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
Kili and Truman helped us with pumpkin carving. We had to pause every minute for them to eat some pumpkin and pumpkin seeds. They had a blast. Not only is it a fun toy to play with, but tasty too! I supervised the parrots while my brother carved a jack-o'-lantern.
Introducing your parrot to new objects frequently is a great way to keep the parrot more social and relieve fear aggression. You see, parrots that are easily frightened can become bitey every time they see something they are scared of. But if you create positive stress free introduction with new objects frequently, they will be far less affected by it. Holidays are a great opportunity to introduce them to unfamiliar seasonal stuff.
The parrots watched as all the humans were enthusiastic about the pumpkin. They were just dying to get involved too. If all the humans are doing it, then it must be safe. This is a fantastic way to introduce them to the new stuff they haven't seen before because seeing you play with it reassures them it is good. Don't just give your parrot a pumpkin or the finished carving, let it watch the process which will get it even more excited to play with it.
The parrots were having so much fun that they did not fight once during the whole time, even when Truman accidentally bumped into Kili.
You could say it was a fun filled weekend of bringing parrots places... The first outing was with Kili the Senegal Parrot, and the second was with both Kili and Truman the Cape Parrot. These were done to maintain socialization skills with Kili, and develop socialization further in Truman.
Michael and I took Kili to a recent homecoming football game/alumni reunion event. We arrived at the homecoming game near the very end but just in time to see the home team's victory. We stuck around on the school's field for snacks and socialization for Kili after the game. She was very comfortable and calm in her flight harness on Michael's shoulder with crowds of people in every direction. The temperature outside that afternoon was a bit chilly. Kili was snuggled into the collar of Michael's light jacket with her head poking out to shelter her from the occasional breeze. Some of the school's faculty, alumni and students attending the events spotted Kili and handled her. She eagerly performed tricks, said hello, and seemed to enjoy being the center of attention.
The following day, Michael and I took both parrots outdoors to a park. Kili had been fed pellets in the morning in her cage so she was not significantly food driven, but Truman had only been offered pellets in his carrier and had not eaten much.
We started the experience by walking around the park area with Kili and Truman, looking for members of a wild flock of Monk Parakeets in Brooklyn. We walked around to two different communal nest locations for 10 minutes and listened for the distinct calls of these parakeets. We heard their shrieking and we knew they were near by. Amazingly, we spotted five or six of them flying together. We stood and watched some land in a tree across the street and then watched a few fly to their nest.
When the activity died down, we headed for the playground a few minutes walk away with Kili and Truman. What started as just a socialization experience at the playground became a trick and recall session, especially with Truman. Some children and adults at the playground gathered around and watched us with the parrots. Truman was screaming and shrieking loudly in excitement. Kili and Truman demonstrated a few tricks and harness flight recalls, and the parrots seemed to enjoy all the attention and showing off for the crowd. Truman was highly motivated at the park and showed improved recall reliability with Michael. He seemed more motivated in the presence of the crowd. We finished up at the park and were walking out when Truman became highly vocal and excited on Michael's shoulder. He learned to mimic a catcall and clicking sounds from Kili's vocalizations, and we finally caught it on video.
Truman is currently maturing and is developing beneficial outdoor, social and coping skills. He is acquiring a positive association with being inside of his carrier because Michael and I are offering him meals, treats and toys inside. However, Truman was not fully comfortable eating in his carrier and his carrier training is still incomplete. Kili is already socialized and has become more accepting of being outdoors, new people and changes. As a result, being outside with us in new situations and meeting strangers are meant to maintain her skills. However, Kili is highly aggressive in her territory and defends her cage, perches and trees from anyone but her perceived mate, including Truman.
It is beneficial to bring a territorially aggressive parrot to unfamiliar or neutral territories and introduce a perceived intruder to a parrot who has displayed this kind of aggression. This type of interaction can help to improve a relationship and increase confidence in both the parrot and the person. Kili is more willing to step up for me away from home because I am more familiar to her than the surroundings. Furthermore, both parrots benefited from spending time outdoors. Prolonged direct sunlight exposure is important for vitamin D and calcium. Harness flight training outdoors helps to prepare for the event that either parrot is lost outside.
In order to avoid serious behavioral problems including stress, aggression, and fear toward new people and new objects, prevention is best. In the wild, baby and juvenile parrots would learn skills from their parents, such as what is food, where to find food, how to eat food, what is dangerous, what are predators, flock dynamics and social skills. As pets, parrots rely on their breeders, hand feeders, caretakers, and owners to teach them skills so they can thrive in a domesticated environment.
