Post by ekkiemum on Dec 21, 2005 13:04:04 GMT 8
Are you familiar with Sally Blanchard and her Nurturing Guidance behavior techniques? Much of what I will be describing is very much like her techniques for working with parrots that are afraid or that have not been socialized. If you would like to learn more about Ms. Blanchard, please check out her website at www.companionparrot.com
Re Papa Bird:
Since you work for a zoo, it is very likely that Papa Bird and Mama Bird are wild caught. It would be helpful to know some details of their acquisition, if known – for example, if they were obtained from a vendor who sold them a babies, or if they were from a vendor who traps adults and exports them, or if they were raised by people in their native land, and later sold to the zoo partially or wholly tame.
For example, a male, wild caught as an adult will have different behaviors from those of a male caught as a baby bird and raised by humans by hand.
A male caught as an adult may take different techniques to tame than a baby who was raised at the hand of Man.
Papa Bird’s perch biting:
When he does this behavior, is he actually BITING the perch, or is he knocking it with his beak (I call this beak-bonking…very scientific term hee hee!)
Beak bonking is a way male Eclectus say MINE! And it can also express impatience. If Papa Bird could speak his mind, he might be saying HEY! THIS IS MINE – or THIS IS MINE! GO AWAY! The males bonk their beak on a perch or anything they think of as theirs – bowls, the sides of the cage or aviary or even people. Our male Solomon Islands Eclectus, Chardonnay, bonks my arm when he is hormonal. More on hormones in a minute….
If he is actually BITING the perch, it could be a sign of possession and of stress, such as fear or nervousness that you are within his space and so close to him. In Nature, he might fly away from something that makes him nervous, like a human, or might attempt to meet or frighten away a challenger. In his captivity, he can only bite his perch or maybe screech at you as he bravely tries to hold his ground. If he is biting the perch, you might wish to back up a couple of steps until you are outside “his space”. ..you will know you are outside it when he stops biting and either ignores you or allows himself to be curious about you.
Papa Bird’s “nudging” with his beak:
When he nudges, does he push your hand or fingers OFF of his perch, as if to say “That hand doesn’t belong here…move it please”, and then if you don’t he gets a bit more insistent and bites? This is not unusual for Eclectus…to warn you first if something makes them uncomfortable. For example, in domestic raised birds, if their human pets them, and they have had enough, they may nudge the offending hand away with the beak, or even pick up the fingers in the beak and move them off their body. If the human doesn’t understand this polite message, a bite may well be the next hint.
Socializing Papa Bird:
We will assume that Papa Bird was wild caught as an adult. First, the challenges:
This would mean that all of Papa Bird’s instincts as a prey animal are completely intact and have been reinforced during his life in the wild. He has completely natural and normal breeding (hormonal) cycles, and has no outlet for them. He was taken from his female mate and his co-husbands. He was used to flying and foraging for his food and now has few avenues to vent his energy. He was caught by people, and has no real reason to trust them. He has been placed in an aviary and although it may be well appointed and clean and he has good food and veterinary care, he mistrusts humans and attempts to make them go away via his body language (bonking and biting).
Techniques for overcoming the challenges:
Prey animal:
Eclectus are prey animals. They are mistrustful of things that behave like predators or with which they are unfamiliar or that behave in unexpected ways. People have predator faces…eyes in front of our heads instead of on the sides. Our hands move about and grasp and do things that are unexpected. In the past, hands have held Papa Bird – captured him, placed him in a container, maybe given him injections. Not very happy experiences.
To overcome the prey animal challenge, try helping Papa Bird to feel more secure with his humans. First, ensure you are relaxed and not in a hurry whenever you are near him. Everything about you should express kindness, patience, benevolence, calm and gentleness – from your face to your body language, to your tone of voice, to your motions.
Avoid looking directly at him at first – look at him with your head turned a little sideways and with your face pointed a little downward. Or keep your gaze lowered, and look at him in gentle, slow glances. If you do look at him straight on, do so as unaggressively as possible. Keep your attitude relaxed and friendly.
Keep your hands relaxed at your sides where he can see them. Keep your hands still (not stiff…just still). Talk to him from a little distance in a gentle, happy tone of voice. Praise him in this gentle tone. He may not understand what you are saying, but your body language and tone will convey a great deal. Talk to him a little while, then move away and go about your business doing something away from him but so he can watch you. Keep your gaze averted. Every now and then, look up from what you are doing to speak gently to him. Do not move your hands toward him. Let him get used to you. Do not attempt to touch him or move near him at this point in the socialization. If you have assistants who feed him and clean the cage, let them continue to do it on their usual schedule. Perhaps ask the assistants to do the same thing with the gaze, attitude, etc as you are doing. Also, tell them to keep their gaze averted from him as much as they reasonably can, to speak to him only in quiet tones, and to keep their hand motions as relaxed as possible and limited only to doing what they need to do…and to not make any loud or sudden noises or movements while they are doing their work (as much as reasonable…no slamming or banging food doors, or loud talking, or hurrying motions, etc)…just relax and do what they need to do as calmly and gently as possible.
