A Cry for Attention
By Lara Joseph
In the wild, it has been noted that parrots can spend up to 60 percent of their day foraging for food. They travel up to 40 mile circumferences in their search for food (Meehan & Mench, 2007). So how does this relate to the behavior of the birds we care for? Their minds and bodies have evolved and developed to incorporate this activity in their daily lives. We, as parrot caregivers, often work with parrots in cages. How we feed them impacts behavior. If we feed in a dish, they often consume their daily requirement of food in just 15 minutes. What are they going to do with all the extra time? This gives a lot of opportunity for the bird to learn desirable or undesirable behavior. Read more.