Social Behaviors
NEW!! Crimson Bellied Conure
People always say that parrots are very social creatures and this is true. They have been raised in a brooder cuddling with other babies and will need a few days to adjust to having human flock mates instead of avian flock mates. The cage should be placed where your bird can watch you and your family as it claims you all as its flock. In many ways, a parrot is like a toddler with a beak. Learn to read your parrot’s moods so that you can know when it wants to be alone and not be held. Watch its eyes and body posture. It would be very difficult to get a toddler to sit with you for hours and hours and cuddle. Your parrot will need time alone and time to rest. Do not forget that they are not domesticated like a dog or a cat; they are still an exotic animal with a degree of wildness about them. You may want to reread the section on "beaking vs. biting" on the Baby Care page.
For true behavioral advice based on data and grounding in the science of behavior, I recommend Dr. Susan Friedman's Living and Learning with Parrots. You can find her yahoo groups as ParrotsBAS.
The
other true behavioral training is Clicker Training. There are yahoo groups
available to learn more about this method too. If we had any
behavioral problems, I would start here. Clicker training is not used solely
to teach "tricks" to your fid, but is more often used to deal with biting,
screaming and other problems.
Another popular bird behaviorist is Sally Blanchard of the Companion Parrot
Quarterly. She has written numerous books to help with problems. The Beak
Book and The Companion Parrot Handbook are her two best books! Great tips
re: behavioral issues to be found at “Avoiding Problems with Parrots on
Shoulders," “The Basics of Nurturing Guidance," and “Why You Can't Punish a
Parrot."
Many of the sites listed in this article also give tips on handling
inappropriate behavior and on reading parrot body language. This site is a
good place to start:
http://www.globirdwebs.com