Gang Behavior in Juvenile Parrots
 

Reprinted from Issue #68 of the Companion Parrot Quarterly. This article is copyrighted and may not be reprinted without the written permission of Sally Blanchard or the PBIC, Inc. or the author. Contact us for permission.
Illustrations by Sally Blanchard and cannot be reprinted.

By Susanne Cochran, Avalon Aviary  www.avalonaviary.com

The Hahn’s Gang

The first incidents of gang behavior that I observed with my juvenile birds occurred many years ago. We had 2 clutches of Hahns mini macaws in the same year, and this resulted in 7 babies. At that time I used to raise birds segregated with their own species as much as possible so they could learn “proper species behavior” and be well socialized with people as well as with their own kind. At our aviary, then as now, we spend time with each bird one-on-one, playing, cuddling, setting boundaries and teaching skills. We also have ambient-attention time, where they are out in the family room with their siblings and other birds. In the family room, they can play on play stands or on the drop cloths on the floor where baskets of toys and bowls of food are set out for their enjoyment and exploration. They also get time to just be a bird either in their cages or out on their play stands in the “weaner” room with other juveniles learning to entertain themselves and to interact with each other.

I first noticed a change in the Hahns’ behavior several months after weaning. Some of the babies had already found homes and had left the group. Three boys and one girl had not yet found homes and remained at our aviary. They shared a medium-sized cage in our “weaner” room, surrounded by juveniles of other species (amazons, eclectus, large macaws, pionus and caiques at that time).

Up until the “fateful day,” they had been perfectly behaved little sweethearts, stepping up when asked and playing nicely with people. On the “fateful day” it all started when one of the older males decided he didn’t want to step up. Instead of complying, he stood there obstinately. Then he lunged at my finger and bit it – hard! The three other Hahns were intensely watching this interaction from other spots on the same play stand. Of necessity, I nursed my finger for a minute and then with a more serious, commanding voice, I offered my finger again and repeated the command. He backed up and refused to step up. Then it happened. The other 3 came and got in a line with him, and all of them stared at my finger. When I asked again for the offender to step up, to my absolute horror, I was bitten by another one of the babies. Eventually I got my way, but that incident marked the beginning of the first gang in my aviary.

These Hahns became very unruly. Whenever a person wanted one to do something, all the others would come rushing to his/her aid, and would gang up on the person to protect and prevent the bird from doing the desired action. It even became a trial putting them back in their cage if they didn’t want to go. One of the birds (not always the same one) would do something and all the others would follow suit. Soon it became a real chore getting any of them to step up. They would get down and run around on the floor in the weaner room, or they would fly to other play stands or other birds’ cages and be much more recalcitrant than birds typically are at that age. Together, they pushed every boundary. They also started bullying some of the other babies and would clear a play stand just for themselves. They took toys away from larger birds and guarded them so the poor Amazons and Eclectus eventually became quite wary of the Hahns. If they saw the little bullies coming, the larger birds evacuate the area. The Hahns had everybody – humans and birds alike – intimidated and well trained!

The Hahns detested being separated from their group. Even one-on-one playtime became torture for people, as they would contact call incessantly with their flock mates. Interacting with them became a loud and painful experience, and required a lot of extra perseverance and patience. They wanted to play with their subflock, period. People were excluded. They even attacked employees who were changing their feeding dishes and cage papers. At first we thought it was a passing phase, maybe associated with the weather or the phase of the moon. Not so. Their behavior kept getting worse and only my most stalwart employee would work with them. Of course this fueled their misbehavior. They were impossible to offer to customers because they were aggressive and screamed incessantly to one another.

Napoleon Complexes

As their Napoleon complexes exacerbated their behavior, the Hahns became bolder and began to act increasingly more aggressive, lunging at people as they walked by. Sometimes they would actually get in a row and walk towards people with their beaks open just to get a reaction. This was not a fun time at Avalon Aviary. Finally we recognized that it was not going to get better until we understood the behavior and dealt with it head on. After thinking about it for a while, we thought the closest analogy in our world is gang behavior. A gang is a loosely organized group of individuals who collaborate for social or antisocial reasons. That was what we had, right here in our “weaner” room: an antisocial gang.

It was time to take action. We separated the birds into individual cages in the 4 corners of the room. We let only one out at a time. They still called to each other and we had to put up with a lot of noise, but eventually they began to pay attention to their own personal world again, instead of what was happening with their gang brothers and sister. Eventually each one decided to be a good bird again, and eventually they all found good homes.

This was the most extreme case of gang behavior we have ever experienced at our aviary. Since that time, we have had Blue and Gold and Scarlet Macaws, White-bellied Caiques and Dusky Pionus exhibit this behavior. With experience, we have become much more sensitive to the early warning signs and quickly head the behavior off. By separating the offenders from each other, we nip the problem in the bud.

