peter_mardin

Hello everyone,

I am considering getting a parrot and have been told that Pionus
Maximilian, Poicephalus Jarddine's and Poicephalus Brown heads are all
good natured and relatively quiet. If I understand correctly,
Jardine's and Brown heads are less nippy or nervous of the
poicephalus. And that the Pionus is very easy going, apparently very
innactive, compared to the other two. Based on your own experiences is
that accurate? What other differences exist? Out of the three witch
would you recomend?

Also started some reading on parrot behavior and education. I have
started with Mattie Sue Athan's "Guide to well-behaved parrot". For my
next book, I have compiled a list of books and authors that seam to be
most popular and well regarded. Can you suggest witch books I should
go for next? Wich are redundant or too similar? What are your
favotites?

Matie Sue Athan
-Guide to Companion Parrot Behavior
-Guide to a well behaved parrot

Bonnie Munro Doan
-My parrot, my friend
-Parrot Training: A Guide to Taming and Gentling Your Avian Companion

Sally Blanchard
-Companion parrot handbook
-The beak book

Liz Wilson
-HANDBOOK OF AVIAN ARTICLES – Volume I
-HANDBOOK OF AVIAN ARTICLES – Volume 2

Layne David Dicker
-Parrots, parrots, parrots

Any relavent input would be greatly apreciated...

Peter M

louis boyd

Regardless of what you here about the characteristics of various
species, there is as much variation in the personality of individual
birds withing a species as there is in the average behavior of birds
between species.

You'll have more luck in having a good companion bird if you take the
attitude of adjusting your behavior so the bird likes you rather than
trying to change the birds behavior so it likes you. Birds have a very
strong desire for companionship which is the only reason they have
anything to do with huge mammal predators (humans) but their instinct
is to be friendly with creatures which act somewhat like a friendly bird
of their own kind.

Your book list is good, just don't get to hung up on trying all the
things the books suggest.

Picture two birds of the same species (but not mated) in the wild. What
do they do? They sit near each other a lot, particularly at night as it
gives them mutual security. Their bodies rarely touch other than with
their beaks, and that's very gentle. They share food when one finds
some and the other doesn't have any. When they become friends the'll
groom each other gently straightening feathers particulary in palaces
the bird can't reach with it's own beak. That's all a bird wants from
it's companion,(that's you) and it will try to return the same which can
be a bit disconcerting if you aren't expecting that behavior. What
they don't do is pick each other up, give each other baths, insist the
other does tricks, lock each other in cages, or clip each others wings.

Having a bird as a companion can be very pleasant, but their natural
habits are not tidy. They will throw food around, drop feathers, chew
wood/paper/cloth, and leave dropings. Most species make loud noises at
least occasionally. Most birds live a long time. They make strong
relationships with their companions and take changes hard. They have
long memories and strong emotions.

As to which kind of bird to choose? In my opinion one which seems to
like you when you meet is the most important factor. If a bird cowers
and hides or attacks it's not the best choice. If the bird accepts an
offer of a piece of food it's a good sign. That isn't to say other
birds can't become good companions, only that it's more difficult. Most
any species of bird can be a fine companion or a vicious beast. What
goes on in the bird's brain based on it's instincts and experiences
determines it's behavior and that's not easy to understand or to change.
--
Lou Boyd

toucanldy

So true!

Regards

alex clayton

Yes, VERY well said!!!

gloria carr

Depends on the bird. Personally every single Jardines I have ever handled
bit the crap out of me, even the ones that were ok with other people. (on
the other hand I get along great with most of the other Poicephalus
parrots). Most pi's tend to be somewhat reserved, but I have seen a few who
were very outgoing and vocal. I personally think that Poicephalus parrots
tend to be a bit more nervous then pionus. Since these guys are all about
the same size and price range (more or less) I recomend going to various
breeders, stores, rescues, etc and start looking at individuals of the
species you are interested in. There is no way to garuntee personality by
going by the species describtion.


I think she also has a book about the Poicephalus parrots, and I know she
has one about Quakers. Note: Barrons, the company that publishes her books,
roughly divides into two groups, 'Good' Barrons and 'Bad' Barrons. 'Good'
Barrons are published much more recently and as a general rule are much
thicker then 'Bad' Barrons. I would recomend anything by Matie Sue Athan,
and her books definately count as 'Good' Barrons.

