Training Your Bird in Visual Studio .NET

Encoder Code 128 Code Set C in Visual Studio .NET Training Your Bird

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Distinguishing between normal bird behaviors and real behavioral problems Calming, quieting, and taming your bird Getting to the root of feather plucking, picking, chewing, and self-mutilation Socializing and training your bird Bonding with your bird, even through avian adolescence

ou love your new bird, of course you do But sometimes, yes, go ahead and admit it he s driving you absolutely batty! Birds are wild creatures, not domesticated over thousands of years like dogs and cats, so they have certain behaviors that are undeniably difficult for humans to put up with They aren t being bad; they re being birds But that s exactly why so many of them end up in shelters and with rescue groups, waiting for new homes Add to that a few daunting behavior problems resulting from neglect, abuse, poor nutrition, and unsanitary conditions that many birds develop, and you have yourself a pretty difficult housemate on your hands In this chapter, I explain how you can deal with some of the more common behavior problems in adopted birds and parrots, including the ones that aren t problems at all but rather are perfectly natural bird and parrot traits From screaming and biting to feather plucking and fearfulness, this chapter helps you recognize these behaviors and determine when to visit a vet It also offers you strategies for altering or redirecting these behaviors and helps you determine whether you need extra professional help in the form of an avian behavior consultant Are you ready to tackle those baffling bird behaviors

If you purchase a hand-fed baby bird, you start for the most part with a clean slate An adopted bird, however, already has plenty of notations on that proverbial slate, and whatever that writing says determines, to a large extent, how your new bird behaves in your home Unfortunately, many parrots have some bad habits already ingrained Or, I should say, they have habits ingrained

that aren t so much bad as they are birdlike and incompatible with life in a human household But luckily for you, birds are smart, and they can learn from you and adjust some of their behaviors with a little guidance But first, consider what so-called behavior problems actually are merely bird behaviors: In the wild, birds squawk Loudly They interact with other birds, mate, climb around a lot, and fly a lot They re cautious and hyperaware of anything that resembles a predator And, they have to find their own food What they do not typically do in the wild is fight, bite each other, scream nonstop, pluck out their own feathers, injure themselves, or and this is a big one live in cages In other words, if your pet bird makes noise, get used to it If she s a little cautious, flighty (so to speak), or nervous when people stare at her or approach her quickly, she is just being a careful and cautious bird with an intact survival instinct But if your bird is behaving aggressively, attacking people, screaming all the time, or plucking out her own feathers, you can bet something is wrong Think about the unnatural situation that your wild friend is in, even if she was born in captivity, as most pet parrots are today If your bird is in a cage all the time, especially in a cage that is too small to really stretch out, flap around, and get exercise, she probably will develop some neurotic behaviors When birds don t get enough exercise, social interaction, or mental challenges, they make noise and complain about it Can you blame them A bird in a cage can t fly, climb all around the trees, or work for her dinner A bird in a cage is largely limited in her movements and has food provided in a little cup, all ready to eat aside from some minor seed husking That s hardly challenging If your bird isn t challenged by her environment, you need to provide her with other challenges to keep her healthy and well adjusted Training, interaction, a varied diet, all can help your parrot adjust to her relatively unnatural caged environment because if your bird is driving you batty, you can probably assume that something is driving her batty, too