f you ask a group of parro lovers, "Wha's he mos imporan behavlor o each pe parros?" wihou glvlng i a second hough, many peope wouc responc, Sep [J;l! Thafs wha we used o say, oo. Then one day, my daugher sen me a phoo she'd aken in Washingon, D.C., wih he capion, "How do you walk a bunch of [i' kids o he ciy museum and ge back o school wih he same number you lef wih?" The answer: Teach hem o arge jus [ike Lori Wison augh Lill Dude he Pacific parroe (Forpus coelesis)l So we gave i a second hough and decided ha argeing should be added o he lis of very imporan skils o each our parros. R=AC{ OJl- & l1)jc{ Targeing is he behavior of ouching a designaed objec, he arge, wih a designaed body par, ike a hand or beak. We hard[y noice he many differen exampes of argeing behavior ha occur every day. In he case of he ie kids on heir way o he museum, he chidren learned o arge a rope wih heir hands o earn praise and a fied rip. Todders readiy arge adus'ousreched hands wih heir own ie hands. And, school kids quicky learn o arge heir seas wih heir booms when heir eacher gives he cue, "Si down!" Li[ Dude learned o arge a coffee sirrer wih his beak o earn praise; a click sound and a bie of mi[e. Birds rouinely arge heir perches wih heir fee when presened wih a dowel inside heir cages or on playgyms. And some birds arge heir caregive/s ips wih heir beaks, al.so known as giving kisses. Even sepping ono our hands is an exampe of argeing. 20 BirdTakMaqazine.com
Teaching parros o arge a sick or oher objec wih heir beaks is a grea learning goal because i gives us a hands-off way o guide heir movemens. I aso gives us he opporuniy o enrich heir lives wih fun aciviies and los of posiive reinforcemen. ouches is beak o a sick? The answer, says rainer Caherine Crawmer is, "Wha coudn' we do wih i?" Below are several suggesions for how argeing can be used o improve our ineracions wih our parros. Le your imaginaion soar wih even more ideas.. A pano ha is uncomforable ineracing wih humans can be augh o ouch a arge sick while i remains securely inside is cage. This can be he beginning of a grea reaionship ha can lead o fuure hands-on conac. I also provides an 'l 0l'l=Acl{lNc'flPs opporuniy for in-cage exercise.. A parro ha avoids going ino is cage, sepping ono hands, or geing off shoulders can be augh o foow a arge o he desired locaion wihou force or coercion. This posiive approach can change a chronic objecor ino a cooperaive parner.. A parro wih a srong argeing response can be redireced o he arge and away from charging, chasing, or biing. This can urn a probabe disaser ino a posiive reinforcemen ineracion in he bink of an eye. o Targeing can be par of eaching medical and husbandry behaviors such as sepping ono a owe or scale, going in and ou of a ravel cage, and bahing. Evenuay, he behavior can be paired wih a differen cue, such as a hand signal or word, and he arge sick faded ou of he picure. o Wih argeing ski, parros can learn new fun behaviors such as urning in a circe, climbing up and down ladders, and ringing a be. This can enrich heir lives in capiviy by adding simuaion, probems o solve and physical exercise. I also increases producive one-on-one ime wih heir caregivers. This is much preferred o shoulder or perch poaoes. l'=ac- \'01, IrARR()]' 1'()'Ac=' Training a parro o arge is no hard when you folow he principles and procedures of posiive reinforcemen eaching. The key o grea eaching is o arrange he environmen o make he desired behavior comforabe o do and very rewarding. Here are he basic seps o hep you rain ouching a arge.. Decide on he objec ha wi serve as he arge. This can be a chopsick, coffee sirrer, or even your cosed hand. This iem should be used on[y for argeing (ouching wih beak), no for oher purposesuch as a perching. o Idenify a favorie iem, aciviy or food rea o reward he desired behavior. Presen he arge as close o he bird as you can whie ensuring ha he bird remains comforable. Some birds wil ouch he arge righ away and i I n s e p c e D s s fl rl 0 Behind every parro behavior is a reason; behavior serves a puryose. To discover he reason look a wha happens righ afer he behavior, he consequence. Parros naurally choose behavior ha yieds he mos posiive consequences, called posiive reinforcers. The ricky hing is ha every parro is an individual and has a personal parro poin of view abou which consequences are posiive reinforcers. To learn wha your parro's posiive reinforcers are, carefully observe favorie aciviies, people and food reas. You can increase your parro's good behavior by giving reinforcers immediaely and consisenly for small improvemens oward he final behavior goal. The bad news is you can uninenionally reinforce probem behaviors oo, for example. peing a screaming bird o quie i. To avoid problem behaviors, ake care no o reinforce hem in he firs place. Arrange he environmen carefully o make he righ behavior easier han he wrong behavior. Empowering parros o make choices is essenial o behavioral healh; faciliae raher han force. You ge wha you reinforce, so cach your parro being good! How do you walk a bunch of Lil Kids o he ciy museum and ge back o school wih he same number you ef wih? The same way you each LiI Dude: Righ on arge! \ ( I T n f ir 22 BirdTalkMagazine.com
