Time For You & Independence For Them…

Rocky and I enjoying time together after my return from being out of town.

It’s easy to do…it’s easy to get wrapped up in the daily lives of taking care of our bird(s). Change waters, fresh food, fresh veggies, new toys, stuffing foraging toys, time outside of the cage, making sure they get time to with the ones they love, making sure they have enough exercise, vet checks, nail trims, etc. No one said birds were easy to take care of. There is a lot of detail to pay attention to and it’s not easy keeping such intelligent minds occupied.

I hear from parrot owners that don’t have the time to sit and relax. They don’t have the time they would like to spend with loved ones. They don’t take the time to make sure they spend on themselves. It is easy to do, I know. This can be stressful on the parrot owner, the parrots, the family, the spouses, and most of all on you.

I’ve been there. I’ve been so wrapped up in training birds, flying birds, enriching birds, working with nocturnal birds, dreaming about birds, and leaving town for extended periods of time to work with other birds. I’ve realized this and it’s not fair to the others in the household which need or want your time also. It’s not fair for you to not take care of yourself either and this can have a great effect on the birds.

I intentionally take the time to take vacations, take certain days of the week and do things for myself, with my family, and with my spouse. It makes for a healthy balance in life and healthy time for ourselves also proves beneficial for the birds we take care of. Coming home rejuvenated and with a clear mind, even if it is just for a day or an afternoon, can really be beneficial for the birds.

Someone sent me an e-mail recently saying they envied that I could take off out of town for a couple of days at a time. As we dove deeper in conversation, I encouraged this person to begin doing the same. It’s healthy and mentally rejuvenating. This person said they would never trust anyone else with their birds. I encouraged this person to begin picking out a few people they thought they could trust to stop in once or twice a day to check on the birds. Then begin leaving the house on some personal time, even if it is for six hours one day a week. They mentioned that this would be doable. Then try it a few other times throughout the week. Stock the bird’s cages with foraging toys and different enrichment toys. The variety in toys and goals in foraging creates environments for them that are full of choices. When we get stuck in a rut in thinking our birds need our full attention all the time, we begin shaping their behavior of becoming extremely dependent on us. This isn’t healthy for them and it isn’t healthy for us. We begin falling into routines with our birds that force us to stick to them because if these routines are broken, it becomes very stressful for the bird. We train this! By doing this, we are training our birds to become very dependent on us. Routines are nice to a certain extent because it makes things easy for us to remember to make sure we don’t forget to do them. Routines can be unhealthy also because when certain things happen in life that cause us to break them, it causes a lot of stress for all people and birds involved.

Start mixing up schedules. This is what I do. My birds aren’t always fed at the same time every day. My birds aren’t always fed their fresh fruit and veggies in the morning. Foraging toys are stocked the night before and food is always in their cages or on play stations if they decide to eat or forage. The delivery of their fresh fruits and veggies always varies. Sometimes I’ll deliver them at 10 in the morning. Sometimes it is at noon, sometimes it is at three in the afternoon, and sometimes I feed them these at dinner time. There is no routine for them to rely on and there is no routine to cause them stress or anxiety when that routine is broken. As I said before, food is in their cages at all times, the delivery and presentation varies. Predictability can cause boredom. Studies prove this.

I don’t always get my birds out of their cages at ten in the morning. Sometimes I get them all out at noon. Sometimes I get two out at eleven in the morning while leaving the others in foraging and exploring their cages. Sometimes one goes in the back bird room, sometimes three of them go in the back bird room. Sometimes two are in the living room with me while one goes in another bird’s cage and the other two are in another bird room. I know we all don’t have the opportunity to be this flexible throughout the day, but if you put some thought into it, there is a way to provide variety in daily schedules and in smaller time restrictions.

Routines also help birds become over bonded to certain people. It is easy to do. When I have family or visitors over to my house, I’ll ask them to go say ‘hi’ to the birds and hand them a nut or drop a treat into a foraging toy. I encourage them to interact with them verbally. So many times I see people not allow people over to the house because it is either too stressful for the birds or too stressful for the visitors. This is when we are allowing the birds to train us and this is also how many behavior issues are formed with our birds.