You can also bring a little chair that is reasonably comfortable, or a bench etc (hopefully one you can leave there and not have to move back and forth), and place it near his aviary. Not too close…somewhere at the edge of his nervousness threshold. Then, bring a magazine or reports or something to read, and sit quietly and read for a while. Look up at him from time to time and speak to him quietly, and then continue to read. Maybe do this a couple of times a day.
Let Papa Bird start to get used to seeing you as a non-threatening human.
Do this for a few days and see if you begin to notice a difference in Papa Bird’s attitude when you come near him. What is happening is you are starting to develop a pattern of behavior that he can begin to rely on…he can have an idea of what to expect when he sees you…what you are going to do.
Now, or even prior to this point, begin to give him clues and cues…what is going to happen next. For example, when you are coming to see him, maybe whistle a little tune, or call out to him…something that lets him know you are coming. Predators sneak up on prey. Friends call or signal their presence in some way.
When your assistants are coming to maintain his food, water and cage, ask them to do the same thing…make a noise or something to let him know they are coming. Even further, when they are coming to do something, use a word or phrase to let him know WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. For example, if an assistant is coming to change the water, s/he might call out in a happy voice “Papa Bird! Want a clean DRINK?”. Every time s/he comes to change the water, say this phrase FIRST. This way, Papa Bird knows IN ADVANCE what the human is going to do…He knows what is going to happen next and knows he does not need to be afraid, or can move away from the water area, if he does not want to be near the human.
After a few days, and Papa Bird has started to rely a bit on your behavior, you can change it a little. These are not hard and fast “steps” – read through these thoughts for ideas, and use them as a toolkit as you observe and work with Papa Bird. Every parrot reacts differently, so you will need to take these ideas and fit them to Papa Bird and to your own situation.
Start to approach his cage or aviary a bit closer. Continue to talk softly, and keep your hands still. If you do move them, move them calmly and slowly (not creeping slow motion, just slowly and smoothly…no fast or sudden moves). You can begin to look at him directly, but when you do, continue to keep the overall attitude and expression of calm, patience and gentleness.
When you talk to him, close your eyes, hold them closed for a second, then open them. Look to see if he sees you do that. Repeat the “eye blink”. An eye-blink of this kind is similar to the parrot eye-blink body language, which is thought to convey contentment and trust. What you are hoping to see at some point during the eye-blink process is that Papa Bird will eye-blink back to you. At first, he may just watch you as you eye-blink at him. Then, after a little while, he may tentatively eye-blink back…at first, the eyes-closed part of the blink may be kind of quick…this would mean he is interested in communicating with you, but has not built a trust foundation strong enough to close his eyes in your presence for a length of time. If you see him blink back, even if it seems fleeting, blink back at him…a nice slow eye-blink. Look to see if he blinks back. The goal is to be able to blink at Papa Bird, and have him respond. The eye blinks usually start out short and gradually get a little longer. You may even spy him peeking through half closed eyes to see if your eyes are still closed! Even birds that have a strong foundation of trust usually start with quick blinks that evolve into longer ones during any eye-blink session.
Start out with just a few eye blinks…sort of an “invitation” to Papa Bird to trust you and be a friend. It may take time, even days, for him to blink back…but the eye-blink does seem to be a body language sign parrots understand well, and he may respond if you are patient.
As he starts to trust you and your staff through these cues and clues, and through being able to observe you and see that you are not a threat to him, you can move closer.
Observe if he has a favorite fruit or nut that he really likes to eat that YOU also like to eat (or can at least stand to eat for a little while). Maybe he JUST LOVES mangoes, for example. Each day, before the mangoes are offered to him in his daily fare, take out a couple of slices of mangoes. Take out some pieces for yourself, too….place them on a plate or small dish so he can readily see them. Make sure he sees them. He may even come over closer to you to see them better.
Now, take a slice and eat it….slowly. Chew with your mouth open and make yummy sounds. Let him see you eat it. Widen your eyes as you eat the slice and chomp. Say how GOOOOOOOD it is ….act like you have the best most wonderful mango in the entire universe. Make sure he is watching you. Widening the eyes is to simulate parrot body language for interest and excitement. He should understand what you are trying to convey with your eyes and chewing. Offer him a piece by holding it up close to the bars where he can see, and in an area where IF HE WANTED TO, he could come over and take a bite.
He may not come over. That’s fine. Just continue to eat a couple of more slices, making it clear you are willing to share this WONDERFUL treat with him. Be pleased and happy, no matter what his reaction is. After you have eaten a couple of pieces, if he does not act curious, then leave, and have his food given to him as always. You may elect NOT to offer him mangoes in his food dish…but instead to offer him some other item he likes that has a similar nutritive value so he does not miss out on important nutrients in his diet…and keep mangoes only for the trustbuilding session for awhile.
After a few hours, try the mango slice munching session again. If no response, try again the next day.
The goal is to get Papa Bird to be curious about the piece of mango and want some – to approach more and more closely to you and to eventually take a bite. At first, you might wish to place the piece of mango on his dish, if he is too nervous to come close to you. That would be fine….just be SURE he sees that it is YOU who is placing the delectable treat in his dish. You want him to associate good things with you…you offer delicious mangoes, and will not try to eat him.
