Non-Medical
Approach To
The
Behavioral Feather Plucker
215-946-5964
lwilsoncvt@att.net
www.upatsix.com/liz
One of the most
frustrating situations that confront avian veterinarians is the problem of the
feather destructive parrot. It is one of those little ironies that
inexperienced parrot owners often completely miss life-threatening medical
problems developing in their pet, but they rarely miss the existence of feather
destruction. Feather destruction appears to be what Cooper & Harrison call
"a condition of captivity,"1 since an intact and
functional feather coat is necessary for survival in the wild. There are
definitely species predilections to this condition, with African Greys and
cockatoos at the top of the list. The old wives tales state that a “plucking”
parrot is always either neurotic or sexually frustrated, but avian medicine has
discovered that physical causes often precipitate a large percentage of
plucking cases.
Medical etiologies for
feather destruction would include the following (in alphabetical order):2
à
allergies (i.e., food allergies)
à endocrine imbalances, especially related to the thyroid
à environmental factors (i.e., low humidity, low light,
inability to bathe, inadequate rest)
à infectious dermatitis (bacterial, viral and/or fungal)
à malnutrition (both through diet and a lack of exposure to
unfiltered light)
à parasites, both external and internal
à systemic disease (i.e. liver disease, air sacculitis3)
à toxins (i.e., exposure to cigarette smoke and/or nicotine
on human hands)
Accordingly, any case
of feather destruction needs a full medical work-up before assuming that the
feather damage is behavioral. Consequently, owners need an avian veterinary
referral before considering the services of a parrot behavior consultant. As a
quick review, a medical work-up for a feather plucker would include the
following4
à a detailed history and physical exam
à fecal (direct and flotation) and perhaps a skin scraping
à hematology and serum chemistries
à radiographs
à bacterial cultures, preferably choanal and cloacal –
possibly also feather pulp
à skin biopsy
Having ruled out all
possible medical causes, one can somewhat safely assume that the cause of the
feather destruction is behavioral. This is when avian veterinarians may refer
the client to a parrot behavior consultant, or they may prefer to do a
behavioral work-up themselves. Either way, an extremely detailed behavioral
history needs to be taken, asking various specific questions regarding
plucking, such as the following:5
à When does the
bird pick? – i.e., When the owner is there?
When the owner is watching? When
the owner is absent? etc.
à How much does the
bird pluck? – i.e., only a little, all the coverlet feathers, only flight feathers,
large bare areas, body totally bald, etc.
à Where on its body
does the bird pick? – i.e., all over, just tail, wings and tail, etc..
I divide various
behavioral etiologies very loosely into "normal" and
"abnormal" behaviors. These are listed below and followed by a brief
discussion. "Normal" [please note the quotation marks] etiologies
could include the following:
à nesting birds preparing to clutch
à reproductive frustration
à exaggerated preening
Nesting Birds Preparing To Clutch. In this situation, the bird limits the plucking to
feathering the nest, and this happens only during the breeding season. Creation
of a "brood patch" on the lower abdomen is a behavior commonly
observed in poultry, and I have only once heard of it being reported in
psittacines (personal communications, Jeannie Pattison, Nov, 2001)
Reproductive Frustration. Although I realize this is a valid cause in some
situations, this has become a favorite catch-all category. The "make it a
breeder" answer removes the owner's feelings of guilt and provides
aviculturists with multitudes of free or cheap birds with which to build
breeding stock. I have seen countless feather destructive birds in successful
breeding situations, where they not only continue the behavior, but often pluck
their mates as well. Obviously, those individuals were not plucking due to reproductive frustration. There is also
question as to increased potential for feather destruction in the offspring of
parent birds who pluck.
From my experience,
feather destruction as a result of sexual frustration is generally seasonal and
often localized to certain areas of the body, such as the clavicular region or
the tops of the wings. Obviously, this behavior only happens in sexually mature
parrots.
Exaggerated Preening Or Feather Grooming. Preening appears to be instinctive behavior, but it is
quite possible that adult parrots have to teach their babies the finesse of preening. Similarly, domestic cats are born knowing
the basics of hunting, but an orphaned kitten deprived of its mother's teaching
will not necessarily be a successful hunter.
