmuch like a swimming pool.

Photo credit: Noelle Fontaine




How to keep a Cockatoo busy. Photo credit: Noelle Fontaine


Azure is a 15 year old Hyacinth macaw that waslocked in a cage for too many years; now in his newhome he has a whole new life. It took a few visits, butnow he's actively chewing up the branches and movingacross most of the gym.

Buckets and baskets are a great place to put debrisfrom all the activity; it helps keep the play area man-ageable while providing yet another play place.

For those who must be confined, the aviaries are ablessing. Everyone is rotated from perches to gymfrom aviaries to trees to give them as much variety in their day as possible, even if it's only for a couple of hours.

This large basket was being tossed out because thebottom was gone. I grabbed it and it has been a hugehit with everyone. It took weeks for them to chew it up.

The plastic bats from the $1 store are a huge hit forsome reason and the largest birds love standing onthem. I'll get twenty at a time and put them every-where, tossing them out when they're all faded andruined. Alii the Hyacinth macaw is blind. She was keptunder UV lights for years. She's one of the most activebirds on the gym, just going from one thing to another.I will have lots of repairs to do when she goes home.

Azure the Hyacinth macaw enjoys the gym.Photo credit: Noelle Fontaine


For those who must be confined, the aviaries are a blessingPhoto credit: Noelle Fontaine

The basket is a huge hit with everyone.Photo credit: Noelle Fontaine



Bathing is a priority. Every day in spring, summerand most sunny winter days involve bathing. I just setthe mister out of reach and they can bath to their heartscontent.

Cassius Clay and Morgan are two Scarlet macawswho came to me with very special needs. Cassy wascritically overweight at over 2000 grams. Morgan was asevere self-mutilator. They were gradually introducedto the relative freedom of being outside, first on perch-es, then the gym, then the trees (which are olive trees).Today (several years later) Cassius Clay is one of mymost active birds. Both birds spend days in the aviariesand afternoons in the trees. Here they are enjoying avery long soak in their favorite olive tree where theyjump and flap. For those that can be trusted, I feelspending time climbing and jumping through a tree isthe next best thing to flying.

Treats in baskets are an irresistible way to encouragecuriosity. Pretty soon you can fill that basket with any-thing and the birds will be tossing the toys to get to thetreat. Afterwards they can chew up the basket.

Do have a fabulous backyard habitat or aviary to sharewith the world? Submit your article and photos [email protected]. Photos that are 300 dpi at 5 inch by7 inch size are appreciated. Electronic submissions are pre-ferred. For mailed items please send materials to the follow-ing address:

Good Bird Inc PO Box 684394 Austin, TX 78768 USA

Good Bird Inc retains the right to edit your story for con-tent, length and accuracy. Copy rights are non exclusive.Stories may be reprinted by the author. A by line indicatingstory first appeared in Good Bird Magazine with Volumenumber Issue number and a link to www.goodbirdinc.com isrequested for reprints.

Bathing is a priorityPhoto credit: Noelle Fontaine

Treats in baskets are an irresistible way to encourage curiosityPhoto credit: Noelle Fontaine

Blue throated macaw at the Bird Endowment Booth.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich


Iam a wuss. I admit it. Oddly enough I think it hasworked in my favor when it comes to working withanimals. I don’t “take the bite” whether it is from a

mosquito, a parrot or a lion. In fact I do everything inpower to avoid a situation in which I might get bit.With mosquitoes sadly it usually means very littlecamping for me and when outdoors I am bathed inmassive doses of repellent. With zoo animals such aslions, it usually means training through barriers andoffering reinforcers via utensils, and avoiding creatingaggressive behavior. With parrots……believe it or not Iactually take an approach similar to what I do withlions! Not because I think parrots pose a particularlethal threat to my person, but because I respect a par-rot as much as I respect a lion. Let me repeat that “Irespect a parrot as much as I respect a lion.”

RESPECTTo understand this better perhaps I should elaborate

on what I mean by “respect”. I interpret this as show-ing consideration for what an animal is telling me withits body language. For example if my close proximity toan animal is creating the slightest fear response or hintof aggressive behavior I recognize it and acknowledgeit. I then do whatever I can, which may include backingaway, to put that animal at ease.

Sometimes humans have an inclination to suggestthat whatever activity they are doing is “no big deal” orshould not be bothersome to their parrot and forge

ahead, regardless of what their bird’s body language issaying. There are countless times I have heard someonesay “Oh, he doesn’t really mind. Go ahead.” or “He isjust being stubborn. Make him step up.” or “It’s just abluff. He isn’t really aggressive.” Ouch. Those arepainful words more painful than a bite to a positivereinforcement trainers ears. There is an implication inthose statements that I should ignore what the bird’sbody language is telling me. Even if that body lan-guage is saying “No! Stop it. I don’t like what you aredoing.”

Why should a parrot owner care about respectingtheir bird’s body language? Because it is a critical ele-ment in successfully addressing biting behavior. Iwould surmise that most people do not want to get bitby a parrot. I am certainly one who falls into that cate-gory. This is when being a wimp works to my advan-tage. I am not willing to get too close to a bird until itgives me body language that indicates comfort.Certainly this is step one in avoiding a bite. My nextgoal is usually to associate some sort of positive rein-forcer with my presence. This may mean offering foodtreats from my hand, a spoon or a bowl. It may alsoinclude offering toys or enrichment, head scratches orpraise. It all depends on what the parrot shows a pref-

Respecting the BiteBy Barbara Heidenreich

Showing respect is showing consideration for what an animal is tellingus with its body language.Photo credit: David Kuehn


erence for. By pairing a positive reinforcer with mypresence, hopefully I will gain some positively rein-forcing value for the parrot. If I am successful I usuallystart to see a parrot whose body language indicates heis anticipating more “good stuff” coming from me.Woohoo! At this point not only does the parrot seem tobe engaged, but I am usually also beginning to feelmore confident and trusting of the bird.

The process described above usually happens beforea request for the behavior of “step up” is even consid-ered. This is mainly because I am not comfortable plac-ing my hand in front of a bird with whom I have nothad the chance to build up some trust. (See the article“Training your New Parrot. Where to Begin?” in Vol 2Issue 4 for more suggestions on interacting with a par-rot for the first time)

Sadly in the companion parrot community I see somany parrots that show fear responses or aggressivebehavior towards hands. Because of this when I dobring my hand to a bird for the step up behavior it isdone slowly and carefully. All the while I am payingclose attention to the bird’s body language and lookingfor a bird who is at ease before proceeding. All theseintricacies help me avoid creating a situation in whicha parrot may want to bite.

Needless to say there are other scenarios in which a par-rot might be inclined to place a beak to human flesh, forexample when a parrot does not want to return to his cage.For an excellent case study of this very situation check out“The S Files” in this issue. Lee McGuire and SusanFriedman Ph D share a systematic approach that can beapplied to any behavior problem. The template helpsowners delve deep into the details of the elements that arecontributing to the presentation of the problem behavior.Following this format can give caregivers oodles ofavenues to explore to modify undesired behavior.

By pairing a positive reinforcer with my presence, hopefully I will gainsome positively reinforcing value for the parrot.Photo credit: John Grim

If successful we usually start to see a parrot whose body language indi-cates he is anticipating more “good stuff” coming from the trainer.Photo credit: Hilary Herron

Pay close attention to the bird’s body language and look for a bird who isat ease before proceeding.Photo Credit: Barbara Heidenreich


WHEN BIRDS BITEShoot. I messed up. Either I misread the bird’s body

language or I asked for too much, or maybe I simplydon’t know what happened just yet. But I got bit. Nowwhat? This is a question that is often posed to me.“What do you do when the bird bites?” If unfortunate-ly a caregiver does get bit, the first immediate responsein my opinion is to detach the bird from the person. Ifthe bird is holding on, usually a thumb and forefingercan be placed on the top part of the beak to pry the par-rot off of whatever is in their mouth. Other strategiescan include redirecting the parrots attention, and sim-ply putting the bird down in the nearest available safelocation (perch, cage, couch, table, playstand, etc.)

A bite can be very painful and by all means I do not rec-ommend holding steady while a bird chomps away. Thisis the erroneous idea that by taking the bite the caregiverwill teach the bird that biting has no effect. In truth therecan be other reinforcers that maintain that behavior overwhich we have no control. For example grinding awayon flesh may provide a stimulating tactile sensation tothe bird. The only way to remove that reinforcer is for thebird to not have human flesh in its beak.

Another question often presented to me is “How doyou let the parrot know what he did was wrong?” Imust admit this question makes me cringe a bit. This isbecause I see it as a request for approval to use aver-sives to punish a bird for biting. In reality in most casesaversive punishment would not be the strategy ofchoice to address biting. The primary goal would havebeen to avoid creating the situation in which the parrotwould be inclined to bite in the first place. This maymean teaching the bird what to do instead of what notto do. It may also mean making antecedent changes tofacilitate success for the parrot. There are many path-ways that can lead to a non biting outcome had theybeen considered. All of which do not involve anunpleasant experience to teach the bird to do some-thing other than bite.

For me if a parrot bites I do nothing than more thanmake sure the bird is no longer on me. This gives metime to pause and think about what I could have donedifferently to avoid the situation. It also forces me tomake a mental note of what circumstances created theaggressive response. It also gives me time to deal withany emotional fall out I may experience from being bit.Sometimes our feelings our hurt when an animal we

love responds with aggressive behavior. If I am tofocus on building trust with a parrot, the last thing Iwant to do is to react in a manner that the bird wouldfind unpleasant. This means I do not try to punish theparrot by shaking or dropping my hand, yelling “no”,waving a finger in his face, or flicking his beak. All ofthese would very likely damage my efforts to build asuccessful relationship with the parrot.

CONCLUSIONAt a recent conference I overheard a conversation in

which it was whispered “I bet she never gets bit.” Intruth I can’t say it never happens, but it is extremelyrare. It is certainly not from a lack of interacting withparrots. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to meet100’s of new animals each year. However with eachanimal I am careful to read body language and to domy best to build a relationship based on trust. I takeadvantage of any positive reinforcers the animal likesand use these to help increase my worth to my trainingsubject. I am happy to report it is not magic, nor does ittake any super powers, or “whispering” techniques.Anyone can have a successful bite free relationshipwith a parrot when they give their parrot the samerespect they would give a lion.

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional in the field ofanimal training since 1990. She owns and operates a com-pany, Good Bird, Inc., (www.goodbirdinc.com) that providesbehavior and training products to the companion parrotcommunity. These products include Good Bird magazine,books, videos, and behavior and training workshops. She isthe author of “Good Bird! A Guide to Solving BehaviorProblems in Companion Parrots” by Avian Publications andalso the “The Parrot Problem Solver. Finding Solutions toAggressive Behavior” by TFH Publications. She is the pastpresident of the International Association of Avian Trainersand Educators (www.IAATE.org).

Barbara’s experience also includes consulting on animalbehavior and training in zoos and other animal related facil-ities. Her specialty is free flight bird training. She has been apart of the development and production of more than 15 dif-ferent free flight education programs. Barbara continues toprovide consulting services to zoos, nature centers and otheranimal facilities through her other company AnimalTraining and Consulting Services (www.ATandCS.com). Inher career she has trained animals, trained staff, and/or pre-sented shows at facilities around the world.


Continued from page 21

ANSWERS TO “WHAT IS THIS BIRD’S BODYLANGUAGE SAYING?

1. Is that a spider I see? Held tilted sideways, eyeto the ceiling, feathers on the head resting rela-tively flat indicates an interest or concern inregard to something over head. When I see thislook on my Blue Fronted Amazon parrot Tarah,it is usually accompanied by short repetitivebursts of a low growling sound. If I follow mybird’s gaze I often see a tiny speck of a spiderdangling from the ceiling.