So there are two messages here in this post. Take the time for yourself. It is so important. Also, be careful on leaning on routines heavily with

Rocky, the re-homed moluccan that didn't play with toys, shown here foraging from a toy

our birds. It can cause stress, anxiety, and boredom with the birds. If your birds aren’t foraging for their food, really take the time into seeing how to incorporate this into their lives. It keeps their minds occupied while we are gone from the house, from their sides, or for a few days. Foraging toys helps in giving them goals and puzzles to solve, tasks to accomplish, and incorporates more choices in their environments. Keep their puzzles solvable though. If they aren’t, they can induce stress and frustration on the bird. If their mind’s are occupied and busy, that is time that they are spending not becoming over dependent on you.

When I come home from being gone for a few days, I am so excited to see my birds and they are so excited to see me. My mind is refreshed

and cleared and ready to get back to bird business and I usually have a few great ideas in mind for things to provide to them. When I have to or want to take off for a day again in the future, the birds get used to this and it is not stressful on them when that time comes. It always brings a smile to my face when I see a bird choose to go back into its cage to interact with a toy. This also helps me rest in knowing that when I leave the house, they are occupied and continuing to learn from their environments inside their cage and verbally interacting with one another.

Putting Behaviors on Cue…Knowingly or Unknowingly

Putting Behaviors on Cue…Knowingly or Unknowingly.

Putting Behaviors on Cue…Knowingly or Unknowingly

Offering our hand can be a cue to the bird to step onto it.

A cue is a sound or signal that elicits a behavior. Many times we give cues or signals to our birds when we want them to do something. For example, we may cue a bird to step up on our hand or fly to us by offering our hand. There also may be multiple cues such as saying the word “step up” or “come” accompanied by tapping the area of our hand where we want the bird to step up or fly to. See Video Below.  In the world of domestic animals, the cue for a dog to sit may just be the word “sit”. Many times we have multiple cues and many times we need them. With cueing a dog to sit we may also point down and click our fingers while saying the word “sit”. All of these are cues for a particular behavior.

Cues are strong and numerous. Many undesired behaviors from the animals we work with may unknowingly be on cue. For example, the sound of approaching foot steps to a bird room could be putting a bird on cue to lunge when you walk by the cage. If with each time we pass the cage, that bird continues to lunge, we are reinforcing the bird’s behavior of lunging when we walk by. If a bird is on the floor and it chases feet whenever it sees feet, when we walk into the room, we could be cueing the bird to begin chasing our feet. So what is the solution? Put desired behaviors on cue. Putting desired behaviors on cue can be very effective if using the bird or animal’s positive reinforcers. Positive reinforcers are also known as rewards and it is always the bird or animal that decides what they are, never us. As long as we are working with a positive reinforcer that is more rewarding to the bird than the undesired behavior, we can make an alternative (desired) behavior more valuable to the bird. As I’ve stated, it is always the bird or animal that decides what the positive reinforcer or reward is. We, as caretakers or trainers can make those positive reinforcers more valuable to the bird by reserving their use for only during time of training.

 

For the bird that lunges with each time we walk by the cage, let the sound of our footsteps approaching the bird-room be a cue that something good is coming for the bird.  For example, Molly my eclectus would lunge when I walked by the cage. She would hear my footsteps approaching and the sound of my footsteps was her cue to stand on the bowl-holder in her cage, which was closest to me when I would walk in. As I would approach her cage, she would rock back and forth quickly. Seeing my approach was her cue to go to that particular bowl holder. As I walked by she would lunge. So is it me walking by that cued the lunge? I wasn’t sure so I tried it again at a slow pace. She didn’t lunge. I tried it again at a normal pace and she lunged. What this told me was it wasn’t me walking by her cage that caused her to lunge, it was the pace at which I walked by her cage.

 

Immediately I began walking by her cage at a slower pace. I needed to begin pairing my approach with something of value to her. This had to be developed through repetition because my approaching footsteps are already a strong cue for an undesired behavior. I needed to re-train this. With each approach I slowed my pace of walking. As I walked by her cage she did not rock and did not lunge. As I began to pass her I would tell her “Good” and then positively reinforce or reward with a pine nut. From prior history I know Molly loves pine nuts so I made sure the pine nuts stayed of high value to her by not giving them to her at any other time other than training her to stay calm during my approach, my walking in front of her, and my passing her. Through consistent pairing of my approach now with the pine nuts, I began cueing a new behavior of calm. If there are not positive reinforcers or consequences for requested behaviors, why would the bird or other animal want give the behaviors when cued? If the animal is always positively reinforced after a requested behavior, the future rate of that behavior is very likely. If lunging while we walk by serves a purpose to the bird, why wouldn’t it continue? Find reinforcers of more value to the bird than lunging while we walk past, and deliver them to the bird when they give the desired behavior when cued. Make the pairing of the approach and walking past of more value to the bird than the lunge.

