What a Little Flight Can Do

Rico on my head looking out into the aviary.

I’m sure many people are ready for this winter to be over. I’m a big lover of the snow and cold but this winter has been long enough and I’m ready for some warmer temperatures. The birds are also. I love the summer for them because they get the fresh air, the sun, and all of the benefits of their aviary. I’m a big advocate of aviaries for our birds because of all of the health benefits, mental stimulation, and physical stimulation it offers them. I like helping people visualize how they can incorporate aviaries for their birds whether they live on 20 acres, in a condominium, an apartment, or in a town house. Where there is an idea, there is an aviary!

Anyway, back to winter and being cooped up because of the temperatures. Each day I try to get each bird out for interaction with me, interaction with other things in their environment and just for a change in scenery.The other day I was working at my desk that overlooks the aviary and Rico was perched on his favorite perch, which happens to be my head. Whatever it was that I was working on, I noticed Rico began to bob up and down on my head. I opened my phone and flipped the view backwards so I could see where Rico was looking. He was bobbing up and down, holding his wings out, and looking out the window at the aviary. So much body language here and these signs all together gave me a hint that he may want to go out into the aviary. I put down what I was doing and out into the aviary we walked.

I sat Rico down on the banister in the aviary and ran to the other side. I called him to my hand and after a few struts on

Rico flying across the aviary. The windows are open letting in fresh air and natural sounds from the outdoors.

the banister he was off in flight. Right to my hand he flew. All of that fresh air going into his air sacs, being distributed to his bones and organs. How healthy this is for him, how fun it is for him and for me to be a part of it.

Not all of my birds fly. One hasn’t flown in his life, which is my greenwing macaw, Murray who is about to turn 9 years old. Then I have one that is a beautiful flyer but doesn’t know how to land. This would be Rocky, my moluccan cockatoo who is a little over 13 years old. Let me correct myself…Rocky is still working on perfecting his landing. Myself and the volunteers here at the center are helping him work on his landings. When Rocky flies, he doesn’t know how to land and when he lands he has to crash into something to stop. I no longer encourage him to fly until we have his landing gear perfected. We have not clipped his wings, we just don’t encourage him to fly yet. He loves to run so we are encouraging him to run while we work on training him to land and use his wings, tail feathers and feet to stop. He’s getting pretty good at this. We hope to be posting photos and videos soon of Rocky’s flights through the aviary this summer.

So Rocky runs and in the meantime we are focusing on hanging vines in the aviary to give Murray more means of locomotion and choices in transportation through the aviary. When birds have more control in their environment, how to navigate it and choices in navigation, I see it having a huge impact on decreasing behavior issues such as screaming, feather destructive behaviors, and issues related to stress, aggression and anxiety.

Before I took Rico out of his cage and before he was on my head, I could tell he was up for a change in his environment, which was his cage. Keeping animals in the same space without changing that space or having different areas to move to, creates a stagnant environment. Objects and interactions in that environment become predictable and studies show that with predictability comes boredom. I could see Rico was getting bored and was in need for a change. If I didn’t provide change I could tell undesirable behaviors were about to happen such as screaming, hunkering down and flapping wings in anticipation which brings along signs of anxiety, and probably grabbing a toy and banging it on the side of the cage. I don’t like seeing any of these signs in my birds because of the stress I see that it brings out in them.

Rico flying over the 4 1/2′ pit in the center of the aviary. His concentration increases while learning depth perception.

After one flight across the aviary I could tell Rico was still interested in flying. Down into the pit I went and I called him to my hand from there. Rico has been showing signs of not understanding how to fly to my hand when I am down in the pit. I’m not sure what it is but he’s not used to flying to me when I call him from different elevations. We’ve slowly been working on this at his comfort level while slowly increasing the complexity in elevation when calling him. Sometimes I’ll go one or two steps down into the pit and call him. The pit is about 4 1/2′ below regular ground level. Then I bring out the ladder, walk up a few rungs and call him up to my hand. Each time I step down a step or up a rung allowing him the slow change and adaptability in depth or elevation. This is a process called shaping; reinforcing small approximations toward the target behavior, and in this instance the target behavior was him still flying to my hand and gradual changes in elevation. In working on this several times in the past, this time I ran into the pit and called him to my hand. He flew over the banister and down into the pit and on my hand like he’s done it a million times before. He yelled “Yahoo!” as soon as he landed on my hand and you bet I yelled it back to him. I love having this interaction with birds and especially with the ones under my care. His learning something new (depth perception) in his new flying environment is not only physically stimulating for him, it is also mentally stimulating. He is learning from changes in his environment. When I slowly integrate change at their pace, I see the birds in my care dealing with unforeseen changes very readily. I want this for them, for their health, and for their future.

Not everyone has room like this to fly their birds. I understand that. A few months ago I didn’t either. I lived in a small house with five parrots and a crow with a Barred Owl in a mew in my backyard. I know what small living quarters are like with birds. This didn’t stop me from getting birds out and flying them all over the house, increasing complexity by having learn to fly through doorways and up the stairs. Rocky played fetch by running all over the first floor. Murray would swing from a vine in the aviary. Molly would soak up the sun for hours in the aviary, obviously with the option to move into the shade. I noticed that if I were to get them out of their cages and get them running, flying, and/or flapping their wings, energy was being burnt off, behavior issues would decrease, and the more they seemed content with perching, sleeping, preening, and foraging for the next several hours.

