Having a parrot with extremely complicated screaming, attacking, pair-bonded behavior that won’t let you out of their sight without an intrusive cascade of undesirable behaviors can be a problem for the entire household. It also means layers of stress when you are torn between appeasing your parrot and your family. This excerpt from our deep dive masterclass series for members of the Avian Behavior Lab helps us look at the angles of this complex issue and how we tease apart which challenge we...

This interview with Gail Buhl from the Minnesota Raptor Center and Partners for Wildlife is a thoughtful journey filled with raptor behavior tidbits, the evolution of operant conditioning in bird behavior management, raptor rehabilitation, imprinting and so much more. We talk about how working with rehabilitated birds of prey provides such a unique tapestry that has informed our progression as trainers to humane methods of choice based training, and Gail's owl mentors in her work with small...

We are going to talk about an old school term in weight management of free flying and ambassador birds, and that is ad lib weight. Another term might be trap weight or base weight. Reason why this is old school is that for some people implies your bird has this same reference weight throughout their lives, regardless of muscle tone, seasonality, and age and it can be downright dangerous. There are many issues with ad lib weights, such as how we figure it out without coercion or restraint, the...

What did we learn about birds in 2023? What was the big bird news of the year? (or, Simone and Hillary talk about owls) Hillary sits down with fellow falconer, bird lover, and owl enthusiast Simone Lupson-Cook to talk about our favorite facts about bird behavior, ethology, conservation, and more that we learned about birds this year. From birds in the news, our visit to the Raptor Research Foundation Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and reading books together, we share our favorite...

Lead poisoning is a really big deal for wildlife, and Southern Ground Hornbills appear to be particularly sensitive to lead levels in the blood. In August, Avian Behavior International visited the Mabula Ground Hornbill Project in South Africa to identify some key behavior objectives to enhance the reintroduction strategy for the Southern ground hornbill. This bird has one complicated life strategy, punctuated by a long life and intricate social structure. If you are interested in how...

We sat down with Paige Sutherland, Director of Wildlife Programs at Shavers Creek Environmental Center in Pennsylvania for a powerful discussion on wildlife training programs. This far ranging conversation stretched from challenges of family life in the animal care field to how to organize your time as a program leader. We have the pleasure of working with Paige more deeply through our Owl Ambassador programs and exclusive mentorship this past spring and our Advanced Animal Training and...

News flash, if your bird is attacking you, it probably doesn't mean that they hate you. What it does mean is that we have a lot in our relationship to unpack, from environmental conditions to expectations. When parrots in our homes come at us, either from the ground or on the wing, it can be really scary. Even cockatiels and small conures can pack a punch with those little beaks. Bird drama also can cause family drama, and no one wants to feel unsafe in their own home. We talk about behavior...

Karla Bloem, Executive Director of the International Owl Center in Houston, Minnesota, and Hillary have a fascinating conversation about owl vocalizations and Karla's journey with Great Horned Owl behavior. They discuss owl behavior observation influences, species differences, reinforcement strategies and all things owl. This conversation will fascinate any professional or amateur owl enthusiast. If you have yet to take one of our free challenges or just want awesome bird information, sign...

Hillary answers more questions from a workshop regarding how to prepare a bird for a program, are we friends with our birds, how to know when you are doing more harm than good and much more. We get philosophical on this one!    For more information on our upcoming Advanced Workshop in November 2023, check out this page for registration and details Welcome to the Avian Behavior Podcast, where we bring innovative approaches to progressive animal training and behavior, wildlife conservation,...

Hillary answers questions from a workshop regarding do's and don'ts on building relationships with birds of prey, what to do about a kestrel that attacks the bait bag, weight managing owls, and more. For more information on our upcoming Advanced Workshop in November 2023, check out this page for registration and details Welcome to the Avian Behavior Podcast, where we bring innovative approaches to progressive animal training and behavior, wildlife conservation, bird nutrition, and all...

We sit down with good friend and well known aviculturist Dick Schroeder to talk about what we can learn about working with the Southern ground hornbill in a variety of different ways. Dick is a celebrated member of the avicultural community, he has raised numerous hornbill species, including over a dozen Southern Ground Hornbills (baby Kipling was his eighth!). He has boards seats, first time breeding awards, speakerships, and other accolades all over the world in aviculture. We talk about...

