Simba
Dear Simba,
My daughter and I let a friend; we’ll say her name is “Sandy”, move into our house. She is a very lively and energetic person. Dutchess, our Blue Headed Amazon parrot, loves her. Since “Sandy” has been here, Dutchess has stopped talking. She has started attacking my daughter, and her all around disposition has changed towards my daughter and me. Dutchess and I usually have private time together and now she doesn’t even want to do that. Other than asking “Sandy” to leave, I don’t know what to do.
Being that you are knowledgeable in Avian Behavior, I am desperately asking for help. I don’t want to ask “Sandy” to vacate my house but at the same time, I want my bird back! Please help!
Signed, Torn Apart
Dear Torn,
While I am not an “Avian Behavior”, I do have some personal experience in this area and my human mother can certainly sympathize with you on this. When I first came to live on Marco Island, we stayed with my human grandfather. I drew such an infatuation with him that I disregarded my human mother and considered her to be simply my “caretaker”. However, I quickly changed my attitude towards her when she started training me with a method called “Food Management”. She politely sat dear old grandfather down and explained to him the fundamentals of raising birds…FYI…it’s not that easy.
I was given my daily ration which consisted of 90% of my food intake (I take in a lot of food…I LOVE food). Then the other 10% was fed to me by hand during training sessions which only my human mother conducted. I soon realized that it was better to be nice to her considering she was the one with all the goods. In turn now, I tolerate my human “grandfather” and love my human mother.
The “Food Management” method works for all types of species of animals. Whether a dog, cat, rodent, or the elite avian. Unfortunately you will have to sit “Sandy” down and explain to her that Dutchess is your bird. “Sandy” is simply a passerby that will not be a permanent resident and it could be detrimental to Dutchess if she attaches her feelings to her. Us birds tend to be “one person animals” so it is in our best interest to attach ourselves to the permanent residents of the household. This, however, doesn’t mean that we should neglect to have social skills. It is important for us to have a variety of surroundings. After all…we will outlive you humans and we need to be able to adapt to new surroundings and people with ease. I hope this gives you some insight to your dilemma. If Dutchess needs a refresher on social skills, tell her to give me a call. We’ll do lunch.
Fondly, Simba
Simba is owned by Christina Giordano. If you have any questions you would like Simba to answer, please email them to: AskSimba@angelsofflightproductions.com
Leave a Reply