In cases of domestic birds that are incubator-hatched and raised in isolation
from adults, these birds may not actually learn
how to preen properly. Consequently, they may over-preen and inadvertently
damage their feather coat. This is
evidenced by worn, tattered-looking feathers, even right after a molt. At the
far end of the spectrum are the domestics who obviously do not preen properly.
These birds may even leave easily reached, mature feathers trapped in the
keratin sheaths in which they developed. (Avian medicine must obviously
differentiate these situations from the retained feather sheaths that
characterize Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease.) Along these lines, we also
theorize that young parrots raised around other psittacine species may actually
learn incorrect preening techniques for their particular type of feathers (i.e.
a cockatoo learning to preen like a macaw). This can lead to feather chewing,
breakage and plucking later on.
Under
the category of feather picking due to "abnormal" behaviors, one
could list the following possible etiologies:
à control device
à attention-getting device
à boredom
à stress
à environmental change
à psychological disturbances
As a control device, feather destruction
is a powerful tool. Some owners would do almost anything to keep their birds
from damaging their feathers, and of course the birds learn this quickly.
Therefore, anytime their desires are frustrated, they pull a feather as
punishment. The owner immediately feels guilty and gives in to the bird's
wishes. A young African gray that boarded with me used this technique whenever
blocked from doing what he wished. However, when he was not rewarded for this
behavior, he stopped plucking completely and allowed the regrowth of feathers.
This behavior reappeared when he went home and his owners rewarded him again.
As an attention-getting device, feather
destruction is extremely effective. Many owners make a tremendous fuss whenever
they catch their birds plucking, so the birds receive lavish attention rewards
for the behavior. Often birds will look around the room, seeking the owner.
Once eye contact is made, they yank out a feather.
Boredom
can be a problem for these birds, especially the extremely intelligent African
greys. Parrots that are alone for long
periods of time need a wide variety of interesting and challenging toys. Four
basic categories of toys exist: climbing toys, chewing toys, foot toys and
puzzle toys.6 Climbing toys would
include plastic chains, ladders, swings and the cage itself. Examples of
chewing toys would include wood and rawhide, raw pasta, non-toxic twigs
(herbicide and insecticide-free) with the bark left on. Empty paper towel and
toilet paper rolls (no perfume), and paper towels tucked around the cage are
also of great interest for shredding.
Foot toys encourage manual dexterity, and include not only purchased
items, but also small chunks of corn on the cob and nuts left in the shell.
Puzzle toys are an important group, including parrot-style music boxes, puzzle
boxes that hold food treats, and even the C-clamps used to suspend other toys.
Parrots only need four toys in their cages at a time – one from each toy group.
This gives them lots of room in which to play. To maintain high interest
levels, the owner should move these toys around the cage, and rotate them in
and out weekly.
Stress,
either intrinsic or extrinsic is an important consideration with caged birds,
and certainly a mitigating factor with many feather destructive behaviors. It
is also impossible to quantify. To quote Worell and Faber, "What is
perceived as stressful to a bird may not appear so to its human caretakers."7
Environments that are
too quiet may also be a source of low-level stress to caged birds. After all,
when the jungle is quiet, it generally means there is a predator stalking.
Consequently, the owner can ease this reaction by leaving radios and
televisions on timers, set to turn on and off at varying times. Children's
programming (i.e., "Sesame Street") appears to be a hit with parrots,
but owners should be warned away from nature shows. Farfetched as it may seem,
there have been several cases of young parrots seriously frightened by programs
that showed predatory birds in flight.
Environmental change
can prove to be stressful for birds that have no experience with it. I disagree
totally with a premise put forward by
some bird magazines – that change is bad
for birds and they should be protected from it. On the contrary, parrot
owners should introduce change into the lives of their birds as early as
possible. Allowing parrots to be accustomed to definite patterns will only
predispose them to problems in the future. Parrots are capable of extremely
long lives – anywhere from a maximum of 18 years for budgerigars to 80 years
for Amazons.8 What human can guarantee there will be no change in a parrot's
life over that period of time? Change is inevitable, and it behooves a parrot
owner to teach their birds that change is interesting and non-threatening. In
that way when change happens, as it always does, it will be no problem for
the bird to adapt. After all, these
creatures have survived for generations in the wild, and what protects them
from change out there?
