Birdkeeping Naturally

EB Cravens

April ‘01

The Avian Mental Stimulus Catch 22

I remember back some 18 years or so, when it first occurred to me that psittacine pets and breeder birds thrived so much better in cages designed as mini-habitats rather than as mere enclosures. For some reason it made most sense that if I truly wanted my parrots to be happy and the pairs to produce young, then I must attempt to mimic a natural environment as much as possible with each and every one of my birds.

Being limited in income, in those days I could only dream and plan for when I could start to build larger, walkin flights designed around trees and living greenery. I counted pennies and in l989 began construction of the first 25’x 25’ aviary in my planned colony complex. It was magical. There were l0-foot trees and bushes and grass and hollow logs and herbs and flowers and swinging perches on chains—all planted and put together months ahead of time in preparation for the day I could finally wire it all in.

How wonderful it was to sit in the middle on one of the pathways and watch the amboina kings and princess parakeets and my pet sun conure and yellow crown amazons venture out of their side cages(originally laid out to connect) into the new flight. In one fell swoop, I had quintupled the continuous turn-around flight distance of my parrots.

In the days ahead, I would just lie back and marvel at the way the new aviary forced my birds to grow and expand their instinctual skills. Their conditioning improved, their quickness of eye and decision-making on the wing, their eating habits and acrobatics and social skills with other species, their trust in me now that they could perch far above my head.

Ah, I patted myself on the back; I’ve finally arrived. This is what birdkeeping is all about.

Not so fast….

A funny thing began to happen six months later. It started with my pet birds—those who used to call to me, “Hey Eb. Out!” when they wanted to be uncaged , or would hang on the wire with begging wings to come join me in the gardens. Kiwani and Summer and Pako and Tia and others commenced doing the same thing from the wire walls or corner perches of the new planted aviary. Shortly thereafter, some of the breeding pairs, too, would sit near the wire and look beyond to the trees denied them. My fabulous new environment was no longer new.

So I began to introduce changes. New hanging potted plants and cut branches with buds and blossoms not growing in the flight. Extra play nestboxes, organic toys, anything to keep from making life routine for my parrots. My gosh, but it was a lot of extra effort! And no sooner had I brought in something new, than they all would migrate over to it and abandon what they were chewing or eating or fiddling with to check this out.

There you have it…the avian mental stimulus Catch 22. The more diverse the life to which I expose my psittacines, the more savvy, skill, and confident improvisation they acquire—hence the more they demand new and different excitements.

This concept was brought home to me even more forcefully a few years later when I took on the project of rehabilitating a severely plucked male red-sided eclectus. Clover arrived in Hawaii from a home in New Mexico where he was not thriving. We removed the plastic collar fitted to him, dropped all medications, changed his diet to fresh raw and organic stuff, and introduced him to the green, lush world of the colony flight where he began to live with the sun and moon and wind and rain. Clover started sprouting new feathers all over his bare chest and wings within four days! He was completely feathered and once again talking up a storm after 6-8 weeks. We’d done it.

Oops. Several months later, even after learning to fly around the new aviary with unclipped wings, Clover began chewing his feathers again. I can only presume he was bored with the no longer new life. There’s that Catch 22 again.

How in the world could I keep ahead of my psittacines’ mental capacities to absorb fresh learning experiences? Uh, you tell me…

Up to now, all I’ve been able to come up with is “work harder.” Welcome to the world of the hobby aviculturist.

So, how have I resolved this very real predicament in my birdkeeping? Well, for one thing, I now give my psittacines 10 times as much credit for their intelligence and emotional needs as I was originally taught. Along with that, I try to provide loads more weekly stimuli in their lives—pets and breeder birds—than I once did. Cages are all larger, with several walkins enhanced by hallways and corridors leading down to other perch sites. Every year the most boring habitats are upgraded with funds earned from any chicks. All birds are currently being given back the ground as bottom of their home. Flocking of like species is adding to the excitement.

Most of all, I have come to realize that just because it is nearly impossible to keep up with this Catch 22 business here at The Perfect Parrot, is certainly no reason to stop trying to keep life provocative for my hookbills. And I am dreaming of the day I might be able to afford enclosing one-half-acre of our mango orchard as an aviary, say 40 feet tall!

Until then, I am grateful for what I have learned so far about natural methods of parrotkeeping. And I thank the powers above that it is not a whole flock of cockatoos I am trying to keep busily amused. With aloha, EB