 

In this video you will see how I trained this. I edited out a few areas of long pauses in training to make it more interesting to the viewer. The first two times I walk by her cage, I walk by at a normal pace. She does not lunge like she does when the camera is not there, but you do see the quick rocking back and forth that is the cue to me that a lunge is very likely to happen. This, in addition to the lunge are both behaviors I want to see replaced by staying calm at my approach, during my passing, and after my passing of her cage. This video shows each consecutive approach and passing. I did not edit out any approaches or passing, they are all shown in order of how they happened. With each approach I slowly increase my pace. By the end of the video, I walk by two times at my normal pace. My approach has now been consistently paired with the delivery of the positive reinforcer. My approach is now her cue that she will receive a pine nut. The lunging no longer exists because the alternate behavior of staying calm is of more value to her.

With the bird who’s cue is to chase feet when he sees them on the floor, find an alternate behavior that is of more value to the bird. How? Pair it an alternate behavior with a consequence that is of high value to the bird. For example, I have a moluccan cockatoo that used to chase my feet as soon as it saw me come into the room. If I were to jump onto the countertop I could escape the consequence of the chase but the bird would still come over to see if I had jumped down. As soon as I jumped down, the bird would begin chasing me again. If the reason the bird was chasing my feet was to get me to leave the room, if I left the room I am reinforcing the future rate of the behavior of the bird chasing my feet. From a little history of interacting with this bird, I knew it liked to toss a ball. Before I would get the bird out of his cage and I knew the opportunity for this bird to chase feet was likely, I would make sure I had a ball within easy reach for me. There were cues to me that the bird was going to start chasing my feet. First cue was he would stand completely still and watch me with his crest up. I could see him look down at my feet. He would then look up at my eyes. Then he would take off running toward me whistling with his crest up. The chase was on.

 

Rocky running after ball vs running after feet

Here is where the training started. When I saw the two cues, standing still, then the body scan, before he could start running I would grab the ball and toss it in the air. This caused him to focus on the ball and not on my feet. I would then put the behavior of him interacting with the ball on cue by pairing the words “Get the ball, Rocky” with me tossing the ball. As this continued to happen with each time I walked in the room, I began looking for the cue of him standing still. I would toss the ball before he even gave me the cue of the body scan. Through consistency of pairing my walking in the room with him standing still and my tossing the ball in the air, Rocky began chasing the ball more. Me walking in the room was now his cue for the ball toss game getting ready to begin. In the beginning, I needed to pair my walking in the room with the ball-toss game every single time until I knew Rocky clearly understood that me walking in the room was his cue for the ball-tossing game to begin. I had to be very careful to not let the chase begin because if I let it happen once in a while, this puts his behavior of chasing on an intermittent schedule of reinforcement. What I mean by this is that the behavior of him chasing my feet would be reinforced once in a while. Having a behavior (desired or undesired) reinforced once in a while helps keep that behavior very, very strong. If I were to walk in and see that he was cueing me the chase was going to start and I didn’t think I could cue him to do something else, I would walk back out before he could start chasing while I thought of what else I could do. I definitely did not want to let that chase begin because I would intermittently reinforce it. I would find other things for him to play toss with and then positively reinforce him playing toss. Sometimes his positive reinforcers for tossing the ball were to hear the tone of voice I give when excited. Sometimes my clapping my hands in excitement were his reinforcers for tossing the ball. I often sat on the floor with him while tossing the ball. Soon he tired. Soon he would be calmly perching on my leg while I petted him.

So many behaviors. So many cues. If we see an animal reacting consistently to our approach, we are cueing that animal to act that way. If a bird begins screaming when they hear our car pull in the driveway, that behavior is being cued. Cueing desired behaviors helps take stress and anxiety out of our parrot’s environments. Many undesired repetitive behaviors such as rhythmic screaming, rocking, and feather picking can be consequences of having stress and anxiety in their environment. Training and reinforcing alternate behaviors is one way to help eliminate that stress and anxiety.

