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Birds can be
scary; their beaks are
powerful and
some birds seem all too ready to
use them.
So, how do you
know when aggressive body
language is real
or just
a show? When you see
a bird display aggressive
behavior,
puffing up its
feathers, flashing its
beak and
lunging
threateningly
at you,
it can be
pretty
intimidating - especially
with the
big ones.
If this kind of
display sends shivers down
your spine and
gets you to back
off, you're not
alone.
Here's the
display of
aggressive body
language from
this Catalina
Macaw.
It's saying,
"I'm big and
strong and you
better stay
away."
The problem is,
backing off
means you're
just reinforcing
the aggressive
behavior and
making it worse.
In fact, you may
be backing away
from a potential
loving
relationship.
Before you
go running for
the exit it would be good
to find out for sure
whether or not
your bird's show
of aggression is
real or just a bluff. Sometimes
birds are more bark
than bite, as
illustrated by
the following
anecdote:
For a
demonstration
in Grant's Pass,
Oregon someone
brought their
huge and hugely
aggressive
hyacinth macaw
- we'll call him
Big Blue - for me
to work with.
It
was almost amusing to
see the wide
berth the crowd
gave Big Blue,
who, I was told, is okay
with his owner
but aggressive
toward everyone
else.
On this day, he lived up to
his reputation. When anyone
got close, he would
flare his
feathers, spread
his wings,
hunker down,
squawk and
lunge with his
enormous beak.
And people scattered,
as most normal
people would.
But then, no
one's ever
accused me of
being normal.
I
had already
worked with
several
birds that
day and was about
to wrap it up, when I
realized that I
hadn't yet
worked with Big
Blue. I
strolled over to
him and said
hello.
Then I moved in
with the
"heading"
technique,
lowering my head
and moving
within range.
He struck me
hard with his beak on
top of the
head. It was a
strong,
committed
strike. It felt like a
pretty decent tap,
but it didn't really
hurt. I
told him how
impressed I was
with him
and lowered my
head again.
This time he
struck me with
slightly less
conviction. I
knew that I was
already making
headway (forgive
the pun). I
told Big Blue that I
admired his
courage, but I
realized he was
really a nice
guy, then lowered my head
again. This
time he acted
like he was
going to strike,
but stopped his
beak just as it
rested against
my head.
Then he
started to
nibble at my
hair.
Now
we're cooking. I
switched to the
"distraction"
technique, (as
seen in the
photo) to work my hands
into him. I got
a hand on his
back. Then I
nibbled with my
fingers up to
his neck.
Then it
happened: the
clouds parted,
the sun came out
and the angels
sang. Big Blue
lowered his
head, opened his
feathers and let
me get my hands
all over him; he
was practically turning
himself inside
out. Then, to
the emotional
moans of an
astonished
crowd, he looked
lovingly
up at
me and started
to regurgitate.
Big Blue had
been living in
isolation all
this time
because he was
able to use
posturing to scare
people away. It took
about three
minutes to work
through the big
guy's bluffs and
find out that
there was a
loving, sweet
bird in there.
If I had let his
behavior
intimidate me, I
would never have
been able to
discover his
potential.
Don’t let bluffs
and attitude
keep you from
getting close to
a bird.
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Using the
distraction
technique with Big Blue in
Grants Pass, OR |
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