My point in this post is to share how a few minutes of burning off energy in large amounts can greatly impact behavior

Five minutes of flight provides several hours of rest, relaxation, preening, foraging, and a decrease in behavior issues.

or the potential for undesired behavior issues not to happen. Less than five minutes of flying in the aviary for Rico in the photos above, and we went back into the Birdroom and Rico flew straight for one of the perches and rest and relaxation were in his near future and mine. Parrots are intelligent creatures that have a lot of energy to burn and they want to put that mind and body to use. This is why I train them. I like putting their minds to use. I like providing environments where they can continue to learn and manipulate that environment. When I provide environments like this and interactions like this, I see our relationships skyrocketing.

For more information or ideas on how to build aviaries or extended exercise areas in your house for your birds, take a look at the Enrichment and Aviary section on my website at LaraJoseph.com. I will be building more aviaries this summer and plan on sharing my plans on my website. For everyday quick tips and ideas on behavior change, training tips, and enrichment ideas, sign up to my Behavior, Training, & Enrichment page on Facebook. I hope to see you there. I’d love to see photos and videos of your enclosures and how you exercise your birds.

Beginning the New Year

Rico and Rocky in their new aviary. Rico is on his favored perch, as usual.

I love to write in my blog. I enjoy writing about my experiences and observations with the birds I have. Our recent move has kept me from doing this but it has also given me many things I could write about.

We are moved in, finally. It took quite a while. This move and the new center was quite a project for my husband and myself and it has probably aged the both of us. We are finally getting back to full nights of rest and we are loving our new home. I am up, ready and out in the center by the wee hours of the morning every morning. I love being out there and it is like home for me. The birds are settling in nicely for the most part. Rocky is showing signs of anxiety and stress that he hasn’t exhibited in quite a while. It isn’t in great amounts but the amounts they are in lets me know I need to be working on them and I have been. This issue I will save for a blog post on its own so I can write in detail on my training strategy and outcome.

The flock has grown by two. They were driven here by an animal trainer from Massachusetts. This is also another topic I will be writing about next on

Austin (volunteer) reinforcing desired behavior while cleaning cages.

my blog. I have a ton of photos, a story, and plenty of training videos to show.

There are a few people who have continuously dedicated their time, efforts, and thoughts in volunteering at the center. I have been so thankful to them for all of their help. This place isn’t just for me and my birds. It is a place I want to share with animals and animal lovers. I have many, many plans for the future.

I have less than a couple of months before I hit the road again. California, Massachusetts, and Chicago are all coming up this spring. I’m focusing on getting the birds ready and the caretakers of the birds ready. So far, I’m very pleased with what I am seeing and I will be writing about this also.

I am happy to say that Rocky is flourishing with all of the people coming through the center for visits, volunteering, and tours. It is so exciting to see all of the interaction he is getting. I love telling people “Sure, go ahead and walk in to Rocky’s cage and bring him out.” He’s come a long way, baby.

So if you have the opportunity to walk through the Birdroom door, make sure you look down at the message etched into the concrete. I hope that message and this center are here for years to come, even after I am gone. This is why we jumped in this project after all. Happy New Year to all.

 

A New Chapter, Turning the Page for the Birds

Dearest Blog,

Murray and Suki making the most of the height in the new facility. The facility has been designed to provide choices even for the birds that don’t fly. Suki, flighted blue -front amazon on the left. Murray, non-flighted greenwing macaw on the right.

I have not abandoned thee. I wanted to post an update. I know several people have heard me talk over the past year about wanting a larger place for my birds. Actually, I’ve wanted this for the past three or four years. When Suki, the blue-fronted amazon came to me last year for training, Murray, my greenwing began interacting with her to the point that it was obvious they were creating a new form of enrichment for each other. I liked what I saw it providing to Murray’s future and growth. I enjoyed having Suki around also so I knew if I wanted to keep yet another bird I needed a larger place. I don’t feel I can properly provide what five parrots need in my current household, even with the aviary.

For the past several years I have been searching for a larger house with land to build indoor and outdoor flight spaces and enrichment areas for the birds. We have found one. We found a 10,000 square foot building that we can dedicate strictly to the birds. Lucky for us, there was also a house on the property. We have been working on the building and the house and we are almost to completion and couldn’t be happier.

First and foremost this building is an enrichment area for the birds to run, fly, play, and scream to their heart’s content. Over the past several years I have spent much of my time traveling the United States giving presentations and workshops to the animal community. I have been saving all of my pennies to purchase this place for the birds and I thank each and every one of you for your support. I have kept my workshops in mind during the design of this new building. I plan on having several workshops at this new facility along with one-on-one or small groups of individualized training also known as A Day With The Trainer. I also have designed the building for many functions that will benefit the avian and animal community.

“Can you hear me now?” Rico, the umbrella cockatoo recalling to my hand from the rafters and over the arena, or pit.

We are designing this facility to be unlike anything we have ever seen or experienced. From the moment any

Grass being laid in the center arena. More animal enrichment being installed this winter. Yes, we will be the only ones in Ohio mowing the grass in January.

individual drives into the parking lot, their avian educational experience will begin in so many ways.

I have been introducing the birds to the facility slowly over the past month. It is a large area and I have seen it be overwhelming for the birds at times. After taking the small steps in introducing the facility to the birds they are now showing signs of being very comfortable with it. The ceilings are very tall and the center of the building has an area to walk down into a center arena or area. This height and depth has been a new concept for my birds and very interesting for me to experience with them.

I am posting updates on my FaceBook page. I have been receiving a lot of e-mails and messages asking when the facility will be open, my plans for it, and bookings for workshops and A Day With The Trainer. Feel free to send me an e-mail (aviansanta@gmail.com) with questions. We hope to be moving in a few weeks and will take the time during the holiday season to share this experience and joy with our birds. This is a huge move for all of us.

