Parrot Problems

 

Many parrot owners report that there birds have behavior problems. They ask things like, “Why does my parrot hate my girlfriend?” or, “Why does the bird scream every time I leave the room?”The brutal truth of the matter is that birds were not designed to live in your house or to be perfect pets. These creatures evolved to survive in some of the most dangerous jungles, desserts, and rain forests of the world. As a result we can’t always expect them be quiet when we’re on the phone or play nicely with small children. That said, there still are ways to correct or at least alleviate most of the problems that you may have with your parrot. There are three main kinds of behavior problems that people have with their birds: Instinctual or natural behavior problems. Unintentionally trained behavior problems. Problems caused by the ‘Conditions of Captivity’ In this article we will learn the differences between these three types of problems. In the articles that follow we will discuss individual behavior problems to find possible solutions. Instinctual or Natural Parrot Behavior Problems. These are the behavior problems that simply exist because they are a part of how your parrot is built. They are instinctual behaviors that are essential for a parrot’s survival in the wild but that are really annoying to those of us who are trying to live with parrots in our homes. These problems include screaming, chewing, and aggression towards strangers (especially during mating season).

 

What is an Instinct?

 

When we see a brand new baby we often times assume that his little brain is like a blank white canvas ready to start learning. This is actually a false belief. Our brains, and the brains of other animals, actually come pre-programmed with all sorts of instincts. An instinct can be thought of as a computer program that tells a creature how to do certain things without it ever having to learn them. Human babies have one program that tells them how to drink their mother’s milk, one program telling them how to blink their eyes, another telling them how to breath and so on. Even though we can’t see an instinct just by looking at a babies face or even looking at CAT scans of his brain, a child’s instincts are as real as his fingers and toes. The same goes for parrots. The neat thing about instincts is that they are passed down from parent to child the same way skin colour is passed down through heredity. For this reason, from generation to generation, instincts can be modified by the power of natural selection to help promote a species survival. Animals with bad instincts will die before having babies and will fail to pass the instincts on to their young. Animals with good instincts will survive and pass the good instincts on to their children. A good example of a survival instinct that we all have is the disgust that humans feel when they smell rotting meet. We are repulsed by the smell and will try to get away from it as fast as we can. We will even gag or vomit if we get too close. Our instincts are doing everything they can to stop us from swallowing a piece of the tainted meat which is bound to make us sick or even die.

 

Problematic Parrot Instincts

 

Different species of parrot have different instincts which evolved to help them survive and reproduce within their perspective environments and social communities. ‘Flock Calls’ are loud screeches that some types of parrots do instinctively when they are separated from their flock or mate. The scream is intended to carry long distances so that the birds can locate one another. That’s wonderful in the wild but it is really annoying in captivity. Parrot also have love instincts. Parrots show affection to their friends and mates by grooming each others feathers. If a bird sees that his friend has some feathers that need to be de-sheathed, he has a strong instinct to lovingly chew on the feather sheathe until it is removed. In captivity, parrots will often chew off buttons or rip apart zippers on their masters cloths. If your bird does this to you it’s not because he thinks it’s a good joke, in the parrot’s mind he’s just showing you some love by ‘fixing’ your funny looking feathers.

 

Correcting Instinctual Behavior Problems

 

Telling a Sun Conure to never scream again would be like telling a dog to stop having a wet nose – it’s not going to happen! That said, even though you can’t get rid of an instinct, you can help your bird learn to control his troublesome urges in the same way a mortician can be conditioned not to get sick every time he sees a dead body.

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Unintentionally trained Parrot behavior problems

 

All of us are constantly training our animals and even the people around us. We train for good and we train for bad. Every time you walk up to a gold fish and drop floating flakes in the top of his bowl you are teaching him to swim to the surface when you are near. Every time a man breaks down and does the dishes only after his wife has been nagging at him, he is training his wife to nag more often. Some parrots don’t like to be handled by people and they require a lot of hard work in order to warm up to the idea. If your bird were to bite you when you took it out of the cage, you then got frightened and then put him back in his cage, you would have just taught him that biting is good and will always get him what he wants. When your bird displays a bad behavior, ask your self “Why is he doing this? What reward is he expecting to get?”. If you can stop rewarding the bad behavior, chances are, it will quickly fade away.