Macaws:
Red Shouldered (Hahn's) Macaw
Severe Macaw
Blue And Gold Macaw
Blue Throated Macaw
Military Macaw
Red Fronted Macaw
Scarlet Macaw
Green Winged Macaw
Hyacinth Macaw
Until recently, Truman didn't know how to eat soft fruits on his own! Whether it was corn on the cob, pomegranate, or grapes, Truman would only eat them if I peeled them a bit and stuck them in his beak. Imagine that! I giant beak like that which could crack an almond in half in a second, couldn't eat a grape!
If I stuck a grape in Truman's beak and didn't at least peal the skin a little, he'd drop it. In other words if I didn't get it started for him, he couldn't figure out how to get the fruit going. But a few weeks ago, I grew tired of all this and decided to teach him a lesson in figuring it out on his own! So instead of giving him something tasty like this at the end of a meal as a treat, I gave him a corn on the cob as his meal. The only catch is he'd have to figure it out on his own!
I put a piece of corn in Truman's bowl and left him at it. At first he was pissed that he couldn't get at the tasty kernels but since he was hungry he kept at it and figured out. Since then I've been able to get him to work grapes and other fruit without having to help him. What a big baby!
Now this time I took the birds in the yard where the fig tree is blossoming. Kili had never had a fig before and Truman only had one once in the aviary. Since the figs look like a giant grape, I think they both figured it out pretty quickly and began munching away. I think for a parrot this must be one of the most enjoyable experiences: peeling off mother nature's own right off the branch and making a big big mess!
I've been a fan of water bottles rather than water dishes for parrots from the start. I never liked the mess that comes of a bird's water dish and have found the water bottle to be the best alternative.
The advantage of using a water bottle is that the water stays clean all day long as the parrot cannot dump anything into it. Additional benefits include that you can assess how much water is consumed and the parrot cannot "dunk" its pellets.
The disadvantages of using a water bottle include difficulty of conversion, potential blockage, more difficult to clean, potential bacteria in the tube, and inability to bathe. Luckily most of these disadvantages are only potential issues and not actual ones. The extra work involved in cleaning a water bottle isn't much but it sure beats changing water multiple times a day. Bacteria in the tube is only likely to occur if water isn't changed frequently enough or bottle is poorly cleaned. The difficulty of converting a parrot to use a water bottle becomes moot once the parrot begins to use it and continues to for many years. As for inability to bathe, you can occasionally provide a water dish for bathing opportunities or the parrot can cleverly learn to shower with water from the bottle.
If you use a high quality glass and metal water bottle system, you are unlikely to run into problems. First of all, being without access to water for half a day isn't catastrophic. But more importantly, these bottles are very reliable and you'll know there is a problem with the bottle before anything bad happens. You can see how much water is consumed, unlike a dish, because of the air pocket that forms at the top. If more water is gone than normal, there may be a leak. If no water is missing, then there is a blockage.
I don't think the bottles themselves are prone to getting stuck. Instead they are more likely to develop a drip with time. In 5 years I have never had a bottle get stuck but I have thrown out one bottle that after a few years developed a drip. The drip was not catastrophic. Even at the end of the day over half the water was still remaining in the bottle but after a few weeks I got around to replacing the bottle.
The most likely way a bottle can get stuck and not dispense water is if something gets lodged inside. This could either cause it to get stuck or to leak all its water out quickly. If a parrot is obsessed with dunking or has some weird ideas where to stick wood chips this could happen. Always watch your parrot's habits and do not rely on a water bottle for greater than 24 hours unsupervised.