Maybe for certain particularly delectable items, like maybe fresh figs, continue to be the one who places them in his dish or offers them to him.
Eventually, he should begin to get used to you…and to see that you will not hurt him. Cues and clues warn him as to what to expect when things happen around the aviary…all to increase his sense of security and build his trust in his human caretakers, particularly you. As he becomes used to you, increase your hand, arm etc moves…just be sure they are always as smooth, relaxed and calm as possible.
Also, you may think that this would work fine for a home situation, but would be too much for a zookeeper trying to work a busy schedule…but just a few minutes per session would work…short sessions during your lunch time or little 15 minute breaks would work…sessions should be short and fun…and the results would be well worth the time, I think.
Also, as an aside, observe him to see if there is a particular staff member he seems to show an interest in or like. Parrots have likes and dislikes just like people do. If there is a staff member he likes, perhaps let this staff member also work with him on these trustbuilding techniques.
Hormones and breeding cycles
As you observe Papa Bird, you might notice that sometimes he seems to be more defensive and territorial about his perch or space than other times. If you were to note these times, you might find that they tend to run in cycles of intensity. These cycles of intensity are sometimes called “hormonal” or “hormonal temperature”. Try to get a good feel for these cycles, as during times of high hormonal temperature, he may be more impatient, and more inclined to defend his space. Beak bonking is one sign of a hormonal cycle in our SI male, as is a stiff posture and intent stare … not necessarily held for a long period of time…but just a way of behaving that communicates to me, who has lived with him for nearly seven years, that he is hormonal and I need to pay attention.
This is a reprint of a post on the Archived Ask Polly board that was in response to a question about a young male Eclectus biting. We hope this post may be helpful in illustrating some male hormonal behaviors and techniques to manage them
www.landofvos.com/wwwboar.../1011.html
Don’t BBQ him!
Does Sanger know and respond to the “UP” command?
As your boy is two years old now, it is possible that his biting could be connected to the influences of his hormones. We noticed hormonal behavior in our male SI, Chardy, at about this age. Chardy is going to be four at the end of May.
I got my first experience with male hormonal behavior quite by surprise! I had some idea of what to expect from Cabby, our female, but not from Chardy! One day I was happily cleaning their cage with the birds playing on the top, when Chardy came down to “visit” me. He stood in the middle of the door-opening of the cage and then he BIT THE BEEGEEZUS out of me. My finger bled like crazy – and I was very shocked! He then took up a “stance” and “bonked” (my great scientific term) his beak on the bottom frame of the cage door and growled! Big dummy that I was, I didn’t get his perfectly clear message (to him perfectly clear!) and told him not to bite and started cleaning again – and he bit me again and growled and bonked! I wondered WHAT in the WORLD he was posturing and getting so defensive about…then it clicked – he was posturing….he was being defensive….maybe he was starting to feel his hormones?
?? Oh great! NOW what do I do?
Well, I managed to get him to step up (NOT easy!) and took him out of their room and placed him on his playtree. As soon as he was out of sight of his cage, he immediately relaxed and hopped onto his tree and started goofing around on it and was his “usual self”. I told him he was a good boy and brought Cabby to the tree, and then had to wait until Al got home from work so I could finish cleaning the cage!
The next day it all happened again! I remembered reading in my (many) behavior books that when birds misbehave, you can try to distract them from the undesirable behavior, so I tried that. It has worked very well. Here is basically what we have done:
First – when the behavior starts, observe where the humans are, where Sanger is and what his body language is.
Although Chardy may growl and bonk on many surfaces, including people, he really only “defends” certain places. He does not always defend the place (probably depends on how strong his hormones are at a particular time), so I have to pay attention to him to see when he is going to decide to do it – for example….I am cleaning the cage. The birds are on top playing. He comes to visit me. He goes back to playing…he comes to visit me again….back to playing….he comes to visit me but stands in the middle of the open cage doorway. NOW he is defending. If I don’t distract him, he will do the bonking/growling/biting thing! “You have been here long enough! This is MY cage. MINE MINE MINE! DON’T TOUCH IT!”…..
In your post you describe that Sanger comes down from his cage, bites feet, bites faces, and generally bites from anywhere. It is possible he feels that ANYWHERE HE IS FAMILIAR WITH is his territory. However it may be that the behavior actually STARTS somewhere else – like the top of his cage (a favorite defending spot) and/or from another particular place – even your shoulder (if he is a “shoulder-bird) – and progresses to other areas. Try to observe where the “hot spots” are and focus on what happens near those “hot spots” that seems to “get him started”. Even if there are no “hot spots”, the distracting techniques are still likely to work. Also, try to note if there are certain times that he becomes more defensive – maybe it is every couple of weeks, or maybe the first couple of times you do “X” he is fine, but the third time down he comes – like in the Chardy and the cage example.
Next – distract him from the behavior / remove him from his “guard post” and into a different room or “neutral room”.
