Training Kakapo Chicks - Parrot Training Challenges

Barbara Heidenreich elaborates on Kakapo chicks.

Setting up your surroundings so that your Parrot can easily accomplish what you want is one of the pillars of animal training. This frequently entails carefully organizing your objects, stockpiling the ideal training goodies, and making the setup pleasant for both you and your bird.

Kakapo Hens

I'm writing this from a secluded island in New Zealand, where I'm working with endangered kakapo Parrots. Three of this year's chicks are being trained to help with medical care and transmitter modifications, among other things. We are attempting to provide an excellent training environment, just as I would with a companion Parrot. Nonetheless, working here has offered some unusual obstacles.

Outdoors

While the chicks are being readied for release into the wild, they dwell in an outside enclosure. Temperatures in New Zealand this time of year are generally in the 30s and 40s F. (-1 to 4 C). It's also raining and dirty. This is all natural habitat and circumstances for kakapo, so they are perfectly at ease. Humans, on the other hand, must prepare to become wet and dirty.

Kakapo are likewise nocturnal, and the chicks must sleep throughout the day. As a result, the majority of the training sessions take place in the dark. For training, we can use headlamps, but we should keep them on dim or green to avoid making the birds uncomfortable with harsh lights. There is another change that humans must make to ensure that the birds are open to instruction.

Ground

The existing cage has a low roof, sloping terrain, and is mostly overgrown with thick flora. This is fantastic news for Kakapo! Yet, training is a little difficult.

There isn't really a comfortable place for trainers and birds to hang together. In addition, before entering the enclosure, we must dress in large white coveralls and specifically specified boots for further biosecurity for the chicks. On the plus side, the suits keep us warm and keep muck off our clothes.

There is no dashing to the shop if you run out of training treats or supplies since you are on an island that is only accessible by plane or helicopter every two weeks. We make do with what we've got. This may include raiding the scrap wood pile to create perches and foraging for training goodies in the wild. It is actually a good thing since they are learning to eat naturally grown food.

Several of these training obstacles are not difficult to overcome. They are just a little annoyance to humans. And, thankfully, some will vanish when the chicks move into a larger container in preparation for release.

Pen

In the larger enclosure, we've already built up a training area. This will allow us to practice a variety of behaviors on a flat area, away from muck, and while standing. We will also have enough space to practice some more difficult behaviors, such as recall and descending down to us when cued. This improvement has piqued our interest!

One obstacle for which we are grateful is that we have three very driven kids.

As we enter the enclosure, all three chicks are usually ready to begin training.

On the other hand, it also entails regulating the behavior of three birds at the same time. This is a difficulty that other Parrot aficionados may be having with their own birds, as opposed to muddy, dark, and cold situations.

Birds Training can often entail dealing with many birds at the same time. What has worked for us is to start teaching one bird while reinforcing the other two birds to keep out of the way.

When the first bird has finished its favorite food, we may shift him or her to different activities and concentrate on another bird. Other objects besides food, such as fascinating browse or items to chew on, can be utilized to keep birds occupied and encourage them to remain out of the way.

This is the day that the chicks will be equipped with telemetry transmitters. A specifically constructed harness holds the gadget in place on the back. We have spent additional time training for this behavior and anticipate that it will go well.