Behavior of Exotic Pets

Valarie V. Tynes

• Verlag: Wiley-Blackwell
• Jahr: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781118710395
• Auflage: 1
• Thema: Medizin
• Thema: Veterinärmedizin

Behavior of Exotic Pets is the first book on the subject to be written by behavioral experts, all with a wealth of practical experience. Divided into species-specific chapters, the book explains the normal behavior for each group of animals, including reproduction, parenting, communication and social behavior. The book also addresses animals' environmental needs based on their behavior to enable owners to provide better husbandry and avoid potential problems. Descriptions of common behavioral problems are included, with practical recommendations for their treatment or management.

This text is essential for any veterinary professional who would like to improve their knowledge of exotic animal behavior. It also serves as a valuable reference for animal behaviorists, exotic animal veterinarians, veterinary students, and anyone caring for these animals in captivity.

Key features:

• The first and only book on exotic pet behavior written by behaviorists
  
  

• Covers a wide range of exotic pet species
  
  

• Discusses methods for treating and managing common behavioral problems
  
  

• Offers practical advice on topics such as housing and handling of animals
  
  

• Includes separate chapters on learning, welfare, and behavioral pharmacology
  
  

1

Psittacines

Lynn M. Seibert and Wailani Sung

Introduction

Flock behavior

Flock hierarchy

Diet

Reproduction

Parental care

Vocal communication

Non-vocal communication

Diagnosis and treatment of common behavior problems of psittacine birds

Behavioral evaluation

General treatment considerations

Fears and phobias

Feather plucking and self-mutilation

Reproductive behavior problems

Aggression

Excessive vocalization

Conclusions

References

Introduction

Currently, there are over 9000 documented species of birds living on Earth.¹ Birds are among the most popular companion animals in the United States. Psittacine birds, in particular, are appealing companions because of their social behavior, exotic plumage, and vocal mimicry ability. There are over 300 different species of birds in the order Psittaciformes living in various parts of the world. They are found mainly in tropical and sub-tropical forests located in Central and South America, Australia, Southern Asia, New Guinea, New Zealand, and Central Africa, occupying habitats ranging from grasslands to mountain ranges to arid plains. The percentage of households in the United States keeping pet birds was estimated to be 3.9% in 2007, with the total number of pet birds estimated to be 11,199,000.²

Common characteristics of psittacine birds are hooked beaks with a downward curved upper maxilla that fits over an upward curved lower mandible and a thick, muscular tongue. They have a zygodactyl toe arrangement, with the second and third toes projecting forward and the fourth toe and hallux projecting backward.² These specialized feet allow them to maintain a good grip on branches and enable them to hang upside down or sideways. While climbing, psittacine birds use both their feet and beak for grasping.

The order Psittaciformes includes the families Loriidae, Cacatuidae, and Psittacidae. The birds belonging to this order are more commonly referred to as psittacines. The family Cacatuidae includes all cockatoo species and the cockatiel. The family Loriidae includes the lories and lorikeets. The family Psittacidae includes Amazons (Amazona spp.), pionus parrots (Pionus spp.), macaws (Ara, Cyanopsitta, and Anodorhynchus spp.), conures (Aratinga, Cyanoliseus, and Pyrrhura spp.), rosellas (Platycercus spp.), budgerigars (Melopsittacus spp.), grass parakeets (Neophema spp.), African gray parrots (Psittacus spp.), Cape, Jardine’s, Ruppell’s, Meyer’s parrots (Poicephalus spp.), lovebirds (Agapornis spp.), hanging parrots (Loriculus spp.), ringnecked parakeets (Psittacula spp.), and fig parrots (Opopsitta and Psittaculirostris spp.).

Psittacine birds are highly social. In their natural habitats, they typically live in large social groups with complex intraspecific interactions. Their daily activity patterns include flying, foraging, resting, and self-maintenance, as well as interactions with other members of the group. In captive settings, it is not uncommon for psittacine birds to develop abnormal behaviors. In order to provide suitable captive environments and effectively manage undesirable behaviors of captive pet birds, there must first be an understanding of natural psittacine behavior.

Flock behavior

Psittacine birds form complex social groups called flocks. Flock formation serves to reduce predation pressure, facilitate cooperative foraging, improve reproductive success, and strengthen territorial defense.³ Birds travel to different areas to locate adequate food, and flocking increases the efficiency of food-searching activities. Flocking provides security for group members and allows them to forage more efficiently in a shorter amount of time. There is increased safety within a large flock such that individuals located in the center of the group are less likely to fall victim to predators.³

Flock size can vary depending on the availability of certain resources, such as food or nesting sites. Species that rely on small clumped food sources, such as fruit trees, tend to live in small diurnal feeding flocks. Galah cockatoos (Cacatua roseicapilla) and budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus) utilize widely dispersed food resources and typically form larger flocks.⁴ A large roosting flock will often separate into smaller foraging flocks during the day. This may be a strategy adapted to minimize intraspecies competition for food.⁵

The parrots’ day consists of a cyclic pattern of flying, vocalizing, foraging for food, resting, grooming, and social interactions.^6,7 Most flocks are active soon after sunrise, but tend to decrease their activities during the warmer periods of the day.⁶ In the evening with decreased light available for foraging, birds engage in intraspecies social activities and focus on predator avoidance.⁸