Keep in mind that he is responding to his hormones – he is not “being nasty”. He will NEED to defend his cage, perch, whatever. We respect that (and hopefully diffuse some of it) by stopping what we are doing (cage cleaning in this example), leaning or stepping back and saying something like “What a BIG BOY! – What a fine cage you have, sir! – What a good brave boy you are!” in a happy tone of voice. This is our way of “acknowledging” his need to defend his cage. Then I simply move to a different part of his cage and start cleaning that. If he follows me defensively, I repeat the happy voice message, and talk to him or distract him with a toy. A favorite “guard distracting” toy is a clean cotton washcloth rinsed through with warm water a couple of times to remove any fabric softener stuff, and then gently wrung out and placed on top of the cage. Chardy goes over to the washcloth and chews on it, and usually returns to playing.
Sometimes Chardy is harder to distract than other times, and I leave the room for a couple of minutes, then come back. Usually he has left his “guard post” and is back to playing. Then I have him step up, and move him out of the room and onto his playtree. Once he is away from the place he is “guarding” he relaxes.
We have also taught him “feet”. His feet and human hands are all “feet”. Sometimes if he tries to bite at my hands while I am cleaning the cage, I say FEEET! FEEEET in a happy tone. He stops trying to bite, gently holds my finger in his beak and says FEEEET (he used to say FEEEK but now says it correctly ). He then lets go of my finger and starts to goof around, sticking out his tongue, saying FEET or KISS KISS or whatever…in other words, since he knows what feet are, I PRETEND that I think the reason he was going for my finger was to say FEET. I start saying FEET - and he starts to repeat it…thus distracting him from his guarding and breaking the pattern.
SOMETIMES he WILL NOT stop guarding and I have to get him away from his post. This is where the “step up” command is so important. Since Chardy is usually intensely “into” his “guard duty” at that point, I gently press my finger against his tummy and say (in a FIRM but not angry voice) STEP UP! “Mr. Intensity” usually doesn’t respond. So I say firmly STEPUP STEPUP STEPUP STEPUP while pressing the fingers. I repeat until he steps onto my fingers. He usually objects, growls or even half-heartedly bites, but does step up. On the occasions where he still won’t, I switch to gently but firmly pressing against his legs from behind, just above the feet, continuing to stay STEPUP STEPUP. He has never not stepped onto my fingers at that point.
Sometimes during this process, he growls, but I continue with the STEPUPs. Usually it only takes three or four STEPUPs from the front and if I have to switch to the back only about three or four more before he steps up.
I think this “gets through” the intensity of his instinct to “guard” and replaces with his training to obey the “step up” command – and helps to establish me as “flock leader”. Once he steps up, I take him to the livingroom where his playtree is, - breaking the pattern - and he is fine.
If Sanger seems to think the whole world is his territory and he needs to guard it, when you do get him to step onto your hand, take him to a room he is NOT familiar with – a “neutral room”. This doesn’t have to be a room he has never been in – just one he isn’t in very much – where he has the least amount of feeling of territory – none of “his” things should be there or in his line of sight – no playtree, no cage – maybe one t-stand or the back of a chair to stand on if needed - somewhere where he will need to look to you as the most familiar “thing” in the room. Have him do a few “step ups” from hand to hand in a row (called “laddering”) to settle him down a bit – then talk to him gently, tell him he is a good boy. Then after a few minutes, take him for a little walk around the house on your hand, then place him on a playtree or perch that you have observed is a low territorial trigger for him, give him a treat or some toys, and return to whatever you were doing before the incident started.
Basically, then, the steps would be to identify the hot spots, to identify his body language, to see what, if anything, may seem to trigger the guarding behavior, to observe what times he seems to be “more hormonal”, and to distract him from the behavior before it can escalate into biting. My examples are what worked with Chardy – try these to start with, but be open to whatever distractions tend to be successful for Sanger. Every bird is different!
Our experience with Chardy is that he tends to exhibit defensive territorial behavior for a couple of weeks every three to four months (probably following a natural breeding cycle). The behavior starts with a few incidents, then peaks, and diminishes. We have observed that it is USUALLY an easily broken pattern – Chardy can usually be distracted from it pretty easily. We have gotten to where each incident tends to be only a few minutes long. Even intense guarding episodes are usually over with in a half hour or less using the distraction and “other room” techniques.
When Sanger is being hormonal, try to keep him away from your face and neck. Keep him on your hand at about heart level. If he goes to your shoulder, bring him back down gently on your hand. Talk to him, make funny faces, etc, to keep him interested in looking at your face, if that is what he needs, but not near enough to bite your face. Don’t make it seem like you are trying to keep him off your shoulder – more like you want him facing you. He may be more compliant that way. Also, keeping him at your heart level will help to reinforce your position as flock leader.
In that same vein, if you have many perch areas that are higher than your heart level, either lower them, or place a stepping stool or box near them so that when he is on the perch and you are there, you head is higher than his. This will also reinforce you as flock leader.
