Pado
04-11-2007, 03:40 PM
I keep hearing about pecking order and establishing dominance with our pet parrots.
I wanted to share some information I gathered from some books I am currently reading which sheds a different light on this issue [at least for me, I look at it differently now].
Not much is known about the social structure of Parrot flocks in the wild. Wild Parrots are extremely difficult to study and observe so documenting their daily lives has been very limited until recently.
Mark Bittner author of the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill is one of the first to intimately document the daily lives of a flock of Wild Parrots in San Francisco. Although the flock probably originates from once captive birds or escaped wild caught birds - they are indeed a true wild flock of birds in everyway.
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Here is his reply when asked:
I: Have you seen a pecking order?
M: "No. There is none. Even if a bird is aggressive, he doesn’t obtain a leadership position. There is no dominant bird that the other birds follow. One aggressive bird was actually kicked out of the flock for a while. The flock would come to eat, and he had to stay up in the trees".
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Parrots live in a flock. Within that flock there are family units. The family units interact with each other as a separate group from the flock. A family unit can consist of a single bird - or a pair of birds - or a pair with their offspring - and/or their offspring from different breeding seasons [older and younger siblings].
Although the flock travels as ONE group - each family travels as ONE unit within that flock.
It is like us living in a neighborhood - we each live in our own homes with our family - we know of the other people in our neighborhood and live with them in the community but for the most part we interact with our own family. We have friendships and disagreements with our neighbors. It is the same situation in a flock of Parrots.
Now that being said. Even in a Family unit of Parrots the 'hierarchy' or 'dominant' position - as we call it - is constantly changing. No one Parrot is 'Boss' all the time as it is in a Pack of Dogs or Wolves.
A dominant bird is one who asserts itself at that given moment - even from one minute till the next. This is why birds seem to squabble with each other all the time. The 'pecking order' as we understand it, is being established from minute to minute from bird to bird. So one minute the Male bird could be the 'dominant' bird the next minute the Female will be the 'dominate' bird - the next minute it could be one of last years offspring - etc
And a family unit will not tolerate another member of the flock trying to pull rank on any of their family - a family unit will 'gang up' on a member of the flock that attempts to be 'dominate' over one of the family members.
So Parrots really don't understand the concept of ONE LEADER ALL THE TIME - they basically understand who wins the squabble gets their way - and at that moment that bird is dominate or at the top of the 'pecking order' and gets to eat first or drink first or whatever the prize is.
So we cannot teach them that we are boss or dominant over them at all times.
For them to understand - we would need to come out on top of each squabble with them and a Parrot will always, by instinct challenge because it is in their nature to do so.
Basically we would be wasting our time and would be in a constant up hill battle if we try to dominate or be at the top of the pecking order because it doesn't exist as we know it.
I wanted to share some information I gathered from some books I am currently reading which sheds a different light on this issue [at least for me, I look at it differently now].
Not much is known about the social structure of Parrot flocks in the wild. Wild Parrots are extremely difficult to study and observe so documenting their daily lives has been very limited until recently.
Mark Bittner author of the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill is one of the first to intimately document the daily lives of a flock of Wild Parrots in San Francisco. Although the flock probably originates from once captive birds or escaped wild caught birds - they are indeed a true wild flock of birds in everyway.
************************************************** ************************************************
Here is his reply when asked:
I: Have you seen a pecking order?
M: "No. There is none. Even if a bird is aggressive, he doesn’t obtain a leadership position. There is no dominant bird that the other birds follow. One aggressive bird was actually kicked out of the flock for a while. The flock would come to eat, and he had to stay up in the trees".
************************************************** ************************************************
Parrots live in a flock. Within that flock there are family units. The family units interact with each other as a separate group from the flock. A family unit can consist of a single bird - or a pair of birds - or a pair with their offspring - and/or their offspring from different breeding seasons [older and younger siblings].
Although the flock travels as ONE group - each family travels as ONE unit within that flock.
It is like us living in a neighborhood - we each live in our own homes with our family - we know of the other people in our neighborhood and live with them in the community but for the most part we interact with our own family. We have friendships and disagreements with our neighbors. It is the same situation in a flock of Parrots.
Now that being said. Even in a Family unit of Parrots the 'hierarchy' or 'dominant' position - as we call it - is constantly changing. No one Parrot is 'Boss' all the time as it is in a Pack of Dogs or Wolves.
A dominant bird is one who asserts itself at that given moment - even from one minute till the next. This is why birds seem to squabble with each other all the time. The 'pecking order' as we understand it, is being established from minute to minute from bird to bird. So one minute the Male bird could be the 'dominant' bird the next minute the Female will be the 'dominate' bird - the next minute it could be one of last years offspring - etc
And a family unit will not tolerate another member of the flock trying to pull rank on any of their family - a family unit will 'gang up' on a member of the flock that attempts to be 'dominate' over one of the family members.
So Parrots really don't understand the concept of ONE LEADER ALL THE TIME - they basically understand who wins the squabble gets their way - and at that moment that bird is dominate or at the top of the 'pecking order' and gets to eat first or drink first or whatever the prize is.
So we cannot teach them that we are boss or dominant over them at all times.
For them to understand - we would need to come out on top of each squabble with them and a Parrot will always, by instinct challenge because it is in their nature to do so.
Basically we would be wasting our time and would be in a constant up hill battle if we try to dominate or be at the top of the pecking order because it doesn't exist as we know it.