The Avian Behavior Podcast

Board certified avian veterinarian Dr. Scott Echols discusses some pretty intense concepts in veterinary and wellness technology. He covers how new technology is discovering diseases we never even knew existed and how we are able to diagnose and treat them. We also talk about how CT scans are able to help us identify issues that blood screening and biopsies aren't catching, which for me is has come up when I take a bird to the vet because I know something is off but we can't find anything wrong.

We discuss feather destructive issues and avian bornavirus y'all, in ways that really help us understand what is an underlying issue and what is not.

If you are just not getting enough avian information in your ears, fear not! We have a virtual conference coming up! TheAvian Online Conference for Education and Training (AvOCET) is coming up in March 2023. You can submit a paper, discuss amongst peers and professionals, and network like a boss!

Don't forget, Lab Member, you get a discount! It's inside the Lab and in your weekly emails.

Bonus release from our earlier interview with Jon Rossi of the Rossifari Podcast. We talk free flight training and how it relates to our leadership philosophies, being a woman in leadership, bird nerdin' and so much more. You can check out our swapped episode on mentorship on Jon's Rossifari podcast page and so much more on zoos, conservation, and animals.

If you are loving our ethos on animal training, teaching and working with humans and non-humans, check out the Avian Behavior Lab and you can take advantage of our free trial for 14 days with the code AVIAN.

Using food as a contrived reinforcer to train our parrots is often fraught with emotions and tension. And not without good reason. But we can discuss the differences in contrived reinforcement and natural reinforcement and how both are important components in building strong relationships and decode our interactions with our birds. These concepts can uncover why our birds might stop doing what they used to do, what skills they need to build to be successful in our homes and lives and how we can become better buddies together. Show notes cite our references here.

As always, let us know what you think on our social media and in the Avian Behavior Lab community forum as a Premium Member.

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Training free lofted birds of prey can be an incredibly enriching program for trainer and bird, but it can also lead to an unnecessarily protracted program that brings all parties a lot of stress. Bird of prey trainers that are interested in this type of training need to assess a number of environmental conditions, including their own skills and support system in their assessment prior to commencing a project such as this. This is because a lot of stress can be transmitted, either in over management of weight or in rehearsal of fear patterns while we plod on, footloose and fancy free of deadlines. We highlight two case studies of two very different birds we recently worked with free lofted, as well as discuss the costs and benefits of free loft training

It's MemberFest at the Avian Behavior Lab this week! We have our special for premium annual memberships, a limited release of our sold-out mentorship program, behavior makeovers, and much more!

Our 2022 workshops are also completely full and we will be announcing our 2023 workshops this month.

Why does science in animal care matter? My bestie Barbara Heidenreich and I sit down - this time in person - for a conversation about what it actually means to be scientific in animal care and behavior. And why that's important. We talk about natural behavior, species differences, the constructional approach, and so much more.

Resources for the Avian Behavior Lab (it's growing, people! We have big things on the horizon!) can be found on the link.

You can check out Barbara's Animal Training Fundamentals Program, of which I am a proud member and affiliate, also here.

ICYMI, petkeeper is a derogatory term in a niche community like falconry. This episode explores the roots of some falconry disagreements and why it's so important to find a supportive community that fosters curiosity and an ethical training paradigm that fits you and your bird's needs.

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The weekend effect in wildife

Decline in hunting is a crisis in wildlife conservation funding

Whoa baby, y'all, this is another incredible interview that gives you a whole 'nother paradigm to the think about in animal training. Let's blow the lid off of the way we think of operant conditioning and dive deep with Maasa Nishimuta and Sean Will of CAAWT, or the Constructional Approach to Animal Welfare and Training. This conversation will have you rethinking the four quadrants, what the consequence(s) of your animal's behavior might be, and how you think about problem behavior.

CAAWT website and membership

Donate to help more shelters learn the humane and effective constructional approach

The CAAWT Podcast

Register for the CAAWT Conference

Interested in some of the non-linear and constructional discussions we are having in the Lab? Try out a Premium Membership with the coupon code AVIAN for 14 days at the Avian Behavior Lab

Our second interview with Dr. Scott Echols, Diplomat- ABVP - Avian Specialty, nutrition expert, and, geez, there so many epithets we can tag on here. In this episode, we talk about avian dietary supplements, Omega-3 fatty acids, the ol' pellets versus raw diet debate, and a few other questions within this topic. You might want to bring a pen and paper to this one. Our Avian Behavior Lab members and Patreon patrons get to ask questions for our expert here, as well as binge on these multiple part interviews, which will cover many topics.

The webinar we mentioned sponsored by Lafeber is right here

Join the Lab for a 14 day free trial with the coupon code AVIAN here!

Our September 2022 Bird of Prey workshop is open for registration.

The Advanced Animal Training and Behavior Workshop has a waitlist with registration opening in May of 2022

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Owl ambassadors can be tough to train, but in our opinion, so worth it. They are powerful conservation ambassadors for myriad of topics. We topic about two key things that we look at when we set ourselves up to train an owl ambassador. Our Owl Ambassador Masterclass gets really deep on this subject, and you can purchase it on demand at the Avian Behavior Lab.

If you are looking to brush up your skills with your bird of prey educators, try out a Premium Membership at the Avian Behavior Lab for free for 14 days with the code AVIAN

Our Workshops for the fall of 2022:

The waitlist for the Advanced Animal Training and Behavior Workshop:

Registration for the Bird of Prey Workshop is open!

Screaming is a big deal when you live with parrots, and boy do we know it. We just dropped the final lessons of our Screaming Masterclass in the Avian Behavior Lab. Eleven meaty lessons and worksheets filled with in depth how-to's and comprehensive approaches to this issue. We get you started in the right direction with this episode.

Check out https://avianbehaviorlab.com with the coupon code AVIAN for a free trial. More free resources at https://avian-behavior.org/podcast