That Bird Blog – Bird Care and History for Pet Birds

If you observe wild birds, you’ve no doubt marveled at their ability to fly through dense brush without touching a single branch.  In NYC, I’ve twice been surprised to see pigeons flying at full speed through amazingly tight spaces when pursued by Red-Tailed Hawks.  Bats utilize echolocation to perform similar feats, but with few exceptions (i.e. the Oilbird, please see below), birds lack this adaptation.  So how do they do it?  According to a recent study (Current Biology, Oct., 2011) at Australia’s Vision Center and the University of Queensland, some species rely upon vision alone.

“See-Compare-Adjust Course”

Researchers worked with Budgerigars (Parakeets) that had been trained to fly an indoor course that allowed for careful monitoring.  They were able to show that the birds used their vision to sense and compare the speed at which they passed background images, and then adjusted their flight path accordingly.  Read More »

The Eclectus Parrot is well known for an unusual degree of sexual dimorphism (males are emerald green, females bright red) and a breeding strategy wherein several males mate with a single female.  But no one expected the results of a recent study: under certain circumstances, mothers will kill their male chicks and raise only females.  Other than humans, Eclectus Parrots are the only species known to kill offspring based solely upon gender.

Harsh Conditions and Drastic Adaptations

The study, published in the journal Current Biology (October, 2011), was conducted by researchers based at the Australian National University.  The study site was at Cape York, Queensland, in Australia’s tropical northeast (Eclectus Parrots are also found on New Guinea and many Indonesian islands).  Read More »

The Parakeet, Budgerigar or “Budgie”, Melopsittacus undulatus, arrived on the European pet scene in 1840 and has since become one of the world’s most popular pets. However, perhaps because they are small and inexpensive, Budgies are sometimes not viewed as “real parrots” by their owners, and consequently are not given the chance to show off their many talents. In addition to being wonderful mimics, Budgies can learn a great variety of tricks…and seem to take pleasure in doing so!

Trust

Getting your pet to accept your presence, and then to be comfortable with your hand in its vicinity, is an essential first step in training. This is generally quite simple, as budgies are sociable by nature and rather miserable without human or avian company.  Please see this article for more on basic care and creating trust. Read More »

Cornell University researchers have just revealed a most surprising bit of avian news that may show why Green-Rumped Parrotlets (Forpus passerinus) and their relatives are such good mimics.  Field research has shown that parrots actually label each chick with unique vocal signature –essentially a name.  The chicks and other parrots imitate these names, and use them when communicating with one another!

Why Mimic Speech?

Everything in nature has a purpose, and so ornithologists have long wondered why parrots have such extraordinary abilities to imitate speech, sounds and the calls of other birds…surely it cannot be just to entertain their owners!  We now have evidence that mimicry is likely vital to parrot social structure and survival. Read More »

Parrots are known to be very intelligent, but a recent study of Kea Parrot (Nestor notabilis) learning abilities surprised even well-experienced ornithologists.  The study differed from most in that it required the birds not only to learn new tasks but to build upon that knowledge and to discard learned behaviors once they were no longer useful.  As you’ll see, the Keas definitely lived up to their Latin species name – notabilis – with quite “notable” results! Read More »