Thank you to everyone for your continued support and we hope to share this with you also. Happy Holidays. And to my birds, Merry Christmas with all of my heart.

Live On-Line Classes and Consultations Now Available

Live On-Line Classes & Consultations makes it easy for all bird owners and care-takers around the world to attend from their computers.

I am very excited to be introducing a new project I have been putting together for quite a while. I am now offering on-line meetings, classes, and private consultations on various aspects of behavior, behavior modification, training, and enrichment. These classes will vary in size but will be treated just as if I was standing in front of each individual giving a presentation and answering questions.

My first class that is being offered this Thursday, June 28th from 7pm-9pm EST has already filled. Not to worry, as long as there is a demand a new class will be offered. I have already scheduled a second date for this class. In this particular class I am keeping attendance at five people in order to be able to give individual attention. More classes will become available and topics will change on a consistent basis. To check class offerings, availability, and details click this link Live On-Line Classes & Consultations Schedule.

Many people have contacted me asking when I would be giving presentations in their area. Several people from over seas have contacted me saying they would love to attend one of my presentations. Many people contact me for specialized attention and advice on changing behavior issues. I’m asked for information on teaching recall or how to live with flighted birds, how to work with and change aggressive behaviors and birds that scream. With these Live On-Line Classes & Consultations, now we can sit down and work together live with each other right from the convenience of our computer. For more information or questions, please feel free to e-mail me via the e-mail address provided in this link Live On-Line Classes & Consultations.

Behavior…It’s Always Happening

Empower the animal in its environment through behavior change, training, and enrichment

I’m just getting back in town and bringing April to a close with speaking at the Michiana Bird Society in Mishawaka, Indiana and a presentation at PEAC Cleveland yesterday. Two great groups of fantastic people. I could talk about behavior, training, and enrichment all day long because each are so entwined in each other and have a great deal of impact on one another.

My true fascination is behavior change. When I see an animal with behavior issues I like interacting with the animal to begin changing behavior. This is done with working with and identifying reinforcers and punishers in the animal’s environment. When the animal begins responding to your interactions and behavior begins changing, training is happening. Positive reinforcement training is the best and most effective line of communication I have found in working with animals, which is my reinforcer for why I continue to use it. Positive reinforcement training has also been listed and stated in studies as being a preferred form of enrichment by animals under human care. This is evident when working with an animal. Seeing a bird fly to the front of its enclosure upon your arrival vs flying to the back to get away as it once used to do, always brings a smile to my face because it shows the line of communication has changed for the bird and the caretaker.

Communication and behavior change through positive reinforcement training is shown through the animal and the respect given by the caregiver or trainer.

Through positive reinforcement training, one can take a once fearful animal or bird and show it a new way of life in our care. Life in our care does not have to be stressful, fearful, boring, predictable, or paired with aversives. Once a bird or other animal begins learning through you, the trainer that life in our care is enriching and empowering, the bird or other animal can begin to become dependent or over-dependent on us. This is where providing an enriched environment through objects to manipulate, slight changes in complexities in the environment, and the opportunity to interact with others becomes important. My goal with every bird or animal in which I interact is to create independence through environmental enrichment beyond the caregiver or trainer. Hence the reason I am heavily focused on enrichment tools.

Stagnant environments create behavior issues. That’s a powerful statement and one I have observed over the years that could not be truer. Stagnant and predictable environments do not empower the animal which can do many things such create stress, anxiety, abnormal repetitive behaviors, and worst of all…cause an animal to do nothing but just sit there or perch there only moving to eat or drink.

Positive reinforcement training creates choice in the animal’s environment and provides mental and physical stimulation for the awesome creatures in our care. Showing an animal a new way of communication changes behavior and empowers the animal. Seeing a bird or other animal independently interacting in its environment and eager to welcome a caregiver or trainer in its environment is a powerful statement. It is a statement that attracts attention and when attention is attracted, people want to learn how to create environments for animals under their care and when information is shared, education is happening.

It’s That Time of Year Again…

Common nesting body language and behaviors.

I sit here and type this as Rico, my umbrella cockatoo is chipping away on some wood I put on top of the cupboards in the kitchen. Yea, it is that photo to the left. This is not behavior I invite or encourage and the longer he chews and chips, the longer this behavior is being reinforced. The more I let him do this, the quicker he’ll fly to this destination in the future.

Nesting behaviors. Hormonal behaviors. Sexual behaviors. They are all natural behaviors and behaviors which bring about some common issues to companion parrot owners once, twice, several times throughout the year. These behaviors can accompany longer daylight hours in addition to several other factors in their daily life.

The reason I don’t like to encourage these behaviors or let them happen for long periods of time is because, in my household they can’t finish the job. There are no mates for any of my birds in this house. They can sit and build their nests, shred paper, go to cage bottoms, hide in boxes but there is nothing there to complete the process. There is no mate, there is no mating, there are no eggs, there are no chicks. I’m a big promoter of providing choice, consequences, and solvable solutions to our birds because it empowers them. This is why I’m a big promoter of foraging toys and providing objects in an array of forms for our birds to be given the opportunity to solve a puzzle, manipulate the object, and receive the reward. If the toy isn’t touched, it may be due to it being too complex for the individual bird. So, make it solvable for the bird. If a bird is faced with daily obstacles and tasks it cannot solve, it could cause other behavior issues, differing levels of frustration, and a sense of self-helplessness just to name a few. This is why I do not encourage or reinforce nesting behaviors. To me, this is a puzzle that is not solvable to a single bird and can cause high rates of frustration which can be shown in increases in behavior issues such as screaming, plucking, and feather destructive behaviors.