livery clicl< is follorruecl lry a rea. you can capure he behavior wih quick deivery of he reinforcers. Oher birds wi learn beer by rewarding sma[[ seps saring wih [ooking a he arge, leaning oward he arge, moving oward he arge and, ulimaey, ouching he arge wih he beak.. Reward each sep consisenly and immediaely o communicae clearly o your parro wha behavior produces he reinforcers. Praise or cick he jnsan your bird does he righ behavior o "mark" i and hen srenghen he marker by deivering a rea or oher srong reinforcer every ime you praise or click. As your parro ges closer wih each sep, disconinue reinforcing he previouseps.. If your bird grabs he arge, camly e i go. Afer a few minues of exploring he sick, your bird will[ ge back o work finding he behavjor-consequence coningency, which is: When he sjck is in view, if you ouch he sick gen[y, hen you wi[[ earn reinforcers. If grabbing he sick yieds less reinforcemen. he behavior wi[[ decrease in favor of ouching he sick. o Once he bird is ouching he arge wihou hesiaion, sar moving i around so ha your parro has o move o ouch he arge. Hod i ef, righ. high. [ow, coser and furher away. If you need o go back o an easier, sep, don' hesiae o do so and hen sowy raise your crierion for reinforcemen again. Someimes you have o back o go forward. The idea is o have fun learning ogeher. \frr{ ER E''{ = 3 EA( Gor=s 1'r{r= r3()dy \r\fil-- FO_-ov\f Targeing is an imporan behav'ior for a[[ parros living wih humans. Wih argeing we can guide parros o move in ways ha proec. manage and enrich heir BIRD TALK MARCH 2OO9 23
LORI & L! Ii.I'IIAI DrDl='si NING I-OG THE FIRST S]EPS I TOOI( IN TRAINING UT DUDE was discovering wha would be he bes rea o use for raining. This should be he panofs fuvorie rea. In Dude case, he was parial o saffower seeds; he loves hem bu he couldn' ea one fas enough o be used for raining, so I decided use mille seed insead. Dude didn' have a problem wih mille bu I was having a hard ime seadying he whole spray o acually ge i o his beak. Once he "Aha!" momen hi me, I began using jus a bud of mille and Dude's formal raining began. Someimes i he human who needs he raining (we a he ime rea$). I decided o use a clicker o be even faser a marking he righ behavior han offering he food alone. I only ook him one afernoon o associae he click sound wih he reward. Dude was ready o move on o argeing. I wi be he fus o admi I am no he mos coordinaed individual. I was a ile roublesome holding he clicker, my Sarbuck coffee sirrer (he arge sick) and he mille bud all ogeher. I praciced wihou Dude fus, rying o perfec my echnique. I was a much slower leamer han he was. I ook Dude ou and pu him on his play gym while I was seing up his raining perch, geing he clicker, pucking he mie buds and finding he coffee sirrer. My plan was o pu him on his perch for arge raining sessions. I guess he go curious as o wha his mom was doing. I had he clicker and arge sick in one hand and as I was rying o posiion he clicker I mus have goen a lile close o Dude. Before I knew i, he approached he sick and nipped i. A his poin I was a lile sarled bu I clicked and fumbled for he mille I had nex o me. I wasn' quie sure wha o do nex - did he really ge i ha fus? Did I click and reward in ime o communicae ha ouching he sick was wha go me o cck and rea? I had o find ou. I ook a deep breah - go myseu cenered and ready o do i for real his ime. I placed he sir sick a few inches in fron of his beak, he nipped i, and I clicked and reaed. I fel like he guy in "My Fair Lady" as we began o alk he same language. I hen began o move he sjck o dif- feren posiions. I was so excied I never remembered o move him o his raining perch. I held he sick o he lef, o he righ, behind him, below him, above him, a he op of his ladder and a he boom of his ladder. I didn' maer where I pu he sick, Dude would arge i. I was amazed bu sill no convinced he could have leamed so quickly. I also waned my hen fianc6e, now husband Timohy Wilson, o winess my lile wonder bird and ake phoos. I ran ouside, grabbed Timohy and had him ge he camera. I hen sared wih he argeing again and Dude conjnued his earlier success wih phoos o documen his raining. LiI Dude was amazing! AUTH0RS'N0TE: This arice is wrien in memory of Lil' Dude, who passed away due o an unexpeced illness. He made a big mark for such a lil' fellow, and coninues o do so..sl [ir ki hl UC l0 al fo gr of be be e de re o 5l Su 24 BirdTa[kMaqazine.com
[ives wihou force or coercion of any kind. Depending on a parro's hisory wih humans, sepping ono a hand or even being ouched can be an advanced behavior. Teaching argeing allows us o buil.d a posiive relaionship firs, before we ask for more han some birds can comforaby give. Every bird is an individua - a sudy of one - and our eaching pan shoud be cusomized accordingy. Targeraining is also a grea firs behavior for beginning rainers o each heir parros. By focusing on deivering a high rae of we[[-imed reinforcemen sma[ approximaions oward he end goa, your raining sessions wi[[ be righ on arge. I Susan G. Fredman, Ph.D., is a psychology professor a Uah Soe Universiy. Her areo of experise is Leorning and behovior wih a special emphasis on children's behavior disorders. Susan also worl<s wih componion parro caregivers, onimol rainerc, veeinaians and zoo sffi o opply o animals he same humane, scienifically sound eoching sraegies ho have been so effecive wih human Learners, called AppLied Behovior AnaLysis. The guiding pincipal of his approoch is a hierarchy ofeaching ineruenions safing wih he mos posiive, Ieas inrusive, effedive behaior soluions. Lori Wilson Lives in Socrameno, CA, where she shares her home wih her husband and heir seven porros, including hree parroles, Loi is a proud graduae of Susan Friedman's on-line behovior class, "Livinq ond Learninq wih Panos."