the important secret

[danmcq]

I got my "Wings" from Dave.

 

They work GreYt, sometimes I get too much lift though and hit the ceiling in excitement. ;-) Dayo just flies by me laughing.... and says "You Ok?"

[pearllyn]

Interesting thread. My observation, of my individual grey - she will step up from anywhere - high or low, and when she was biting, she would bite from anywhere, high or low!

The top of her cage is higher than both of us, though she rarely sits there, and all her perches and beds are lower than our head heights. She also often sits on top of doors or curtain rails.

I don't have my own wings yet, as I haven't passed my flying test. I think I'd be ok with the practical part, but would struggle with the written.

[JillyBeanz]

pearllyn wrote:

I don't have my own wings yet, as I haven't passed my flying test. I think I'd be ok with the practical part, but would struggle with the written.

 

You have SO walked into this next one......

 

THE FLYING SCOTSMAN!!!!! :laugh:

[crossfit]

Since people had mentioned they were still interested in this topic, I found a few other references. The first is cowritten by Susan Friedman, Ph.D, Steve Martin, and Bobbi Brinkler. It is a chapter in the book called, Manual Of Parrot Behaviour. The chapter is called Behaviour Analysis and Parrot Learning and has a subchapter on dominance.

 

The other I will attach here. It is a pdf file from Susan Friedman's web site and you can also find it here: http://www.behaviorworks.org/files/articles/The%20Struggle%20for%20Dominance%202001.pdf

 

Since the book is very expensive, I will quote a bit from it for you so you can get a taste:

 

"Even among scientists, the term "dominance" is ambiguous and varies significantly from report to report (an inherant problem with constructs). In technical usage, dominance generally describes some aspect of an animal's priority access to resources such as food, location, and mates, which is often achieved through agonistic control of another animal. However, in Barrow's Animal Behaviour Desk Reference (2001) there are seven different definations of social dominance, including four subcategories, one of which has two subtypes. As reported by Barrow, 'Hand (1986,p202) indicates that there is no agreement regarding how to define, or measure, social dominance'"

"To further complicate matters, Barnett suggests that 'Dominance should be distinguished from an animals superiority resulting from its being in its own territory. Dominance should also be distinguished from being a leader. Moreover a critical ommission in many discussions of dominance is variables such as changing motivations, contexts, and prior learning history.' This lack of scientific consensus about what dominance is should call into question its usefulness for understanding and managing companion parrot behavior (as is currently being done with wolves and dogs)."

 

She then goes on to talk about her research of the available studies and finds none in existance regarding domanince in parrot and human interactions. The only ones done between parrots were in very small flocks in breeding stock (a flock of 12 cockatiels for one example).

 

So, I can share more if people are interested but this book is excellent if you have a mind that enjoys scientific material and a budget that can afford a pricey book plus shipping.

[Greywings]

From observation in the wild I would deduce that the highest bird in the tree is the sentential, on duty to watch for predators and warn the flock of approaching danger.

[crossfit]

that would be my guess as well. In addition, rather then a single sentinel, the observations have been that with Greys, there are groups that are observing while other groups eat, then they switch.

[danmcq]

Good comments on height and sentinels. Crows and most other birds do the same. They work as a team for survival.

[pearllyn]

JillyBeanz wrote:

 

You have SO walked into this next one......

 

THE FLYING SCOTSMAN!!!!! :laugh:

 

EXCUSE ME!! Scotswoman if you don't mind!!! :laugh:<br><br>Post edited by: pearllyn, at: 2010/03/29 22:32

[Janfromboone]

Biting and Dominance is the best artical I've ever read on the subject. It all makes sense and is something we can all do. I'm going to print it and keep it for those times when I start to slip into the behavior of trying to express my dominance over Tobie.