The first book is IMHO the better of the two. The second was published much
earlier, and even though she updateded it, it still is not quite as in-depth as the first.


Personally I did not find My Parrot, My Friend to be at all helpful. I
haven't read the second one.


Both recommended. The first is a good all-around book for parrot owners, the
second is geared specifically for problem biters. The first is a bit pricy
(the result of private publishing, I assume) but both have a place in my
library. You'll notice that Sally and Matie Sue take slightly different
approach to keeping parrots. It is very useful to have different opinions
and ideas when working with parrots, they are wild animals and there is no
one true way when it comes to them.


These articles are interesting, but not glued together into a coherent
whole. If you want to spend the money on them then go ahead, otherwise I
just buy the magazines she publishes her articles in.

Same as above.

Other suggestions:

Clicker Training for Birds by Melinda Johnson, published by Karen Pryor.
Clicker Training is used by most proffessional animal trainers, zookeepers,
etc as an effective way to train animals. This book is geared toward the pet
bird owner.

I also reccomend The Parrots of Telegraph Hill. This book is about the wild
conures living in San Fransisco, and it is a facinating read (even if the
author is a bit flaky in a burned-out-hippy kinda way). There is also a new
book out about the Spix Macaw, one of the world's most endangered birds.
(the book claims that they are the most endangered, which isn't exactly
true, currently I am interning at a facility that is breeding a species even
more endangered, if you go by the numbers that is!) Whenever possible I try
to get my hands on any book that is about wild parrots and their behavior
(or wild birds in general *g*).

Hope this helps.

Gloria

peter_mardin

Hi Gloria,
and thank you for a most usefull posting. You actualy answered my
questions! I will deffinately follow up onthe clicker training. I
allready used "dont shoot the dog" by Karen Pryor for my dog Sasha.
It is un beleivable how willing she was to respond to the training.
She used to offer all her learned behaviors in the off chance she
might hear that cliker sound... you had to be there to see it. Sasha
is a retreiver mix and has a big appetite for treats... I'll let you
imagine how eager she is. :-) Could be very interesting to work with a
parrot.

Yes I'm beginning to see a patern here with Jardines. They seam to
like to test people with theire beeks. I am still researching the
subject. Have to find local breeders and start visting to take
adecision.

Just out of curiosity, can you share with us what is your background?
Your intership is for a degree of some sort, or some professional
training? I am currently just lookning into it as a hobby. I studied
in computer science, never finished and now work for a bank.
Interested in animals in general but started with dogs and now am
exploring parrots. Might consider going back to school maybe in a
related field. Just hunting for ideas at the moment.

Again thanx for the most relevant post and hope to hear from you soon.

Peter M.

gloria carr

I'm currently interning at a facility that is breeding endangered Hawaiian
birds, including the Hawaiian Crow (currently numbering 39 adults and
juviniles, not counting this year's babies). It is interesting work, even if
it is mostly cleaning. Handraising these guys is a little bit differnent
then handraising a pet bird, after all we DON'T want them to imprint on us,
as we want them to breed.

After this I plan on getting a B.S. in biology and becoming a zookeeper,
probably a bird/reptile keeper even though they are at the bottom of the
keeper food chain. (Elephant keeper, 'Marine Biologists', and those
goddamned Giant Panda keepers are at the top, if you were curious) Before
this I worked for a lady who handraised parrots and made and sold parrot
toys, worked at a petbird store for three years, and volunteered in a bird
of prey show program at my local zoo for four years, and worked one summer
there in the Retail dept selling nectar cups in the Lorikeet exhibit. I've
also worked with breeding endangered butterflies.

All in all I've had over eight years working with (not just keeping) a
variety of birds, starting from when I was sixteen. I'm not an expert by a
long shot, there's lots of people on this ng who've had much more experience
then I. But I sure do love these guys.


Eh yeah, topics tend to drift quite quickly here, best thing to do is to
simply keep asking the same question in differnent ways until someone answers.


Gloria