Visually Perceptive Parrots

Working with people to uncover the reasons behind certain behaviors makes me very aware that parrots have a keen sense of vision. They can spot the speck in the sky that we barely see, be it a plane or turkey vulture. They can become afraid of the new painting that we so proudly hang on the wall without a thought. They can tear into their bowl of food to discard the less desired and zero in on their favorite items. Their vision is far better than ours....period. I wonder if it deteriorates with age like ours?

Speaking of which, I recently had to get a new pair of eye glasses. I picked out frames very much like my old frames. Slightly different but not one human friend of mine commented on the change. My parrots, however, are ever so slightly reluctant to come to me without my voice asking them to. They aren't so sure it's me! This change is so subtle that not even my son noticed the difference! Awww, but my smart and perceptive slender billed cockatoo acted afraid. Keep this lesson in mind whenever you have a visual change in your bird's environment.

Half the battle in figuring out your parrot's behavior is seeing life as they see it and realizing that their instincts are to survive and not be eaten! Avoiding the new and different may be the difference between survival and injury or death.