2. Yowza! Whether that card is interpreted as goodor bad by this little Goffin’s cockatoo, it is sure cre-ating a heightened level of arousal or excitement.We can note that the wings are held stretched out,the crest is up, the bird is standing quite tall, andthat open mouth indicates we might have scream-ing to accompany this posture. Although the birdmay simply be quite excited about the object in itspresence, parrots seem generally more likely toexhibit aggressive behavior when highly aroused.It is wise to let the bird relax a little beforeattempting to physically interact with the bird,especially if the bird is a stranger to you.

3. It can be observed that this hybrid macaw is miss-ing a foot. However that doesn’t seem to be note-worthy in this situation. This macaw seems rela-tively relaxed and comfortable. This is indicatedby the loose contour feathers, the fluffed featherson the side of the face and also on the head. Theweight of the bird is distributed low and also thehead is held relatively low and close to the shoul-ders. There is no eye pinning or facial flushing.The eye also has a nice almond shape to it. Overallit can be concluded that this bird is relativelyrelaxed at the moment this photo was snapped.

4. Two birds with two different body postures. Thecockatoo seems to have momentum forwardwhile the Eclectus is leaning; almost contortingas far back as it can while remaining perched.Both birds have feathers slicked tight to theirbodies and head. Both beaks are open and ori-

ented towards the other bird. The cockatooshead is pushed forward and the Eclectus’ head ispulled back. It appears to be an aggressive inter-action between the two birds with the cockatoobeing the aggressor and the Eclectus taking adefensive posture. Be careful not to jump to theinterpretation that the cockatoo is being domi-nant over the Eclectus. The word “dominant”does not serve us any purpose here. Instead wecan note that when both birds are out and on thesame cage the cockatoo may show aggressivebehavior towards the Eclectus. This gives usinformation we can use to address the aggres-sive behavior. One solution is to not have bothbirds out in the room at the same time. Anotheris to teach each bird an acceptable play area andreinforce each bird for remaining at those sta-tions when out together. A conscientious care-giver can develop a whole list of strategies toaddress the problem. See the S Files in this issuefor an outline of this systematic approach toproblem solving.

5. Macaws can be quite expressive. Both birds areshowing quite a bit of red facial flushing. Eyepinning is also easily observed. The feathers onboth birds are slicked to their bodies. Both birdsare standing tall and they appear to be on themove forward, with their wings out slightly.Although it is not clear that this is occurring inthis photo, some parrots when highly arousedwill walk back and forth repetitively over anarea with eyes pinning, tails fanned and wingsheld out from the body. In those situations espe-cially, it could be interpreted as a high state ofarousal. In the photo here, while arousal is beingobserved it is not to that elevated extent. Thisarousal could be related to the presence of some-one in their territory as these birds are beingobserved in their enclosure. Parrots are knownfor showing territorial behavior especially whenpaired with another bird and/or with access to anest box.


Why are we drawn to animals? Some theorizeit is in our genes. “Biophilia” is the wordcoined by E.O.Wilson for the human

propensity to affiliate with other life forms. Wilson sug-gests that humans have an innate affinity for livingthings which has evolved over many years of learningand experience with nature.

Perhaps our genes do influence the desire to bearound animals, but clearly there are undeniablerewards from the opportunity to develop a loving car-ing relationship with a species other than ourselves.

If we are fortunate to have a love of animals fosteredin our lifetimes we can learn about responsibility,empathy, the value of life, companionship, nurturing,commitment and many times unconditional love.

Have animals had a profound influence on your life?Share your photos or story with Good Bird Magazine.Email 300 dpi photos to [email protected].

Profile of an Animal Lover


OUR FEATURED PROFILE: Linda Morrow has been a professional

bird trainer and educator for over 13 years.She has trained parrots and presented edu-cational and entertaining programs for birdclubs, private venues, schools, churches,local and national television and themedparks. She co-produced The MichiganExotic Bird Expo, a two day fair with educa-tional speakers.

Linda also hand raised and socialized manybaby birds as well as working with birds withproblem behaviors. She taught monthly avianclasses at Chirping Friends Bird Store while livingin Michigan.

She has written articles for several publicationsand wrote the first parrot clicker training manual,Clicking With Birds, a Beginners Guide to ClickerTraining Your Companion Parrot. She has recent-ly produced a DVD as a visual aid to the manual.She has a regular segment on the local Fox televi-sion program, The Morning Show with TomNajjar, where she discusses avian education,upcoming events and will bring a bird along withher, weather permitting. Visit Linda’s website atwww.avi-train.com.


How I Taught Bertie to RetrieveBy Patricia A Phillips

Five years ago I began clicker training under thetutelage of Melinda Johnson and her Bird-Clicklist ([email protected]). At that time

the recommended sequence of behaviors to train wastargeting, three prop behaviors and then behaviorsrequiring a hand or verbal cue. I chose to teach Bertie,my Moluccan Cockatoo, to retrieve a whiffle ball to myhand as the second prop behavior. As I recall, it tookless than a week of one 20 minute training session aday. What follows are three things you will need toknow to do what I did, an understanding of the termi-nology, the steps I used, and the problems you mightencounter.

The retrieve can be taught using a back chain or aforward chain. For example, the one behavior, the

retrieve, as I visualized it, was comprised of four sepa-rate behaviors, walking to a ball, lifting and holding aball, carrying a ball to my hand and putting a ball inmy hand. That also happened to be a forward chain.

I used shaping to teach each behavior in the chainstarting with whichever of Bertie’s behaviors was clos-est to the one being trained. For example, in gettingBertie to walk toward the ball, I would first click andreward her for just looking toward the ball, then look-ing at the ball, then taking a step toward the ball andso on. When a step was fluent or reliable, I withheldthe reinforcement to get an extinction burst in which Ihoped Bertie would offer behavior a little closer to ourgoal. That new behavior then became the criteria forreinforcement. Then I repeated the process.

Bertie retrieves a whiffle ball.Photo credit: Patricia A Phillips


So that first behavior in my forward chain, walkingto the whiffle ball, would look something like this onpaper:

1. Bertie looks toward the ball. Click/treat.Repeat until reliable.Withhold the click/treat.

2. Bertie looks at the ball. Click/treat.Repeat until reliable.Withhold the click/treat.

3. Bertie steps toward the ball. Click/treat.Repeat until reliable.Withhold the click/treat.

4. Bertie takes two steps toward the ball, then threesteps and so on until finally she just walks to the ball.

I found that the process moved much more quicklythan the written word would suggest. The more “click-er smart” Bertie became, the larger were the successiveapproximations. Her first step in reality was walking tothe ball.

This is easily modified to other behaviors such as putting money in a piggy bank.Photo credit: Patricia A Phillips

DEFINITIONSChain: A chain is two or more behaviors joinedtogether to form one behavior.

Forward chain: Training the first behavior, walk-ing to a ball, first, and working toward the endbehavior, putting the ball in my hand.

Back chain: Training the end behavior first andworking backward.

Shaping: Taking the behavior offered that isclosest to the chosen goal and reinforcing succes-sive approximations or steps toward that goalbehavior.

Extinction burst: When reinforcement is with-held for a behavior that was previously rein-forced, the behavior is repeated, often with moreintensity, frequency or with slight modifications.


Here is the actual plan, on paper, that I started with.

1. Walk to the ball:

a) Look toward the ball.

b) Look at the ball.

c) Step toward the ball.

d) Walk to the ball.

2. Lift and hold the ball:

a) Touch the ball with beak.

b) Grip the ball with beak.

c) Lift the ball.

d) Lift the ball and hold.

e) Lift the ball and hold for successivelylonger periods.

3. Carry the ball to my hand:

a) Lift ball, hold and take one step towardhand.

b) Lift ball, hold and take one more steptoward hand.

c) Repeat (b) until hand is reached.

4. Place ball in my hand:

a) Bump hand with ball.

b) Place ball in hand.

c) Gradually increase the distance betweenball and hand.

As I mentioned before, Bertie worked more quicklythan I anticipated, with one exception. I had to breakstep 2d into even smaller approximations. It was at this

I found that the process moved much more quickly than the written word would suggest.Photo credit: Patricia A Phillips


step that I muddied the waters so to speak. A commonproblem, at least for me, is having to decide, quickly,which of two behaviors offered almost simultaneously,to reinforce and continue with. For example, I am shap-ing Bertie to lift the ball to a specific height and the nextstep is to hold the ball at that height, say, for two sec-onds. Bertie lifts the ball slightly but holds it for twoseconds. Do I stay with my plan and withhold the clickbecause she didn’t lift the ball high enough, or do Ireinforce what I know will be the next criteria and

return to the lift after the hold is fluent? Although I amgetting better at making that decision quickly, even aslight hesitation in clicking can reinforce an entirelydifferent behavior than any you might have in mind. Inany event, step 2d broke down to six smaller approxi-mations to get Bertie and me back on track as follows:

1. Touch the ball with beak.

2. Touch the ball with beak and tongue.

3. Hook upper beak into the ball.

4. Grip the ball with upper and lower beak.

5. Grip and hold or lift the ball.

6. Lift and hold the ball.

Today, I can put the whiffle ball anywhere on Bertie’scage top. She will go to the ball, pick it up, bring it backto me, often on the run, and put that ball into my hand.But training the retrieve so early in Bertie’s and myclicker training experience meant that our respectivelearning curves were pretty steep. However, what Ididn’t know then was that with very few changes in theshaping process, you can quickly and easily teach par-lor tricks that use the same skills, like playing basket-ball, putting rings on a peg and putting coins in a piggybank. Can you see it?

In closing, whenever I get stuck at a step, or someother problem crops up, I go back to Bob Bailey’sguidelines, that I read somewhere long ago. The prob-lem will probably be the result of timing, rate or crite-ria. Either my timing is off, Bertie isn’t receiving a highenough rate of reinforcement or I’ve raised my criteriatoo high. Good luck and happy training.

Try this one at home and let Good Bird Magazineknow about your progress. We are looking to includeyour training success stories in upcoming issues.Document your experience and photograph yourparrot in action and send it to [email protected] can also share your experience with other birdtraining enthusiasts in our Yahoo Group athttp://groups.yahoo.com/group/GoodBirdGroup/

Visit the Good Bird Inc You Tube page for video clips ofBertie and Pat in action. www.youtube.com/GoodBirdInc

A common problem is having to decide quickly, which of two behaviorsoffered almost simultaneously, to reinforce.Photo credit: Patricia A Phillips

Bertie knows five variations of the retrieve behavior.Photo credit: Patricia A Phillips


Bailey is an 11 year old Senegal parrot that flewinto a Moluccan cockatoo nest box and almostdied. The cockatoo bit his skull and broke a

metacarpal bone in his left wing. His caretaker rushedhim to the veterinarian, the veterinarian anesthetizedBailey and the little bird quit breathing on the operat-ing table. Fortunately for Bailey, he apparently has ninelives because he was revived. I soon got the call fromhis caretaker, “Would you like to take Bailey?”

When I brought Bailey home, he was on antibiotics,and missing primary feathers from the middle of hiswing, so he was effectively grounded. Prior to the nestbox incident, Bailey had been flying for two years.Although I believe he had to have “some training” tobe manageable, his former caretaker told me that hehad no real structured flight training. Bailey liked menand preferred to just hang out on the shoulder of a manall day. It was predicted by me that 1) Bailey wouldsee the training I did with my other birds and wouldwant to be part of that and 2) Bailey would bond withmy husband. Both predictions turned out to be true.

I did not know if Bailey would fly again, but I want-ed him to. My other birds are fully flighted, mischie-vous and busy birds and I want all birds that are a partof my flock to be flighted. It’s hard to compete forattention if every body can fly and you can’t. I alsothought that Bailey looked depressed. He was sweet,cuddly and very easy to handle and medicate, but hismovements were slow and he didn’t play. In my heartI believed Bailey wanted to be flighted again.

While Bailey was quarantined from my flock, I beganworking on luring him with food. Instead of steppinghim up or bringing a treat to him, I held the treat aninch or so away from his beak and asked him if hewanted the treat. I wanted him to learn to movetowards my hand for reinforcers rather than wait forme to bring him the treat. Although Bailey was flightedfor two years, I suspect that he spent most of his exis-tence prior to that as a clipped and caged bird and hada long history of being reinforced for “staying” or“stepping up.” I wanted him to be reinforced for “mov-ing towards my hand” so that I could manage himwhile he was grounded, and later I could manage himonce he was able to fly.