The water bottle conversion process of teaching a parrot to use the bottle is straightforward and simple. What is difficult is the stress on the owner that is not sure if the parrot is drinking from the bottle or not. I think it is best to get the bird to drink from the bottle when thirsty, so I would recommend not leaving water overnight, allowing the parrot to eat dry pellets with no available water in the morning, and then offer water from the bottle. Either hold the bottle in your hand or secure it on the cage. Tap the ball to show your bird how it works and allow a drop of water to form on the tip. Hopefully the bird will beak around the bottle and realize that pressing on the ball releases water. I would repeat this process a couple times and then see if the parrot can manage on its own. For the first few days, you may want to offer water in a bowl briefly twice a day to check if the bird is thirsty or not. If the water level in the bottle is changing and the bird does not want to drink from the dish, you will know the conversion is complete and successful.
When it comes to cleaning water bottles, dish soap and some scrubbing with a bottle cleaner are the way to go. A good place to get the cleaning brush is in a baby supplies store. Often times you can find a baby bottle cleaning kit with a large and small brush and that works perfectly on bird bottles. To be safe, I boil my bird water bottles about once a month to make sure there aren't any nooks that were missed in the tubes.
Here's a video of how my parrots drink from their water bottles. Check out how they each have a different way of making the water come out. And then another video of how Kili learned to shower from her bottle since she rarely has access to a dish.
I took Kili & Truman on an outing to a glider club picnic. This isn't the first time I've taken them to this annual event so it wasn't surprising that they were at complete ease. I'd even go so far to say that they even enjoyed it.
The parrot duo got to ride around on my shoulders and earn bits of unusual food. They took turns stepping up for people, getting pet, or showing tricks. The birds especially enjoyed eating freshly picked NJ sweet corn off the cob. Funny thing is that Truman is a dodo and can't manage corn off the cob. Truman goes bonkers for corn off the cob but can't figure out how to get it off. Kili just digs right in. I can't take a bite of my corn without Kili ripping off the other end.
The place where the club hosts the picnic has a small lake and boats. I took the parrots on their first ever open boat ride. I put them both down on the side but Kili flew right up to my shoulder. Meanwhile Truman sat on the edge and watched the water and wildlife. By exposing the birds to every possible imaginable experience, I can best prepare them for complex unforeseen situations or performances in the future.
At these picnics, the club always ends things with a balsa wood glide throwing contest to see who can toss their flimsy little plane to land closest to a pole. The host's mantra has always been that "there are no rules and cheating is encouraged" so my brother and I usually bring our own higher performance gliders. But this year I decided to go all the way and have the bird do the flying. Before the competition I worked on training Truman to harness fly and land atop the PVC canopy of the target stake. Using my "go to perch" command, I had Truman fly to the point from further and further back until I could do it from the launch point. I had to have a running start and send Truman flying in order to keep running to grant him slack in his flying line. Since Truman's string is only 25ft but the required distance was over 75, I had to run with him to be able to fly. I paid the $2 entry fee twice. I entered Truman as his own competitor.
When the competition came, it was already well after sunset. I didn't realize just how badly birds see in twilight until I tried to have Truman fly to the point during the competition. The first two tries, he flew the wrong way and only the harness kept him from going who knows where. But on the third and final attempt, things went a little different. Truman again took off and headed in the wrong direction. He reached the end of the line and began an arching turn to follow the radius. I took his continued flying to advantage and started running toward the stake calling his name to recall to me instead. He turned and headed for the sound of my voice. He was so winded by this point that he did not make it to the top of the stake but did land just 12 inches short of the pole which was the closest any flying object had made it to in this competition. Truman was cheered on by the onlookers as he made it to the landing zone. I didn't do nearly as well when I tossed my balsa glider.
The birds were satisfied, satiated, and exhausted from all the flying, thrills, and experiences. They did not make a peep the entire ride back. These kinds of outings are a fantastic socialization experience for the birds and I think for them a lot of fun. It also gives me a chance to educate people about parrots in the process. For more information about building trust, hand taming, harness training, taking parrots outdoors, and teaching them to wear a harness, check out my book, The Parrot Wizard's Guide to Well-Behaved Parrots.
