One of the clunkier and less popular sides of animal behavior science is that it feels less palatable, less attainable to all because of the dense scientific language that we use. When I frame a behavioral interaction as a “negative reinforcement contingency”, I lose a...
As a bird trainer and caregiver, you are likely aware that the behavior-response feedback loop is one of the most critical components to maintain communication with the bird in your care. It's one thing to pay attention to a bird's body language, it is a...
The challenges faced by facility owners and non-profit leaders can be as diverse and intricate as the avian world itself. Advancing toward more sophisticated training behaviors, motivating teams, ensuring consistent record-keeping, and fostering a supportive environment despite varying levels of avian familiarity—these are hurdles that...
Each opportunity for continuing education teaches us something new about science, animal behavior and training, and the peers we share our work with. This season’s workshops were no different, as we reflect on the powerful conversations we had this past fall at the Bird of...
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,...
What do you get when you cross parrot lovers from California, bird of prey educators from Wyoming, thirty birds, a few hooftstock and chickens, and a hailstorm all in one workshop? A whole lot of mind-expanding fun! The Animal Training and Behavior Workshop at our...
When we have an animal, or in our little avian saturated pocket of the world, a bird, that is showing fear, stress, aggression, or anxiety of some sort in response to a specific stimulus, traditionally we have turned toward procedures such as systematic desensitization or...
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...
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...
Reprinted from our sister site, The Avian Behavior Lab If you have ever seen a bird of prey hooded sitting calmly, you might have wondered how a falconry hood works. Is the raptor calm because he is hooded or is he petrified in fear? Does it...