After several months in quarantine, Bailey was a bitmore ambulatory and confident. I brought him upstairs

Babylon, one of Mona’s two Senegal parrots.Photo credit: Ron Chapman

Bailey Learns to RecallBy Mona Delgado

Babylon and Bailey make friends.Photo credit: Mona Delgado


with the rest of my flock. I have another Senegal hen(Babylon) and a Timneh (Phinney). In the afternoons, Ioften practice flight training sessions that consist ofrecalls and targeting the birds to fly to perches all overthe house. Fortunately, both Phinney and Babylon arevery motivated to be involved in these flight sessions.Bailey sat on his cage and watched both birds fly to meor to the backs of chairs and he watched both birds getreinforced for flight behaviors with lots and lots oftreats.

I wanted Bailey to participate too, so I set up twochairs about an inch apart and I asked him to walkbetween the two chairs. As he became more ambulato-ry, he did little hops/flights between the two chairs. Ilured him by placing the treat under the back of thechair that I wanted him to fly to. I then said, “Bailey,fly to the perch.” Some days, he did not want to par-ticipate and that was fine. But the days that he did par-ticipate he received TONS of praise and treats.

I had a few obstacles to training. The first was simple;Bailey physically couldn’t fly due to injury and lack offeathers. At the time, I did not know if he would everfly but I was determined to wait it out, give him goodnutrition, sunshine, fresh air and teach him how tointeract with me using cued behaviors. The secondobstacle was my husband. Bailey preferred my hus-band and preferred to sit on Doug’s shoulder for hourlong “skritching” sessions. There were days that Baileywanted nothing to do with me, which is a huge train-ing challenge if you are the trainer!

On the one hand, I was happy that Bailey had carvedout his niche in the flock and I was accepting that hemay not want to be around me. However I also amstubborn and I did not quit trying to reinforce interac-tions between me and the bird. I fed him treats when Iwalked by his cage. I handled him when Doug was outof the house. I also brought Bailey over to Doug forattention, knowing full well that Doug was the positivereinforcer and that I was only acting as a conduit towhat Bailey wanted.

In time, Bailey’s wings grew back and he took hisfirst flights around the house. He’s a fast and powerfulflyer. He also started flying to Doug’s shoulder and if Iwas in the way, he flew to my shoulder and then heflew to Doug.

That was the point that I knew it was time to work onrecall training. This was my mental checklist of indi-cators it was time to move forward with training:

1. Bird demonstrates flight proficiency to the pointthat he is comfortable initiating flight.

2. Bird demonstrates a willingness and understand-ing of cued behaviors. (Bailey was targeting welland also hopping between two chairs when cued.)

3. Bird is comfortable with the place that I am target-ing him to fly. (He flew to my shoulder so I knewhe could fly to me, but I wanted him to fly to myforearm so I could have more control.)

The afternoon that I knew for sure we were there wasthe afternoon that Doug was on the couch and Baileywas getting a cuddle session with his favorite person. Iwas in the dining room, practicing flight behaviorswith Babylon and Phinney and all of a sudden, I hearda “beep, beep.” Bailey had walked away from Dougand was on the edge of the couch looking at me. I saidto Bailey with surprise, “You want to do this too?” I putmy other birds in their cages to minimize interferenceand placed Bailey on the back of a chair for some flyingsessions. He flew back and forth between the chairsabout a half dozen times and I increased the distanceeach time as he became quicker and more eager for thetreat. He was flying four to five feet distance betweenthe chairs.

Two things were achieved that day. First, Bailey wasflying where I targeted and second, Bailey and I wereon our way to building our own relationship apartfrom the relationship he has with his favorite person,Doug.

Now I was ready to start working on formal recalltraining. Bailey was eagerly flying to a target but I didnot have a recall trained yet.

I fly my birds in an 8,000 square foot ArmoryBuilding on Sundays with several other parrot enthusi-asts. After getting a certificate of health from a veteri-narian, I decided to start taking Bailey to our fly build-ing with the other birds just for desensitization. MySenegal hen, Babylon does huge flyabouts in this build-ing, buzzing around and screaming……and some dayI think Bailey may join her, but not yet. We still didn’thave a recall.


During one training session I had an epiphany. I setBailey and Phinney on the opposite ends of a perch. Irecalled my Timneh Phinney to me, gave her a treat. Itried to lure Bailey to fly to me…..but he didn’t move. Icould see he was uncomfortable so I moved him backto the top of his carrying cage. He seemed eager to par-ticipate so I asked for a step up to my bare arm. Herefused. I thought, “What if I move my sleeve over mybare arm?” and I asked him to step up under those cir-cumstances. He did it! Light bulb moment!

Again, I placed Bailey on the perch next to Phinneyand I pulled my sleeve over my forearm. I held the treatunder my forearm and I called “Come, Bailey.” He flewand landed on my forearm. We had our first recalls! Ialternated recalls between Phinney and Bailey about ahalf dozen times. This was the puzzle I had to solve:Bailey flew to shoulders but shoulders are always cov-ered with clothes. He just wasn’t comfortable flying tobare skin and once that was remedied; I was able totrain a recall.

Since that day, we work on cued recalls several timesa week. He is not as consistent as my other flyers but Ibelieve that he will be with practice.

How did I get a cued recall with Bailey?

1) I worked at Bailey’s pace. Bailey has been in myhome for eight months now, out of quarantine forsix months. I knew that he was a capable flyer butI also knew that he needed time to recover, gainconfidence, and to regain physical mobility. Iwatched him go from a depressed little bird that

hardly moved in his cage to a bird that would flyacross the room and land on the top of a boing andhang upside down. When I saw him demonstrateconfident movement, I knew that he was physical-ly capable of moving to the next step of cued flightbehaviors.

2) I constantly reinforced small approximations ofthe behaviors that I was working for. When Baileycould not fly, I reinforced having Bailey come tome for treats rather than waiting for me to bringhim treats. This is literally the first “step” to flighttraining. When Bailey obviously preferred Doug’scompany, I reinforced my relationship with Baileyand fed him treats in his cage, talked to him, con-tinued to do whatever I could do to “reinforce”small approximations of building our relationship.There are literally hundreds of small things that Ido every day to reinforce the goals that I set towork towards building a relationship – I just can’tremember them all!

3) Practice, practice, practice. If a day does not gowell, I put Bailey away and try again another day.I know that these birds have good days and baddays, which is fine. It’s all part of the training. Ona bad day, I try to end the session on a positivenote. I think of it as reinforcing simply participat-ing in a training session. I then try again the nextday and at this stage, I do not expect perfection.Perfection comes with practice, practice, practice.

4) I watched to see what was “reinforcing” for Bailey.Some times, that was Doug and some times thatwas flying with the other birds. Almost always, itis a Nutriberry or almond. I always try to workwith Bailey at times when I can up the “reinforce-ment value” of the “reinforcers.” One time of daythat I train is usually around 3:30 in the afternoon.The birds are fed in the morning so they are readyfor more treats by the time we train in the after-noon. Also, while I am at work all the day, thebirds are in their cages. When I get home they aremotivated for attention and exercise.

So that is how I trained Bailey, Bailey (that’s what hecalls himself) for recall and how he and I came to begood buddies. Next step, when Bailey is ready, is theflyabout in that 8,000 square foot very tall building.Wish me luck with that!

Bailey did it! He flew to my arm.Photo credit: Mona Delgado


Photo credit: Mona Delgado Photo credit: Mona Delgado

Photo credit: Mona Delgado

Photo credit: Mona Delgado


“These birds are defective. Sally and Gypsy (myAfrican Grey parrots) have a really annoying chirp andI know they are doing it to make my life miserable”.

The above statement is without a doubt the mostridiculous statement I could have made and yet therewas a time when I would have believed it and becauseof that, I would not have done anything to correct theproblem behavior. The simple explanation is thatGypsy chirps because she has learned that in the pastwhen she chirped, she would (1) immediately get someof my supper and (2) would be let out of her cagebefore the other birds. Now I have learned some skills,although I am still a work in progress. I need to observethings that are measurable and not rely on things that Ithink my bird “feels or thinks.” Only the bird knowshow he/she thinks or feels. You know what else? I wasthe one who created this problem behavior (that veryannoying chirp) by inadvertently reinforcing it in thefirst place.

I’ve been looking at my bird’s unwanted behaviorsvery closely these past few months and I’ve learnedsome very important things about those unwantedbehaviors. (Yes, Living and Learning with Parrots(LLP) graduates have birds with problem behaviors.)In the beginning, Gypsy started the “chirping” when Iwas eating supper. She would chirp and I would stopeating and get up and give her some. Well hel-looooooo, genius!! Gypsy learned that if she chirped,she would get some of my food. Gypsy then upped theante and started chirping whenever she wanted some-thing. Lo and behold, Sally (she is a genius too) startedchirping. Imagine that? Two greys doing that sharp,piercing chirp is just way too irritating for this noisesensitive human. What to do, what to do?

I caused the problem so it only stands to reason thatnow I have to “uncause” it, because it was driving meto distraction. The functional analysis of the problemwould look something like this:

Learning not to Reinforce Unwanted BehaviorBy Beverly Penny

Photo credit: Beverly Penny


Antecedent: Bev sits down to eatBehavior: Gypsy chirpsConsequence: Bev gets up and gives Gypsy some food

Possible Future Behavior: Gypsy will chirp more oftento get food.

And you can bet your next pay check that Gypsychirped more often. She chirped as soon as I walked inthe door, she chirped when I was out of her sight, andshe chirped when she wanted something. If I had want-ed a cricket as a pet, I would have bought one.(Canadian humor here)

You know it was only recently that I realized that thechirping that I initially thought was cute was now quiteirritating and it had to stop. The difference now is inme because I realized that this was my fault. Anotherway I reinforced this behavior was rushing to Gypsy assoon as I entered my apartment to let her out of hercage. I had already created anxious (chirping, clingingto the cage bars) behavior in Sally. You think I wouldhave learned from that, but hey I never said I was a

rocket scientist. (I think that is LLPgraduate Rita Sambruna’s job. Shereally is a rocket scientist!) I believewe all need to take a close look at ourbirds and see how we have inadver-tently created the unwanted behav-iors that we complain about.

The LLP course gave me the toolsto be able to change unwantedbehavior. My course of action was tohave Gypsy give me another accept-able vocalization and I ignored thechirping and reinforcd the new pre-ferred sound. As a matter of fact, Istarted down the new path rightaway. Well, it’s been a couple ofweeks (time flies) since I started thenew intervention with Gypsy. Mostof the time, there is silence nowwhen I sit down to supper so nowI’m reinforcing that. Now don’t getme wrong, silence is better thanchirping but it is not a good form ofcommunication. This morningGypsy told me that “You’re sopearl”. Normally, she would say“Gypsy is a pretty girl”. I’m thinking

I like her interpretation very much and that would be avery, very acceptable way to get some of my supper.The new functional analysis looks like this:

Antecedent: Bev sits down to eatBehavior: Gypsy says “You’re so pearl”Consequence: Bev gets up and gives Gypsy some food

Possible Future Behavior: Gypsy will say “You’re sopearl” more often to get food.

My recommendation based on my experience andlessons from LLP is to pay close attention to “your”behavior, so you don’t create these unwanted behav-iors in the first place. Then everyone wins. In less thana month, I have “uncaused” an irritating behavior(Gypsy’s chirp) by implementing some very simpletools. Ignore what you don’t want and reinforce whatyou do want. It doesn’t get any easier than that. By theway, Sally is a work in progress too. I don’t call themSally and Mini-Me for nothing.

Sally and Gypsy learn something new.Photo credit: Beverly Penny


There must be as many ways to bring up parrotsas there are to bring up children and as manymistakes to be made and pleasures to be enjoyed.

