In the podcast, we are going all in on the behavior analysis term of extinction (not the existential crisis) and why ignoring problem behavior is problem behavior in and of itself. See what we did there? We use loads of examples, from parrots to cranes, hornbills...
What is a husbandry behavior and why train it? I think of it as the difference between fighting with your cohabitants over little behaviors and coming to an agreement over mutually beneficial behaviors. These behaviors are important whether we are talking to companion parrot lovers...
The concept of leaving your parrot flighted or clipping its wings is a huge topic with much debate. There are many opinions going both ways based on health, safety, welfare, and psychological benefits...
Target training is referred to often as a basic behavior, the first one we teach when we are working with an animal. It can be particularly helpful when working with animals that are particularly sensitive, reticent to engage, shy about taking food from us, or...
In this broad conversation, Paige Davis, a curator at the World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis, Missouri, and I sit down and talk about bird of prey training, falconry, species differences, weight management, and social media. We covered a lot of ground when it comes...
You know I love a good myth-buster series. At the risk of going down the road of talking about what people do wrong instead of how to do it right, we look at a few practices that circulate raptor training circles in both falconry and...
There are lots of myths and easily perpetuated narratives about how we should care for and manage our parrots and their behavior. Many of these narratives are not rooted in science or academic information but something that is worse (eep! sorry scientists): that which looks...
by Katie Pnewski Fly season is upon us, which our mini donkey’s aren’t a huge fan of, more specifically Louise. Louise is allergic to flies but she is also reactive towards fly spray. This is very common among equine species like horses and donkeys. The familiar...
Anthropomorphism is assigning human like qualities to non human things. This can be animals, planets, plants, even computers. Anthropomorphism isn’t all bad, but it’s important to understand how it influences things like our conservation choices (choosing the cute animal over the less cuddly one, regardless...
In this episode, we speak frankly about death and the loss of an animal. We talk about the body’s response to emotional pain and research that discusses animal-human relationships. We also discuss some complicated topics about empathy, accountability, and responsibility in the animal world, for...