Greywings

Good work on the research and good for you sharing your findings.

So you live in the land of Greys, how wonderful you can share information about the lands they come from. Welcome Kimberly Jane.

It is being touted as safe but I for one would not use it, better safe than sorry, just call me a wimp.

So very true I have found this to apply to cats & dogs as well.

It sounds like he just startled, poor baby. Looks like you did well with the exam and follow up, just watch the area for any redness, odor or swelling and report to your Veterinarian if you see any of these signs. Keep him a bit quiet today and continue to observe making certain he is eating, drinking and his balance is unaffected. Good work >:>

Ray has given you some good basic advice to follow. these quirky birds can change allegiance at the drop of a hat as well, they may love you today and some one else next month. Nice photos & Love the name too.

I believe that on occasion an escaped bird may be captured in one location and then escape the captors at a different location which can add distance and confusion to recovery.

18 May 2011 Last updated at 10:53

Parrots choose to work together

By Victoria Gill Science and nature reporter, BBC News The first parrot waits for the second before attempting the task

Continue reading the main story Related Stories

African grey parrots let their personalities shine through when it comes to problem-solving, a study has found.

Scientists developed a series of tasks for the birds, which revealed that they understood how to co-operate.

A team studying the birds at a research centre in Paris found that some birds preferred to work alone, while others liked to work together.

The findings are published in the journal Animal Cognition.

The problem-solving test the researchers designed was a miniaturised version of one that was originally developed to test chimpanzees' ability to work in teams.

Continue reading the main story “Start Quote

Dalila Bovet Behavioural scientist

It was recently scaled up to test co-operation in elephants.

The apparatus required two parrots to pull on a string at the same time in order to pull a tray towards them and obtain a food reward.

"The birds were able to coordinate," explained Dr Dalila Bovet from Paris West University Nanterre La Défense, who led the study.

"They understood that they needed a partner to solve the task, and they waited for him."

Grasping this concept of need for teamwork elevates African greys to a "cognitive elite" that includes chimpanzees, elephants and the birds' impressively clever cousins, the corvids - a group that includes crows and magpies.

Parrots know how to co-operate

But these birds had an even more impressive ability; they were able to collaborate, with each bird contributing to the task in a different way.

"We used another task in which one individual had to climb on a perch in order to release the tray that was pulled by the second bird," said Dr Bovet.

The parrots were able to carry out these different but complementary actions, although they did have trouble exchanging roles.

Solo or duo? Leo and Zoe were reared together

The three birds involved in this study also adjusted their strategies according to their personalities and their relationships with each other.

"We carried out one test where we gave them the choice between two apparatus - one that yielded a reward when handled alone and another baited with twice as much food per bird but which required co-operation to obtain it," explained Dr Bovet.

In this choice test, each of the birds behaved differently.

"One of them, Shango, behaved in a rather individualistic way, always choosing the 'solo' apparatus," Dr Bovet recalled.

The female, Zoe, only chose the 'duo' task if a male parrot called Leo was present. "They were reared together and liked each other," said Dr Bovet.

But Zoe refused to work with Shango.

"She seemed to prefer not to cooperate with him, even if it meant less food, whereas Leo always preferred to work with a partner," said the researcher.

"This shows that these parrots are not just conditioned to do something to obtain food.

"They have different personalities and they display flexible strategies."

Lovely little tyke.

Sounds very workable they should be fine. We keep birds outside 24 x 7 here in the Gulf Coast. Winter can get chilly some days are below freezing for a few hours, occasionally for a day or two. Our Summers hot and humid, but the birds do just great as long as they have clean water, good food and some shelter from direct Sun and precipitation so they can be in or out of the rain. I volunteer at the local Sanctuary where we keep everything from large Macaws to tiny Parrotlettes outside.

There are some negative effects to an all pellet diet as well, now we are seeing cases of early kidney & liver disease as well as some neurologic issues such as toe tapping and weak perch grip showing up in birds who have been on a pellet only diet. Hopefully they manufacturers have changed these products enough to make them safer now but I feed home made food, organic when possible, fresh as much as possible and supplement with both some seed mix and some pelleted foods offered. Just in case of any unforeseen issues-(flood, storm, earthquakes, manufacturer going out of business ect.)these birds will have a wide range of foods they can accept rather than being limited to one thing and failure to be able to get it resulting in a hungry bird.

Nice to hear that all is well.

You can keep most birds safely as long as they have sh ade to retreat into and for those extra hot days you could add a mister spray head on a timer. Works great and they are quite reasonable you can get one of those misting nozzles at most hardware or gardening stores. Do make certain security from rodents and snakes is one of your priorities.

Thank you all for the kinder board this year and for you time, efforts and talents that have made it this way.

Welcome among us, glad you are here and we look forward to those baby

grey tales.

Welcome back and nice to meet you and the flock! Always appreciate sharing our birdy photos Harrison is such a distinguished name.

Flowers and leaves- have a look at some Rangoon Creeper or just have fun and add whatever imaginary ones you like. [/url]Hibiscus flowers

Remember they are slow to accept change in diet, in toys, in routine and in their environment. This is a survival skill for them in the wild- to be aware , be alert to danger as they can be on another critters menu. It will take time but he will adjust, you act normal and happy and he will make the adjustment, albeit slowly.

Nice to have that information and good to move forward, YAY for you both.