Perdita, a Lesser Sulphur Crested Cockatoo hen joinedour family in July 2006. After a perfect start, our rela-tionship went pear-shaped through my fault, not thebirds. What follows is the ongoing story of my effortsto correct my mistakes and what success I’ve had andwhat remains to be done.

OUR BIRD HABITATSI came into birds late in life after my own nestlings

had flown. African Greys seemed the best choice for asemi-retired, quiet couple and so have Casper andArtha (our two Greys) turned out to be. Now nine andeight, they have the run of the house in the evening, aconservatory to live in and frequent use of a large out-

door aviary. This aviary, constructed over five years,now has four sections, each 8 by 10 meters long. It hasbecome home to various rescues and rehomes. Thereare twenty birds in there when the three house pets, theGreys and Perdy are outside. The flock comprises ninespecies but with enough space to fly away from oneanother they all co-exist. The aged, wild-caught Orangewinged Amazons, at least in their 30s and maybe older,have an internal flight within the main aviary so thatwhen Casper, my pet Grey, who fancies himself as topbird, is loose in the aviary, he cannot hassle them. Lena,the Amazon, has had one wing mutilated and cannotfly; Archie, her mate, can but never goes more than onemeter away from her. They are the doyens of our smallavian community and the other birds, parakeets andTimnehs pay them social visits.

Perdy Becomes a ProblemBy Dorothy Schwarz

Perdy, a Lesser Sulphur Crested Cockatoo.Photo credit: Dorothy Schwarz


PERDY ARRIVESI was visiting a breeder friend, who has been my

mentor for some years. He pointed out the small whitecockatoo clinging to her cage bars, garbling human

words to attract our attention. ‘I’ve hand reared her fora client,’ he said, ‘who’s let me down. She’ll have to beadvertised for sale.’

I had already met this bird whose charm and charis-ma were overwhelming. We agreed on a friends’ price;I took her home in the middle of a July heat wave. Icalled the cockatoo Perdita. She could fly but not asstrongly as my aviary birds. Perdy, who’d been rearedfor one year in a large breeding establishment showedno fear of, or even particular interest in, the other birds.The other birds accepted her. She was amazingly bold.For her second night I left her out of the travel cage andshe roosted on a high branch.

Some of our twenty birds include parakeets….. Photo credit: Dorothy Schwarz

…and African Grey parrots.Photo credit: Dorothy Schwarz

For her second night I left her out of the travel cage and she roosted on ahigh branch.Photo credit: Dorothy Schwarz

Will the aviary wire be strong enough to withstand Perdy’s beak?

She is about the size of a large pigeon but looks bigger because of her

round dark eye, fluffy face and yellow crest. When excited, puz-

zled or angry, the plume flips apart into a half-fan of sun gold yel-

low. She makes soaring flights of incredible beauty. Under her

wings are citron-colored feathers. So far she makes little noise and

eats a LOT.

Perdy has started to explore the aviary, extending her range

each day. When I whistle and say, ‘ fly to me’ she comes readi-

ly. Her breeder has taught her to ‘step up’ which she does fair-

ly consistently. She tends to scoot down the back of my neck to

avoid being put down. Chris Shank, a cockatoo expert and friend, has

warned against over petting which can lead to cockatoos screaming

for attention and other problems. Perdita has found the mallow

plant with pretty mauve flowers, perched and polished off the lot. I

hope the plant will recover.

WEDNESDAY 26 JULYUnlike the Greys, Perdita flies just for the fun of it. She will

make amazing figure of eights, weaving through the aviary, too

fast to get any pictures. I wrapped a bit of cloth round her neck

as a preparation for harness training - no problem so far.

THURSDAY MORNINGPerdy would not ‘step up’ and kept flying off. So I stopped

asking. In the afternoon she flew unasked to the training perch and

straightaway understood my asking ‘ fly to me’ for a seed and fly back

to the perch. She flew about one meters distance. Very impressive. She

also let me put on and take off the harness three times. A passing

plane upset her and she flew off my hand but the other times she

remained calm.

Flying to and from my hand to the training perch was more con-

sistent than flying to me in the aviary. She flew to anyone at first

sight but showed a preference for men. She wanted to preen the

back of their necks. Quite different from my Greys who are much

more reserved with strangers. She made friends with our grand-

son , six year old Noe.

Perdy showed a preference for men.

Photo credit: Dorothy Schwarz

Flying to and from my hand to the training perch was more

consistent than flying to me in the aviary.


She made friends with our grandson, six year old Noe.



NOTES FROM MY AVIARY JOURNAL - JULY


FIRST MISHAPPerdy was playing in the aviary with a plastic rattle

tied to a perch with a cotton string. The string got entan-gled round her leg, tying her fast. I had to cut her off theperch. She panicked and flew off with the toy stillattached. This accident affected her badly. She seemedtraumatized and would not fly to me, although shehopped once on my hand for a peanut. She spent thewhole day perched on a rope favoring the bruised leg. Ikeep a hammock in the aviary for relaxing in the warmweather. Perdy did not fly to it as she has done everyafternoon. It was no use my explaining that it wasn’tcompletely my fault that she had caught her leg. Arthaflew onto the hammock where I was reading RosemaryLow’s book about cockatoos and insisted on cleaning allmy teeth. Very odd behavior from all of them.

A striking difference in Perdy from my Greys is that(like the Australian parakeets) she loves going to theground to explore. The veterinarian decided theswollen leg was only a bruised nerve. It took a week forPerdy’s lameness to heal and her friendliness gradual-ly resumed.

STEP UP BEGINS TO DETERIORATEPerdy lived in the aviary in the daytime and came to

her indoor enclosure at night once the weather cooled.During the winter months she would live indoors withthe two Greys, Artha and Casper. For the next couple ofmonths this plan worked well. Her breeder had alreadytaught her about glass windows so that she had noproblem with the glass walls of the conservatory.

In the aviary she would come to me but not immedi-ately. (I should have been more aware of this.) She wasusing all the space for flying and playing. Her activitylevel was high octane; the speed with which she coulddemolish and strip a freshly cut branch was awesome.

Casper developed if not affection, then some toler-ance towards her. Most days I practiced her recallsfrom the training perch to my hand and back. Givenwhat was to happen in the autumn, I should have real-ized that this wasn’t enough.

When she was on the training perch, two of the wildcaught rescue birds would fly across and try to join in.Perdy would allow Fern the Alexandrine on the perchwith her but not Mirt the elderly Timneh. Perdy would

chase Mirt away. But these positions are far fromunchanging. Before Perdy stopped going into theaviary in the winter the situation was reversed andMirt was chasing her off perches.

Perdy was a busy bird in the aviary but I wanted tokeep her comfortable with people and have her comeinside at night to socialize. Each evening the Greyswould step up onto a bamboo pole to be broughtinside. When I came to bring Perdy inside, she’d flyfrom one end of the aviary to the other. I soon realizedI was chasing her and decided to leave her outside untildark and bring her inside once she had roosted. At thispoint she was calm and stepped up easily.

Casper developed if not affection, then some tolerance towards her.Photo credit: Dorothy Schwarz

Perdy lived in the aviary during the daytime. Photo credit: Dorothy Schwarz

In the mornings I carry the Greys out to the aviary. Perdy comes out

too. It is taking more time to “catch” her each morning in the conser-

vatory. The Greys will step up onto a broom handle. I tried that with

Perdy. She flew away from the broom handle in a panic; making things

worse I am afraid.

October 1

Perdy showed a new behavior. On Walter’s knee in the bathroom she

opened her crest ands rocked her head back and forth. Looked

extremely pretty.

October 10th

I usually keep my office door closed when the three indoor birds are

loose. I forgot this evening. Arrived in office to find that Perdy that

thrown all the pens on the floor and keyed up Help and Support system

on the computer. I took her back into the conservatory and served her

seeds for her supper.

October 15th

Perdy is lame again and losing weight. Can it be the original

injury that she has knocked somehow? My veterinarian took an x-

ray which showed that her microchip had been wrongly placed in her

leg by the breeder’s veterinarian and was causing problems. What an

astonishing thing to do! Ben, our veterinarian, removed it and

replaced it in her breast. Her lameness started to wear off by the next

day. She regained her appetite. Poor bird had been in pain.

Monday October 23

Perdy is very confident. With her lameness almost gone she is very

active in flying round the house destroying papers and whatever she

can get her beak on. Her recall is not strong. In the aviary, she will

recall from the perch to the hand and back, which she learned in the

first week. Indoors, recalls are hit and miss. I’m doing something not

quite right. What?

In the morning I carry the two Greys out

to the aviary.


Flying to a Perdy is taking more time to “catch.”


With her lameness almost gone Perdy is very active

flying round and destroying whatever she can get

her beak on.



Notes from my Aviary Journal - September/October


PERDY RULES THE ROOSTWe have one cat and three German Shepherd dogs.

The dogs, cat and birds practice a live-and-let-live pol-icy. I presumed Perdy would join the majority - not a bitof it. A friend and I were having a cup of tea in the con-servatory. Honey, the youngest dog arrived, and satpolitely waiting for a biscuit. Perdy, perched on myfriend’s lap, leaned forward. Grabbed the tip of thedog’s tail in her beak and nipped. Honey yelped andfled. That same evening the cat was minding her ownbusiness on the sideboard. Perdy flew over, bit her tailand chased her out of the room.

A FAMILY WEEKENDMy grown up children and my brother came for

Sunday lunch. Perdy was affability itself.

My brother Mickey had never handled a parrot in hislife before. Perdy in her Aviator harness went for awalk on his shoulder, nibbling his ear affectionately.She absolutely loved him and sat on his knee for thewhole of tea time. But I was acting like an ostrich, clos-ing my mind to the awkward fact that she was flyingaway when I called her.

DISASTERIn December what had been an inconvenient situa-

tion became an impossible one. Perdy would no longerfly to me in the house. If I approached and asked herstep up she’d fly off. Then I made my gravest error. Idecided to walk in a calm fashion after her until, I rea-soned, she would have to let me pick her up.Sometimes the Greys don’t step up immediately at bedtime and I walk after them a couple of times, but Perdywasn’t like my Greys and she simply refused. Afterthirty minutes of following her from room to room, shetired and flew to the ground. I picked her up and tookher back to the conservatory. She didn’t try to bite orescape. Nor did she seem stressed. The following night,I repeated a similar procedure. She would not let mecatch her. I was reduced to turning out the lights andpicking her up in the dark (And got bitten!) I’d made agrievous error; Perdy had become scared of my handsand wanted no more to do with me.

What was I going to do?

End of Part One


Iposted my story about my new parent raised maleEclectus parrot to the Good Bird Yahoo group(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GoodBirdGro

up/) in April 0f 2007. Shortly after that we closed on anew house and we have been crazy busy with movingand getting settled in. Despite my very limited timeto spend with my birds I have made great progresswith Jade and I wanted to write to share what hap-pened. I also want to thank everyone who gave sug-gestions and ideas. It was very helpful to me duringthis stressful and hectic time.

My main problem was that Jade, being a parentraised bird had no attachment to humans and did notwant to interact with me at all. To make matters evenmore difficult he refused to take food rewards frommy hand. Using the ideas several of the list membersgave me I focused my training on teaching him totarget. I removed all of his favorite foods from hismorning mix and set him up with the remaining foodon his play gym. While he was eating I went overand dropped a food treat in the bowl. At first hewould scramble up and away from me and then

avoid the food bowl, but he grad-ually returned to the bowl quickerand quicker to continue eating.

I was expecting the steps totrain targeting to take muchlonger but a very unexpected turnof events took place. One morn-ing I had some new sprouts that Ihad never fed to Jade before. Hewas waiting on the play gym forhis breakfast and I took the bowlof sprouts over to show him. Ipicked up some in my hand toshow him and I was startled whenhe quickly came over to inspectthem and ate some from my hand.I stayed at the play gym and fedhis entire breakfast out of myhand. That was all it took andJade's fear of my hands was gone.I spent several days just feedinghim out of my hands. Gradually

he would move closer and closer to me and theneventually climbed onto my hand to eat the food.

