As we gear up to celebrate International Vulture Awareness Day, it's the perfect time to explore how we at ABI foster our relationship with these fascinating birds through respectful and effective training methods. Vultures may often be portrayed as grim reapers in cultural myths, delighting in...
Today, I'm thrilled to share with you a detailed recap of our recent live training session featuring Rosie, our spirited parrot, who never fails to enlighten us with her dynamic responses. This session was particularly focused on the art of shaping behaviors—a core technique in...
When we bring out our Saker falcon Halley for a lure flight for guests, she comes out with a hood that covers her eyes. Guests love to learn more about her hood and why she wears it. This brings us a great a opportunity to...
When it comes to understanding intelligence in the animal kingdom, birds present a fascinating challenge. The world of birds is incredibly diverse. Where there are 6000- 7000 species of mammals, there are over 10,000 species of birds, each with its own unique set of behaviors,...
When you are bringing home a new parrot, is training your new feathered buddy the first thing on your mind? Or are you in the same camp as one of my clients, Matthew, who emphatically explained to me: “when I think of training, I think...
Over the years, my team and I have learned that while fly offs can be daunting, they also offer unparalleled opportunities for growth and learning in bird training. Fly offs happen for many different reasons, and it’s important to assess what you can and can’t...
There is a very well known debate in psychology as to whether nature or nurture informs our behavior. It turns out, this debate is common among animal behavior scientists as well. It turns out, both nature and nurture, or ethology and learning history, inform the...
Have you ever found a large molted feather, wondered who it came from, picked it up and took it home? Did you know that all feathers from native birds are federally protected, dating back to the time when birds like egrets, herons and songbirds were...
If you’ve ever wondered why your parrot screams or how to train them to be well-behaved, this guide is for you! Let's start by thinking about screaming. Imagine your bird starts screaming because crows flew over. The crows leave, and your bird stops screaming. Seems simple,...
At our recent AvOCET conference, attendees were treated to an enlightening presentation by Sean Will and Maasa Nishimuta, founders of the Constructional Approach to Animal Training. Their talk focused on incorporating function-based training and degrees of freedom into modern animal training practices. What is function-based training...