Exposing your parrot to new things will prepare it for more significant changes in the future. Introduce your parrot to new people, objects and places. Always create positive experiences and pay attention to your parrot's comfort level. Reward the parrot for tolerating or experiencing new things to avoid creating phobias. Make being inside of a carrier rewarding with a meal, treats, or a toy. Take your bird to an enjoyable and safe environment so it becomes accustomed to traveling in a carrier. Teach your family and friends how to properly handle and interact with your bird. Set up positive reinforcement scenarios for socialization with other people with trained tricks or other behaviors. Teaching a parrot socialization and coping skills is essential in order to own an overall healthy and confident pet.
Something is abuzz with Kili and Truman. My brother came by and flew a remote controlled helicopter past the parrots. They both started intently but held somewhat different intentions. Kili was being aggressive and defensive of her perch. She did not wish to have her space impeded by some buzzing black whirly bird. Truman on the other hand had completely different intentions. You could tell that he wanted nothing more than the opportunity to play with the toy. Nothing would please him more than to be able to shred that plastic helicopter into unrecognizable pieces.
The parrots definitely were not scared of the flying toy. They are both flighted and could fly away at any time. Instead they stood their ground and gazed with pinning eyes at their aerial competitor.
I bought some new toys and swings for the aviary and a large water bowl for the parrot's to take baths in. Truman dove right in and enjoyed a bath outside. Kili on the other hand preferred to explore the new swings. I added a circular rope swing to their extended collection of aviary perching places. While I have to put Truman on each toy individually, Kili hops fearlessly from toy to toy.
A lot of people have been asking me about Kili and how come I've been making few posts/videos lately. The truth is, I'm just taking it easy on the birds for now. Truman is finally eating, back in his cage, and moving about but he still limps pretty badly. I maintain the tricks he knows but don't think it's a good idea yet to start working on new ones. Meanwhile Kili is still going through the heavy stages of her second molt. She looks kind of scraggly and she has been nippy lately. With so many wing feathers missing, right now it's more important for me to promote good nutrition and avoid feather breakings so that she could fly again.
I don't make Kili fly much and only practice old tricks with her when she's up for it. Believe it or not, every few days she just really wants to do tricks (even though she isn't hungry) so I give her a chance to run through her routine. Though not in 2 minutes, she does get through all the tricks she knows in under 5 minutes at a leisurely pace. She definitely remembers everything and knows what to do very well.
Kili currently has 2 primaries growing in on her bad wing and one primary on the good one. She also has some secondaries as well as many body feathers coming in now all at once. I'm feeding her a near 100% Roudybush pellet diet in abundance. I'm avoiding feeding her much seeds or fresh foods as they would dilute the high nutrition of the pellets. Between molts I believe the fresh foods help keep the weight in check but right now I really need her to grow back strong healthy feathers.
You can see that Kili is missing a lot of primaries but 2 new ones are growing in.
Kili really likes to get scratches on her head and beak when she's molting
Close up view of a pin feather on Kili's head
When Kili is molting she cycles between phases of being really nippy and really cuddly. It seems that the molt goes on in phases. First she loses a lot of feathers, then stops losing feathers while the previous set grows in, then she begins losing feathers again. She's nippy between the feather loss and pin feathers coming out stage but then she gets super cuddly and is always begging for scratches when the pin feathers have matured. I roll the pin feathers on her head between my fingers to help break them open for her.
In this video you can see a comparison of Kili's good and bad wing, see how her new primaries are growing out, watch me scratching her head and beak, see a pin feather up close, and see how I rub the feather between my fingers so it comes open. If you listen really closely, you can even hear Kili purr in delight.
I just wanted to share in a single post/video a demonstration of Kili's tameness. I realize that people have seen bits and pieces of it here and there but I wanted to consolidate it all to one place. I continue practicing all of these taming techniques from time to time to maintain tameness. I just casually touch or grab her in different ways so that she remains very used to hands. To learn a bit about beginning this taming process, check out this article.
I can touch Kili anywhere including the places parrots tend not to like being touched like under the wings and tail. Also I can grab/hold Kili by anything. Obviously I can grab by her feet but also can grab by her back or neck. She doesn't mind being grabbed by the head and I'm sure it doesn't hurt her because I see her hanging by her beak alone from time to time. Kili lets me pull her wing and tail feathers open. Most impressively Kili let me grab and hold her by the tail. This requires absolute trust. Here are some pictures and video:
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.
Trained Parrot site content Copyright 2010-2020 Michael Sazhin. Reproduction of text, images, or videos without prior permission prohibited. All rights reserved.
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