That Bird Blog – Bird Care and History for Pet Birds

While in Tokyo recently, I remarked to a biologist friend that I was surprised to see that crows were so much at home in the heart of this giant, busy city.  The local species is closely related to the American and fish crow, neither of which usually frequents urban areas.

As we talked on, I learned that carrion crows utilize cars to break nuts.  This in itself is not so unusual, as crows and their relatives are well-known for their tool-using skills, and many birds drop clams, bones and other such items on hard surfaces to crack them (please see my article on crows and ravens ).

But carrion crows in Tokyo, Osaka and elsewhere have refined the art immensely.  Dodging cars to retrieve cracked seeds was apparently not to their liking, as many now leave nuts to be cracked within the pedestrian crosswalk.  They wait patiently until the light is in their favor, and then walk out, along with the “regular pedestrians”, to claim their now-edible nuts!

Having grown up in NYC, I was shocked upon visiting Tokyo to see that no one, young or old, crossed against red lights…even when there is not a car in sight.  It just doesn’t happen!  My friend assured me that the crows are not always so well-behaved as the people, and sometimes ran out for their rewards during lulls in traffic, against the light!

Unfortunately, I heard the story shortly before departing for Kyoto, where it seems the crows are not quite as sharp (or fearful?) as their big-city cousins, but I did get to see numerous car-cracked nut shells in one neighborhood.  Carrion crows are quite regular in their habits…in some countryside areas, their calls as they fly to roost were (and I hope still are!) a signal for children to return home for dinner.

Yes, you can see it on Youtube! A segment from a BBC show is posted at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGPGknpq3e0

Image referenced from Wikipedia and originally posted by BS Thurner Hof

We cannot hope to understand and appropriately moderate our pet birds’ behaviors if we have not studied their natural histories.  All captive behavior stems from a species’ natural behavior…viewing the topic in that light is the only sensible way to go about achieving harmony with our pets.

Natural Behaviors

Even after decades of working with parrots, I’m still sometimes surprised at the racket they make in their natural habitats.  Free-living parrots are always vocalizing…on the wing, while feeding and in their roosting sites.  Doves begin calling before first light, male canaries sing incessantly in the breeding season,  male peafowl scream… and so on.  To expect otherwise of them in captivity is unreasonable.

Why Punishment is Ineffective

That being said, there are a number of captive behaviors that can and should be addressed.  But birds do not recognize punishment…it’s simply not within their abilities, and never will be.  Many mammals restrain and punish their young…dogs, for example, will respond to punishment, although it is certainly not the best way to train them.  Birds, however, respond to punishment as a threat, or an attack, and will react accordingly.

Yelling at a screaming parrot will usually ensure a vocal free-for-all, with the bird trying its level best to top you!  Squirting water, sometimes recommended in books, is useless…at most it will temporarily frighten a bird, and in the long run will do more harm than good.  Hopefully it goes without saying that one should never strike a bird (well, I pushed a male ostrich once, but he was about to do much worse to me!).

Parrots can often be distracted or their behavior re-directed, but again such are only temporary solutions.  It is important to get to the root of the problem…in many cases, knowing the bird’s history is vital in understanding its reactions and behaviors.

For information on specific behavioral problems, please see my articles Parrot Bonding as a Behavioral Problem  and Help! My Parrot Won’t Stop Screaming. 

Today I’ll depart for a moment from pet birds to highlight a surprising conservation concern that recently came to my attention.

It’s easy to become complacent about California condor conservation – after all, the story of its near-extinction (only 22 survived by 1982, all in captivity) and subsequent recovery stands as one of the best-known conservation success stories.  Today, approximately 150 condors are established in the wild, and I had assumed their survival to be, if not guaranteed, at least secure.  Surprisingly, however, there are still gaps in the protection granted the condor under the Endangered Species Act.

It seems that cattle have unrestricted grazing rights in California’s Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge, an area that figures prominently in condor re-introduction efforts.  The US Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed limitations upon grazing, in order to improve the habitat for condors and San Joaquin kit foxes, leopard lizards and other resident endangered species.  This move is strongly contested by ranchers and many local officials, and the proposal has yet to be implemented.

I’ve worked with Andean and California condors in captivity, and have a soft spot for them.  Please check the following site to learn more about specific action needed to support the preservation of their habitat: (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/).

Image referenced from Wikipedia and originally posted by Chuck Szmurlo

Bonding with people is usually seen as desirable among pets of any kind…in parrots such often results in a friendly, affectionate bird that readily learns to mimic speech.  However, parrots can become extremely protective of the person to whom they have bonded, to the point of screeching at, biting or even launching full scale attacks upon others.  Also, as an extension of natural nesting behavior, bonded parrots are also very likely to become territorial, protecting their cage or larger area from intrusions by all except their favorite person.

Natural Parrot Instincts

It is important to bear in mind that bonding in parrots is a deeply ingrained instinct – one that you may be able to manage but which cannot be eliminated.  Wild parrots of nearly all species form long term, usually life-long, pair bonds.  Pairs spend the vast majority of their time in close contact with one another…even within large flocks, pairs are very evident by their proximity and physical interactions.  Most even fly side by side when moving about within a flock.  Captive parrots, no matter how many generations removed from the wild, are “hard-wired” to behave in the same manner.

Avoiding Problems

Bonding-related aggression can best be avoided by socializing your parrot, while young if possible, to all members of your household, or to those who regularly visit.  The bird will still be “closer” to certain people than others, but may not develop overly-protective behaviors.

An interesting article on the interplay of natural and captive behaviors in parrots is posted at:

http://www.auspigeonco.com.au/Articles/Stress.html

Some of the most entertaining birds that come readily to winter-time bird feeders are those that cling, crawl and climb…many are more reminiscent of parrots than of the typical perching birds (i.e. robins) with which they co-exist.  Chief among these are the woodpeckers, with the downy, red-headed and red-bellied being particularly common feeder visitors, and they are quite comical to watch as they jockey for position at suet feeders.

Acrobatic Insect-Specialists

Many specialized products are advertised as “woodpecker feeders/foods”, but there are actually a number of equally entertaining birds that relish the same foods and are able to cling, often upside down, to “woodpecker feeders”.  Tufted titmice, black-capped chickadees, brown creepers and red-breasted nuthatches are common in much of the country, and are all likely to show up if you put out foods designed to attract woodpeckers.

Most of these forage for insects by clinging to tree trunks and branches with highly specialized feet.  They search below the bark, peering intently into holes and crevices and scurrying about in the manner of tiny rodents.  All favor high protein diets (in winter they subsist largely upon hibernating insects and overwintering eggs and pupae) and relish suet bars.

Feeders for Woodpeckers and Similar Birds

The log jammer, wire suet basket and similar products are specially designed for these acrobatic little birds, and largely exclude other species.  Attaching them to a small swivel or thin, wind-blown branch will challenge the bird’s abilities (don’t worry, they are up to it!) and bring you many hours of bird-watching pleasure.