During my recent visit to Ginger's Parrots Rescue in Phoenix, there was one bird in particular that I had trouble recognizing. She had no trouble recognizing me as we'd become friends during my previous visits and she even participated in my seminar. This was Ubee, a 16 year old female Senegal Parrot.
Ubee is a sweet little Senegal Parrot but can be very bratty and requires a firm hand. She is one of the smaller Senegals I've seen yet with a huge personality. She can be quite the little terror if given the opportunity. I recall a story where Ubee (while still originally clipped) jumped off her tree, casually strolled across the floor, climbed up Ginger's husband's leg, got on his shoulder, and then viciously attacked him! That's the kind of bird Ubee is and the reason she is being rehabilitated at the rescue.
Anyway, the interesting thing is that the last time I saw Ubee, she was half black on her wings. Her plumage was covered in stress bars and she sooner looked like a black parrot with green specs rather than the other way around. She was very easy to tell apart from the other Senegals because of this alternate appearance. Yet this time when I visited, I could no longer tell Ubee apart by color. I had to get used to telling her apart from the others mainly by size alone. Her vest is also more orange than the others but that is harder to see at first glance.
So what is fascinating is that after less than a year primarily on Roudybush pellets (converted from a different/colored pellet prior) this Senegal Parrot's plumage has taken a 180 and really cleaned up! Not only are the stress bars gone, but the plumage is brighter, crisper, and cleaner looking. Aviculturists and Veterinarians seem to be able to infer a lot about a bird's health by its plumage so I think it is pretty reasonable to correlate that this parrot not only appears visibly better but is healthier as well.
To me, seeing these kinds of visible results is by far the biggest reason to use and support a Roudybush pellet diet. Seeing is believing. It's one thing to postulate that one pellet is better than another based on ingredients, etc. But it's quite another when you see brilliant plumage (and particularly in contrast to how it was on a different diet). Furthermore, Roudybush has years of research and data to back it up. Regardless, nothing is more convincing than seeing actual improvement.
I realize the color/flash in the photos is a bit different but I really want to point out the clarity of the plumage in the second photo. Notice all of the black in the wing feathers as well as tail feathers. After being converted to Roudybush, the plumage has become more uniform as well as vibrant. I can vouch that in person I noticed the plumage to be a brighter shade of green than originally. It went from a dark leafy green to a more iridescent sort of green that I am accustomed to seeing on my own Poicephalus parrots.
The interesting thing is that this parrot was already on a pellet diet, just of a different kind. Seeing improvement when a parrot converts from seeds to any pellet is pretty obvious. But it is much more surprising to see this much improvement from a parrot going from one pellet to another.
Here are a few more reasons I think this is a pretty objective demonstration of the value of the diet change. The rescue keeps parrots on a predominantly pellet diet (80%+) so it's almost impossible that the change is due to beneficial supplemental foods. Unfortunately the rescue birds do not get outside much (which I am hoping to change) so the role of natural sunlight did not play a role at improving feathering. Although it is impossible to compare stress levels between the prior home and rescue, I doubt that stress at the rescue decreased. If anything, I would guess that stress increases (in a healthy amount) because the birds are trained and have to fend for themselves in a flock environment. Also the parrots' food is managed so food stress certainly is not lower. Yet the plumage of all of the parrots has improved while on the Roudybush Maintenance diet. Improvement has been noted in all of the parrots, however, Ubee's case really stands out because it was so drastic and quick.
I am first to admit I don't know much about parrot nutrition. I don't think any individual can claim to know what foods a captive parrot needs and in what proportion. The problem is that the fresh/human foods we can offer are not natural to parrots, the proportions are arbitrary, and the results are difficult to measure. If you offer a mix of fruits/vegetables to your parrot, you can't tell which ones are helping or hurting because you only see the net result. If feeding an all fresh diet is better than pellets, at best it is only marginally so. I see excellent plumage and health results of parrots that have been converted to Roudybush. But going with a fresh diet is risky. Since you don't have the knowledge of how to properly balance the diet and since the parrot does not either (remember in nature is is balanced by availability and species are evolved to subsist on that availability), there is a greater risk of something necessary being left out. For example if you decide to mix seeds and pellets and let the parrot choose, the parrot will eat a lot more seeds then pellets and effectively be on a seed based diet. Likewise with fruits/vegetables, if the parrot eats all the ones it likes and leaves the others, it may just be on an all fruit diet and be missing out.