Not the Same as Hero Worship

In some ways gang behavior is a bit like pair bonded behavior during breeding season, but usually with more than two birds participating. The difference is it happens when it isn’t breeding season, and when they are too young to be hormonal.

Also, it is different than hero worship, when a smaller bird becomes the sidekick of a larger or stronger bird. We have had a couple of those cross-species exaggerated friendships, where one bird (often the smaller of the two) assumes a “protection” or “riding shotgun” position for the other. The protector becomes aggressive and defends his hero, chasing off rivals, sometimes including people. This can be a same-sex relationship, and is often cross-species.

Other deep friendships between individuals, similar to pair bonding but not as intense, can occur where people are not particularly welcome. These relationships can be same-sex and are often same-species, but can be cross-species. They differ from the protector relationships in that the birds don’t typically act aggressively. They just prefer the company of their own kind to that of people.

Then there is cage dominance, or cage territoriality, which can occur with just one bird.

I distinguish between these behaviors that exclude people, and gang behavior. Gang behavior is characterized by follow-the-leader behavior. It can be predatory, rebellious, sassy, involve egging each other on, and can be social or antisocial. Gangs often involve more than two birds, which are usually of the same or similar species.

Not Always Anti-social

Not all gang behavior is antisocial; some is, in fact, highly social. An amusing example of early social gang behavior occurred one time when we had 4 juvenile scarlet macaws. They had staked out a particular couch in the family room as their territory. The couch was covered with towels. When we brought out the Scarlets and put them on the drop cloth on the floor, which was abundantly scattered with toy baskets and food bowls, they would make a beeline for the couch. They would hook their way up the towels with their beaks and claws, and then sit on the couch and preen each other. To amuse them, we had to move their toys onto the couch. The box of Kleenex that hung out on the back of the couch also made a great toy. The birds would visit any person who sat on the couch and insist on being played with. Any person on the couch was fair game and was likely to have 3 or 4 Scarlets happily sitting on their lap. The Scarlets were not the least bit aggressive; they just focused their attention on whatever came into their territory (the couch).

One day when Sally Blanchard was visiting us, we brought out a younger Green Winged macaw on his own towel and put him on the couch. He was covered with pinfeathers and was very sweet and gentle. One of the Scarlets spotted him right away. He froze in position and then cautiously moved toward the newcomer. The other Scarlets stopped playing immediately and joined the first one in a line, staring at the baby. Their beaks were hanging open in dismay. You could almost hear their thoughts “what is THAT?” and “Oh MY!” Their body language was priceless. Unfortunately, it was a moment not caught on camera. They clearly did not know what to do with this new kid in town, and were at once fascinated and appalled. They were not the least bit aggressive. They were just shocked and curious.

Eventually these Scarlets became more antisocial, nippy and aloof, preferring their own company to that of people. We had to separate them, especially the boys, and they settled right back down. Soon they were back to their lovely, inquisitive though perhaps a bit pushy, highly social Scarlet selves.

Racism or Speciesism

A related behavior also cropped up at about this time, and the closest analogy I can think of is “racism” or perhaps, “speciesism.” African Greys raised together couldn’t be bothered and looked down their beaks at those silly Amazons who were cavorting and displaying in juvenile fashion on their play stands. Eclectus raised together looked and acted elegant and superior, and couldn’t be bothered with any other birds either. Outgoing Amazons found the stuffy Eclectus and Greys easy prey to chase off their perches. To the delight of the Amazons, their targets fled with alarm. Ah, how satisfying for those playful Amazons to get such dramatic reactions! Macaws also seemed to be racially sensitive. Red macaws (Scarlets and Green Wings) segregated themselves from Blue and Gold macaws. For the most part they ignored each other, but occasional sniping occurred between the groups, usually instigated by the red macaws. Birds of a feather, you know! However, one time a couple of Scarlets actually mugged a poor sweet Green Wing and had her on her back screaming for mercy on the bottom of their cage.

Observation of these “racist” behaviors led me to conclude that birds will focus on differences when left to their own natural devices, which may be a part of their survival skills. If a flock member, including one of their own species, is displaying signs of weakness, illness or injury, the flock will turn and drive that bird off so it doesn’t attract a predator to the flock. It happened one time in my aviary when we gave an injection to a female Bronze-winged pionus. Apparently she had a reaction to the injection, either pain or sensitivity, and she was not acting like her usual strong and willful self. Thirty minutes later we checked on the bird, and she was on the bottom of the cage in a corner, and her mate was biting her unmercifully, trying to drive her away. We separated her from him and she healed across several weeks. When she returned to her mate, their relationship resumed as though this incident had never taken place.
Other examples of how birds focus on differences can be found in the day-to-day experiences of many pet owners. When you are wearing clothing with a pattern on it, birds seek the edges of the pattern to beak and explore. They seek the areas where difference occurs, not the areas of sameness.