Looking good and I know the feeling of finishing such a fun project has to be great! Lucky birds.

You'll find mixed opinions, but I choose to use water bottles for all my cages. Yes, they get changed with fresh water daily. There is no danger of food or feces growing bacteria in the water bottles.

Until you meet a bird that shoves wood splinters and bits of food into the nozzle. Inventive minds and all that.

Greys are remarkable birds and can adapt to much more severe injuries so should do well. Impressed that your breeder seems to be quite up front, some shoddy ones would have glossed over the leg issue or just ignored it. I would see if the Vet has any remarks or advice after examining the bird just for your benefit. As she said the legs should be fine but I suggest having the babies Calcium levels checked to be certain that all is well metabolically to avoid any future fractures.

Parrots do tricks without looking

April 29, 2011

Enlarge

Diagrammatic representation of how the psittacine binocular field is orientated during exploration in (a) an approach to an object and (b) manipulation of an object. In both, the binocular field width is plotted as a function of elevation in the median-sagittal plane. The last point at 150° elevation was extrapolated. Note that where the binocular field (shaded in blue) ends, the blind areas below and behind the head begin. This illustrates that (a) a parrot is likely to approach a target object with its head pitched downwards, so that the object is near the point of maximum binocular width (at 90° elevation) within the bird's field of view, which is thought to be near the point of highest visual acuity. However, once the object is actually grasped (b), tactile exploration, using the bill tip organ and ygodactyl feet, is likely to dominate visual exploration, as the parrot can only see just below its bill tip. Also the unique shape of the bill obstructs seeing the detail of anything held within the bill. Image: Proceedings of the Royal Society B, doi: 10.1098/rspb.2011.0374

(PhysOrg.com) -- Ornithologists at the University of Birmingham have discovered that parrots cannot see what they are doing when they carry out the tricky manipulations of objects, for which they are renowned. While parrots have a good field of vision in front, above and behind their head, they cannot see below their bill into the region where all the manipulation occurs. The research is published today in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

The researchers have been studying Senegal Parrots, which are popular cage birds but come originally from West Africa, where they inhabit woodland and savannah. They live on a diet of seeds, nuts, blossoms and fruit, and are known for their exploratory, playful behaviour and manipulative abilities.

The Birmingham Scientists have discovered that the parrots’ visual field is unlike those of any other bird species. It has a broad frontal binocular field and a near comprehensive view around the head. The scientists suggest that tactile cues that parrots receive from their unique bill-tip organ have led to the absence of visual coverage of the region below the bill. Parrots simply feel what they are doing with an object using a special touch sensitive bill-tip organ, but they cannot see what they are doing. The eyes are placed high in the skull to give an extensive field of view in front, above and behind the head, which is very useful for seeing predators or checking out what other parrots are up to nearby.

Because of their dexterity with their feet and legs parrots can if they wish bring food and other items up into their field of vision for close inspection before exploring them with the bill.

Zoe Demery, from the University’s School of Biosciences, says, ‘It has always been argued that foraging method is the prime determinant of a bird’s visual field configuration, but here we show that an investigative, playful nature can also affect how a bird's visual field evolves. We were very keen to study the Senegal parrot as parrots are so unique in terms of their anatomy, foraging technique and intelligence.

Dr Jackie Chappell, who was a co-author on the study adds, ‘Parrot fields of vision have never been investigated before. This research suggests that their vision has developed in this way because they are able to do so many things with their bill using touch that they don’t need to be able to see what they are holding. At the same time, with this expansive field of vision they can be vigilant against predators.’

Graham Martin, Professor of Avian Sensory Science, who also took part in the study, says, ‘We have never seen a visual field configuration like this in any other bird, and we have now looked at over 50 different species. It has always been known that parrots have many special features. We now know that their vision also makes parrots special.’

More information: This research is published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, entitled ‘Vision, touch and object manipulation in Senegal parrots Poicephalus senegalus’. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2011.0374

Abstract

Parrots are exceptional among birds for their high levels of exploratory behaviour and manipulatory abilities. It has been argued that foraging method is the prime determinant of a bird's visual field configuration. However, here we argue that the topography of visual fields in parrots is related to their playful dexterity, unique anatomy and particularly the tactile information that is gained through their bill tip organ during object manipulation. We measured the visual fields of Senegal parrots Poicephalus senegalus using the ophthalmoscopic reflex technique and also report some preliminary observations on the bill tip organ in this species. We found that the visual fields of Senegal parrots are unlike those described hitherto in any other bird species, with both a relatively broad frontal binocular field and a near comprehensive field of view around the head. The behavioural implications are discussed and we consider how extractive foraging and object exploration, mediated in part by tactile cues from the bill, has led to the absence of visual coverage of the region below the bill in favour of more comprehensive visual coverage above the head.

Provided by University of Birmingham

I live with 2 Too's and 3 Greys and I can tell you the Too's are the loudest. I also /volunteer at the local Parrot Sanctuary and work with all kinds of birds to me the Conures are the most likely to bite, hate feeling so helpless but am afraid I could accidentally injure one just trying to protect myself. They are also have the most piercing voices it goes right through my ear and into my brain-painful. Each too is as different in personality and interactions as we all are. Go read some posts old and new at Tooztalk.com for some insight into life with a Cockatoo.

Loved reading that! Wonderful interaction you have with him.