Taking the ‘Command’ out of the Positive Reinforcement Vocabulary

To the best of my ability I try to implement positive reinforcement techniques, approaches, and training to my every day interactions with the birds in which I interact. If I unknowingly use an aversive (only determined by the bird) when interacting with the bird, I identify it or try to identify it and make sure I pay close attention to either not using it again, or shape it not being an aversive if possible. An aversive is something the animal does not like.

If I am using positive reinforcement interactions with my birds, one word that is not in my vocabulary is the word ‘command’. If I command the bird to do something, does this not follow with the implication of taking the choice out of the bird’s decision? Doesn’t a command implicate repercussion if the command is not followed through by the bird? Doesn’t command implicate coercion? If the bird doesn’t do ( A ), then ( B ) will follow, and the ( B ) would mean the choice is taken away?

This is why a reader of my articles and posts will find me using the word ‘request’. I request behaviors. If I do not get the behavior I am requesting, the bird’s choice is still in the equation. If the bird does not give me the requested behavior, then I have not correctly identified an item or event of fair trade to the bird for the behavior requested or the bird does not understand what I am asking. There are ways to arrange the environment to put higher values on the bird’s positive reinforcers. Arranging the use and timing of these identified positive reinforcers or rewards, can then make it worth the bird’s effort for giving me the behavior in which I am requesting. Breaking the requests into smaller approximations or steps, can make the line of communication clear and understandable by the bird. Positively reinforce or reward those small requests. This is when a trainer will begin to see the bird understand and quickly responding to our requests. Happy Training!

Just some daily reflections on behavior

So many things coming to mind that I want to sit and write about.

Re-shaping Moon to eat off the leather glove and accepting the camera in close proximity.

I’m just returning from a trip out of town that I seriously considered canceling. I considered it due to the two new birds under my immediate care, Suki the amazon and Moon the program barred owl. I considered not going because I didn’t know if it was wise to disrupt their training and pairing of life with positive reinforcement interactions at this point in training. Every day and consistently I’ve been doing my best to identify their positive reinforcers and then pulling them and using them for pairing with myself. If I were to disrupt this and other care takers feed, water, clean, etc. they could accidentally pair the opening of cage doors with aversives. Aversives are things the birds do not like and it is only the bird that decides what the aversives are. After much thought, I decided to make the trip. I needed it. We needed it. It was a pleasure trip and one taken for rest and relaxation. Ones we take less than we should.

I depended on the consistent and frequent positive reinforcement training I’ve done over the past two weeks to help in having a quick recovery when I returned. I asked the care takers to be as ‘hand’s off’ as possible for now since both bird’s training is fairly new. The caretakers were awesome and that is priceless.

When I returned, my first interaction with Moon I saw a set back in training but expected it. I just didn’t know how much to expect. Before I left, Moon was walking to the glove, stepping on it and allowing me to bring her down to eye level and take a step or two before her wanting to go back to the perch. The first night I had to re-shape her accepting the leather glove again. She clacked at it the first time I raised it to her so I dropped it behind my back and fed her from the blue glove. Within the first two-minute training session, she was back to eating off the leather glove. That was about as much as I was going to train with her the first day of returning. Do you know who gave me that advice? Moon did. I watched her body language. The shape of her eyes were slightly different. Her rictal bristles (hairy like feathers around the beak) weren’t moving in the way they were before I left. She wasn’t as quick to move towards the food as she did before I left. So I decided, before I pushed her too far and blew up my whole training session, I’d end it on a good note and step out quietly. I’m glad I did because the next day (yesterday), she was back on the glove and let me walk her in the enclosure the furthest she ever has. “Badda Bing, Badda Bang, there’s some great training happening right now!” I thought. It was like stepping back into my favorite pair of worn in shoes.

Then on to Suki, the blue-fronted amazon I took in three weeks ago for training. “This will be interesting” I thought. This was the first time she’s been caged here in my house overnight. I walked in and she seemed content on the highest perch in her cage. She seems to really enjoy Murray, my greenwinged macaw so I made sure their cages were in close proximity to each other. Murray seems to fancy her also. So I set their environment up to be as enjoyable to both while I was gone. I wanted my absence to be as stress free as possible. It seemed to have worked really well.