At this point now several weeks later Jade willreadily step up without having to show him foodfirst. He will climb up my arm, sit, chatter and hangout with me for several minutes after I get him out ofhis cage. He still loves to be fed out of my hand andother family members can also feed him out of theirhands. I can see a significant difference in the levelof attachment he has for me. Some of this I saw afterwe moved to our new house. The first day or so heseemed very cautious about the new house andrefused to step off of my hand, but insisted on stay-ing right with me when he was out of the cage. Afterthree days of this he was back to his playful curiousself and loves exploring the big new sunroom whereall the birds hang out.

After overcoming this big initial hurdle I am excit-ed to continue working with Jade and see what newadventures and learning experiences lie ahead.


Breakthrough with a Parent Raised BirdBy Jennifer Ratliff

Jade the parent raised Eclectus.Photo credit: Jennifer Ratliff


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Good Bird Magazine takes a pretty scientificapproach to behavior. We also fully understandthat the “A” word, (anthropomorphism: pro-

jecting human emotions and feelings to an animal) cancause a miss-interpretation of behavior. But don’t letthat mislead you! We also enjoy a loving relationshipwith our birds and get a kick out of those stories aboutbirds doing things that seem uncharacteristicallyhuman. Perhaps the tales we enjoy the most are the onesin which a parrot seems to say the right thing at theright time. We realize birds may or may not understandwhat they are saying, but it makes us laugh anyway.

A VISIT FROM NANA BANANABy Georgi Abbott

Pickles is a Congo African grey parrot owned by Georgi andNeil Abbott. Here is a story courtesy of Georgi.

My mother (Pickles’ biggest fan) came to visit at the endof May. Her name is Zoe but all the grandchildren in thefamily call her Nana. Pickles prefers “Nana Banana.”

My mom has a hard time concentrating on anythingelse but Pickles while she’s here and especially loves itwhen Pickles is chatting to invisible characters in hisFun Factory (a toy we won from Grey Feathers Toys).

She likes to relax and read while here, but I’m sure sheonly succeeds in reading the same page over and overbecause mostly I see her looking over the top of herbook at Pickles.

Pickles likes my mom but they don’t ever get tooclose to one another since the day she showed up in hercoat of many colors – mostly reds. It was “scary” asPickles would tell you, and he’s a little leery of gettingtoo close to Mom in case that coat may still be hiddenupon her person. Mom sometimes animates with herarms and hands while telling a story. That too can be“scary” when you’re half asleep and sitting on the kneeof the animator. Regardless, he always seems happy tosee her and doesn’t hesitate to chat it up with her. Andmom now calls first to discuss her wardrobe before shecomes “Does Pickles like orange? Can I wear my flow-ered pajamas? What about hats? Etc.”

It’s a good thing my mother is not a prude. Duringone visit, we were throwing little whiffle balls toPickles while he perched on the back of the couch. Ashe snagged one in the air with his talon, it caused himto flip over onto his back, wedging him against thewall. “Oh sh*t!” he exclaimed as he struggled to righthimself. Honestly, this was the very first time we hadheard him utter these words.

It was my mom who observed that when Picklesmakes the sound of a ringing phone, after his conver-sation, he says “okay bye. beep” and actually has onetalon up to his ear. He then physically hangs up his pre-tend phone. Pickles loves to fool my mom by ringinglike the phone. And she falls for it most times. If shedoesn’t, he calls out “Answer the d*&n bird!”

We celebrated my mom’s birthday while she washere and even though the word ‘party’ was never men-tioned that day, Pickles somehow senses the days weplan to have a couple of drinks and play music.Perhaps it’s because he sees us making ice. All theaction inspires Pickles to suggest the perfect place forthe party.

“Anybody in the aviary?”

“Wanna party?’

Pickles and GeorgiPhoto credit: Georgi Abbott

Out of the Mouths of Parrots


“Wanna party in the aviary?”

“Want music in the aviary?”

“Let’s go party in the aviary!”

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”

The three of us agree. We made Pina Coladas, put onPickles favorite fiddle music, and carried him out to theyard. Pickles showed his appreciation with “Woo Hoo!What a good song! Sing a song with your beak!”

Neil grabbed the hose to water the herbs and inad-vertently sprayed Pickles. This was NOT a part of thedeal and Pickles ran along his perches, flapping hiswings angrily, hollering “Uh oh. Uh oh. Uh oh. Stopit! Just stop it! Stop it brat!” Neil stopped and apolo-gized but Pickles’ good mood was ruined … until aneighbor who’d never met Pickles spotted us and cameover to chat with him. Pickles perked up for this newvictim and when the fellow said “Well now, what dowe have in here?”

Pickles answered with “Freshwater rat baby!”

We have no idea where he picked up ‘rat’, or why it’sbecome his favorite word, nor why he’s decided ‘ary’makes just about any word sound so much better, butPickles continued.

“Hello rat baby!”

“Want some rat beans? Want some rat poop?”

“Poop on the rats. Go poop. Poop in the rat aviaryfor a snack.”

“Wanna go in the aviary? Want some snackery in theaviary? Wanna bananary in the aviary? There’s a bug-gery in the aviary! Hafta poopery in the aviary? Huh?”

“rrrrrrrrats”

The neighbor looked at us, looked at Pickles andback at us.

“I don’t know this bird.” I said. “He wandered in theyard one day, we fed him and now he won’t go away.”




Around the world in 80 daysor at least that is what itsometimes feels like.

Admittedly I did not make it quitethat far, but I have certainly had myshare of adventures and travels in thelast few months.

Immediately after finishing mycontribution to the summer issue ofGood Bird Magazine it was off toCalgary Canada. The printer wasbusy working his magic in thewater logged city of Austin, while Itraveled north for cooler and drierweather. So cool in fact there weretimes I’d wished I had winter jack-et! I was lucky enough to spot a fer-ruginous hawk or two, more thanlikely there to hunt the numerousprairie dogs that dotted the grassalong the freeways. I also had theopportunity for a return visit to oneof my favorite shopping destina-tions, ParrotDise Perch. That storeis irresistible. Every possible“thing-a-mbob” you can think of isthere. I actually found myself shop-ping not only for my parrot, butalso for some recently acquired fur-ried friends (two rats).

Kathleen Grey of ParrotDise Perchis a great supporter of the movementto help people learn about positivereinforcement and its benefits. Shebrought Susan Friedman, Ph D andme up to Calgary to present a twoday seminar. There were a number ofwilling training subjects on hand andeveryone had fun watching the birdslearn. I of course had fun watchingthe people learn too.

Next up was a trip to the midwest, Des Moines, Iowa to be exact.

Event ReviewsBy Barbara Heidenreich

ParrotDise Perch. That store is irresistible. Every possible “thing-a-mbob” you can think of is there.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich

Parrot Behavior and Training workshop in Des Moines, Iowa.Photo credit: John Grim


Taking questions during the workshop.Photo credit: John Grim

Training a partially blind Red Fronted macaw to fly to the hand on cue.Photo credit: John Grim


Carefully introducing this Timneh African grey parrot to a new perch.Photo credit: John Grim


Two of the best students in the class.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich


Getting started with the Blue and Gold macaw.Photo credit: John Grim

The Blank Park Zoo children’s zoo features domestic animals.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich


Hefty sized tortoises at the Blank Park Zoo.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich

A first for me. A koi fish petting exhibit at the zoo.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich

Special presentations at the zoo included a keeper talk about Giraffes.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich

That blob of hair is a sloth.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich


John Grim helped organize a weekend seminar hostedby the Mid America Cage Bird Society. One full daywas devoted to the basics of training and a half dayfocused on managing flighted companion parrots.Needless to say flighted birds can present a whole slewof challenges that can be easily addressed with somegood old fashioned positive reinforcement training. Wehad an eager flight training participant with a blind inone eye Red Fronted macaw. A superstar TimnehAfrican grey showed us that greys also respond well tothe positive reinforcement approach. Never underesti-mate the power of the poicephalus! Even the little guysproved that learning is for the birds. With some time tospare I was also able to sneak in some time at the BlankPark Zoo before catching a plane back home to Austin.

Behind the scenes at World Bird Sanctuary.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich

Auger buzzards (a type of hawk) in their breeding chamber.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich

Cute Eurasian Eagle owl baby.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich

The always impressive Andean condor catching some rays.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich


The following weekend had me visiting St Louis,Missouri for a board meeting of the InternationalAssociation of Avian Trainers and Educators. As pastpresident I attend two meetings a year, this one beingthe mid year meeting. Despite being quite occupied bythis event there was also time to visit the World BirdSanctuary. This well respected organization has beenrehabilitating wildlife and educating the public aboutconservation for many years. We were fortunate toreceive a behind the scenes tour of their fabulous site.A bonus was the chance to see an Indigo Bunting at awild bird feeder! To top off the weekend I was fortu-nate to present at the St Louis Humane Society. I couldnot have asked for a nicer theater in which to present. Iwas also pleased to have the opportunity to visit withsome colleagues from the St Louis Zoo at this event.Best of all was the chance to catch up with big time pos-itive reinforcement cheerleaders Dorene Olsen andMandy Baumgartner. Thanks to them both for againspearheading the efforts to arrange the speakingengagement and for fighting the good fight.

I pretty much had time to do laundry and not muchmore before it was out the door again. This time travelstook me to the east coast. It was the Association ofAvian Veterinarians conference. This extremely wel-coming group puts on an event packed to the gills.Providence, Rhode Island was the home away fromhome for the week. With over 600 avian veterinarians itis a busy event. This year a new twist to the curriculumwas a day devoted specifically to behavior. I presenteda two hour lecture on managing flighted parrots in thehome. A special thanks goes to Dean Moser for allow-ing me to use his stupendous photos. Those photosalone helped to keep people attentive. I was also fortu-nate to be able to present a four hour workshop on thebasics of training to a very receptive audience. This wetlab, as it is also called, sold out! And the feedback wasvery complimentary. With veterinarians’ scientificbackground it is easy to see why having a systematicapproach to behavior and training might appeal to vet-erinary professionals. Let’s hope more veterinariansfollow this lead and embrace the information available.

The Gabriel Foundation once again were the heroes.These folks drove all the way from Denver Coloradowith an RV full of birds so that veterinarians have theopportunity to learn with live training subjects. AHerculean effort indeed! The birds received the best ofcare and even had an extra spacious room at the hotel.

A particularly pleasant Hyacinth macaw was wellloved during the training workshop. After being anexcellent student for some training demonstrations sheworked her way from participant to participant soak-ing up all the head scratches and cuddles she could.She was nice reminder why we enjoy parrots so much.

After indulging in a meatball sandwich, not to men-tion some treats from the bakery, in the Italian district itwas off the Roger Williams Park Zoo. Robin Shewokis,an enrichment specialist from the Leather Elves joinedme to present an evening workshop at the zoo. Earlierin the day we had the opportunity to wander the zooand enjoy some training and enrichment activities witha variety of species. My favorite was a young babirusa(an Indonesian pig) whose enthusiastic antics left methrilled for the rest of the trip. Nothing beats training apig, especially a babirusa.

After a rainy day of driving, we found ourselves inBurlington, New Jersey. Home of the infamous BirdParadise store. This HUGE building houses what mustbe the ultimate shopping experience for the bird enthu-siast. The sunny weekend had crowds of people com-ing through the doors to shop, to nosh on baked goods,to visit with birds and to participate in an enrichmentand training workshop. Robin was up first to presenton enrichment. During her talk I found myself doingmy best to keep a young Slender Billed Corella occu-pied. Cute as can be, but in typical corella fashion…..busy, busy, busy. He was however, a joy to train. Heended up being the prize student during the trainingportion of the workshop. Without exaggeration thissmart cockatoo learned to turn in a circle on cue afteronly three repetitions. Brilliant!