Think of him as an adolescent – defending his space, finding out who is the boss. Use positive reinforcement. Do not speak to him in angry or loud tones (this will only make him more defensive). Do not punish him (he will not understand). Ensure your actions are TRUST BUILDING – and be patient.
We hope this information is of help to you.
Re Papa Bird:
Since you work for a zoo, it is very likely that Papa Bird and Mama Bird are wild caught. It would be helpful to know some details of their acquisition, if known – for example, if they were obtained from a vendor who sold them a babies, or if they were from a vendor who traps adults and exports them, or if they were raised by people in their native land, and later sold to the zoo partially or wholly tame.
For example, a male, wild caught as an adult will have different behaviors from those of a male caught as a baby bird and raised by humans by hand.
A male caught as an adult may take different techniques to tame than a baby who was raised at the hand of Man.
Papa Bird’s perch biting:
When he does this behavior, is he actually BITING the perch, or is he knocking it with his beak (I call this beak-bonking…very scientific term hee hee!)
Beak bonking is a way male Eclectus say MINE! And it can also express impatience. If Papa Bird could speak his mind, he might be saying HEY! THIS IS MINE – or THIS IS MINE! GO AWAY! The males bonk their beak on a perch or anything they think of as theirs – bowls, the sides of the cage or aviary or even people. Our male Solomon Islands Eclectus, Chardonnay, bonks my arm when he is hormonal. More on hormones in a minute….
If he is actually BITING the perch, it could be a sign of possession and of stress, such as fear or nervousness that you are within his space and so close to him. In Nature, he might fly away from something that makes him nervous, like a human, or might attempt to meet or frighten away a challenger. In his captivity, he can only bite his perch or maybe screech at you as he bravely tries to hold his ground. If he is biting the perch, you might wish to back up a couple of steps until you are outside “his space”. ..you will know you are outside it when he stops biting and either ignores you or allows himself to be curious about you.
Papa Bird’s “nudging” with his beak:
When he nudges, does he push your hand or fingers OFF of his perch, as if to say “That hand doesn’t belong here…move it please”, and then if you don’t he gets a bit more insistent and bites? This is not unusual for Eclectus…to warn you first if something makes them uncomfortable. For example, in domestic raised birds, if their human pets them, and they have had enough, they may nudge the offending hand away with the beak, or even pick up the fingers in the beak and move them off their body. If the human doesn’t understand this polite message, a bite may well be the next hint.
Socializing Papa Bird:
We will assume that Papa Bird was wild caught as an adult. First, the challenges:
This would mean that all of Papa Bird’s instincts as a prey animal are completely intact and have been reinforced during his life in the wild. He has completely natural and normal breeding (hormonal) cycles, and has no outlet for them. He was taken from his female mate and his co-husbands. He was used to flying and foraging for his food and now has few avenues to vent his energy. He was caught by people, and has no real reason to trust them. He has been placed in an aviary and although it may be well appointed and clean and he has good food and veterinary care, he mistrusts humans and attempts to make them go away via his body language (bonking and biting).
Techniques for overcoming the challenges:
Prey animal:
Eclectus are prey animals. They are mistrustful of things that behave like predators or with which they are unfamiliar or that behave in unexpected ways. People have predator faces…eyes in front of our heads instead of on the sides. Our hands move about and grasp and do things that are unexpected. In the past, hands have held Papa Bird – captured him, placed him in a container, maybe given him injections. Not very happy experiences.
To overcome the prey animal challenge, try helping Papa Bird to feel more secure with his humans. First, ensure you are relaxed and not in a hurry whenever you are near him. Everything about you should express kindness, patience, benevolence, calm and gentleness – from your face to your body language, to your tone of voice, to your motions.
Avoid looking directly at him at first – look at him with your head turned a little sideways and with your face pointed a little downward. Or keep your gaze lowered, and look at him in gentle, slow glances. If you do look at him straight on, do so as unaggressively as possible. Keep your attitude relaxed and friendly.
Keep your hands relaxed at your sides where he can see them. Keep your hands still (not stiff…just still). Talk to him from a little distance in a gentle, happy tone of voice. Praise him in this gentle tone. He may not understand what you are saying, but your body language and tone will convey a great deal. Talk to him a little while, then move away and go about your business doing something away from him but so he can watch you. Keep your gaze averted. Every now and then, look up from what you are doing to speak gently to him. Do not move your hands toward him. Let him get used to you. Do not attempt to touch him or move near him at this point in the socialization. If you have assistants who feed him and clean the cage, let them continue to do it on their usual schedule. Perhaps ask the assistants to do the same thing with the gaze, attitude, etc as you are doing. Also, tell them to keep their gaze averted from him as much as they reasonably can, to speak to him only in quiet tones, and to keep their hand motions as relaxed as possible and limited only to doing what they need to do…and to not make any loud or sudden noises or movements while they are doing their work (as much as reasonable…no slamming or banging food doors, or loud talking, or hurrying motions, etc)…just relax and do what they need to do as calmly and gently as possible.
