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Parrots Learn Faster From Other Parrots

February 14th, 2009

Anyone who has more than one parrot has learned pretty fast that parrots learn fastest from other parrots. Even when learning to talk, they learn best from listening to other parrots speak. I’ve learned both of these things from having a flock of birds compared to just one. Obviously, I had to start with just one at one point in time and progress to more to learn about these things.

The nice thing about having more than one parrot is that they learn from other birds much faster than they would from a person. For example, with weaning… it’s great to have other birds around to help out the younger ones.

Photo by Jamieleigh
Location: Spokane, WA
Oatmeal Eaters: Galah “Bondi” & Blue Throated Macaw “Jinx”

My 4 year old rose breasted cockatoo, Bondi, was sweet enough to teach my baby blue throated macaw, Jinx, that oatmeal is a tasty food to eat. I didn’t have to do a thing but make a little extra for breakfast for the two of them.

I put a bowl down and let Bondi start eating first while Jinx sat on the same counter exploring around. The house was unfamiliar to them both as I was staying at a friend’s house in Spokane, Washington. As Bondi began to eat, Jinx saw her and decided to try it for himself. The oatmeal wasn’t hot but it was still warm, resembling a little bit like baby food which I believe helps baby birds in trying new things (if it has a little resemblence to baby food in either temperature or texture).

If you want to learn more about the principle of birds learning faster from each other, just research into what is called “observational learning” to understand more.

Posted in Behavior Tagged: barb’s house, birds, blue throated macaw, bondi, eating, jinx, learning to talk, oatmeal, parrots, parrots learn fastest from other parrots, parrots learn from other parrots, rose breasted cockatoo, spokane, washington, weaning on Jamie’s Parrot Help


Give Your Parrot Flowers!

February 12th, 2009

I was staying at my parents’ house in Sandpoint, Idaho (I sometimes refer to it as Sagle as well) over the winter holidays with my flock and my mom kept receiving beautiful bouquets of flowers from friends, family and co-workers. She actually got so many she started putting one in each room of the house! But she was nervous that they might be toxic to the birds so I jumped online to do a little research before letting my birds see the pretty flowers I knew they would want to explore.

I came across a website called The Kitchen Physician. It describes (with pictures) which flowers are good and which are bad for your companion parrot. I was so thankful for the photos included because I was looking up daisies and carnations specifically.

After finding out these were safe (and healthy!) for my parrots, I let my Congo African Grey parrot, Cressi, dive right in! So make sure to send your parrot some flowers every so often, it’s a healthy (and pretty) treat!

Posted in Diet and Nutrition Tagged: bid, bird, carnations, congo african grey parrot, cressi, daisies, edible flowers, edible flowers for parrots, give your parrot flowers, parrot, the kitchen phsyciain, the kitchen physician on Jami’s Parrot Help


Senegalese Parrot Blows The Whistle

January 22nd, 2009

Senegalese Parrot

Senegalese Parrot

I was sitting on a train today when I was going to spend the day in the Swindon office for my online spectacles company Glasses Direct (quick plug) and for once I got to read a paper (The Metro to be exact) which is a rareity for me as I usually commute on my motorbike.

Anyway to cut to the chase I read an interesting story so thought I would share it for those of you that probably haven’t seen it.

The article headline was “Me-Tu left sick as a proverbial at cup ban” and there was a picture of a Senegalese parrot so grabbed my attention for obvious reasons.

The story reads

“Players and fans were sick as a parrot when a tense cup game descended into a farce because of constant whistling form the touchline.

Players thought it was the referee’s whistle – but instead it was Me-Tu, a Senagalese parrot brought along by its owner.
‘I’ve never known anything like it in my football career. It was a big game and there were quite a lot of people there.’ said ref Gary Bailey, after the Hatfield Town v Hertford Heath (real big game, no really!!) match in the Herts Senior Centenary Trophy. ‘ Every time I blew my whistle, the bird made the same sound. The players all stopped, so I had to ask to move the parrot to the stands’

Hatfield Town chairman Ted Collie said: ‘I suppose of you can take a dog to the ground, you can take your pet parrot. If I hadn’t been there, I wouldn’t believe it.’”

Now that’s what I call dedication … fair play to him :)


Trust Your Parrot Can Believe In

January 17th, 2009

My favorite business author, Jeff Gitomer, just released a new book in his Little Book series titled: The Little Teal Book of Trust. He has great advice on earning and building upon trust with people. What I find interesting is how similar the list is to how Sally Blanchard, the most trusted source in parrot behavior, writes in her magazine (a really good magazine) Companion Parrot Quarterly about using trust building activities instead of trust destroying activities to build a better bond with our feathered loved ones. Sally’s handbook on Companion Parrots is by far the best and I recommend that every parrot caretaker read more than once!

Lets look at a few of the common rules of feather both Jeffrey Gitomer and Sally Blanchard discuss:

Trust has to be earned over time.
You must trust yourself first to obtain trust from others.
Trust others first (that includes trusting your parrot not to bite).
Be friendly and sincere (if you are upset, your parrot will sense it and avoid you).
BE CONSISTENT from day-to-day.
Am I suggesting that you should treat parrots as you do people? NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!

I am suggesting that you should have good trust building skills. These skills will help you in life and life with your feathered loved-one. Learn them and every living soul around you will be happy.

Courtesy of Scarlet’s Feather’s Blog


The Talking Parrots

December 12th, 2008

A lady approaches her priest and tells him “Father, I have a problem. I have two female talking parrots, but they only know how to say one thing.”

“What do they say?” the priest inquired.

“They only know how to say, ‘Hi, we’re prostitutes. Want to have some fun?’”

“That’s terrible!” the priest exclaimed, “but I have a solution to your problem. Bring your two female parrots over to my house and I will put them with my two male talking parrots whom I taught to pray and read the bible. My parrots will teach your parrots to stop saying that terrible phrase and your female parrots will learn the joys of praise and worship.”

“Thank you!” the woman responded.

The next day the woman brings her female parrots to the priest’s house. His two male parrots are holding the rosary beads and praying in their cage. The lady puts her two female parrots in with the male parrots and the female parrots say “Hi we’re prostitutes, want to have some fun?”

One male parrot looks over at the other male parrot and exclaims, “Put the beads away, brother. Our prayers have been answered!”


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