Philadelphia is just a short drive from Burlington,New Jersey. This meant a much needed visit with GoodBird contributor Marianne Morrison. Marianne worksat the Philadelphia Zoo. Many have seen the video clipof her training blue and gold macaws for medicalbehaviors that I am fortunate to have her permission touse in my presentations. While at the zoo we were ableto visit those very macaws and also catch a few show-ings of the bird show that was there for the summer.

I then traveled to the opposite corner of the country,southern California. This trip started with a workshoporganized by parrot enthusiast Martin Parks. Mostevents are usually hosted by a club, store or organiza-


tion. Martin’s effort was quite exceptionable as he car-ried the workload himself. San Diego is famous for itsbeauty and the workshop location lived up to that rep-utation. We had the famous Central Park flying RedFronted macaw Otis in attendance as well as his care-givers Hugh and Raz. All three of their birds were won-derful training demonstration birds, a testament to thefine work already accomplished by Hugh and Raz. Oneof my favorite moments though was when workshopattendee Austin, trained his family’s Blue and Goldmacaw to turn around on cue during the lunch break. Iwould guess Austin is perhaps 12 years old. He and hislittle sister have a great interest in animals. In additionthey have parents who support their interest. Theywere very attentive during the day long seminar, whichmust be tough for a young person! I look forward toseeing Austin perhaps making his living one day work-ing with animals.

Happy cattle dogs. Angus in on the right.Photo credit: Kim Caldwell

Welcome to the Cheetah Run Safari.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich


The cheetah runway.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich

Guests visit with the cheetah after a spectacular run.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich


The cheetah and his trainer.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich

Kim educates the guests about the fastest bird, the Peregrine falcon.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich


The bird show at the Wild Animal Park.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich

Lucky park guests get to meet other animal ambassadors such as this trained warthog.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich


Hand raised Society finch at AFA.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich

A sand sculpture on Venice Beach.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich


The next day was all about animals! Good friend andprofessional animal trainer at the San Diego ZoologicalSociety’s Wild Animal Park, Kim Caldwell made suremy day was full of fun experiences. First up was the everimportant play session with Angus her new puppy. Ibecame Auntie Barbara to this irresistible pooch. I evenhad withdrawals after leaving Kim’s house several dayslater. Probably the most fun with Angus was a walk tothe lake. After swimming, Angus would barrel out of thewater and flop himself onto the ground with such forceit spewed sand over anyone within five feet of him. Ithink it must have been big fun getting a reaction fromus, as he seemed to target right to our feet every time.Celeigh his older housemate was the cuddle bug, whoapparently feels strongly that a dog’s belly should berubbed at all times. I was happy to oblige.

At the park I was privileged to experience the stun-ning power and beauty of a cheetah running almost attop speed. The Wild Animal Park offers a special guestexperience called the Cheetah Run Safari. At this eventguests can meet a Gyrfalcon, a Peregrine Falcon, aCaracal and a Cheetah. The cheetah run portion of theevent allows guests to watch a cheetah chase a luredown a grass runway. Separated only by a small fencethe experience is up close and personal. You can evenhear the cat’s paws as they thunder over the ground.The crowd was so stunned by the run at first we didnot react. After regaining a bit of composure the gaspsturned into applause. A great experience for anyone inthe southern California area. Something else I lovedabout the cheetah run was that it was the staff thatworks with the animals that originally came up withthe idea to offer this as a guest experience. Good work!

After the cheetah it was on to watch the new birdshow at the park. Not too long ago Kim was taskedwith developing and overseeing the bird show. Thishuge undertaking has lead to big improvements to thetheater, animal areas, the show, training and more.With more birds still in training I look forward to areturn visit to see what will be in the show next.

A real treat was a sneak peek at the animal ambassa-dors. This special group of animals is trained to partic-ipate in special events, education programs and uniqueup close guest experiences. Next time you find yourselfin the San Diego Wild Animal Park keep your eye outfor trainers wandering the park with an aardvark,hyena or even a warthog!

The main reason for the visit to California was to par-ticipate in the American Federation of Aviculture con-ference held in Los Angeles. This event featured speak-ers from around the world. It was nice opportunity forme to catch up with some avian enthusiasts I rarely seeas well as reconnect with more familiar faces. AFArecently launched an online course called theFundamentals of Aviculture. I was fortunate to con-tribute to the section on behavior and learning. Visitwww.afabirds.org to take the course.

Besides experiencing excellent presentations I washappy to have fun neighbors in the vendor room.Thanks to Irma from Lyons and Michael and Michellefrom Kaytee for making the days quite entertaining.Being in LA also means some playtime one wouldhope. Mark and Marie Stafford of Parrots International,a conservation organization, were kind enough to hosta lovely boat tour of Marina Del Rey and showed us abit of Santa Monica shopping and dining attractions.The following night was spent in Hollywood with afriend. By chance we spotted movie star ViggoMortenson at our chosen music venue for the night. Totop off the LA experience Rebecca O’Connor, GoodBird contributor and author of many books including“A Parrot for Life”, and I spent an afternoon in VeniceBeach. Boating, dining, Venice Beach and movie stars!You could not ask for more when visiting Los Angeles.

Despite the adventures I am happy to be home forthe moment. International travels are on the horizon.Look for updates in the next issue of Good BirdMagazine.

Venice Beach on a Sunday.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich


I read this book, very simply, because it was a giftfrom my friend, Michele, a fellow parrot lover andcaregiver. Never having owned a macaw and knowinglittle about them, I probably would have passed by thisbook without even a second look. However, havingread it, I know it to be “an environmental parable forour time” that will haunt me for a very long time.

Tony Juniper is the author, narrator and main charac-ter of “Spix’s Macaw”. By 1990 many believed that thewild Spix’s Macaw had disappeared entirely. TonyJuniper, a noted environmentalist was invited to join anexpedition formed to determine its status. That expedi-tion seems to have started his commitment to this par-ticular species, a commitment that remains constantthroughout the book. Other characters in this bookinclude Johann von Spix for whom the Spix’s Macawwas named, and others who are important for the roleeach played in the demise of the Spix’s. Trappers were

doggedly persistent in their pursuit of these rare andhighly sought after birds. The European and Braziliancollectors who paid fortunes for their smuggled Spix’s,preferred to endanger the species than chance losingtheir birds for its recovery. Some members of theRecovery Committee (The Permanent Committee forthe Recovery of Spix’s Macaw) established to overseethe recovery plans and process, stalled efforts out ofjealousy, spite, greed and/or wounded pride.

This non-fiction book set mainly in Brazil traces theSpix’s Macaw from its discovery in 1817 to the presentday. It could stand as a natural history of parrots or adocumentary on mankind’s stewardship of the planet.Although it is factual, it reads like a novel with theattendant suspense and drama; I had difficulty puttingthe book down.

In my opinion, “Spix’s Macaw” is a “must read” forall aviculturists, from breeders and collectors to res-cuers and hobbyists. Recently I heard someone say,“Everyone wants to change the world until they areasked to change a habit.” “Spix’s Macaw” is a sad com-mentary on the truth of that statement.

Book Review By Patricia A. Phillips

SPIX’S MACAW. THE RACE TO SAVE THEWORLD’S RAREST BIRDBy Tony JuniperHarper Collins Publishers 2002


Last year my husband, Jerry, and I decided to turnthe back porch into an aviary for our parrots. Wedecided to go with galvanized wire and took

steps to minimize the danger of a parrot ingesting zincfrom chewing on the wire. Jerry nailed pressure treat-ed wood to our existing porch railing to create theframe for the aviary. Then he attached the wire to theinside of the frame. He nailed untreated pine moldingon the inside to cover the exposed edges of wire and toprevent the parrots from chewing on the pressure treat-ed wood. At the end of the porch going down the stairsto the lower deck he installed a screen door.

The aviary is on a porch that is outside a large win-dowed room off of the kitchen. We have a direct view

of the aviary from our computer desk and the kitchen.This allows us to watch our parrots when they are outto be sure they don’t chew on wire. More often thannot, we will sit outside in the aviary with the birds.

On the inside of the aviary Jerry fashioned holdersfor PVC pipe out of PVC bulkheads in blocks ofuntreated pine. I was able to screw in PVC connectorsto the bulkheads and build play stands out away fromthe wire. The wire on top of the aviary is outside thepressure treated wood and I use stainless steel screweyes and ceiling protectors to hang toys, plants, branch-es and baskets. This is all done to provide the parrotsplaces to explore and encourage activities that keepthem off the wire and away from the pressure treatedbeams above.

Granted we live in Alaska and our season is short,but we still have plenty of opportunities to get our par-rots outdoors. The fact that this aviary is a back porchmakes it even more accessible and convenient. I justopen the back door and out we go.

An Alaskan Aviary ExperienceBy Kris Porter

The aviary built onto the second level back porch.Photo credit: Kris Porter

Using PVC we were able to build custom playstands in the aviary. In thecenter bar above the basket are connectors to hold food and water cups.Photo credit: Kris Porter


If you don’t have the means or the area to build anoutdoor aviary, there are other ways to get your parrotsoutdoors in nice weather, even in Alaska. I have afriend, Debbie Ross, who has a large deck over hergarage. She has several portable cages that she sets upon the deck in the early spring and leaves them there allsummer. Her parrots are able to enjoy the sunshine intheir cages on the deck. She uses tree branches forperches and loads the cages with toys. Her parrots alsoenjoy being sprayed outside with a garden hose with ashower wand attachment.

I’ve heard from several people that their parrotsseem to enjoy bathing more when given the opportuni-ty to experience a bath outdoors. I find that to be true

with my parrots. When I shower them outdoors theyspread their wings and flap at the water being sprayedon them. They seem to lean in for more opportunity toget wet.

When birds are in the aviary I am either with them onthe porch when they are out, or in the kitchen where Ihave a direct view of the aviary. Also, not every parrotin our house took to the aviary experience right away.“Ditto” our Eclectus parrot loved it from the start.“Buddy” our African Grey parrot was afraid to go outat first. The outdoor experience was one to which heneeded to be gradually exposed. A lawn mower start-ing up in the neighborhood would startle him. Thisyear I am pleased to report that he is the first one to lifthis foot and say, “Step Up” when given an opportunityto go outside.

In Pamela Clark’s article, The Optimal EnvironmentPart Three – The Creative Cage, she writes that, “Theoutdoor aviary is an opportunity for exuberance.” Ihave to agree. Having an outdoor aviary has been oneof the more enriching experiences we’ve been able tooffer our birds as well as ourselves. We thoroughlyenjoy the experience of sitting outside with our flock ofbirds and watching them play and interact in a waythat isn’t possible in our living room. They explore,chew on wood branches and hanging wicker baskets,nibble on pansies and nasturtiums, watch people asthey walk on the bike path that runs behind our house,and whistle and call out in pleasant tones. Life outsideis good.

When I shower my birds outdoors they spread their wings and seem tolean in for more opportunity to get wet.Photo credit: Kris Porter

Ditto our Eclectus parrot and Buddy our African Grey parrot enjoyingthe aviary.Photo credit: Kris PorterIf you do decide to put a cage outdoors for

your parrot to get fresh air, here are somepoints to consider:

■ Watch your bird’s behavior to see if he or sheis comfortable in the outside cage.

■ Do not leave parrots in an outside cage unat-tended unless the enclosure is predator proof.Raccoons and other predators can pose a threatto easily accessed enclosures.

■ Provide protection from the elements and tem-perature extremes, this may include shadestructures, misting systems, fans, enclosedareas and supplemental heat.


Saving the earth for ourselves, for our companionparrots and for all animals in the wild is some-times as easy as making a few simple changes in

our lives. Here are four activities you can try to helpmake a difference. We suggest you try adding one ofthe four activities every few weeks until your nextissue of Good Bird magazine arrives. Before you knowit each activity will become second nature…… and youwill be helping nature.

As always we suggest you start your conservationefforts by re-using and recycling Good Bird maga-zine. Keep Good Bird magazine on your bookshelf forfuture reference. Good Bird magazine offers a greatdeal of information that will continue to be useful.Share Good Bird magazine with friends, you birdclub, and your veterinarian. Give old magazines tohealth clubs, retirement homes, and libraries. Wedon’t even mind if you use it line the bottom of thebird cage! If it is time to discard an issue, please besure to place it in the recycling bin. We appreciateyour efforts.