Different Species with Each Other

Now, whenever possible, we raise similar sized birds of different species with each other. We try to put babies of similar ages together, so they can share their developmental stages. They still get to play with their own kind when they are out, but when they are caged and have confined interaction, they have to develop social skills to deal with birds of different temperaments. These birds may also develop enhanced play skills. Some of our Eclectus, for example, will hang from bells and enthusiastically beat on them (a very unusual behavior for a peaceful Eclectus who is usually content to simply be admired for his or her beauty). We have also had Eclectus who learned to sing songs, a much more typical Amazon characteristic. This approach has helped the different species learn to cope with one another; the Eclectus no longer run from the Amazons, and the Amazons no longer chase them. Birds that are bold and prone to forming gangs are separated from each other. Thus, the opportunity to form antisocial bonds with their clutch mates is significantly reduced. a Scarlet and a Blue and Gold may play and roll around and preen each other. Otherwise shy Poicephalus have fewer role models for shyness and consequently develop with more confidence.

We are, of course, very careful. If a bird is being aggressive, or is being picked on, we immediately separate them for their safety and well-being. We make sure that birds of similar age and experience are housed together, so that the more experienced ones don’t pick on and intimidate those younger or less experienced. Older birds often have less tolerance for babies in the exploratory stages, with more awkward, less-developed social skills.

Today at Avalon Aviary, Hahns might be raised with Poicephalus or Amazons. Scarlet Macaws may be raised with Blue and Golds. If we don’t have others of a similar size and age, then we work to have the clutch spend extra time separated from each other in addition to their usual one-on-one human socialization time. It sounds like we are raising lots and lots of babies, but really we are looking at only 20-25 babies per year, so sometimes we have single babies from a clutch of one who have no counterparts to snuggle with (stuffed animals are relied on even more heavily than usual). And sometimes, like now, we have a clutch that hatched with no other babies of similar age or size to relate to, and we work very hard to head off any gang or racist behavior before it has a chance to escalate and become a pattern.
This approach does not guarantee that birds can cohabit for the rest of their lives with birds of other species. Remember, there is simply no guarantee, with any species at any age, that they will get along sharing a cage with another bird. Often mixed flights of birds here at Avalon Aviary have to be separated, as they get older.

Some purists might argue that we are raising birds that don’t know how to relate to their own species, a perspective with which I disagree. Since these babies start out under their parents for 3-6 weeks, they have had the natural nesting experience of their species. With this approach, they still spend a lot of time with their own kind, just not exclusively with their own kind. I believe we are raising well-adjusted birds, who also have social skills to interact with their own kind, with other kinds of birds, and that can interact positively with people. You might say that they have more open minds when it comes to birds of other species than birds who were raised in a segregated situation. They are more versatile and often more skilled.

The Calls of Other Species

Many birds make the calls of other species in their immediate locales. Many years ago, before my nursery, family room and “weaner” room were fully developed, I had some baby Amazons in my eat-in kitchen. I had hand fed them and cleaned up and was on to another project when I heard soft baby-begging sounds coming from the direction of the babies. This was a mystery. The babies were all roosting quietly, grinding their beaks and napping with full crops. Upon further investigation, I discovered that it was a young magpie hopping along the wall outside my kitchen window learning to hunt. It made baby Amazon begging noises as it stalked grasshoppers. I had another magpie that used to hang out around the house and greet customers with a cheery “step up!”

This is probably the case in the wild for different parrot species as well; they may pick up calls not only of their own flock, but also imitate the sounds of other birds, and of other species that live in the vicinity, sounds that especially catch their attention. Our babies often imitate calls of their immediate friends and neighbors. When together with their brothers and sisters they make more of the calls natural to their kind. Some might contend that babies raised with other bird species are confused about who they are and what species they are, but in my experience these birds are delighted to see birds of their own kind, even if they haven’t seen them since early nest experiences. They have a strong sense of species identity, and I don’t believe that raising them together with other kinds of birds damages their innate knowledge and species recognition. Rather, I believe this approach gives our birds better coping skills that can benefit them throughout their lifetimes. The social benefits and self-confidence that often result from learning to stand up for ones’ self, or from not learning to be easily alarmed, or from learning some additional playing styles and interaction styles, far outweigh the risks associated with gang behavior and species-specific reinforced reactions.

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