Interpreting Parrot Body Language – The sum of its parts

Being mindful of the body language presented to us by our parrots has certainly become a prominent element of our approach to successful behaviour management over the years. A considered evaluation of what your parrot is `telling’ you via the overt presentation of posture, feather positioning and movement prior to engaging with the bird sets you up for success with a starting point for your criteria for interaction. At least it should – in theory. The problem that most inexperienced parrot owners encounter is that correct interpretation of the meaning of body language indicators really requires an evaluation of the sum of their parts. The mistake most often made is firstly to ignore the environmental context within which the bird is being observed and secondly to focus on the most overt component of the bird’s display whilst being unaware of the less overt indicators. 

Take the classic cockatoo crest raise as an example. We observe this overt display in a range of different environmental contexts to communicate a variety of different messages. So how do you know whether a cockatoo raising its crest is `excited’, `amorous’, `aggressive’, `fearful’ or any other reasonably associated construct? Well, check out what else is going on. Is the crest raise paired with… Wings spread or tucked and relaxed? Movement away or towards you? Tightening of body contour feathers or relaxation of body feathering? Tail fanning or a relaxed tail? Pinning of the pupils or `sleepy’ eyes? Beak open or closed? Head flicking? Head lowering? Rubbing of beak on the perch? – I could go on but you get the picture! 

Check out the image below. Do a little `count’ to see how many different overt body language indicators you can identify. It’s a cool thing to do to sharpen your observational skills. Ultimately we are still going to be left short in being fully empowered with a clear understanding of what this guy is communicating to us because the problem with a still photograph is that it doesn’t give us all of the really important information – the environment, the movement dynamics of the bird and the history. Pairing observations with experience from the past sets up the thinking… `The last time I saw him do that he followed up with…’ An empowering and informing thought process. Still fun to play a bit of `identify that body language indicator’ with the pic below though ☺ BTW – If you want to learn more about interpreting parrot body language then you have to get the best resource available for keen learners… http://www.goodbirdinc.com/parrot-store-dvds.html

How many different observable and measurable elements of body language can you identify?