Physical activity tied to mental development

I took a lot of neurology classes in my master's level coursework, and they had found a very definite correlation between a child's activity level and neurological development. Concern being that kids who sit in front of the TV and are not physically active are at a high risk for Learning Disabilities and attention deficit disorder.

Makes one wonder what happens when birds are not allowed to fly when they are babies... does it impair their learning potential as well? So many are clipped and kept clipped as soon as they get feathers.

I have left my babies to be full flighted so that they had adequate time to develop their flying skills. I was told that it is important in allowing them to develop their heart and cardiovascular system. It is amazing to watch the babies go from crashing into everything, to making multiple controlled flights around the room and landing smoothly where they choose! I can see their mental development in this process as well. Inititally they take off without having any idea where they will end up to eventually clearly choosing their destination and making calculationsbefore they take off.

I have learned that I eventually needed to do a limited wing trim after they have mastered flight to keep them from spending all of their time up on the ceiling fan or the top of the speakers 11 feet off the ground. I just get too exhausted hauling out the ladder!! They are drawn to those high places, but clearly expect me to just fly up to join them! So after a month or so of flying, I trim the first four flight feathers slightly, to prevent them from gaining altitude but still allowing them to fly.

With Java and Kiwi, I only trimmed their wings that one time and now have left them full flighted. As long as they maintain a good attitude, I do not like to trim their wings, but I know that if they become too cocky, a wing trim and return to some kindergarten lessons might be in order. This picture is of Kiwi, who does love to fly up to the ceiling fans (which are NEVER turned on) but who comes down to me willingly fairly soon.

Studies in Parrot Speech

I have been reading about parrot communication. It has emphasized to me how much there is yet to learn about parrots and what they understand and how they are able to communicate with people. This article indicated that parrots usually learn "a few words" before a year of age, and that they rarely learn anything new after 8 years of age. All of our handfed babies have started to talk at around 4-6 months of age and have had incredible vocabularies by 8-12 months. I feel that most of the words they use are things they heard in the first year or two and it seems like new things are acquired more slowly after that. Coco and Charlie are twenty and I continue to hear new words and phrases from them. But I do agree with one thing that they say, and that is the more they learn early on the bigger capacity for vocabulary they will have as they grow older. Alex, the African gray, is one of the few parrots who has really been studied for his capacity to learn language is still learning new words daily and he is 20 years old. He is exceptional because he is worked with for several hours each day.

I wish I could share the reference for this article, but I did not write it down. She says that when our birds ask us questions, if we want them to go beyond mimicry, then we need to treat that question seriously and answer them. I do that, and sometimes I feel silly, but Coco and Charlie are always asking me questions... like "What are you doing?" "What's the matter?" "Are you OK?" So I answer them, but sometimes I wonder if people would think I am nuts when I am explaining to a parrot why I am mopping the floor! They seem to understand that "What are you doing?" is a question they ask when someone is doing something, performing an action. They don't ask me that when I am just talking to them.

And Remember Charlie, too!

Last night, Alissa and I were down visiting Coco and Charlie. Alissa offered Coco a peanut saying, "Coco,do you want a peanut?" Charlie instantly said, "Coco AND Charlie want a peanut!"

When Coco and Charlie were young, they were in separate cages. Charlie would always say, "Charlie wants a drink of water." or "Charlie wants a peanut!" Then he would go over to Coco's cage and check her dishes, saying, "Coco wants a drink," or "Coco wants a peanut." But we never heard him speak of just himself again after the day that they were put together. Charlie immediately always said, "Coco AND Charlie want a peanut" ...or a drink of water or whatever else. To me this really is evidence of the Amazon's ability to comprehend more complex language forms.

I also see this in their ability to interchange words in phrases that they use frequently. For example, when my sister Peggy came to visit my parents, she taught Coco to say, "I miss Peggy!" and then to cry. When my parents babysat a parrot for a few months, Coco started to say, "I miss Charlie!" and then cried! (This was a different Charlie, not the fine man who would become her mate! Don't tell Charlie, he thinks he's the only guy in her life!)