Reading the research and hearing good things about Roudybush convinced me to try it for my parrots and to recommend it to the rescue. Seeing the improvements first hand (much more starkly in the rescue parrots because mine were on ok diets prior), has even further solidified my opinion that a predominantly Roudybush diet is a reliable starting point when it comes to parrot diet. I may have expected some improvement but I am actually a bit surprised that the advantage is so extensive and visible. Perhaps there is something better out there or a better fresh diet, however, seeing how good the plumage on a Roudybush fed parrot already is, it would be very difficult to observe and demonstrate this. Until someone is able to do so, I will stick with what I know produces reliably results. On this basis, I will continue to recommend Roudybush as an excellent staple diet for companion parrots.
Here is a video of me target flying a bunch of Ginger's Rescue Senegals for Roudybush pellets as treats.
I flew by airline to Phoenix, Arizona for a few days to help my favorite rescue, Ginger's Parrots. Although not new on the scene, the rescue recently incorporated and acquired 501c3 status. On Saturday we held a Grand Opening event for Ginger's rescue to celebrate making everything official and to draw attention to the organization.
Ginger's Parrots is a new kind of rescue specializing only in certain species of parrots and with a different approach. Most rescues inevitably become overfilled with parrots as the number of unwanted birds only grows while the birds live long. So instead of focusing on quantity, Ginger focuses on quality instead. Running the small rescue out of her own home, Ginger works individually with the parrots to prepare them for pet life. Rather than trying to get the birds adopted to anyone that will take them, her focus is to make the birds as good or better than baby parrots that can be bought at stores. If the birds are good, they have a much better shot at staying in the same home than in the condition they were brought to the rescue.
The Grand Opening Event brought a nice turn out and collection of donations. I offered a talk on my well-behaved parrot approach as well as a harness training demonstration. During the demonstration with parrots from the rescue I was able to demonstrate the harness desensitization process with visible progress. One of the Senegals was doing so well that I challenged him all the way to voluntarily walking across the perch to sticking his head into the harness collar.
As the event continued, I signed copies of my book, the Parrot Wizard's Guide to Well-Behaved Parrots. The rescue event was a very suitable place for selling these books as Ginger applies the techniques I teach in the book on her rescue flock. Also she wrote the foreword to the book based on her success applying my methods to a whole lot of parrots.
I had already been to Ginger's rescue twice and conducted a lot of training work with the birds, setting in motion an approach that Ginger has continued. However, we have bold goals for these birds so there are further skills they could learn. This time, I set a goal of initiating harness training with the birds so that Ginger could take them out and socialize them with people more frequently. Considering the novel no-clipping policy at the rescue, outdoor safety can only be assured with a harness or carrier. The trouble with a carrier is that it doesn't get hands on time with the birds so it narrows everything down to harness.
Since the main focus of the rescue is Senegal Parrots, aggression is the key target for rehabilitation. Ginger has noted a tremendous decline in biting while an increase in confidence with the birds since they've been flighted. Although the birds are capable of flying away, they generally don't. They merely use their awareness of being able to fly away to drive their confidence to cooperate without reverting to biting. One challenge, however, has been to keep the Senegals from fighting with each other as they are no longer geographically isolated because they can fly.
