AVIAN
was one of the top reasons he lost his former home. I and learning to work for his food increased, so did the was told it was because of his aggressive behaviors but complexity of the toy, the location of the toy and the his screaming was obviously a behavior also well-practype of food hidden in each (see photo below). At night I ticed. For the first few weeks Rocky was in my care, I would stock all of his foraging toys and in the morning never observed him playing with toys. This makes a situ- he would wake up spending much of his time navigating ation more difficult to change if the bird doesn’t interact his cage to find all of the goodies stashed in different with objects inside his cage. Two things inside his cage toys. Soon I was sleeping in until nine in the morning with which he did interact however were his food and before I heard any vocalizations from Rocky. water. Bingo! This gave me the perfect place to start. One of many fascinating things to watch as a bird begins to learn or explore their cage with foraging is I began watching what food parts, pieces and shapes Rocky would pick out of his dish first. I also tried to in- how they begin to prefer foraging for the food in their corporate new food items. I started with a food item foraging toys and start abandoning the bowl. In this that was not a main source of his nutrition and one that video, the bird is foraging from a foot toy. As the bird appeared to be his favorite. I placed a small foraging toy begins increasing in levels of complexity in toys, you can next to his food dish. The toy was transparent so the replace the treats in the foraging toys with his main diet food item was extremely visible to Rocky. The toy being while increasing your use of treats as reinforcers for transparent is not a necessity but the food item being other training. Provide the main staple in both locations clearly visible is. This foraging toy was also extremely — the toy and the dish — while ensuring the bird gets simple so it would not take much effort for Rocky to re- all his daily needed and proper nutrition. Once you trieve his favored food item. When Rocky leaned in for clearly observe this, get rid of the bowl. food from the food dish, the favored food item was at When a bird chooses to work for his food, such as eye level and within clear and obvious reach with a turn searching for food in the foraging toy versus taking idenof his head and an opening of tical free food from places Birds may choose to work for food rather than take the the beak. It did not take long requiring less effort, there easy option, a concept known as contra freeloading before Rocky was turning his is a name for this in the head slightly for the favored field of behavior: contra food item. When his beak freeloading. It is fun to touched the acrylic toy, guess watch. It is only called what I heard? I heard his beak contra freeloading though touching it. This was when I deif the food is identical and livered the bridge by saying if the animal is choosing “Good!” and delivered the reinto work for the food verforcer, my attention. Obviously, sus taking the food that if the screaming started, I igrequires less effort (Inglis, nored it. The next time I heard Forkman & Lazarus 1997). his beak touch the acrylic toy, I There are many studies on would immediately go to the this covering a wide varicage and deliver his much valety of animals and numerued attention from me in a ous different theories have process known as differential been developed as to why reinforcement. I observed the animals choose to Rocky learning through continwork for their food versus gency that the behavior of fortaking the identical free aging brought the reinforcer food. Could it be “the and not the previously trained thrill of the chase?” I have behavior of screaming. personally observed this with several animals I As his behavior of foraging BARKS from the Guild/October 2014
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