I just went in and opened Suki’s cage. With the flip of the metal latch, she seemed to have already learned that was her cue for some type of interaction with me. She started looking around for a way to move off of her perch. I thought “Is this good? Is this bad?” I didn’t know. I didn’t know what she was about to do. I wondered if she was looking for a way to get closer to me to get on my hand or a way to get closer to me to lunge or bite. I didn’t know. So I paid close attention to her body language and any verbalization she would give me. From working with her the past two weeks I’ve paired her trilling with things she desires and a growl with thing she doesn’t. I try not to push her to the growl, but I learn through my mistakes.

When I put my hand nearer to her I heard the trill so I moved it in all the way. She was climbing down the cage bars and reached her beak for my hand. She gently grabbed onto my hand until she could get both feet on. “Weeee, here comes the sleigh ride!” I thought with a huge smile on my face.  What joy it brings to me to see these birds just thriving in as much of a stress free environment as I can provide to them. So off we went to the kitchen with Suki on my hand. Three weeks ago she wasn’t even on my hand so you bet I was positively reinforcing the heck out of her staying on my hand as we walked to the kitchen. I offered her the kitchen counter top and that is where she stepped off and went running for the plate full of grapes.

"Come on and take a free ride!" Suki accepting 'public transportation' at the Joseph Village.

Several times this morning I saw she wanted to head different directions in the house so I offered my hand as a cue for a “free ride” and she took it. She flew to my hand and off I went heading the direction she pointed. As if the smile on my face could get any bigger as she guided me around the house. Sometimes I call her “the little blue pointer.”

I saw her eyeing the walnut jar on the counter top. Before she could fly to it, I walked over and grabbed one. It is a positive reinforcer I just identified. So I used walnut bits to positively reinforce behaviors from her that I wanted to see maintain or increase. I used them to reinforce her flying to my hand when I offered my hand. I used them to reinforce her staying on my hand, and stepping off of my hand. So instead of her standing in the corner chowing down on a whole walnut I offered her pieces of it for behaviors I was requesting. She got the walnut she desired and I got strong behaviors on cue that I need. A win win situation for both of us.

My Christmas arrived and it arrives every day that I see the level in their quality of life increase or seem comfortable for them. In a few weeks all of the green garland and glittery red lights will be taken down from my house and the houses in the neighborhood. But in the middle of the cold, gloomy days of January and February my house will still be filled bright green torpedos flying by and dazzling red wings flashing glimpses of turquoise and blue. The January freeze may be harsh on the skin while training an owl, but the warmth she gives me when perched calmly on my glove can warm any outdoor enclosure.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of my avian and training friends.

A Foraging Idea

Levels of complexity can come in where the ball is hung and if the ball is presented with a chain at all.

Living with five parrots, training one owl several times a day, and focusing on behavior, training, and enrichment with several other species of birds, my mind is always thinking about ways to enrich environments. Enrichment is so important, first and foremost because when given at an appropriate level for each individual bird, one can see the positive effects it can have on well-being and behavior.

If a species of bird will forage, I will try to implement it into their environment. If it doesn’t, I will try to help teach it. I make and sell a lot of my own enrichment devices, but not all the time. I keep my mind and eyes open at all times looking for enrichment possibilities for birds. Today I posted one on my website under “Do-It-Yourself” enrichment toys in the Enrichment section. This is one that has been a big hit in my house and outside of the house for several years.

Without getting into too much detail since it is all on my website, this toy can be a big hit with several species of birds such as parrots, corvids, and even vultures. This foraging toy can be altered in many different ways to make it look like something that may be encountered in the wild. Imagination is a great gift. This particular toy is popular with all of my parrots, a turkey vulture, and probably many caching species, and beyond. This toy can be given as a positive reinforcer for desired behaviors, and can also be given to reinforce an alternate behaviors. Come and take a look at The Rubber Ball Forager.  

Shaping Moon to the glove

Pairing environmental events with positive outcomes with a program Barred Owl.

It’s A New Day, It’s A New Way

Moon, a program Barred Owl from Nature's Nursery

So here I sit, wide awake at 3:48, the morning after Thanksgiving. It’s Black Friday and people are out busting down the doors of stores in search of great deals on gifts for Christmas. So, why am I up? My mind is preoccupied with two new birds in my immediate care. I have given plenty of thought to these two particular birds, taking them in, and my intentions of their care while here at my house.