Psychological Disturbances. This is the diagnosis of choice once everything else has
been ruled out, and this is the area in which a parrot behavior consultant
works. Please keep in mind that the field of parrot behavior is very new, and
far from a science. From the little knowledge we have regarding the behavior of
parrots in the wild, it seems that with most of the larger species, parents
raise very few young per year. Interestingly enough, these offspring stay with
the parents over a prolonged period of time – long past weaning age. The large
macaws, for example, only appear to raise one or two babies every couple of
years, and that baby will stay with its parents as long as 2-3 years.9 During that time the parents are teaching
critical survival skills in an incredibly complex environment. Offspring must
be taught about food location and procurement, predator avoidance, and
adaptability in the face of change. They also need schooling in the nuances of
social interactions within the flock, response to the flock leader, and the
individual's rank within the flock.
This is the training
that domestic bred, human-raised parrots lack, and it is precisely that lack
that may get them into trouble. These animals are sentient beings. With their
proven intelligence, it is not unrealistic to assume that they actually sense
the lack of these critical survival skills. If so, they respond to that lack
with various manifestations of stress and fear. After all, a parrot without survival skills becomes a predator's
meal. The parrots seem to sense this lack most deeply at the age when they
would, in the wild, start developing more independence – depending on species,
between 6 and 18 months. It is during this period that most of the serious
behavior problems appear: including phobias, excessive territoriality, biting,
excessive screaming and feather picking – all different manifestations of
stress.
Since it is teaching
that is lacking in the domestics, then it is teaching that must fill in the
gaps. By implementing a training
program in which the bird learns and follows simple commands -- such as
Blanchard's nurturing guidance training10 – owners establish their
own control within the "flock." By consistently requiring their
parrots to acquiesce to these commands, owners are firmly establishing the
parrots in a subservient role. The owners have thereby assumed the role of
flock leader. Once in that position of authority, the owner can enclose the
young animal within a framework of clear and consistent rules. If so, the
parrot's confusion is resolved – its own rank within the human flock is clearly
delineated. It is subservient and it is protected. The animal is secure. Stress
is removed. Clients who have started training their out-of-control parrots in
this manner comment frequently on how much calmer and happier the bird seems.
Nurturing guidance
training is simple, logical and easy to remember. The commands are Up, Down, No
and OK. Up is defined as Step onto the human's hand NOW. Down is the opposite, defined as Get off the human hand onto an inanimate
object (such as a perch or cage) NOW. The command of No is self-explanatory, but it gains power as the owner gains rank
within the flock. OK gives the bird
permission to do something that it wants to do, thereby making that action the
human's decision, not the bird's. Simply put, the point of all of the commands
is control… by the human, not the parrot. These commands should be
taught during short, upbeat lessons that are conducted daily in neutral
territory – some area of the house that the parrot does not consider to be its
own. From then on, all the humans handling the bird must always use the same
commands in the same manner. The parrot will understand the rules only if the
behavior of the humans is consistent.
The owners of feather
pluckers need to structure their parrots’ lives with these consistent controls.
To maintain this consistency, all the people interacting with the animal must
use the same rules and commands. It works well if each interactive family
member conducts training sessions, also. Instead of giving the bird a drama
reward when it plucks, the owners must learn to ignore the behavior. If owners
feel they must do something, then
they should simply get up and leave the room.
(This, of course, is contraindicated if the parrot dislikes them and
wants them to leave.)
There have been some
interesting results with the use of psychoactive drugs (such as Haloperidol)
with the feather destructive parrot. However, it does not seem reasonable to
keep these birds on medication indefinitely. I agree completely with Drs.
Richie and Harrison, who, on the subject of Haloperidol, state that it
"should be used in conjunction with behavioral modification to correct the
inciting cause of the destructive behavior."10 This type of combination has
shown extremely positive results from my experience.
The reasons that
parrots pluck are probably almost as numerous as the birds themselves. However, this type of behavior modification
training can often help the bird that plucks due to stress and insecurity.
Whether or not the plucking stops entirely depends primarily on how long the
behavior has been in existence, and how consistent the owner can become.
Psychogenic feather destruction of short duration will often totally cease with
the implementation of training. Feather destructive behaviors of long duration
rarely cease – but they often do decrease dramatically.
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This
article was first published in the 1998 Proceedings for the
Annual
Conference of the Association of Avian Veterinarians.
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