ANSWERS TO “WHAT IS YOUR BIRD SAYING One of the great new features of producing Good BirdMagazine in a digital format is we can now in-
clude video for our parrot body language quiz. This is really a much more effective medium for analyz- ing body language. Instead of a snippet in time, you have the opportunity to observe much more information to help you interpret parrot body language. Here are the results of this edition of “What is Your Bird Saying?”
1. Things can happen fast when watching a parrot’s body language. Angel the umbrella cockatoo has been left on the perch as her trainer walks to the other side of the room. In the very beginning of the clip there are a number of things that tell us shewould prefer to bewith her trainer. She stands up tall, paces, has her wings out fromher body and is looking in the direction shewants to go. She also leans slightly forward. Her crouching to spring into the air is a dead give-away she is launching into flight. A few flaps later she lands on her trainer. Being able to predict when a bird might launch into flight is extremely helpful when trying to put flight on cue.This is discussedmore in the articleTraining a Par- rot to Recall OnlyWhen Cued in this issue.
2. This particular clip has audio for a reason.Wrigley the double yellow headed Amazon parrot seems to be re- laxed and content to play with his toy. However a scream from a parrot in the background causes a dis- tinct reaction. Wrigley immediately stops play and moves quickly away from the toy. Had he not been in a cage, it is likely that Wrigley would have launched into flight. This startle response is often what causes those birds that never seem to fly to end up in a tree when unexpectedly frightened. This type of response no doubt is a great survival strategy for parrots in the wild.When another parrot gives an alarm call, every- one launches into flight without hesitation.
3. This is a fine example of a parrot regurgitating food to share with a companion. This is typically part of courtship displays. The parrot very deliberately pumps his head to bring up food and then gently shares it if al- lowed. This looks very different from a bird that is sick and vomiting. Typically a sick bird may also pump his head to bring up food, but will often shake his head side to side rapidly to expel the food. Often fluid brought up will end up on the bird’s head, chest and
24 Good Bird Magazine
beak.The parrot who is regurgitating for courtship usu- ally has no evidence of the food on his body except for inside of his beak and the lovely smell of partially di- gested food. If allowed a parrot regurgitating for courtship will place the food in a parrot companion’s mouth, on a human companion’s hand or on a toy companion. As discussed in Pamela Clark’s article in this issue on hormonal behavior, encouraging this be- havior can lead to problems.
4. Although parrots are all categorized under the same family, with over 350 species there can be a great deal of diversity in behavior. Female lovebirds present a very distinct posture when they are receptive to mate. The yellow lovebird in this clip is a female. It appears she has identified the plastic container as a potential nest cavity. Her scratching at the floor of the container is typically associated with nesting activity. However the next action she presents is her invitation to her partner to mate. Throwing her head back, stretching her wings out, lifting her tail and spinning in a circle are typically associated with courtship and sexual behavior of fe- male lovebirds. Fortunately her boyfriend is too young to get the message. To help prevent behavior problems associated with sexual behaviors it will be helpful to remove her perceived nest cavity and redirect her to other acceptable activity such as foraging.
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