1. Avoid making trash. Pass on the free plastic uten-sils and bring your own. When ordering icecream, order a cone instead of a cup. Carry a mugwith you wherever you go for take out beverages.

2. Shop at and hold garage sales - this is a great wayto reuse products. Donate anything not sold toGood Will.

3. For college students Dump and Run(www.dumpandrun.org)is a nonprofit organization that organizes the collection of college students' castoff items in the spring, sothey can be sold to incoming students in the fall.The proceeds are then donated to nonprofits.

4. The World Wildlife Fund is encouraging individuals to drink tap water instead of bottledwater. For more information on this study visitthis website ww.heartland.org/archives/environ-ment/jul01/bottled.htm. The other reason to stickto tap water is to avoid damaging ecosystemswhen spring water is tapped for bottling.

Photo credit: Dean MoserEco-Tips


Photo credit: David Kuehn



Photo credit: Hilary Herron

Photo credit: Hilary Herron


Recommended ResourcesLITERATUREDon’t Shoot the Dog! The New Art of Teaching andTraining By Karen Pryor (1999 Bantam Publishers)

This book is essential to anyone’s collection. It dis-cusses some basic training principles in very simplelanguage. The training principles are then applied toeveryday situations to help understand how they canbe used with animals and people. It is easy to read andinexpensive as well. Available through www.clicker-training.com

Animal Training: Successful Animal Management throughPositive ReinforcementBy Ken Ramirez (1999 Shedd Aquarium Publishers)

This book is a collection of articles written about ani-mal training. It is very comprehensive and includes agreat deal of information. Articles cover a variety ofanimal species. It is a large book and a bit more expen-sive, but worth it. It is available by calling toll free 1-888-732-7883 (1-888-SEA-STUF) or visitingwww.sheddnet.org. This book is also available throughwww.amazon.com.

Good Bird MagazinePublished quarterly by Good Bird Inc. Available atwww.goodbirdinc.com

Good Bird! A Guide to Solving Behavioral Problems inCompanion Parrots.By Barbara Heidenreich. Available atwww.avianpubli-cations.com

The Parrot Problem Solver. Addressing AggressiveBehavior.By Barbara Heidenreich. Available atwww.avianpublications.com

Clicking With Birds: A Beginners Guide to ClickerTraining Your Companion Parrot By Linda Morrow. Available at www.avi-train.com/manual.html


Clicker Training with BirdsBy Melinda Johnson. Available at www.clickertraining.com

A Parrot for LifeBy Rebecca K O’Connor. Available atwww.amazon.com andwww.rebeccakoconnor.com/parrots

INTERNET RESOURCES Good Bird Incwww.GoodBirdInc.com

Applied Companion Animal Behavior Network- Avian Pageswww.acabn.com/avianlist.html

An Animal Trainers Introduction to Operant and Classical Conditioningwww.wagntrain.com/OC

The Writings of Susan Friedman, PhD. www.behaviorworks.org

The International Association of Avian Trainers andEducators (IAATE)www.IAATE.org

Animal Behavior Management Alliance (ABMA)www.theABMA.org

The Cambridge Center for Behavioral StudiesThe website offers forums to discuss behavior and anexcellent collection of definitions of applied behavioranalysis terminology. www.behavior.org

Raising CanineTelecourses on animal trainingwww.raisingcanine.com

Practice the timing of your bridgeswww.clickertales.com/clickertimingame.html

WORKSHOPS:Parrot Behavior and Training Workshops -Good Bird IncBarbara HeidenreichOffering workshops specifically catered for the companion parrot community and also veterinaryprofessionals www.GoodBirdInc.com

Living and Learning with Parrots: The FundamentalPrinciples of BehaviorOnline ClassBy Susan G Friedman, Ph.D.www.behaviorworks.org.

VIDEOS:Parrot Behavior and Trainingby Good Bird Inc.Available at www.goodbirdinc.com

Training your Parrot for theVeterinary Exam. Available at www.goodbirdinc.com

LIST SERVES:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/clickbirds/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BirdClick/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pickinparrots/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ParrotBAS/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GoodBirdGroup/

Recommended Resources continued


At a recent animal training and behavior work-shop I taught at a zoo I had the privilege ofworking with a most delightful Papua New

Guinea singing dog named Zeus. He was a very eagerparticipant in a training demonstration. Zeus quicklylearned to target to my closed fist. In furthering hiseducation I decided to focus on teaching this enthusi-astic dog to lie down. He had already mastered sittingon cue. I used my target to ask for sit, then lowered myfist to the ground, which Zeus followed with his nose(or “snoot” as my good friend Kellye calls it.) Zeus wasbrimming with energy and excitement. He might bedescribed by some as difficult because of his seeminglyhard to harness energy (jumping up, pulling on theleash, easily distracted). However by teaching Zeus tofocus on a closed fist his wandering eye soon learned tofixate on the target.

By using the target to prompt Zeus to lay down I wasable to shape an approximation of a crouch. Howeverteaching Zues to press his entire belly to the floor wasproving to be more difficult to shape in the short timeframe available. I opted to describe the approximationsone might take to complete the behavior and weresumed with the lecture portion of the workshop.

Overall we had a great workshop and went on tospend a week training a plethora of behaviors with avariety of animals. However along the way a questionwas posed to me. “Why did I not just prompt Zeus tolay down by pushing on his back? Wouldn’t that facili-tate getter the behavior quickly?”

In my opinion this is a great question. This is becauseit opens the doors to a discussion about prompting andcoercion. Just what exactly is the difference if any, andwhen do we use either practice to obtain behavior?

DEFINING PROMPTING AND COERCIONPrompting is described as a supplementary stimulus

to help a learner respond. For example, if a studentcannot remember a technical term we can give aprompt by, for example, telling him or her the first let-ter. Note that later prompts are "faded" so that the stu-dent eventually responds without them. Another defi-nition would be an antecedent that induces a subject toperform a behavior that otherwise does not occur.

Prompting and CoercionBy Barbara Heidenreich

Zeus, the New Guinea Singing dog. Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich

A prompt would be an antecedent that induces a subject to perform abehavior that otherwise does not occur.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich


(Cambridge Center for Behavior Studies) To be coercedis to be compelled under duress or threat to do some-thing against our will. (Sidman 1989)

Returning to the example of training the dog to laydown, if indeed the dog appears to find pressure on hisback unpleasant, and lays down to avoid the pressureon his body and we see this behavior increase fromthese actions, we can be confident that negative rein-forcement is playing a role in influencing that behavior.In his book “Coercion and its Fallout” Murray Sidmanstates that control by positive reinforcement is non coer-cive: coercion enters the picture when our actions arecontrolled by negative reinforcement or punishment.

However it also appears that pushing on the dog’sback might also induce the dog to perform the behav-ior that was not occurring. According to the definitionwe would be reasonable to conclude this might also bedescribed as a prompt. Therefore in this example push-ing on the back would incorporate both negative rein-forcement and prompting. Prompting and coercion areboth involved.

MISUSE OF PROMPTINGThis then leads to further discussion on whether

prompting itself should be scrutinized carefully toensure the prompts in play are the most positive, leastintrusive choices available.

For example, we were also working with largermammals at that facility. Imagine attempting to pushon a lion’s hind quarters to achieve the “sit” behavior?The thought would likely not enter most people’smind. However when we work with smaller animalssuch as parrots, it seems to be easy for humans to enlistcoercion in the prompting repertoire. Perhaps weassume the consequences to human flesh from a bird asinsignificant compared to what a lion might offer, andwe boldly press on. Unfortunately the fallout may notbe physical injury to us, but rather a seriously trustdepleted relationship between the parrot and the care-giver. Not life threatening, but certainly a great loss inmy opinion.

An example of this came up for discussion on thegood bird yahoo group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GoodBirdGroup/ ) in regard to parrots thatwere clipped, but now have regained flight feathers.A common question that arises is “How to get such abird airborne?” There are many reasons why this canbe a challenging behavior to train (see ManagingFlighted Parrots in the Home Good Bird MagazineVol 3 Issue 2) and getting that first launch into flightmay seem impossible. Sometimes people have resort-ed to techniques that involve prompting in ways thatdo not embrace a least intrusive approach. Theseinclude the following:

• Throwing a bird into flight• Tossing a bird into the air over a bed• Scaring a bird into flight • Pulling the towel out from under the bird

while it sits on a perch• Pulling on a leash or line attached to the bird

At a recent lecture I mentioned observing ashow in which birds of prey where flown. Tolaunch the birds into flight the trainers wouldhold onto the leather straps on the birds legs(called jesses) , fling the bird back over theirshoulders and catapult the bird into air withincredible force. The audience at the lecturegasped at the image I had painted. I explainedthat I have the same reaction when I see some-one toss a parrot into the air. Why would eithertossing strategy be considered acceptable,regardless of species? While one may be lessforceful than the other, it can be concluded thatin both cases coercion was a part of the process.

Imagine trying to force a large mammal like an elephant to lay down by pushing onhis back.Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich


APPROPRIATE APPLICATION OF PROMPTINGPrompting can be a very useful tool in creating

behavior in our positive reinforcement training strate-gies. However just as conscientious caregivers embracean ethical hierarchy of behavioral procedures overallwhen working with an animal, the same can be appliedto choices in prompting strategies. Prompts can be asvaried as our creative minds will allow. Therefore itwould be nearly impossible to list all the prompts acaregiver might use with his or her parrot. However acaregiver can ask the question “Does my prompt incor-porate coercion? Is the prompt causing a parrot to dosomething that is against the birds will? Do myprompting strategies involve creating fear responses?”Those types of prompting strategies can then be easilyremoved from the list of acceptable prompts.

After the prompts that incorporate coercion andfear are eliminated from the repertoire, the next stepcan be to develop a list of acceptable prompts for adesired behavior and the order in which to use them.The goal when training is to use a prompt that is theleast intrusive as possible. If this level of prompt isunsuccessful, the next prompt considered may be onethat is more informative.

For example if I want a parrot to move to pick up anobject in his beak, I might begin with pointing towardsthe object. If this does not facilitate performance of thebehavior I may use a target held near the object to accu-rately direct the bird to the object. If this is unsuccess-ful I may hold the object up to the bird’s mouth in

hopes that he might grab it with his beak. If the desiredresponse still evades me, I may then place a desiredreinforcer such as a sunflower seed on the object so thatthe bird may make contact with the object. Prying thebird’s beak open and placing the object within it wouldfall into my unacceptable prompting strategies. Thiswould be treading deep into the realm of coercion.

Another important element in appropriate use ofprompting is to remember to fade the prompt. This canbe done by either delaying the presentation of theprompt when asking for the behavior, or graduallyworking ones way back down through the list of lessintrusive prompts.

A common question that arises about parrots that were once clipped is“How to get such a bird airborne?”Photo credit: Dean Moser

Prompts can be as varied as our creative minds will allow. Photo credit: Barbara Heidenreich

Develop a list of acceptable prompts for a desired behavior and the orderin which to use them.Photo credit: Roelant Jonker and Grace Innemee www.cityparrots.org


Working hand in hand with prompting choices isalso a well developed shaping plan that incorporateseasily achieved approximations. Reinforcing after eachapproximation is key to teaching your parrot a desiredbehavior. Relying on prompting alone wont result inrepeatable behavior over long periods of time.

CONCLUSIONPerhaps it is obvious by now why I chose not to push

Zeus’s back to the floor to create the goal behavior.Coercion is not a part of my prompting repertoire forthis behavior. Especially when I am confident, givenenough time to train the behavior, it can be achievedwith non coercive methods.