Flock hierarchy

Within any complex social group, a system must evolve that enables flock members to determine allocation of resources and coexist with minimal aggression. Overt aggression directed at members of the flock would interfere with flock activities and increase the risk of injury and mortality within the flock. The formation of a dominance hierarchy promotes stable, predicable interactions between flock members. A dominance relationship is said to exist when a consistent pattern of dominance–submissive postural signaling occurs between two individuals within the group. The higher-ranking individual will exhibit assertive behavior toward the subordinate, and the subordinate will passively defer, reducing the incidence of overt aggression. Dominant (assertive) or submissive (subordinate) behavioral responses are determined by the outcomes of previous interactions between the individuals involved.³ Once a dominance relationship has developed, it functions to decrease aggressive encounters between flock members, reducing competition and conferring priority of access to limited resources to higher-ranking individuals. The following behaviors were exhibited by assertive members of a cockatiel flock: turn threat, beak gape, peck threat, beak spar, peck, wing flapping, sidle approach, slow advance, and rushing and flight approach.⁹ Birds exhibiting submissive or appeasement behaviors typically crouch, fluff their feathers, wag their heads, lift a foot, or avoid assertive flock members.³

The individuals with higher rank may benefit from preferred access to food resources, roosting sites, nests, and mating opportunities.³ Hardy noted that aggression occurred more frequently during feeding, bathing, or seeking roosting sites.⁶ Seibert and Crowell-Davis found that higher-ranking males in a captive flock of cockatiels had greater access to mates and preferred nest boxes.⁹ They also noted that males were more aggressive than females, and females were more aggressive toward other females than males. While dominance relationships are critical to flock success and stability, the existence of cross-species dominance relationships has not been investigated.

Diet

In the wild, parrot diets are dependent upon the environment. Parrots are opportunistic foragers that primarily consume fruits, nuts, and seeds.^7,10,11 They have high-energy requirements due to their foraging and reproductive efforts. They may occasionally ingest insects while consuming their staple diets. Keas (Nestor nobalis) inhabiting the alpine region of New Zealand are the only parrots known to be omnivorous. Their diet includes plants, seeds, fruits, insects, and carrion.^12,13 Lories and lorikeets have special dietary requirements. In their natural setting, lories and lorikeets feed on fruits, seeds, blossoms, buds, and berries; they also have a specialized tongue that allows them to collect pollen and nectar from flowers.¹⁴

Parrots will include seasonally available items in their diets. Scarlet macaws have been observed feeding on seeds, fruits, leaves, flowers, and bark from 43 different plant species in Costa Rica. Some of the food items are nonnative plants introduced in the local area for agricultural purposes.^11,14

Reproduction

Male birds display certain ritualized behaviors during courtship. Male budgerigars display head bobbing during courtship.¹⁵ Other psittacine courtship behaviors consist of bowing, head pumping, hopping, wing flicking, flapping, tail wagging, and strutting.¹⁶ Male cockatoos may erect the crest feathers during a courtship display, along with opening the wings and spreading the tail feathers. When the cockatoo crest is erected during times of non-breeding, it may be an indication of excitement or arousal. Psittacine birds also use vocalizations specific to courtship. Budgerigars sing a warble song to synchronize reproductive behavior between the breeding pair. Male budgerigars have been found to warble at a higher rate than females.⁴

There are many reproductive systems used by avian species. The type of system used is dependent on ecological and social factors.¹ To briefly summarize, the different systems are:

• Polyandry—A female forms pair bonds with multiple males. Both females and males provide parental care.
• Polygynandry—Males and females both pair with multiple partners. They form a communal nest and all individuals participate in raising the offspring.
• Polygyny—A male breeds with multiple females. The female is responsible for raising the offspring. The male may not provide any parental care.
• Monogamy—A single male and single female form a pair bond for breeding and raising the offspring through the season. This is one of the most common mating systems in the avian world.

Within a monogamous reproductive system, several different breeding strategies can be employed to ensure the survival of offspring.

• Territorial breeding—A pair defends an established territory that contains the nesting site, or food and other resources.
• Colonial breeding—All mating pairs position their nests in a colony. This strategy is chosen when there are limited nesting sites near a food resource. Cooperative defense against predators is a key characteristic of colonial breeding.
• Cooperative breeding—The breeding pair has helpers, who may be individuals from their previous brood, who assist in feeding and protecting the offspring.

Pair bonding

Pair bonding is defined as a mutual attachment between a male and a female for the purpose of reproduction. Members of a bonded pair show preferential affiliative behaviors toward their mate, characterized by allopreening, beak touching, and allofeeding. Bonded pairs will often mutually exclude other individuals from these interactions. Males have been known to regurgitate to their partners as part of their courtship, but this behavior may also function to strengthen and maintain the pair bond.¹² Bonded pairs have also been observed to engage in aggressive behavior in defense or support of the mate.⁶

Allopreening usually occurs between breeding pairs or preferred associates and provides mutual benefits to the performer and recipient.³ The preening is often directed to the head and areas of the body that the recipient cannot easily reach. For a bonded pair, the physical interaction of allopreening serves to strengthen their relationship. Allopreening occurs most frequently w...

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• Cover Page
• Contents
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contributors
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Dedication
• 1 Psittacines
• 2 Passerines
• 3 Snakes
• 4 Turtles, tortoises, and terrapins
• 5 Lizards
• 6 Ferrets
• 7 Rabbits
• 8 Guinea pigs
• 9 The mouse
• 10 Rats
• 11 Gerbils
• 12 Hamsters
• 13 Chinchillas
• 14 Prairie dogs
• 15 South American camelids
• 16 Hedgehogs
• 17 Sugar gliders
• 18 From parrots to pigs to pythons: Universal principles and procedures of learning
• 19 Behavioral pharmacology in exotic pets
• 20 Welfare of exotic animals in captivity
• Index