Having a parrot with extremely complicated screaming, attacking, pair-bonded behavior that won’t let you out of their sight without an intrusive cascade of undesirable behaviors can be a problem for the entire household. It also means layers of stress when you are torn between appeasing your parrot and your family. This excerpt from our deep dive masterclass series for members of the Avian Behavior Lab helps us look at the angles of this complex issue and how we tease apart which challenge we take on first from a science-based perspective. This series was extremely enriching, and we know you will glean some actionable details from the science here.

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For more information on how we avoid using restrictiveness and intrusiveness as metrics, check out Episode 58

For AvOCET 2024 information, check out our registration page.

Stay up to date on our workshop schedule here.

This interview with Gail Buhl from the Minnesota Raptor Center and Partners for Wildlife is a thoughtful journey filled with raptor behavior tidbits, the evolution of operant conditioning in bird behavior management, raptor rehabilitation, imprinting and so much more.

We talk about how working with rehabilitated birds of prey provides such a unique tapestry that has informed our progression as trainers to humane methods of choice based training, and Gail's owl mentors in her work with small owls. We go into depth about how providing these crucial contingencies gives our birds a language that they learn to rely on.

For information about AvOCET, of which Gail is a speaker, check out our events page.

The University of Minnesota Raptor Center Raptor Academy Care and Management Workshop registration is here.

The How to Raise and Owl Ambassador Masterclass is here.

Join the Avian Behavior Lab for a free 14 day trial with the code AVIAN to try out all of the features essential for your growth as an avian care provider.

We are going to talk about an old school term in weight management of free flying and ambassador birds, and that is ad lib weight. Another term might be trap weight or base weight. Reason why this is old school is that for some people implies your bird has this same reference weight throughout their lives, regardless of muscle tone, seasonality, and age and it can be downright dangerous. There are many issues with ad lib weights, such as how we figure it out without coercion or restraint, the assumption that all birds can achieve steady state, and that some birds come from a place of food trauma. Not to mention that use prescriptive numbers to assess health can be problematic. Let's level up!

We look at many different metrics that help us cross reference a dynamic set of reference weights across the seasons that help us identify healthy birds and high welfare.

If you know us, we are going to discuss with you actionable, practical science based training tips that help you level up your training program that you can put into place right away. This podcast is from our bonus class from our Avian Behavior Lab Masterclass on Progressive Weight Management that we did on a YouTube livestream. Be your best with birds, and join us for lively discussion on deep topics.

You can attend all of the masterclasses with a free 14 day trial of the Lab with the coupon code AVIAN.

Check out this entire class on Youtube