Help from Large Parrot Owners?

[goffins2015]

Hi everyone. I am an undergraduate student doing work on cockatoo play behaviour. I will be working with 12 hand-reared individuals in a lab but will have very limited time so I don't think I will be able to do pilot testing. So I would like to know if parrot owners (specifically Goffin cockatoos if possible) could let me know what their parrots' attention span is like, playing with a single simple toy (eg. a parrot safe wooden cube). I need to have a general idea of how long it will interest them for and how much that varies between individuals. If you could provide videos of the bird playing so I can look at the behavioural patterns that would be awesome too. Thanks!

[liz]

You have birds in a lab?

[goffins2015]

I don't but a very respectable university works with birds in a large aviary. Birds are voluntarily called into the lab for experimental procedures they enjoy and collaborate with (nothing is forced upon them). They are not trained to do tricks and food/water is provided ad libidum. So for them it's more of a play area than a lab, really.

Here is a hand-reared New Caledonian crow in a lab under similar circumstances:
https://youtu.be/ZerUbHmuY04

[liz]

Crows are so smart.

Okay, I see what you mean that they come in to play. I thought they were kept caged.

[goffins2015]

They have actually warned me to be really careful keeping them OUT of the lab space because they are so eager to do the experiments!

[liz]

You can see their potential. What do you need from us?

I have cockatiels and amazons. They are not the smallest or the largest. My cockatiels are such a joy. I have allowed them to flock which is what they would do in the wild. They have rewarded me with their happiness. My Amazons are two rotten little kids. With my memory I just say Rambo is 20+ and equivalent to a 5 year old. Myrtle is 5 years old an equivalent to a 2 year old spoiled little girl.

Some members want to trick train and teach their birds to talk. Most of us consider them our kids and we talk about them like kids. They think, premeditate, throw tantrums and talk back. They want to do what they want to do and we have to correct them until they finally accept what we say. Each one has it's own personality. My cockatiels are loose in their own room and each one has a different personality.

I feel like this is a neighborhood. I know most of my neighbors kids by name and know their personalities. When one gets sick we all stress over it. When one dies we all morn.

There are cockatoos and macaws in the forum. What do you need from us?

[goffins2015]

Yeah I own birds too An orange-winged amazon and five cockatiels. Sadly I can't do preliminary tests on them because I live abroad while I'm at university. My parents take care of them while I'm here.
I just want to know how long they maintain interest in a single simple toy for. Five minutes? Ten minutes? How long until they lose interest and move on to playing with something else instead?

[liz]

It depends on the bird and the toy. Rambo and Myrtle have a ball with a ball inside and a bell in the smaller bull. They will beat it around and make it holler for about 3 minutes before moving on to something else.

I am disabled and live on Social Security and a VA pension. I put more money into their care than I do mine. I find toys for them. Myrtle's favorite is a shower curtain rings hanging like a chain. She will play with it in excess of 30 minutes or until she has separated each link.

Before I took Rambo in he did not have any toys. He did not know how to play. His day was spent being human. Myrtle came without toys but being so young once she calmed down she turned everything into a toy. When I get busy there have been times that I realized Myrtle had been quiet for about an hour. (just like a kid, I have to find out what she is into). When I find her she has something she should not have and taring it apart. So she had played with it for about an hour.

[goffins2015]

Thanks, that's very helpful! Are those 30 minute sessions with the chain uninterrupted?

[liz]

She can't be distracted unless I take it from her.