Overstimulation
What the heck is Alfie, my moluccan cockatoo, doing?! Why do cockatoos crazy?
What you’re seeing in this example is overstimulation. Cockatoos especially get overstimulated very easily. Overstimulation can be from good experiences (excitement) or negative (overwhelmed, pushed past comfort zones). When a bird is overstimulated, and stimulation isn’t controlled or the bird has no outlet for it, it can lead to an increase in the possibility of getting bit.
Alfie was listening to his playlist, he just hopped off of my work chair to his work chair and did his ARB screaming. His ARB are so consistent that I can sit in another room without seeing or hearing him and can tell you exactly what he is doing because it is so rehearsed. ARB’s are also very commonly seen in cockatoos, but all of this information is valid for all parrot species, just our cockatoos are extremely sensitive. I look forward to doing an ARB blog post in the future.
Alfie’s overstimulation is from being excited. He just got a lot of attention from me, he is listening to music that makes him content, and he’s out of his aviary as simple of a thing that can be. Even though this overstimulation was from positive experiences, it does not mean he will not bite. When he is overstimulated, I just get him away from humans (either move him or remove humans) so he can scream it out, calm himself down, and then once when he is calmer and back at baseline, then I will interact with him again. I do not try to work with an animal that is overstimulated. I wait till they have calmed down, as training may not be effective. I train to keep overstimulated outbursts lower, but we all get a little overstimulated once in a while no matter how hard we try.
Overstimulation with birds just happens. It’s best to managed stimulation levels based on handling and the environment and situation you’re in. Some birds, especially cockatoos, overstimulation will happen anywhere, anytime, which is one of many reasons why cockatoos are the hardest birds to have in our homes. Manage the environment to keep stimulation down, reinforce calm behavior, when you’re bird is overstimulated, don’t feed into it to keep that stimulation higher for longer.