Manual of Parrot Behavior

310 Pages·2006·3.91 MB·English

by  Andrew Luescher

Manual of
Parrot Behavior
Manual of
Parrot Behavior
Andrew U. Luescher, Editor
Andrew U. Luescher, DVM, PhD, is Director of the Authorization to photocopy items for internal or per-
Animal Behavior Clinic at Purdue University. He sonal use, or the internal or personal use of specific
established the Animal Behavior Clinic in 1997 and is clients, is granted by Blackwell Publishing, provided
certified as an applied animal behaviorist by the that the base fee of $.10 per copy is paid directly to the
Animal Behavior Society and is a diplomate of the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive,
American College of Veterinary Behaviorists. He has Danvers, MA 01923. For those organizations that have
been treating animals with behavioral problems for been granted a photocopy license by CCC, a separate
more than 20 years. system of payments has been arranged. The fee code
for users of the Transactional Reporting Service is
© 2006 Blackwell Publishing ISBN-13: 978-0-8138-2749-0; ISBN-10: 0-8138-
All rights reserved 2749-3/2006 $.10.
Blackwell Publishing Professional Printed on acid-free paper in the United States of
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Manual of parrot behavior / edited by Andrew U.
Blackwell Publishing Ltd Luescher.— 1st ed.
9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK p. cm.
Tel.: [phone] Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8138-2749-0 (alk. paper)
Blackwell Publishing Asia ISBN-10: 0-8138-2749-3 (alk. paper)
550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia 1. Parrots—Behavior. I. Luescher, Andrew U.
Tel.: [phone]
SF473.P3.M27 2006
636.6(cid:1)865—dc22
2005028547
The last digit is the print number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Contributors vii
Preface ix
01 Classification and the Status of Wild Populations of Parrots 3
Dominique G. Homberger
02 Behavior of Wild AmazonaandRhynchopsittaParrots, with Comparative Insights 13
from Other Psittacines
Ernesto C. Enkerlin-Hoeflich, Noel F.R. Snyder, andJames W. Wiley
03 Parrot Conservation, Trade, and Reintroduction 27
Charles A. Munn
04 Sensory Capacities of Parrots 33
Jennifer Graham, Timothy F. Wright, Robert J. Dooling, andRuediger Korbel
05 Social Behavior of Psittacine Birds 43
Lynne M. Seibert
06 Captive Parrot Nutrition: Interactions with Anatomy, Physiology, and Behavior 49
Kevin David Matson andElizabeth A. Koutsos
07 Comfort Behavior and Sleep 59
Laurie Bergman andUlrike S. Reinisch
08 Parrot Reproductive Behavior, or Who Associates, Who Mates, and Who Cares? 63
Tracey R. Spoon
09 Nest Box Preferences 79
Scott George Martin andApril Romagnano
10 Hand-Rearing: Behavioral Impacts and Implications for Captive Parrot Welfare 83
Rebecca Fox
11 Behavioral Development of Psittacine Companions: Neonates, Neophytes, and Fledglings 93
Phoebe Greene Linden withAndrew U. Luescher
12 Handler Attitude and Chick Development 113
Brenda Cramton
v
vi Contents
13 Grey Parrot Cognition and Communication 133
Irene M. Pepperberg
14 Behavior Analysis and Parrot Learning 147
S.G. Friedman, Steve Martin, andBobbi Brinker
15 Behavior Classes in the Veterinary Hospital: Preventing Problems Before They Start 165
Kenneth R. Welle
16 Clinical Evaluation of Psittacine Behavioral Disorders 175
Kenneth R. Welle andLiz Wilson
17 Diagnostic Workup of Suspected Behavioral Problems 195
Susan E. Orosz
18 Aggressive Behavior in Pet Birds 211
Kenneth R. Welle andAndrew U. Luescher
19 Parrot Vocalization 219
Laurie Bergman andUlrike S. Reinisch
20 Parrots and Fear 225
Liz Wilson andAndrew U. Luescher
21 Problem Sexual Behaviors of Companion Parrots 233
Fern Van Sant
Color Plates
22 Mate Trauma 247
April Romagnano
23 Feather-Picking Disorder in Pet Birds 255
Lynne M. Seibert
24 Psittacine Behavioral Pharmacotherapy 267
Kenneth M. Martin
25 Behavior of Captive Psittacids in the Breeding Aviary 281
G. Heather Wilson
26 Housing and Management Considerations for Problem Prevention 291
Andrew U. Luescher andLiz Wilson
27 Captive Parrot Welfare 301
Cheryl Meehan andJoy Mench
Index 319
Contributors
Numbers in brackets refer to chapters
Laurie Bergman,VMD,DACVB [7,19] Ruediger Korbel,Prof.Dr.med.vet.,Dr.med.
Co-ordinator Clinical Animal Behavior Service vet.habil.[4]
University of California Veterinary Medical Director Institute of Avian Diseases, Ludwig-
Center, San Diego Maximilians-University Munich
Cert. Spec. Avian Medicine, Cert. Spec. Vet.
Bobbi Brinker [14] Ophthalmol., Dipl. ECAMS. Univ.–Institut
Parrottalk.com fuer Gefluegelkrankheiten
Brenda Cramton,MS,JD [12] Elizabeth A.Koutsos [6]
Arroyo Veterinary Hospital Department of Animal Science
Denair, CA University of Missouri, Saint Louis
Robert J.Dooling,PhD [4] Phoebe Greene Linden,MA [11]
Department of Psychology Santa Barbara Bird Farm
University of Maryland, College Park Santa Barbara, CA
Ernesto C.Enkerlin-Hoeflich [2] Andrew U.Luescher,DVM,PhD,DACVB
www.conanp.gob.mx/ [Editor,11,18,20,26]
Director of the Animal Behavior Clinic
Rebecca Fox [10] Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Department of Animal Science
University of California, Davis Kenneth M.Martin,DVM [24]
Veterinary Behavior Consultations
S.G.Friedman,PhD [14] New Orleans, LA
Department of Psychology
Utah State University, Logan Scott George Martin,MS,DVM [9]
Animal Health Clinic
Jennifer Graham,DVM,Diplomate,ABVP, Jupiter, FL
Avian [4]
Affiliate Assistant Professor, Department of Steve Martin [14]