Our two favorite subjects, owls and raising ambassadors. Owls are considered flagship species, which means that while they may not necessarily be directly endangered, they are species chosen to raise support for biodiversity conservation in a given place or social context. This means that due to their widespread appeal, they have the capacity to draw in an audience to more complex issues related to their ecosystems and less charismatic components. What this also means is that they can act as...

We are going to be talking about how LIMA (least intrusive, minimally aversive) and the humane hierarchy structure stopped serving me in my animal behavior progress, what got me there, and how I help my clients instead. We take a HUGE look at how it's not uncommon in science for us to wittingly or unwittingly select the results that we want to move our hypothesis along, and this can have enormous results in health, nutrition, and yes, animal behavior. To purchase the entire conference of...

In this session of our Behavior Makeover Series, we work with a rehabilitated non-releasable raven that is showing a lot of avoidance behavior around his trainer. We create a behavior shaping plan using non-coercive negative reinforcement instead of counter conditioning or systematic desensitization to build the raven's trust. This works on all species, from parrots to eagles and mammals too. As always, follow your local and federal laws when working with native and exotic species and we do...

In this final part of our series with Dr. Scott Echols, board certified avian veterinarian, we cover A LOT of ground in terms of avian health and welfare. If you want the straight science about how to get your bird exercising, even in terms of rehabilitated wildlife, diet management, and osteoporosis, we talk about it all. Dr. Echols is as always, so generous with his time and information, and we are forever grateful. To sign up for AvOCET 2023, the Avian Online Conference in Education and...

Working with rehabilitated birds of prey as education ambassadors is rewarding work, but it can be fraught with challenges as well. From working with unruly (and opinionated!) audiences to dealing with heartbreaking avian losses and health issues, it can feel thankless at times. In this episode, we focus on two big issues: working with a volunteer staff and sensitive birds coming from a place of trauma. Volunteers are the backbone of many wildlife rehabilitation centers, and their work is...

The Problem Solving Paradigm teaches you how to manage really complex and sometimes uncontrollable variables when trying to train your bird, so you actually can realize real change.   Because let's just be honest here - trying to train new skills in a busy household or work environment is REALLY hard.  Life happens! Uncontrollable variables like family members, other trainers, and outside influences - like the mailman, construction, random crows flying above - can get in the way of your...

Board certified avian veterinarian Dr. Scott Echols discusses some pretty intense concepts in veterinary and wellness technology. He covers how new technology is discovering diseases we never even knew existed and how we are able to diagnose and treat them. We also talk about how CT scans are able to help us identify issues that blood screening and biopsies aren't catching, which for me is has come up when I take a bird to the vet because I know something is off but we can't find anything...

Bonus release from our earlier interview with Jon Rossi of the Rossifari Podcast. We talk free flight training and how it relates to our leadership philosophies, being a woman in leadership, bird nerdin' and so much more. You can check out our swapped episode on mentorship on Jon's Rossifari podcast page and so much more on zoos, conservation, and animals. If you are loving our ethos on animal training, teaching and working with humans and non-humans, check out the Avian Behavior Lab and you...

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 decode our interactions with our birds. These concepts can uncover why our birds might stop doing what they used to do, what skills they need to build to be successful in our homes and lives and how we...

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. Bird of prey trainers that are interested in this type of training need to assess a number of environmental conditions, including their own skills and support system in their assessment prior to commencing a project such as this. This is because a lot of stress can be transmitted, either in over...

Why does science in animal care matter? My bestie 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. And why that's important. We talk about natural behavior, species differences, the constructional approach, and so much more. Resources for the Avian Behavior Lab (it's growing, people! We have big things on the horizon!) can be found on the link. You can check out Barbara's Animal Training...

ICYMI, petkeeper is a derogatory term in a niche community like falconry. This episode explores the roots of some falconry disagreements and why it's so important to find a supportive community that fosters curiosity and an ethical training paradigm that fits you and your bird's needs. https://avianbehaviorlab.com Our Patreon  The weekend effect in wildife Decline in hunting is a crisis in wildlife conservation funding   

Whoa baby, y'all, this is another incredible interview that gives you a whole 'nother paradigm to the think about in animal training. 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 conversation will have you rethinking the four quadrants, what the consequence(s) of your animal's behavior might be, and how you think about problem behavior.  CAAWT...