You can also bring a little chair that is reasonably comfortable, or a bench etc (hopefully one you can leave there and not have to move back and forth), and place it near his aviary. Not too close…somewhere at the edge of his nervousness threshold. Then, bring a magazine or reports or something to read, and sit quietly and read for a while. Look up at him from time to time and speak to him quietly, and then continue to read. Maybe do this a couple of times a day.
Let Papa Bird start to get used to seeing you as a non-threatening human.
Do this for a few days and see if you begin to notice a difference in Papa Bird’s attitude when you come near him. What is happening is you are starting to develop a pattern of behavior that he can begin to rely on…he can have an idea of what to expect when he sees you…what you are going to do.
Now, or even prior to this point, begin to give him clues and cues…what is going to happen next. For example, when you are coming to see him, maybe whistle a little tune, or call out to him…something that lets him know you are coming. Predators sneak up on prey. Friends call or signal their presence in some way.
When your assistants are coming to maintain his food, water and cage, ask them to do the same thing…make a noise or something to let him know they are coming. Even further, when they are coming to do something, use a word or phrase to let him know WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN. For example, if an assistant is coming to change the water, s/he might call out in a happy voice “Papa Bird! Want a clean DRINK?”. Every time s/he comes to change the water, say this phrase FIRST. This way, Papa Bird knows IN ADVANCE what the human is going to do…He knows what is going to happen next and knows he does not need to be afraid, or can move away from the water area, if he does not want to be near the human.
After a few days, and Papa Bird has started to rely a bit on your behavior, you can change it a little. These are not hard and fast “steps” – read through these thoughts for ideas, and use them as a toolkit as you observe and work with Papa Bird. Every parrot reacts differently, so you will need to take these ideas and fit them to Papa Bird and to your own situation.
Start to approach his cage or aviary a bit closer. Continue to talk softly, and keep your hands still. If you do move them, move them calmly and slowly (not creeping slow motion, just slowly and smoothly…no fast or sudden moves). You can begin to look at him directly, but when you do, continue to keep the overall attitude and expression of calm, patience and gentleness.
When you talk to him, close your eyes, hold them closed for a second, then open them. Look to see if he sees you do that. Repeat the “eye blink”. An eye-blink of this kind is similar to the parrot eye-blink body language, which is thought to convey contentment and trust. What you are hoping to see at some point during the eye-blink process is that Papa Bird will eye-blink back to you. At first, he may just watch you as you eye-blink at him. Then, after a little while, he may tentatively eye-blink back…at first, the eyes-closed part of the blink may be kind of quick…this would mean he is interested in communicating with you, but has not built a trust foundation strong enough to close his eyes in your presence for a length of time. If you see him blink back, even if it seems fleeting, blink back at him…a nice slow eye-blink. Look to see if he blinks back. The goal is to be able to blink at Papa Bird, and have him respond. The eye blinks usually start out short and gradually get a little longer. You may even spy him peeking through half closed eyes to see if your eyes are still closed! Even birds that have a strong foundation of trust usually start with quick blinks that evolve into longer ones during any eye-blink session.
Start out with just a few eye blinks…sort of an “invitation” to Papa Bird to trust you and be a friend. It may take time, even days, for him to blink back…but the eye-blink does seem to be a body language sign parrots understand well, and he may respond if you are patient.
As he starts to trust you and your staff through these cues and clues, and through being able to observe you and see that you are not a threat to him, you can move closer.
Observe if he has a favorite fruit or nut that he really likes to eat that YOU also like to eat (or can at least stand to eat for a little while). Maybe he JUST LOVES mangoes, for example. Each day, before the mangoes are offered to him in his daily fare, take out a couple of slices of mangoes. Take out some pieces for yourself, too….place them on a plate or small dish so he can readily see them. Make sure he sees them. He may even come over closer to you to see them better.
Now, take a slice and eat it….slowly. Chew with your mouth open and make yummy sounds. Let him see you eat it. Widen your eyes as you eat the slice and chomp. Say how GOOOOOOOD it is ….act like you have the best most wonderful mango in the entire universe. Make sure he is watching you. Widening the eyes is to simulate parrot body language for interest and excitement. He should understand what you are trying to convey with your eyes and chewing. Offer him a piece by holding it up close to the bars where he can see, and in an area where IF HE WANTED TO, he could come over and take a bite.
He may not come over. That’s fine. Just continue to eat a couple of more slices, making it clear you are willing to share this WONDERFUL treat with him. Be pleased and happy, no matter what his reaction is. After you have eaten a couple of pieces, if he does not act curious, then leave, and have his food given to him as always. You may elect NOT to offer him mangoes in his food dish…but instead to offer him some other item he likes that has a similar nutritive value so he does not miss out on important nutrients in his diet…and keep mangoes only for the trustbuilding session for awhile.
After a few hours, try the mango slice munching session again. If no response, try again the next day.
The goal is to get Papa Bird to be curious about the piece of mango and want some – to approach more and more closely to you and to eventually take a bite. At first, you might wish to place the piece of mango on his dish, if he is too nervous to come close to you. That would be fine….just be SURE he sees that it is YOU who is placing the delectable treat in his dish. You want him to associate good things with you…you offer delicious mangoes, and will not try to eat him.