When I see one of my birds all of a sudden becoming interested in wooden pieces on toys and turning those pieces into toothpicks, I

In times where I see Rico begin turning boxes into confetti, it serves as a 'heads-up' to me that I could be reinforcing nesting behaviors.

make sure I’m observing if the bird is simply enjoying the toy or is it showing nesting behaviors in making wooden toys into tiny slivers of nesting material. Does this mean I pull the wooden toys? No, not at all. To me it reminds me to focus more on behavior and potential behavior issues.

I am careful of how, when, and what shreddable material I put in my bird’s cages. When I see phone books being torn to shreds, toys with boxes causing birds to click their beaks and put butts up in the air, I slowly begin removing these toys when the bird is not in the cage. I rarely throw shreddable boxes or shreddable toys on cage bottoms. From what I’ve observed, this can quickly and easily encourage and reinforce nesting behaviors.

A few other things that encourage sexual stimulation or nesting behaviors with our birds are petting under the wings and stroking the bird down it’s back. What I often see as a result of these behaviors are clicking beaks, butts up in the air, drooping wings, panting, and a bird perching with the wings slightly drooped begging for attention from the favored owner. I’d be very careful with this. This can bring on a plethora of behavior issues.

Stroking a bird down it’s back can be reinforcing for the owner because it causes the bird to stop screaming or stay calm while you finish your phone call or your favorite tv show. When we stroke the bird down its back it will stay in one location for quite a while. That’s because it is patiently waiting for the next move and when that doesn’t happen, frustration can occur in many forms such as a quick lunge and bite, screaming, begging, chasing of other members in the household, and flying to dark corners and rooms in houses.

A few other behaviors that can reinforce this behavior is allowing birds under blankets while we lay in bed or sit on the couch. Opening drawers in our dressers allowing birds to play in these dark cubby holes. If no behavior issues arise or form from these behaviors, that is great but often times they do and I know I’m repeating myself but I am because I feel it is so important to observe for the future of the bird. Make sure allowing these behaviors are not reinforcing other behavior issues and most of all causing high levels of frustration for our birds. Several years of reinforcing behaviors like this can cause a bird to lose its home and if other behaviors aren’t instead reinforced, it can make placement of that bird in another home more of a challenge.

Training Suki, the blue-fronted amazon to recall or fly to the hand for food. This gives her something to do and be rewarded for doing. It is a great way to burn off built up energy.

So, what do I do instead? I encourage foraging at all times because it creates solvable puzzles for our birds to keep them mentally stimulated. I encourage teaching bird new behaviors through positive reinforcement training. Increase their amount of flying time. If your bird doesn’t fly you can encourage them to flap their wings or run across the floor playing with different objects. This burns off some of that built up energy and when they are burning off large amounts of energy, they need to rest and preen and forage for more food to replenish that burnt off energy.

We can set our birds up for success by reinforcing behaviors we want to see increase such as flying, playing, running, foraging, and socializing or interacting with others in our household. Parrots can live a long time and as much as I plan on taking care of my birds for the rest of their lives, it isn’t really likely. The likelihood of my birds outliving me is high. I can’t predict that I will be healthy enough to provide them the care they need for the rest of their lives. It would be selfish of me to keep my bird under my care when I can’t properly take care of it, just because I love the bird. I can prepare them for a successful future and as less stress as possible for a potential transition to a new home or environment. If I’m continuing to allow undesired behaviors to occur that reinforce behavior issues, I’m not preparing that bird for success in the bird’s future. To me, this is part of my responsibility as the caretaker of the animals that live with me. I owe them this. They provide me happiness. I need to make sure I can provide it to them also to the best of my ability.

A Bird Nerd That Can’t Sleep

Many nights this week I’ve had a hard time sleeping. Well, it caught up with me this afternoon. I checked into a hotel this afternoon getting ready for a talk

The beauty of a bird

tomorrow with PEAC  Cleveland(Parrot Education & Adoption Center). I put my bags on the chair and fell on the bed after I set my phone alarm for 15 minutes. I was out.

We’ve been getting several storms this past week. Late night thunder boomers is what my sister and I call them. They woke me up all week and I wondered what goes through my parrots heads when they hear this. I sit and wonder what they do in the wild. Probably sit under their canopy of leaves and not move. Being a companion parrot, I wonder what goes through their minds being in a home and hearing this. I don’t own a wild-caught parrot but my mind does drift and wonder what the wild-caught’s think. Do they think “Oh, I remember that sound.” Anthropomorphic? Yes, but I can’t help but think it.

Yes, I was thinking that at 3:30 am earlier this week when the house shook from the late night thunder boomers. I laid there and thought “I know their awake, perched on one foot, perching still but eyes wide open.” Then I thought “It’s 3:30 am and I am laying here wondering what their thinking with my eyes wide open.” I was involved in a conversation tonight at dinner about waking up in the middle of the night and the thoughts start and the sleep stops.

There was one other night, two nights ago when it wasn’t the rain the woke me up. It was the 60 mph wind gusts. It was 4:30 am and I woke not to thinking “I wonder what the parrots are thinking.” but I woke wondering “What in the heck is that noise”. The wind was gusting so hard I felt the pressure in the house move several times. I heard it again and ran to the aviary to make sure it was still standing. It didn’t phase it but it did phase everything else that was solid. I ran to the tv and flipped on the news. I didn’t even know we had news at 4:30 am. I do now. I was certain there were tornado warnings but confused at not hearing the sirens. They confirmed no tornadoes just wind gusts of up to 60 mph. I hurried and turned it off in hopes of going back to sleep.