Sidman states “We are accustomed to being coerced,forced to do things we are unwilling to do, made to dothem at times more convenient for someone else’s sched-ule than our own, and compelled to act against our owninclinations in ways that we find uncongenial, difficult oreven distasteful. Nature coerces us, government coercesus, teachers coerce us, friends and families coerce us. Weare constantly on the lookout for ways to achieve free-dom from coercion” I would think it a reasonableassumption that animals, including our companion par-rots, seek the same freedom from coercion as well.

REFERENCES1. Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies

www.behavior.org2. Sidman, M., Coercion and its Fallout Boston, MA:

Authors Cooperate Inc, 1989

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional in the fieldof animal training since 1990. She owns and operates acompany, Good Bird, Inc., (www.goodbirdinc.com) thatprovides behavior and training products to the companionparrot community. These products include Good Birdmagazine, books, videos, and behavior and training work-shops. She is the author of “Good Bird! A Guide to SolvingBehavior Problems in Companion Parrots” by AvianPublications and also the “The Parrot Problem Solver.Finding Solutions to Aggressive Behavior” by TFHPublications. She is the past president of the InternationalAssociation of Avian Trainers and Educators(www.IAATE.org).

Barbara’s experience also includes consulting on animalbehavior and training in zoos and other animal relatedfacilities. Her specialty is free flight bird training. She hasbeen a part of the development and production of morethan 15 different free flight education programs. Barbaracontinues to provide consulting services to zoos, naturecenters and other animal facilities through her other com-pany Animal Training and Consulting Services(www.ATandCS.com). In her career she has trained ani-mals, trained staff, and/or presented shows at facil

The goal when training is to use a prompt that is the least intrusive aspossiblePhoto credit: Barbara Heidenreich

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A Special Thank YouTo the businesses and individuals who helped make

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PLEASE BE SURE TO VISIT THEIR WEBSITES!


September 22, 2007 “Parrot Behavior and TrainingWorkshop”, Minneapolis, MN, USHosted by Minnesota Companion Bird Association.Day long workshop on the basics of training par-rots with positive reinforcement presented byBarbara Heidenreich of Good Bird Inc. For moreinformation visit www.mnbird.org or contact Maryat [email protected]

September 28-30, 2007: “Parrot Learning andBehavior for Veterinary Professionals” Denver, CO,USA.Hosted by the Gabriel Foundation. This one of a kind seminar is a unique opportunity for veterinaryprofessionals to learn the fundamentals of positivereinforcement training and learning theory. Not to be missed! For more information visitwww.thegabrielfoundation.org

October 5, 2007 “Training to Benefit Avian Healthand Welfare” Tinton Falls, NJ, USAAn evening presentation by Barbara Heidenreich ofGood Bird Inc. Hosted by Red Bank VeterinaryHospital 197 Hance Ave, Tinton Falls, NJ 07724Phone: 732-747-3636 ext 1732 or 1733 Email:[email protected]. Visit this link for more informationhttp://www.rbvh.net/articles/cllientlectures_avian.htm

October 6, 2007 “Parrot Expo” Long Island, NY, USABarbara Heidenreich of Good Bird Inc will be speaking at this event. Hosted by the Long IslandParrot Society. Visit this link for more informationwww.liparrotsociety.org/annualshow

October 7, 2007 “Bird Club Presentation”Connecticut, USAHosted by the Connecticut Association forAviculture. Barbara Heidenreich of Good Bird Incwill be presenting at the monthly meeting. Formore information visit www.cafabirdclub.org

Upcoming Events and Seminars

Have you heard allthe things Barbara and

others are up to?


October 20-21, 2007 “Parrot Behavior and TrainingWorkshop” Stockholm, SwedenSeminar on the basics of training parrots with posi-tive reinforcement presented by Barbara Heidenreichof Good Bird Inc. Hosted by Dr Gunnel Andersson.For more information visit www.djurkliniken-roslagstull.se or call: 46-8-6125760

October 27, 2007 “Parrot Behavior and TrainingWorkshop” Richmond, UK (near London)Seminar on the basics of training parrots with posi-tive reinforcement presented by BarbaraHeidenreich of Good Bird Inc. For more informa-tion contact Raquel Sheldon at 0779 541 3113 or0208 4040443 Email: [email protected]

October 28, 2007 “Advanced Skills and FlightTraining Workshop”, ” Richmond, UK (nearLondon)Seminar on advanced training skills and also ontraining/managing your flighted parrot presentedby Barbara Heidenreich of Good Bird Inc. For moreinformation contact Raquel Sheldon at 0779 541 3113or 0208 4040443 Email: [email protected]

November 10-11, 2007: “Parrot Behavior andLearning: A Step Up and Beyond” Germantown(Milwaukee Area), WI, USA.Two day seminar featuring Susan Friedman, PhD and Barbara Heidenreich. For more information visit www.avianbehaviorsolutions.com Email:[email protected] Phone: (262) 255-2758

December 5, 2007 Animal Training ContinuingEducation Course Austin Community College.Austin, TX, USA6PM to 10PM. Presented by Barbara Heidenreich ofGood Bird Inc this course will be an introduction totraining animals with positive reinforcement.Designed for animal training enthusiasts includinganimal industry professionals and companion ani-mal caregivers. Visit www.goodbirdinc.com orwww.austincc.edu/ce for more information.

January 25-27, 2008: Parrot Festival, Houston, TX, USA.Hosted by the National Parrot Rescue andPreservation Foundation. Barbara Heidenreich ofGood Bird Inc will be presenting at this event. Formore information visit www.parrotfestival.org

February 22-24, 2008: Aviculture Society ofAmerica, Phoenix, AZ, USA.Barbara Heidenreich of Good Bird Inc will be presenting at this event. For more information visitwww.asabirds.org

March 5-8, 2008: International Association ofAvian Trainers and Educators Conference, Alphenann den Rijn, Netherlands. Barbara Heidenreich of Good Bird Inc will be par-ticipating in this event. Visit www.IAATE.org formore information.

April 26-27, 2008: “Parrot Behavior and Learning:A Step Up and Beyond” Phoenix, AZ, USA.Two day seminar featuring Susan Friedman, PhDand Barbara Heidenreich. For more informationcontact: Gail Naylor at [email protected]

May 24-25, 2008 “Fly About 2008” Dallas, OR, USAA weekend seminar focused on the details of train-ing flighted birds in the home as well as for freeflight. Details pending. Visitwww.cockatoodowns.com for more information asit becomes available.

July 4-6, 2008 “Parrot Society of AustraliaConference” Brisbane, Australia This fabulous conference is hosted by the ParrotSociety of Australia and features speakers such asBarbara Heidenreich, Susan Friedman Ph D, JimMcKendry, Donald Brightsmith Ph D, David PhalenDVM, Daniel Gowland, Dale Thompson, PeterOdekerken, Dr Chris Kingsley and Sheryl Steel-Boyce. Visit www.parrotsociety.org.au for moreinformation as it becomes available.


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Good Bird® Magazine is the ultimate resource for individuals seeking tolearn kind and gentle ways to create desired parrot behavior. Our primaryfocus is behavior from an applied behavior analysis approach with anemphasis on positive reinforcement training. However we also cover othertopics related to the well being of parrots in our homes and in the wild.

More and more people are discovering the joys of creating desiredbehavior with positive reinforcement. Good Bird® Magazine is here tokeep the movement growing and thriving. We hope everyone can experi-ence the incredible relationship that can be created with your bird whenyou train with positive reinforcement.

Be a part of the excitement.

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Dear Barbara,I have been trying to teach my Parrotlets to do the

wave for some time now. I had immediate success withmy Crimson Belly Conure, Skittles, after I watched yourfirst DVD.

My little guys Tiki and Ronde’ (the Parrotlets) justdon't seem to get it. They end up hunkering down on theperch, and try to bite my hand. They learned the turn-around behavior pretty quickly, but that's the only thingthat they have learned. Do you have any pointers forthese little guys? Are Parrotlets any different when itcomes to training? Would I have to separate them toteach them? They are one year old brothers, and they arepretty much inseparable. They just cry for each other if Iseparate them, even for just a little while.

Ruth

Hi Ruth,I am glad to hear you have had some success with your

conure. Parrotlets are certainly capable of learning all thebehaviors in the DVD's as well. It just sometimes takes abit more sensitivity and attention to detail. Little birdscan move very, very quickly. This means the trainer hasto be on his or her toes! The tiniest approximationtowards the desired behavior may happen with lighten-ing speed. Trainers need to exhibit good timing with theirbridges to have success.

If your birds are biting and/or are trying to avoid thesituation, this is signal to re-evaluate your strategy. Itmay indicate your birds are not receptive to a trainingsession at that time, or the approximation being request-ed is too big, or possibly not understood by your birds.You may want to go back to something even more basicthan a wave. I would focus on targeting at first. You wantto create the situation in which the birds look forward tothe interaction. Be sure you are using a powerful rein-

forcer. Something your birds really likes, so they want toparticipate. Once you start seeing body language thatindicates your birds are anticipating the next reinforcer,you’ll know your heading down the right path.

You will then also want to look at your shaping planand see if each step can be easily achieved by your birds.It is not uncommon for new trainers to inadvertently askfor approximations that are too big. It may also help toremember there are many ways to get to the same behav-ior. You may decide a different shaping plan will helpyou achieve the wave. Some people train the wave byteaching the bird touch a target, such as the end of a stick,with a foot.

To give you a little inspiration Kathleen Grey ofParrotdise Perch in Canada (www.parrotdiseperch.com)has a very well trained Parrotlet. She used the same prin-ciples you see in the videos to train her bird. The rein-forcer she uses is one tiny millet seed for each approxi-mation. I was fortunate to see her bird in action in person.Fabulous training!

Your goal is for the birds to be very comfortable andrelaxed, which in your case may mean working with twoat the same time. I often train two or more birds at thesame time, but it is more challenging for the trainer. Itmeans paying attention to the behavior of all the birdssimultaneously. To make it a bit easier you can reinforceone for just sitting calmly nearby, while the other is par-ticipating in a structured training session. There is an arti-cle on the Good Bird Inc website about training multiplebirds and also training small birds you may want tocheck out for further information.http://www.good-birdinc.com/digitalmedia.html

Happy training! Barbara Heidenreich

Hookbill Holler Back

ParrotletsPhoto credit: Gay Noeth

The Good Bird Inc mailbox has been busy! We are excited tosee so much enthusiasm for training parrots with positive rein-forcement. As more people test the waters, it is no surprise thatquestions arise. While we are unable to answer all emailsreceived, Good Bird Magazine will periodically select questionsto answer in our new section devoted to your training ques-tions. We hope you enjoy “Hookbill Holler Back”

Good Bird, Inc. • P.O. Box 684394Austin, TX 78768 USA • Phone: 512-423-7734

Email: [email protected] www.goodbirdinc.com for more products from Good Bird Inc

It’s Here! Part 2 of the Parrot Behavior and Training DVDseries presented by Good Bird Inc

What’s it like when you take your parrot to your avian veterinarian? Does yourbird eagerly hop into a kennel, present his toes for a nail trim and sit patiently for atactile exam? Well, he can. All it takes a little training with positive reinforcement.

Positive reinforcement training is a kind and gentle method you can use to teachyour parrot to cooperate is his own medical care. In this DVD professional animaltrainer Barbara Heidenreich shows you how to train your parrot to step onto ascale, step onto new people, voluntarily enter and exit a kennel, allow restraint in atowel, allow a tactile exam, allow nail trimming and feather trimming and more.Step by step detailed instructions are provided with a variety of parrot species.

Training medical behaviors offers an excellent opportunity to reduce potentialstress in your bird’s life. With a little positive reinforcement, a visit to the veterinarian can be a pleasant experience for you, your veterinarian and your bird.

Order Online:Visit www.GoodBirdInc.com Click on “Books and Videos”. Click on the “Add to Cart” button

By Mail:Fill out the form below (This is the address to which the DVD will be shipped)

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Training your Parrot for the Veterinary Exam

goodbid08v3_3

Documents

good stuff coming

bird owners expectations

light bulb moment

pressure treated wood

recallby mona delgado

parent raised bird

susan friedman ph

coercionby barbara heidenreich