Using food as a contrived reinforcer to train our parrots is often fraught with emotions and tension. And not without good reason. But we can discuss the differences in contrived reinforcement and natural reinforcement and how both are important components in building strong relationships and...
This week inside the Avian Behavior Lab we have been chatting about heatwaves and what to do with our birds that live outdoors. While it is the beginning of September and marks the beginning of meteorological fall, those of us in Southern California not only...
Training free lofted birds of prey can be an incredibly enriching program for trainer and bird, but it can also lead to an unnecessarily protracted program that brings all parties a lot of stress....
Vultures are in desperate need of your love, respect, and your attention. They are not considered charismatic megafauna, a term bestowed on our beloved elephants, rhinos, pandas, and other mammalian cohabitants with widespread popular appeal. They are important to life on earth. Read on to...
If you remember what life was like pre-Covid, you might have returned from a vacation to find your companion animal seemingly less than pleased that you were gone. It feels like they have an uncanny way of punishing us, from uncharacteristic messes on the floor,...
Why does science in animal care matter? Barbara Heidenreich and I sit down - this time in person - for a conversation about what it actually means to be scientific in animal care and behavior...
If you have ever been in a falconry forum, it doesn't take long to recognize the level of tension that can course through the interactions between different experience levels and the roots of this derogatory term. We discuss the conservation aspect of hunting in the...
Let's blow the lid off of the way we think of operant conditioning and dive deep with Maasa Nishimuta and Sean Will of CAAWT, or the Constructional Approach to Animal Welfare and Training....
This is our second interview with Dr. Scott Echols, Diplomat- ABVP - Avian Specialty, nutrition expert, and, geez, there so many epithets we can tag on here. In this episode, we talk about avian dietary supplements, Omega-3 fatty acids, the ol' pellets versus raw diet...
Owl ambassadors can be tough to train, but in our opinion, so worth it. They are powerful conservation ambassadors for myriad of topics. We topic about two key things that we look at when we set ourselves up to train an owl ambassador....