Rebecca K. O'Connor

Falcons More Closely Related to Parrots than to Hawks?

Jun 29, 2008

The idea of it leaves me a little spun, but makes sense when I think about it. A study done by the Field Museum involving a detailed look at the genetics of 169 birds had some surprising results. Convergent evolution is a lot more prevalent in the bird world than we guessed.

I’ve trained birds...

Getting Bit Is Just Part of Caring for Parrots, Right?

Feb 11, 2008

WRONG.

There are many reasons that a parrot might bite. Some may not be as predictable or make as much sense to us as others, but the one thing you can count on is that repetitive biting is rewarding to the parrot somehow. This means that parrots bite because it gets them something they want. It...

Desensitizing - Isn’t that what’s happening with violence on TV?

Aug 15, 2007

Or was it violins on TV that we're being desensitized to? Either way, desensitizing can be a good plan for your bird.  Taking care to note a bird's discomfort with a new toy and helping him slowly overcome that discomfort and gain confidence can go a long way toward encouraging play. It is very...

Enrichment? Isn’t that what they do to flour?

Aug 13, 2007

So why does it matter that Tao won't play with toys? Sometimes we just don't know what we don't know. That goes for animals too. You can give a parrot all the toys in the world, but if he doesn't know the joy of finding buried treasure, ripping up paper, or peeling pine into tiny chips then the...