Insecurities Cause Behavioral Problems

A lot behavioral problems come from insecurities and fear. Our birds live very stagnant lives compared to how they are supposed to live in the wild. They have less life experiences.

One way that I build confidence in birds, as well as build our trust, is to ask them to step up onto just about anything. The first attempts may need to be trained, but I ask my birds to step up on different objects, surfaces, and at different angles. They learn to trust their body and learn to balance, which can continue to build muscle within our birds, as well as they learn to trust me that when I ask them to step up I know that it is something safe for them to step up on. It can also provide mental stimulation, which parrots need a high amount of. They also learn about body awareness and coordination.

Here Munchkin (double yellow headed amazon) stepped up onto this small piece of flat slippery countertop in order to help with his confidence. Munchkin is pretty unsure at first of new experiences because he is at a disadvantage with his unique qualities. He was not the happiest with the clutter in the background that towered over him and was reluctant to go on the counter. We trained through it and a few moments later he willingly stepped up and ran around. He helped me fill up food and water bowls and got a higher rate of reinforcement for being so great.

Little experiences like that add up and can start to make a difference. Bringing it to another bird Merlin (blue and gold macaw), he was not very confident when he came in, which is why he had a lot of aggression. He was so quick to aggress. The confidence wasn’t just in his balance and coordination, it was also reacting to new objects and experiences. Everything was scary and he felt like it was a threat. Through introducing a target and asking him to target a lot of objects, that aggression has completely gone away. The only aggression he shows is with new people, which is still a work in progress, he fears them. Desensitizing him to people is what we are currently working on, but he has never been socialized even as a baby, so it will take quite a while.