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by Ken Globus
The following anecdote illustrates how one little word
can be so misleading as to seriously harm the relationship between bird and owner.
I got a call from a woman
with a big, sweet, loveable macaw. A great bird. But she had one
problem with him: he would step up nicely on her arm, but when she tried to put
him back
on its perch or playpen, he would hang on for dear life. He just wouldn't
leave. My first assumption (which
was wrong) was that the bird was simply
enjoying the woman’s company and didn’t want to leave her. It was a case of
birdie separation anxiety, pretty common in the bird world
Then I asked her to describe for me exactly
what she did when trying to get the bird off her arm and onto his perch. She explained
that she held her macaw above the perch and said, “Step down.” From having
read about the “Step down” command in various articles and message boards, she
took the words literally and was trying to get her bird to step down.
While on the phone, I had
her try walking through the procedure in a different way. I advised her to take
her bird to the perch and put its beak level with the perch. That way it
could use its beak as a third foot to support its transfer to the perch.
Then I heard a screech. Lo and
behold, that loveable lug “beaked” the perch and stepped cleanly up on it,
something the baffled woman had been trying to get it do for 3 ˝ years.
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Ken brings this B & G to the perch beak high and it steps comfortably up
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Most birds are
not as
comfortable stepping down as up. When they step up they can see the perch
better, they can use their beak to help them, etc.
Really,
the word you use is not important (it can be French, Swahili or Venusian, as long as you're consistent.) The action is what's important.
But words DO matter when it comes to misleading some bird owners. So, for those who tend to take things
literally maybe we can use a different command for our pet birds.
Instead of the "Step Down" command, people might use "Off." It's a minor thing, but by popularizing the "Off" command we
just might help eliminate the kind of confusion "Step Down" caused the
macaw and woman in this story for over 3 1/2 years.
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