Comparative Medicine,School of Medicine, Natural Encounters, Inc.
University of Washington Winter Haven, FL
Veterinary Specialty Center of Seattle,
Lynnwood, WA Kevin David Matson [6]
www.seattleveterinaryspecialists.com Department of Biology
University of Missouri, St. Louis
Dominique G.Homberger [1]
Professor of Zoology, Dept. of Biological Cheryl Meehan,PhD [27]
Sciences Associate Director, Center for Animal Welfare
Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge University of California, Davis
vii
viii Contributors
Joy Mench [27] Tracey R.Spoon [8]
Professor and Director of the Center for Animal Department of Biology
Welfare, Department of Animal Science University of Massachusetts, Boston
University of California, Davis
Fern Van Sant,DVM [21]
Charles A.Munn,PhD [3] For the Birds
Chairman of the Board, Tropical Nature San Jose, CA
Arlington, VA
www.tropicalnature.org Kenneth R.Welle,DVM,Diplomate,ABVP,
Avian [15,16,18]
Susan E.Orosz,PhD,DVM,Diplomate, All Creatures Animal Hospital
ABVP,Avian,and Diplomate,ECAMS [17] Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of
Perrysburg Animal Care, Perrysburg, Ohio Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine
Adjunct Professor, The University of Tennessee, Urbana, IL
College of Veterinary Medicine, Knoxville
Consultant, Lafeber Company, Cornell, Illinois James W.Wiley [2]
USGS-BRD
Irene M.Pepperberg [13] Maryland Cooperative Fish and Wildlife
Research Associate Professor, Dept. of Research Unit, Princess Anne, MD
Psychology, Brandeis University
Research Scientist, MIT School of Architecture G.Heather Wilson,DVM,Diplomate,ABVP,
and Planning Avian [25]
Assistant Professor Exotic Animal, Wildlife, and
Ulrike S.Reinisch,DVM [7,19] Zoological Medicine, Department of Small
Resident–Clinical Animal Behavior Service Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary
University of California, Davis Medicine
University of Georgia, Athens
April Romagnano,PhD,DVM,ABVP (Avian
Practice) [9,22] Liz Wilson,CVT [16,20,26]
Animal Health Clinic Parrot Behavior Consultant
Jupiter, FL Levittown, PA
Lynne M.Seibert,DVM,MS,PhD,Dipl Timothy F.Wright,PhD [4]
ACVB [5,23] Genetics Lab, National Museum of Natural
Veterinary Specialty Center of Seattle History, Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian
Lynnwood, WA National Zoo
Washington, DC
Noel F.R.Snyder [2]
Portal, AZ
Many have forgotten this truth, but you must not forget it. You remain responsible, forever, for
what you have tamed.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Preface
The untamed beauty of parrots has fascinated neglected, covered with a towel to keep them
humans for centuries and keeps us in its spell to quiet, are much too common. Even normal parrot
the present time. Parrots are beautiful, they can behavior such as vocalization, chewing, and being
fly, they are different from us, they are intelligent, messy does not fit well with people’s lifestyles
and they remain mysterious. However, our rela- and can result in a broken human-animal bond.
tionship with parrots has changed greatly over This book is written by authors who understand
time. Once considered a plentiful natural resource and love parrots in order to help foster a mutual-
worth exploiting, we now make great efforts to ly beneficial and enjoyable relationship between
protect their dwindling natural populations. At the parrots and their humans. We hope it can set up
same time we have come a long way in how we new parrot-human relationships for success and
keep parrots in our homes. They no longer are but rekindle the joy that should be inherent in such
brilliant exhibition pieces chained to a T-stand but relationships in cases where it has been lost. We
have become members of our families whose sen- intend to promote a deepened understanding and
sitivities, cognitive abilities, and emotions we responsible attitude toward parrots in the wild as
respect and try to understand. well as in captivity. We hope this will contribute
Yet parrot-keeping is a challenging endeavor. to the welfare of parrots and help develop a
We admire their wildness, yet we bring them into respect for and appreciation of these fascinating
a very unnatural captive environment for which beings.
they have not evolved. We admire their flight, yet Although scientific interest in parrot behavior
in most cases where we keep parrots as pets we is growing, knowledge in this area is still limited.
need to clip their wings. We like them because This is especially true for behavior problems of
they are social creatures, yet we frequently keep pet birds and their treatment. The information in
them as solitary birds so they will redirect their this book is based on scientific principles and
affection toward us, and in most cases we leave available publications but, where specific and
them alone for extended periods of time. We rec- proven information is not available, may reflect
ognize their intelligence, yet maintain them in a the opinion and the personal experience of the
very restricted and confining environment. authors. Therefore, there may be some degree of
No wonder behavior problems in parrots are contradiction or difference in interpretation
plentiful and the numbers of abandoned parrots between chapters. This inconsistency was inten-
ending up in sanctuaries is increasing. Stories of tionally maintained to offer the reader different
parrots relegated to small cages in the basement, perspectives.
ix
Manual of
Parrot Behavior