The room went black and I shut my eyes. I heard the awnings creaking with the gusts. “They are going to fly off.” I thought. “Stop it and concentrate on going back to sleep.” Another gust and I cringed. I cringed again and again and then a thought. “There were winds gusts like this that shook an owls nest from a tree over a year ago. An owls nest with owlets in it.” Another gust and I cringed and then my thoughts were not on the aviary any more. They were on all the owls and other birds in nests that were going to lose their homes that night. Ugh, no more cringing, just a pit in my stomach with each cringe. No rest for the wicked. I tossed and I turned and found myself wanting to scream “Just stop it!” with each gust.

I thought of an owl named Sidney. She may have had another name when she was once in her nest last year. She lost that nest. She had an on looker for several days named Jeff Gee. He watched the parents in the nest. He watched the owlets in the nest. He watched a wind storm begin to develop and he worried about the nest. Rightfully so he worried. He came home that evening to look up for the nest and it was gone so off into the woods he went. He found

"Flap them Sid!"

an injured owlet and took her to Nature’s Nursery. There that owl’s name changed from owlet to Sidney. I had the honor of watching her change from Sidney to free in the months to come. You can find her story at this link: sidneys-story-the-great-horned-teacher. There is not a week that goes by that I don’t think of her. Something in my life reminds me of her. I always wish her well and thank her for teaching me. She’s had a major impact in my life and in my relationship with birds, whether parrot, blue jay or raptor. I think of her often and hope she’s hunting those black, Ohio, midnight skies.

So here I sit writing about her with thoughts and memories and wonders running through my mind. Another night of no sleep? Nah, I think it will be a night filled with owl dreams for sure. Good night Sidney. Flap those wings whether on earth or elsewhere. My mind still thinks of you. My mind still thinks of you. You are a part of my soul.

All Good Things Must Come To An End…..

Building an aviary was one of the best things I could have ever provided to my birds and those birds that I have brought home to train. Four years ago that was just an image in my mind. A few months later it was a reality.

I thought about different ideas in how to build it and I had to keep my neighbors in mind while designing it. I had to make it as least obstructive to them. If

View of the aviary from the neighbor's yard

they didn’t like it, I’m sure I would have had to take it down. Metal fencing was out. I don’t think that would be too appealing to the eye so I decided on a black netting. I still don’t regret this choice. It wasn’t intrusive to the eye from the neighbor’s point of view, and actually many of my neighbors enjoyed watching the birds fly, run, and interact in the aviary.

As you can see from the photo on the right, the birds could fly out the back door or window and right into the back yard which was their aviary. My husband and I, friends, and family could all sit outside in the aviary with the birds also and interact, relax, and have cook outs, which we did often.

As you can see in the video below, the aviary allowed the birds so much freedom and decision-making opportunities. You can also see how much the birds really enjoyed it. In the summer, in the aviary is where all the birds took their showers. In this video you will see Rocky, my Moluccan Cockatoo on the ground begging for a shower, Murray my Greenwing Macaw wanting in on the action, and Rico taking the opportunity to dive-bomb Murray.

I think back about the birds that have experienced this aviary. With each experience and interaction with each bird, they gave the aviary the personality that it

Rico enjoying his awesome ability of flight and showing it off, as he should!

has. In this aviary is where Rico learned to maneuver his flight skills and oh did he do that well. He learned how to dive bomb the other birds. He learned to fly to the opening above the gate to see what the neighbors were doing next door, hence one of his many nick names “Rico Kravits”, after Gladys Kravitz from Bewitched. Then he would fly to the other side and watch the neighbors having a cook out in their back yard. Here he also flew and interacted with the grackles. Oh what a learning awesome, observational learning experience that was, but for another post. Watching Rico fly and maneuver around the aviary often brought butterflies to my stomach. I would sit and stare in awe as he passed by yelling “Wooo hooo!” as he would look to make sure I was watching. Oh I was.

Then there is Rocky, the Moluccan Cockatoo. Rocky loved the aviary. He loved running through the aviary, and through the grass. He loved playing fetch, eating all of the flowers I brought home, hanging out on the backs of the patio chairs, and serenading the neighbors. I remember one time when a door to door sales woman chose to intrude into our aviary because we wouldn’t answer the front door. I was shocked and very upset by this. Coming into our aviary means just as much if not more to us than entering our house and here this uninvited intruder was now rudely occupying our time and upsetting our birds. Rocky was on the ground running and yelling “Doo Doo Doo Doo”, hence his nick name “Rocky Doo Doo”. He kept trying to run toward the sales woman and I was preventing him from doing this by continually standing in front of him. The more I did this, the more determined Rocky was in getting around me. She wouldn’t leave at my continually requesting her to do so. Finally

Bye Bye petunias!

she asked me if “that bird” was playing and I responded “He’s not playing at all”. She laughed and said “Its so cute, what is he trying to do.” I responded with “He’s trying to get to you.” “Oh” she said. “He wants to play.” My disturbance was now turning into anger and I told her Rocky would definitely attack her. She ignored me once again when I asked her to leave. With my building frustration I stepped aside and away Rocky went running full force, crest up, screaming “Doo Doo Doo” and away went running the sales woman. I completely positively punished the behavior of the sales woman standing in my back yard. After she went running out of the aviary yelling not so nice things at me, I turned and looked at my husband with a look on my face like “Was I wrong?”. He looked at me with just as much amazement at the whole situation that had just happened and we both starting laughing uncontrollably.

More than anything, Rocky loves his showers. Enjoying a shower is a behavior Rocky had to learn and I had to train. We did a lot of this in the aviary and at Rocky’s pace. Watching Rocky take a shower is now a hilarious experience.