Please allow me the honor of introducing you to Moon, Nature’s Nursery’s education Barred Owl, and Suki, a Blue Fronted Amazon with a path unknown. They are both currently residing with me for training. From the moment they both entered my care, which has been less than a week, I have begun teaching them a new form of communication with humans. I have done my absolute best with trying to interact with as much positive reinforcement as possible and it already shows in their behaviors.

Moon shows several behaviors of being afraid of humans and their approach. She hisses and clacks at the sight of anyone approaching her enclosure, she often flies to the top of her enclosure and will hang upside down, and she will fly around the enclosure with what looks like intentions of getting as far from the person approaching as possible.

Suki (just named yesterday)

Suki, the Blue Fronted Amazon

shows many similar behaviors as Moon. She is fully flighted and shows body language of not preferring close human contact. By that I mean if you raise a hand to her, even to step up, she will lean her head back and growl. If someone approaches her she will either fly in the opposite direction or lunge.

The first two days of these birds being under my immediate care, I did a lot of observing before much close interaction. I needed to identify what caught their attention, how they interacted in their environment, and what their body language looked like when they came into contact with things they seemed not to prefer and things they did. The things they interacted with were potential positive reinforcers I could work with. The things they stayed clear of, I made sure to stay clear of them also when I was interacting with the birds.

To make a long story short, using positive reinforcement training and applied behavior analysis, Moon is now walking to me when I offer her food and Suki is stepping up onto my hand consistently, and not just for a treat. Their body language is the most important form of communication for me. Neither can tell me verbally “Hey, I don’t like you standing this close to me.” but their body language can sure show it. The more I respect that and react to it, the closer they come to me.

I’m often asked by people interacting with birds and other animals “How will I know how big of a step to take with the bird?” and my reply is always “The bird will let you know.” I always follow that comment with further detail and usually on the finite details of body language but I love making that statement because it is so true. If I’ve taken to big of a step when interacting with a bird or other animal, I try to back away before the bird backs away and this is usually more in the beginning interaction with the bird. The more I do this, the more I see the bird chose to stay. Communication and understanding is beginning to form between the animal and myself. It’s a new day, it’s a new way….of life for these birds and I love empowering them in my, I mean ‘our’ environment.

For daily updates on both birds, check out my facebook page.

Ahh, very soon.

Oh dearest blog. How I miss thee. Let me count the ways.

I’ve been swamped. That’s a good thing. Being swamped with traveling pulls me from my blog. I love to write on my blog. It’s a place for me pour my heart and soul into the awesome experiences I have interacting with and enriching animals, with birds as my focus.

I’ll be heading out in a couple of days on my last speaking engagement for the year. Well, not really. I have one three days after that.

I’m working on several large projects, all of which I want to share here with those who would like to read. I can’t wait.

So until next week, I shall sign out. Tonight? Bird toys to make, a presentation to work on, papers to print, and a training cage to set up (inside and out).

Oh, and in addition, I have two new birds coming in for training. They aren’t new, but they have behaviors that need modified and new behaviors to train. Ok, now I have to sign out.

A Bit About Reinforcement

Reinforcers are anything that follows a behavior that causes that behavior to maintain or increase. For example, a bird steps up or flies to you when you ask and you give it an

Recalling Rico to the hand for a primary reinforcer

almond. If the behavior of stepping up maintains or increases more than likely the almond is a reinforcer for the behavior of the bird stepping up. In this instance the almond would be a positive reinforcer because it was something that was added to the environment that caused the behavior to maintain or increase. Positive reinforcers are always items of value to the one giving the behavior.

Also, the bird is always the one that determines the reinforcer. The reinforcer is never determined by us. If the bird is full, more than likely that almond is not going to be of high value to the bird. In other words, it’s not a fair trade.

Birds are individuals too. Imagine living life from their perspective. We ask them to step up. What’s in it for them? If they really don’t care to step up onto us because they are enjoying looking out the window instead, why would we expect them to step up onto us? Because we want them to? Nope, it doesn’t really work that way.

Positive reinforcers aren’t always food related either. Food related reinforcers are called primary reinforcers. Primary reinforcers are those that are needed for survival such as food, water, shelter, and reproduction. Secondary reinforcers are everything else such as a head scratch, a toy, a “Good Boy!”.

