The Holistic Parrot by Leslie Moran
Words have meaning. They convey specific ideas and concepts that express a positive, a negative or a neutral emotional state. In my work for improving behaviors, including healing feather destruction, I instruct my clients to talk with their parrots as if they were speaking with a small child. Focus upon the desired behavior, use a calm and respectful tone of voice, select words that visually describe the behavior or action you want to elicit.
For example, if a parrot is excited and screaming loudly encourage them to, ‘Talk nice’. Use a lyrical voice while saying the ‘nice’ words you want them to speak. ‘Hello pretty bird, give me kiss’. When this situation develops with my two Blue and Gold Macaws, I focus on the desired behavior, I expect this behavior and I engage them in a manner that purposefully redirects them towards the desired behavior.
Researchers observing children during behavior studies, have noted that expectations do influence a child’s response and behavior. We will discuss the correlation between children and parrots.
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