Murray, my Greenwing Macaw, loves the natural sunlight the aviary offers. He’s a bird that is so content with

Murray preening in the sunshine offered by the aviary

visual enrichment and the aviary was full of visual enrichment. He enjoyed his showers in the aviary, as seen in the video above. He then loves to dry in the sun.

I often lay down in the grass in the aviary and Murray will climb down any stand he is on and waddle over to where I am. He loves to climb all over me and say “Hello” because I laugh so hard. He then tries sticking his tongue in my ear which causes me to laugh even harder. He’s my dog of birds and a very loyal companion. Murray is not a good flier at all. This is a behavior I wish he knew because his lack of ability in making quick transportation choices shows in his over reaction to novel sounds. Otherwise, when Murray hears a sound he’s never heard before, his fear responses grow with time because he doesn’t have the option of flight to escape. I often encourage Murray to flap his wings while hanging from objects. The more he does this, the more I see him using his wings to gain momentum in rocking a swing to get from one place to another. If I could give Murray anything, I would give him flight. This is a behavior he and I can work on building.

Then there’s Einstein, Nature’s Nursery’s program screech-owl. The aviary provided so much room for him to exercise, interact, hunt, play, and it provided a vast environment from which to learn. In the summers I used to sit outside in the aviary with Einstein at night and just watch him fly. We would do a little recall training, but he really enjoyed checking out everything in the aviary.

My sister, Dena getting the chance to observe the massive, nocturnal hunter.....Einstein.

The evenings would begin with Einstein hanging out on the boings or in the support beams of the patio umbrella. As night would fall, Einstein would start exploring. I would turn on the lights in the aviary to attract the bugs. Large bugs attracted Einstein and it was so absolutely cool to watch him hunt.

If Einstein wanted your attention, he would fly by and buzz your head with his wings. You couldn’t hear him fly but if you looked around your immediate environment, it was almost a guarantee he would be sitting within reach. This usually meant it was time for another training goodie. 😉

Einstein flying from the patio umbrella beginning the evening's hunt.

Pete overlooking the aviary

And then there’s Pete. Pete is also a program bird of Nature’s Nursery’s. Pete taught me so much in learning from a bird and in turn I tried my hardest to enrich his environment. There was several hours of training that needed to be done before introducing him to the aviary, but it was done and what a pay off that was for Pete. Pete loved sunbathing so that is where we began. I had to slowly introduce him to the aviary as you see in the photo to the right. I would open the window so he could start familiarizing himself with the sounds the aviary had to offer. It wasn’t long before I could open the screen and go outside and ask him to hop to my hand. Soon after that I would pull up a chair, take out a book and Pete would be sunbathing on my shoulder, my hand or my lap. He

Pete relaxing on the parrots swing between recall training sessions in the aviary

started hopping around my feet, flying to perches in close proximity, and that is where I saw him ant for the first time. Wow, what a learning experience he provided to me. I had Pete recall trained in the house, so it didn’t take much to ask that behavior from a different environment.

There is nothing I can offer to Pete that would be better than what his natural and intended life in the wild could give him. Pete is with us because he has a deformed foot. I trained him many behaviors to get him ready to be an avian ambassador, (teaching the public the importance of his species in nature) for a local wildlife rehabilitation center called Nature’s Nursery.

I only had one video of a very special owl. It was a young Great Horned Owl’s first small flights. It was a great video watching Sidney experimenting with her wings and making short hops lofting around the aviary. I wish I had kept that video but it is a memory to be cherished. I did manage to find a few photos I had taken the same day. To read more about the story of Sidney, you can find it here on my blog under, “Sidney, The Great Horned Teacher.”

Often, when Sidney was in the aviary, she was hard to spot. She was a huge owl but one that blended in well

Sidney's first experience in the aviary

with the natural surroundings. When watching an owl observe its environment, one can get lost in how they gaze. You can take the owl out of the woods, but you can’t take the woods out of the owl was a line similar to what I had read in Bernd Heidrich’s “One Man’s Owl”. “How absolutely true”, I thought as I have seen the look in the owl, especially the Great Horn’s that Bernd was describing. There is so much more to them than human capacity can even begin to understand. Watch one and you’ll understand this also.

Sidney on one of the perches in the aviary

So why all of this talk about the aviary and why all the talk in past tense? I write this with a pit in my stomach and it was a bit tough to go back and review through videos and bird experiences in the aviary. Less than a week ago, our part of Ohio was struck with a heavy ice storm. The ice was beautiful and very dangerous. Our area was hit pretty hard and trees came crashing down for days due to the weight of the ice. As you may begin to see where this post is going, our aviary also crashed to the ground. I will say though, that the aviary came crashing down long after the majority of the 100′ tall trees. The aviary was a real trooper and hung in through three brutal winters and several ice storms. This ice storm was the worst we had seen in years.

I love the snow and always welcome it. Well, along with the snow comes

The aviary drooping under the weight of the ice

the chance of the other white stuff. Every time I heard ice in the forecast, I would cringe. This time I had every right to cringe. It was a doozie. With every ice storm that passes through here, I keep my fingers crossed for the aviary.

The ice started at 10:30 pm the evening of February 20th, 2011. At one point I had to go open the blinds because it sounded like someone was tapping on our front window. That’s how hard the ice was coming down. The next morning, these photos were some of the images I was able to capture. The netting is black, which is hard to see under all of the ice.

