Communicate with your Bird
Posted by Darshana Sanrakshak Shambhala on January 2, 2011 at 9:03pm in Communication with Animals and Nature
Parrots are intelligent and have a complex behavior that is greatly
influenced by their interaction with people. Unwittingly, we can reinforce bad
behavior. Consider the following situations:
Event 1:
Owner offers her hand to Parrot
Behavior: Parrot steps
up
Consequence: Owner puts parrot in his
cage
Event 2: Owner offers her hand to
Parrot
Behavior: Parrot bites Owner
Consequence: Owner leaves parrot on top of his cage.
These scenarios
shows how a parrot learned the benefits of biting. By changing the consequence,
we can influence our bird's behavior. We need to learn to communicate and
understand them in order to encourage the behavior we would like in them on one
hand and accept the parrot in his own right.
Communicating with your
Parrot:
* Make eye contact with your parrot when
talking to him or her
* Speak slowly and clearly, as you
would to a small child
* Be consistent in the labeling of
objects, as well as in your responses to your bird's attempts at
communication
* Give your parrot time to
respond
* Pay attention to what your parrot is trying to
tell you. Please refer to the below for your bird's physical
cues.
Understand What your Parrot's Body Language:
Body
Language:
* Hanging from shirt collar by beak and
waving both feet in the air: Your pet wants down
* Head
lowered, wings half raised, feathers fluffed, leaning forward or up: Begging to
be picked up
* Hanging from top of cage with one or both
feet, or the beak: Playing
* Two steps back, rear-end
rubbing table: Ready to go potty!
Flashing or Pinning
Eyes:
* Eye pinning needs to be taken into context
with the bird's immediate environment and body posture. A pinning of the eyes
could mean:
o
excitement, your parrot is very interested in
something
o Anger,
fright or impending
aggression
Vocalizations
*
Singing, talking, and whistling: happy,
healthy, content bird
*
Chattering:
o Soft
chatter can be a sign of contentment or can be the practice of a bird learning
to talk.
o Loud
chatter can be an attention-getter
* Tongue-clicking:
May be entertaining itself or begging to be petted or picked
up.
* Growling: Growing is an aggressive vocalization.
Something is bothering / threatening your bird. Remove anything that is
upsetting your bird. Growling birds should not be handled, as they are likely to
bite.
Beak:
*
Grinding Beak: Usually a sign of
contentment. Often exhibited before going to sleep. Keeps the beak trimmed and
sharp, as needed to break open seeds and nuts.
*
Clicking: Beak clicking is usually seen
in cockatiels and cockatoos. If your parrot clicks once and pins his or her eyes
but is otherwise unthreatening, your pet is greeting you or acknowledging
something. If, on the other hand, your parrot clicks several times in a series
you should consider this a warning that your parrot does not want to be
handled.
* Beak on the ground, neck feathers fluffed up:
Begging to be scratched.
*
Biting
*
Regurgitating: A sign of mate bonding. Consider it a huge sign of love and
affection if your parrot regurgitates food pretending to feed you. Parrots mate
for life - and your parrot considers you his mate.
*
Head bobbing: Asking for
attention.
* Rubbing beak back and forth against perch:
Cleaning its face.
Feet & Legs:
*
Standing on two feet: Content
* Standing straight,
staring right at you:
o Your pet is ready to be picked
up
o Could also mean:
"I am waiting for you to look away so I can do something
bad"
* Pacing back and forth on perch: Impatiently
waiting to be picked up
* Standing on one foot:
Relaxed
* Standing on one foot, feathers fluffed:
Relaxed, happy, content
* Standing on one foot
with head tucked under: Ceaning some feathers
*
Standing on one foot, grinding beak: Your pet is
tired
* Standing on one foot, half fluffed, eyes
glazed: Your pet is half asleep.
* Scratching on
the cage bottom: Typical for african greys. It's usually a request to be let out
of the cage. You may not want to respond to it as this will reinforce this
behavior.
* Foot tapping: Some parrots that feel
threatened will tap their feet as a sign of dominance over their
territory.
Feathers
* Ruffled / Fluffed
feathers:
o Parrots
will ruffle their feathers when they are preening
themselves;
o or when
they are cold;
o to
relieve tension;
o or
when they are sick -- especially if the feathers remain fluffed. It should be
seen by your vet.
* Crest
position:
o Lifted
Crest: Excitement
o
Crest held very high: Fear or great excitement. Should be considered a
warning.
o Flat crest
while crouching down and hissing: Your bird is aggressive or scared / frightened
by something
*
Quivering:
o Your bird
may be frightened or overly
excited
o Display
mating / breeding behavior.
Tail
* Tail shake:
I'm ready for some fun!
* Tail bobbing: Usually follows
strenuous activity; it's your bird's way of catching its breath. If however,
your bird's tail is bobbing without activity, you should see a veterinarian as
it could be a sign of respiratory distress / illness.
* Tail fanning: Fanning the tail feathers often accompanies other behaviors in a
show of aggression or anger. Spreading out the tail feathers is a show that
displays the bird's strength and
vitality.
Wings
* Wing flapping: Wing flapping
is used as exercise or to get your attention.
* Wing
flipping:
o Can
indicate anger or
pain;
o or simply be a
way for the parrot to adjust his
feathers
o If
accompanied by hunching of the shoulders and head bobbing, it could mean that
your parrot craves attention or -- as would be the case with unweaned birds --
may beg to be fed
* Wing drooping: Normal in young
birds (chicks), but in older birds wing drooping may be a sign of
illness.
Head:
* Head facing back, tucked
under wing: Your pet is sleeping
* Head lowered and turned
90 degrees: Your pet sees something that he wants.
* Head
down, one or two wing(s) fully extended, mouth wide open, head extending as far
as it will go: Big stretch and yawn combination
* Head
bobbing and then regurgitating: Your pet's way of telling you: " LOVE
YOU!"