One of the solutions to reduce territorial issues with the parrots (while also simplifying cleaning) is to eliminate the long standing trees (which were arranged one per bird) in favor of a more communal approach. We wheeled all the tree stands out of the room and set out to make a full new set of hanging play gyms instead. I shipped ahead a bundle of NU Perch sticks I was donating for the bird room remodeling. On the spot we bought a few additional supplies and in 2 afternoons built 8 original play gyms and hung them from the ceiling. The all hanging approach eliminates base cleaning and makes a single cleaning of the floor a lot easier. It also provides an unstable platform that stimulates the birds to think more about getting around. It has been a blast watching the birds get around their stands because they tip and rotate in place as they climb. When one parrot flies off a stand, the remaining parrots end up going for a merry go round ride. The birds were so preoccupied with the new stands that they were too busy to get into fights with each other.
To ease the transition to the new stands, I played a targeting game with the birds to encourage them to climb around. Not only was I able to get them to climb to all ends of individual stands but between stands as well. One particular Senegal who has been really difficult to tame, really took to target training. In a single attempt, I was able to teach him to target. I'm sure he'd been watching the other Senegals and had it all figured out. He was just waiting for the opportunity to be involved as well. In no time I had him climbing between playgyms and flying to other perches for opportunities to target.
A different Senegal has recently regained his flight feathers but was unsure how to use them. He seemed very eager to target but just didn't fly for it. So I put together a set of Training Perches and began the perch to perch targeting method of teaching him to fly. Before the evening was over, the parrot that just didn't know how to fly across 4 inches, was flying 15 inches between stands with ease. An interesting thing is that he wasn't really doing it for the food. He was much more eager to fly across the gap to target (ultimately for a treat) than directly for a treat lure. Since the birds get to watch each other targeting, they see a particular excitement for the opportunity to play. The motivation they exhibited in targeting around the room far exceeded their hunger for treats motivation.
The morning after the event and upon the 5th harness training session, I got a harness entirely on the promising Senegal. Ginger and I took him to a Sunday morning parrot group that meets at a park with their birds. Although this was sooner than I would have liked to put a harness on a parrot in this stage of training, we went for it for lack of time. However, I knew this would not be a problem because this was a super tame bird that doesn't mind being held. He was not upset having the harness on (which is important to avoid trouble putting it on next time) but he did want to chew it. To reduce chewing, I grasped him in my hand, through a towel, or did things to occupy his attention as much as possible. Once at the park outing, he was preoccupied with the activity and paid less attention to the harness.
I taught Ginger about socializing the parrot to complete strangers and went from very controlled interactions to random interactions based on my 12 step socialization approach. The Senegal went from hand to hand, allowed people to scratch him, and didn't bite anyone. The outing was a tremendous success and we got a harness upon him with ease for another outing the following day.
Since that Senegal Parrot is extremely hand tame and enjoys laying in hands, I held onto him a lot to keep him from chewing the harness. Since the squeeze of my hand is more noticeable than the harness it took his mind off of it. I began playing a game with him and in no time taught him a new trick which is to allow me to toss him in my hand like a bean bag.
The event, bird room remodeling, training, and outings have been a tremendous success. Not only have we made big improvements but we also set things for continued improvement in the future. I signed countless books and talked to parrot owners. Although I hope these things were educational, most of all I hope that they were inspirational. Rather than expecting someone who came to one of my talks - or met us on an outing - to have the skills to succeed, I hope to leave them with the inspiration to continue their education and to set goals of what to achieve. I want people to realize that parrots young or old, friendly or mean, can all learn these basic pet skills. If I can teach these rescue parrots to wear a harness or target fly in such a short span of time, then surely any parrot owner can achieve these things with a little more patience.
Trained Parrot is a blog about how to train tricks to all parrots and parakeets. Read about how I teach tricks to Truman the Brown Necked Cape Parrot including flight recall, shake, wave, nod, turn around, fetch, wings, and play dead. Learn how you can train tricks to your Parrot, Parrotlet, Parakeet, Lovebird, Cockatiel, Conure, African Grey, Amazon, Cockatoo or Macaw. This blog is better than books or DVDs because the information is real, live, and completely free of charge. If you want to know how to teach your parrot tricks then you will enjoy this free parrot training tutorial.
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