Icicle hanging from a zip tie

Icicles every 1"

The aviary stood strong the whole next day. I took photo after photo, because even as dangerous as ice can be, it is beautiful. The trees clinked with the slightest of wind, though the aviary didn’t budge. I went out that evening and scraped off the icicles that I could reach. After about fifteen minutes of doing so, I realized this was out of my hands. I put down the shovel and wished it well as I turned and stared at it glistening in the evening night. That night at midnight I heard a eerie and most horrible noise. It was one that made you want to duck by sheer reflex. It sounded as though our roof was sliding right off of our house. After that first reflex, I jumped out of my chair and went running to that back window that Pete used to perch in and stare out over the aviary. I didn’t even want to open the blinds. I did and was still shocked to see what I saw. I saw a completely different view of the aviary. It had caved in under the weight of the ice. The support cables busted and the world came crashing in. It was hard to see that night but it was clear that I had an obstacle free view of the midnight sky, a view I hadn’t seen in almost four years.

View of the collapsed aviary from the 2nd floor

Support cables pulling from the house

I snapped the two photos below the next morning. It looks as though two of the main support cables busted under the weight of the ice. You can see in the photo on the left that the netting was torn in the center in at least two different spots. These tears are not along the seams either. The netting is rested on all of the perches in the aviary. Above each perch, the netting sliced open there also.

The iced netting is so heavy we can’t move it. Until the ice melts, we can’t get into our back yard to see how bad the damage really is. Since the aviary has fallen, we have received 6.5″ more of snow and more on the way. There were plans in place to bring home yet another bird of prey to start training in the aviary to make the most of the remaining winter months. It seems the harder I’ve tried in bringing this bird home, the more obstacles have gotten in my way. This obstacle is a big one. I can look at it as an obstacle or the opportunity to improve the aviary. I can look back at the photos and videos over the last four years and let it weigh heavy on my heart or take this opportunity to make improvements for future memories. I chose the latter.

So really, all good things must come to an end? Hmmm, I think I’m going to challenge this one.

My website is finally up!

 

http://www.larajoseph.com

Not finished, but my website is finally up and running. I’ve put a lot of time and heart and soul into this and there is so much more yet that I am working on behind the scenes.

 

2011 is already planned for me and another year which I am very excited to pursue. Each year my life with birds and other animals just compounds the year before. Each year brings so much learning and experience. I am beginning to see how vast the world is and how fast time really goes by. When things start moving really fast for me and projects get larger, I always sit back and think, “Am I enjoying life?” “Is this benefitting toward the cause which has me doing this in the first place?” and almost always I answer yes and continue.

There is so much I want to share and continue sharing. With every experience, I love sharing that experience with people who want to come along for the ride. I will continue to do this through my website and my blog.

My website is also video content heavy, link heavy, and photo heavy. I am very visual when it comes to learning so it is also how I share what I have to say and how I see it. I love sharing links to products and organizations that I hold in high regard and/or how they show the love in the passion for what they do. I hope you enjoy: My website address is http://www.larajoseph.com

Behavior…Thinking Outside of the Box….what watching wild birds can teach us about the birds that live with us.

I woke up this morning planning how my day was going to go. I know I have a full plate today. I have several deadlines to meet. A few of those deadlines are this weekend and the rest are next week. All of that and that doesn’t even really include the daily work I have. Calgon? Nah, as I sit here and type this, I’m sitting beside my Umbrella Cockatoo, Rico who is resting on the back of the chair next to me. He is now resting from the past hour of training and enrichment I’ve provided to him to keep him occupied while I fed the birds, cleaned the house, and emptied the dishwasher.

I’ve been wanting to write a new blog post, and one of my new year’s resolutions is to write here more often, even if it is a daily thought on anything avian or anything behavior related. So, before all of the hustle and bustle of the day starts, I was staring out the front window. Movement drew my attention there. It is the area which my husband provides food for the outdoor birds. A big flash of blue drew me in closer. Ah, the almighty blue jay. How they captivate me now that I’ve had the opportunity to really get to know them through having Pete, Nature’s Nursery’s program blue jay, stay here with me at the house for a few months while I trained him and watched him fledge. I watched this blue jay hop around and gather food in his pouch below his bottom beak. I knew that was what he was doing from watching Pete for several months. Boy was this blue jay big. Big and round and storing up for the winter months he was already experiencing. His colors were vibrant and his beak was massive. Anyone that watches blue jays, knows what they do with that beak and that beak deserves to be respected.

This blue jay was out there foraging for food along side a few other species of outdoor birds. I noticed the house sparrows. I always notice them. All of a

Pete, Nature's Nursery's program blue jay.

sudden something scared the birds. The cool thing was watching the difference in behaviors among the species. There were several. They all acted the same way and I’m sure they responded off of each other by taking flight the moment the first one started taking flight. It was such and experience because the house sparrows flew out, close, and around. Half of the flock went to the right of the house and half of the flock went to the left. They stayed low to the ground and stayed close in cornering the house. I didn’t see where they went but I knew where they went from watching them for so many years. The went to the bushes surrounding the house and the bushes across the street. The blue jay however responded to all of the birds flying away, but responded much differently. The blue jay was the last to take flight. He didn’t fly out and around. He flew up to the tree above the feasting sight. More birds flew through and away at that time again and I kept my eyes on the blue jay and he just flew up two branches. Do you know what I saw? I saw confidence, but that’s me being anthropomorphic. I saw an individual bird surviving without a flock of his own. I saw a bird that responds to his environment based on past experiences. This was a blue jay old enough to have learned and still learning from his environment. He didn’t find the need to scatter far as the house sparrows. The big, blue jay still stuck out like a sore thumb on a tree with no leaves. When he jumped up only two more branches at the next scattering of the birds, I saw a confident bird.