Maybe for certain particularly delectable items, like maybe fresh figs, continue to be the one who places them in his dish or offers them to him.
Eventually, he should begin to get used to you…and to see that you will not hurt him. Cues and clues warn him as to what to expect when things happen around the aviary…all to increase his sense of security and build his trust in his human caretakers, particularly you. As he becomes used to you, increase your hand, arm etc moves…just be sure they are always as smooth, relaxed and calm as possible.
Also, you may think that this would work fine for a home situation, but would be too much for a zookeeper trying to work a busy schedule…but just a few minutes per session would work…short sessions during your lunch time or little 15 minute breaks would work…sessions should be short and fun…and the results would be well worth the time, I think.
Also, as an aside, observe him to see if there is a particular staff member he seems to show an interest in or like. Parrots have likes and dislikes just like people do. If there is a staff member he likes, perhaps let this staff member also work with him on these trustbuilding techniques.
Hormones and breeding cycles
As you observe Papa Bird, you might notice that sometimes he seems to be more defensive and territorial about his perch or space than other times. If you were to note these times, you might find that they tend to run in cycles of intensity. These cycles of intensity are sometimes called “hormonal” or “hormonal temperature”. Try to get a good feel for these cycles, as during times of high hormonal temperature, he may be more impatient, and more inclined to defend his space. Beak bonking is one sign of a hormonal cycle in our SI male, as is a stiff posture and intent stare … not necessarily held for a long period of time…but just a way of behaving that communicates to me, who has lived with him for nearly seven years, that he is hormonal and I need to pay attention.
This is a reprint of a post on the Archived Ask Polly board that was in response to a question about a young male Eclectus biting. We hope this post may be helpful in illustrating some male hormonal behaviors and techniques to manage them
www.landofvos.com/wwwboar.../1011.html
Don’t BBQ him!
Does Sanger know and respond to the “UP” command?
As your boy is two years old now, it is possible that his biting could be connected to the influences of his hormones. We noticed hormonal behavior in our male SI, Chardy, at about this age. Chardy is going to be four at the end of May.
I got my first experience with male hormonal behavior quite by surprise! I had some idea of what to expect from Cabby, our female, but not from Chardy! One day I was happily cleaning their cage with the birds playing on the top, when Chardy came down to “visit” me. He stood in the middle of the door-opening of the cage and then he BIT THE BEEGEEZUS out of me. My finger bled like crazy – and I was very shocked! He then took up a “stance” and “bonked” (my great scientific term) his beak on the bottom frame of the cage door and growled! Big dummy that I was, I didn’t get his perfectly clear message (to him perfectly clear!) and told him not to bite and started cleaning again – and he bit me again and growled and bonked! I wondered WHAT in the WORLD he was posturing and getting so defensive about…then it clicked – he was posturing….he was being defensive….maybe he was starting to feel his hormones?
?? Oh great! NOW what do I do? Well, I managed to get him to step up (NOT easy!) and took him out of their room and placed him on his playtree. As soon as he was out of sight of his cage, he immediately relaxed and hopped onto his tree and started goofing around on it and was his “usual self”. I told him he was a good boy and brought Cabby to the tree, and then had to wait until Al got home from work so I could finish cleaning the cage!
The next day it all happened again! I remembered reading in my (many) behavior books that when birds misbehave, you can try to distract them from the undesirable behavior, so I tried that. It has worked very well. Here is basically what we have done:
First – when the behavior starts, observe where the humans are, where Sanger is and what his body language is.
Although Chardy may growl and bonk on many surfaces, including people, he really only “defends” certain places. He does not always defend the place (probably depends on how strong his hormones are at a particular time), so I have to pay attention to him to see when he is going to decide to do it – for example….I am cleaning the cage. The birds are on top playing. He comes to visit me. He goes back to playing…he comes to visit me again….back to playing….he comes to visit me but stands in the middle of the open cage doorway. NOW he is defending. If I don’t distract him, he will do the bonking/growling/biting thing! “You have been here long enough! This is MY cage. MINE MINE MINE! DON’T TOUCH IT!”…..
In your post you describe that Sanger comes down from his cage, bites feet, bites faces, and generally bites from anywhere. It is possible he feels that ANYWHERE HE IS FAMILIAR WITH is his territory. However it may be that the behavior actually STARTS somewhere else – like the top of his cage (a favorite defending spot) and/or from another particular place – even your shoulder (if he is a “shoulder-bird) – and progresses to other areas. Try to observe where the “hot spots” are and focus on what happens near those “hot spots” that seems to “get him started”. Even if there are no “hot spots”, the distracting techniques are still likely to work. Also, try to note if there are certain times that he becomes more defensive – maybe it is every couple of weeks, or maybe the first couple of times you do “X” he is fine, but the third time down he comes – like in the Chardy and the cage example.
Next – distract him from the behavior / remove him from his “guard post” and into a different room or “neutral room”.