Secondary reinforcers can be very strong also. Reserving a known positive reinforcer makes the value of that reinforcer more valuable to the bird, if it is correctly identified. For example, Rocky, my moluccan cockatoo loves to be scratched around the neck. He loves it so much he’ll actually pick your hand up and place it on his neck. “Bingo!” This is an identified very valued reinforcer of Rocky’s. So I use it and I may reserve it for when I need it.

If my goal is to ask Rocky to step up out of his cage and onto my arm with the intention of walking him through the house to his play station in the bird room, I better use the neck scratch wisely and accurately.

Rocky coming out of the cage could be reinforcer for him stepping onto my arm. The opportunity for him to be with me may also be the reinforcer or an additional reinforcer.

I ask Rocky to step up onto my hand from his cage. He does. I may say “Good Boy Rocky” and that may be a good enough reinforcer. I’ve identified that he wants to come out of the cage and I know time or attention from me is also a valued reinforcer. The “Good Boy Rocky” and the stepping onto my arm are both valued reinforcers to him. Now, if I walk through the house scratching the back of his neck, why would he want to step off of me and onto his play station when asked? Why would he want to step off of me when he’s getting that highly valued reinforcer of HIS when he’s on my arm?

So I walk through the house and deliver the “Good Boy Rocky” for him perching calmly on my arm. Perching calmly is a behavior I want to reward so I better not forget to reinforce it. Sometimes a “Good Boy Rocky” is a big enough reinforcer for keeping him perched calmly. If I see that it’s not working, I may deliver an occasional head scratch during my walk to the bird room.

When I get to the bird room and am standing in front of his play station, I then ask him to step up. If he hesitates, I show him the positive reinforcer that will be delivered when he does. That is a me moving my fingers in a position that shows him that I want to scratch him. Almost always, he steps up. Yes, this may be called luring. I showed him the reward for the behavior I’m requesting. He steps up. I deliver the head scratch. This is called contingency. I deliver the reinforcer only when the requested behavior is given. The delivery of the reinforcer is contingent on the behavior of stepping up. This helps keep the behavior of stepping off of me very strong.

In the times that he choses not to step up, I rely on a list of reinforcers I reserve for when I find myself in this situation. Rocky loves peanuts. Rocky loves pine nuts. I break out one of these primary reinforcers and put them in his foraging toys and there goes Rocky. He steps up onto the play station and goes running to the foraging toy. No force needed. The bird’s choice still remains and the desired outcomes are still paired with my requests which makes behaviors more likely to happen when requested in the future.

On the other hand, we can strongly reinforce a lunge from a bird every time we walk by. If every time we walk by a bird and it lunges, that lunge is being reinforced. The lunge is maintaining or increasing isn’t it? It’s being reinforced. If every time our cockatoo is on the floor, it chases our feet. The chasing is being reinforced. So what do we do in these instances? Train. Train the bird to do something else that is of desired behavior, like stepping up or going to a perch and when it does, that is when we deliver the highly valued positive reinforcers we are reserving for times like these. The reinforcer better be of more value to the bird for stepping up than it is for continuing to chase your feet. That’s where our work comes in.

There is so much proof in the power of positive reinforcement. This type of training helps build relationships with the animal and helps behaviors remain strong. The outcome of using positive reinforcement training is the positive reinforcer for me continuing to use it and share it. There are several reasons I love using it. First, it is the most ethical way I have seen in interacting with an animal because it gives choice the animal and reduces stress. Stress levels can be a major factor of working with birds under our care or any animal in any type of confinement. Second, it develops into a strong line of communication between the handler and the animal or bird. Third, it builds trust between the handler/caretaker and the bird. Fourth, it is so effective when working with a bird showing ‘frightened’ or ‘aggressive’ behaviors. Fifth, with consistent pairing in delivery of positive reinforcers and attention to body language, soon the handler/caretaker will see the reinforcers shift or grow. With consistency it doesn’t take long for the bird to choose the proximity to you or to be with you as a highly valued reinforcer. Creating stress-free and enriched environments is a goal of mine with every bird I encounter.

Just a bit of Saturday morning blogging. Next I’ll dive into the commonly misused term of ‘negative reinforcement’.

Video: Rocky stepping onto his play station for a head scratch. Real-time in how it works.