Watching the behavior of the outdoor birds continually keeps me learning about the behaviors of the parrots living in my house. Does this sound crazy? I sure hope not because there is a lot to learn just by looking outside your window. I watched that blue jay up in the tree. He brought his food up out of his pouch and held it in his foot and began banging away on it with that massive tool of a beak. I smiled because Pete showed me this and it was so cool to see a wild bird doing this. That blue jay had a lot of mental stimulation going on. That bird just foraged for its food, paying close attention to its surroundings, flew, perched in a tree extracting the contents of its find by cracking open whatever it was in his foot. All the while he had to pay attention above him and below him. He had to….his life depends on it. I smiled and walked to the bird room to get Rico.

Here is a video of Pete bringing food up from his pouch and caching it in a toy part I gave to him.

Here in our households live our parrots. Our parrots have evolved through millions of years. Those are millions of years that time has perfected the body and mind of the parrot to utilize every single part on its body. Open and avian anatomy book. What you will see is something far different from any mammal. It is astounding. Look at the number of air sacs and how they attach to the bones and what functions and effect that has to the health of the bird. Look at the bones and how they function and work in the ways we see our birds moving. Look at the feathers and how each section has a name and how important those names are in identifying what purpose they serve in flight. There has been much controversy over avian intelligence and how the avian brain lacks the folds that a mammalian brain has. It was assumed that avian intelligence wasn’t comparable to those animals we considered smart. Maybe hence the word bird brain, but anyone who cares for a parrot would consider being called a bird brain a compliment. We see the intelligence and studies are finding several fascinating and amazing details of the things birds are capable of. Read any book by Bernd Heinrich and search for his videos on YouTube.  Watch your bird move. Watch how he sees his environment. Watch what things in his environment attract his attention and what things cause him to move away. There…..there you will see the anatomy of the avian mind. It is vast, it is fascinating, and it serves a purpose.

Here is a video of Rocky, my Moluccan Cockatoo I brought in as a re-home over 4 years ago. With his foot, Rocky is selecting which hand the toy part is in. In the end, he quickly outwitted me to get what he wanted from his environment.

Animals learn from their environments. Our birds learn from their environments such as their cage, their play stations, their physical activity whether that’s hopping, running, or flying. This is why I’m such an advocate of enriched animal environments, especially those of our parrots. I’m fascinated with birds but especially parrots because of how quick they are in learning and manipulating their environment. Their minds are built for that. The ability in how quick on can manipulate its environment is a sign of intelligence. Our parrots are as intelligent as the environments we provide to them! And that my friendly readers, is a powerful statement.

Think outside of the box. There is enrichment all around us that we can safely provide to our birds to keep them learning. The mind of an animal under human care that is continually learning is one that is enriched and enriched environments play a big role on their happiness and mental and physical health. Many studies show this. Ok, I threw in the happiness but I see behaviors in birds that I label as happy correlated with enriched environments based on that individual bird or animal. Not all cockatoos like to untie knots. Not all macaws like to destroy wooden blocks. Not all birds play with toys…..so teach them! This absolutely can be done. A bird that sits in a cage all day and interacts with nothing pulls heavy on everything inside of me.

This morning I brought Rico out to fly around the house and get his exercise and mental stimulation outside of one of the environments I call his cage. The smarter the bird, the easier it is to label them. Smart birds search for novelty (new things or experiences) items in their environments. These are the birds that are quickly labeled “trouble makers” or “always getting into something”. This makes me laugh and I so look forward to interacting with this type of bird. Taking five minutes to watch them can teach you an enormous amount about what they are thinking, what they like, and how their mind works. This information can then be used to enrich their environments.

Rico was flying around the house and coming to my hand on cue. That was only going to last for a short time because his reinforcers for this behavior are going to and did quickly change. The pine nuts are only going to be attractive until he’s had his fill of them so I need to identify another reinforcer for future desired or requested behaviors. It was the tone of excitement in my voice that kept him on my hand and doing back flips for a short while. That would soon change too. I knew he was hungry and knew he hadn’t eaten yet today so I filled his foraging toy with food. That would only last so long too, right? I see many parrot owners reading this and nodding their head because they know exactly what I’m experiencing. Your heart rate is probably starting to race and your rate of breathing increasing too, right? Because you know exactly the attention this take and at what pace I am moving. I’m smiling as I’m typing this and I’m making this sound tougher than it really is.

When Rico was finished with his foraging toy, he flew right to the opened dishwasher. From past experience I knew this would probably attract his attention and it did. So each time I have that dishwasher open, the more opportunity I’m giving him to learn to fly to it faster and start going after whatever it is that is attracting his attention. The dishwasher is just a $500 parrot toy to an inquisitive parrot. He flew to it. Instead of pulling him away from it and teaching him to grip harder onto it and bite me if I forced to pull him off of it, I pulled him up to perch on it and then quickly thought of something else I had that he might like. I pulled out a dishwashing utensil basket we never use from the cupboard beside the dishwasher. He saw it but was it more exciting that the huge dishwasher itself right in front of him? Probably not, but the yummy almond slivers that he hasn’t received this morning probably are. I asked him to step up and he knows in situations like this, the chances are extremely high he’s getting a huge reward. He stepped up and I showered him with praise and then almond slivers. Rico loves trying to figure out how to manipulate objects to get what he wants. So, I grabbed a close by toy and threw it in the utensil basket. Living with Rico, I know through observation that most of the reinforcer in interacting with challenges like this, is mostly the challenge, not necessarily the toy.

Here is a video I shot this morning of the quick contraption I put together that kept Rico busy many times throughout the day. Here is a video clip I shut off after a minute and a half. He quickly figured this out and each time he did, I had to figure out a way to make it harder for him to unlock the top of the basket.