Keep in mind that he is responding to his hormones – he is not “being nasty”. He will NEED to defend his cage, perch, whatever. We respect that (and hopefully diffuse some of it) by stopping what we are doing (cage cleaning in this example), leaning or stepping back and saying something like “What a BIG BOY! – What a fine cage you have, sir! – What a good brave boy you are!” in a happy tone of voice. This is our way of “acknowledging” his need to defend his cage. Then I simply move to a different part of his cage and start cleaning that. If he follows me defensively, I repeat the happy voice message, and talk to him or distract him with a toy. A favorite “guard distracting” toy is a clean cotton washcloth rinsed through with warm water a couple of times to remove any fabric softener stuff, and then gently wrung out and placed on top of the cage. Chardy goes over to the washcloth and chews on it, and usually returns to playing.
Sometimes Chardy is harder to distract than other times, and I leave the room for a couple of minutes, then come back. Usually he has left his “guard post” and is back to playing. Then I have him step up, and move him out of the room and onto his playtree. Once he is away from the place he is “guarding” he relaxes.
We have also taught him “feet”. His feet and human hands are all “feet”. Sometimes if he tries to bite at my hands while I am cleaning the cage, I say FEEET! FEEEET in a happy tone. He stops trying to bite, gently holds my finger in his beak and says FEEEET (he used to say FEEEK but now says it correctly ). He then lets go of my finger and starts to goof around, sticking out his tongue, saying FEET or KISS KISS or whatever…in other words, since he knows what feet are, I PRETEND that I think the reason he was going for my finger was to say FEET. I start saying FEET - and he starts to repeat it…thus distracting him from his guarding and breaking the pattern.
SOMETIMES he WILL NOT stop guarding and I have to get him away from his post. This is where the “step up” command is so important. Since Chardy is usually intensely “into” his “guard duty” at that point, I gently press my finger against his tummy and say (in a FIRM but not angry voice) STEP UP! “Mr. Intensity” usually doesn’t respond. So I say firmly STEPUP STEPUP STEPUP STEPUP while pressing the fingers. I repeat until he steps onto my fingers. He usually objects, growls or even half-heartedly bites, but does step up. On the occasions where he still won’t, I switch to gently but firmly pressing against his legs from behind, just above the feet, continuing to stay STEPUP STEPUP. He has never not stepped onto my fingers at that point.
Sometimes during this process, he growls, but I continue with the STEPUPs. Usually it only takes three or four STEPUPs from the front and if I have to switch to the back only about three or four more before he steps up.
I think this “gets through” the intensity of his instinct to “guard” and replaces with his training to obey the “step up” command – and helps to establish me as “flock leader”. Once he steps up, I take him to the livingroom where his playtree is, - breaking the pattern - and he is fine.
If Sanger seems to think the whole world is his territory and he needs to guard it, when you do get him to step onto your hand, take him to a room he is NOT familiar with – a “neutral room”. This doesn’t have to be a room he has never been in – just one he isn’t in very much – where he has the least amount of feeling of territory – none of “his” things should be there or in his line of sight – no playtree, no cage – maybe one t-stand or the back of a chair to stand on if needed - somewhere where he will need to look to you as the most familiar “thing” in the room. Have him do a few “step ups” from hand to hand in a row (called “laddering”) to settle him down a bit – then talk to him gently, tell him he is a good boy. Then after a few minutes, take him for a little walk around the house on your hand, then place him on a playtree or perch that you have observed is a low territorial trigger for him, give him a treat or some toys, and return to whatever you were doing before the incident started.
Basically, then, the steps would be to identify the hot spots, to identify his body language, to see what, if anything, may seem to trigger the guarding behavior, to observe what times he seems to be “more hormonal”, and to distract him from the behavior before it can escalate into biting. My examples are what worked with Chardy – try these to start with, but be open to whatever distractions tend to be successful for Sanger. Every bird is different!
Our experience with Chardy is that he tends to exhibit defensive territorial behavior for a couple of weeks every three to four months (probably following a natural breeding cycle). The behavior starts with a few incidents, then peaks, and diminishes. We have observed that it is USUALLY an easily broken pattern – Chardy can usually be distracted from it pretty easily. We have gotten to where each incident tends to be only a few minutes long. Even intense guarding episodes are usually over with in a half hour or less using the distraction and “other room” techniques.
When Sanger is being hormonal, try to keep him away from your face and neck. Keep him on your hand at about heart level. If he goes to your shoulder, bring him back down gently on your hand. Talk to him, make funny faces, etc, to keep him interested in looking at your face, if that is what he needs, but not near enough to bite your face. Don’t make it seem like you are trying to keep him off your shoulder – more like you want him facing you. He may be more compliant that way. Also, keeping him at your heart level will help to reinforce your position as flock leader.
In that same vein, if you have many perch areas that are higher than your heart level, either lower them, or place a stepping stool or box near them so that when he is on the perch and you are there, you head is higher than his. This will also reinforce you as flock leader.
Think of him as an adolescent – defending his space, finding out who is the boss. Use positive reinforcement. Do not speak to him in angry or loud tones (this will only make him more defensive). Do not punish him (he will not understand). Ensure your actions are TRUST BUILDING – and be patient.
We hope this information is of help to you.