The Avian Behavior Podcast Hillary Hankey

The Problem Solving Paradigm teaches you how to manage really complex and sometimes uncontrollable variables when trying to train your bird, so you actually can realize real change.
 
Because let's just be honest here - trying to train new skills in a busy household or work environment is REALLY hard.  Life happens! Uncontrollable variables like family members, other trainers, and outside influences - like the mailman, construction, random crows flying above - can get in the way of your progress.
 
We go through three specific phases as well as how and when we apply them.
Ready to solve your toughest bird behavior problems?
Want a deeper dive? ►The course!
For more bird training and behavior tips: ►Try out our free Bird Behavior Toolkit! Loads of videos for free!
► Take the free 5-day Go Home Challenge and teach your bird to go home voluntarily!

Board certified avian veterinarian Dr. Scott Echols discusses some pretty intense concepts in veterinary and wellness technology. He covers how new technology is discovering diseases we never even knew existed and how we are able to diagnose and treat them. We also talk about how CT scans are able to help us identify issues that blood screening and biopsies aren't catching, which for me is has come up when I take a bird to the vet because I know something is off but we can't find anything wrong.
We discuss feather destructive issues and avian bornavirus y'all, in ways that really help us understand what is an underlying issue and what is not.
If you are just not getting enough avian information in your ears, fear not! We have a virtual conference coming up! TheAvian Online Conference for Education and Training  (AvOCET) is coming up in March 2023. You can submit a paper, discuss amongst peers and professionals, and network like a boss!
Don't forget, Lab Member, you get a discount! It's inside the Lab and in your weekly emails.

Bonus release from our earlier interview with Jon Rossi of the Rossifari Podcast. We talk free flight training and how it relates to our leadership philosophies, being a woman in leadership, bird nerdin' and so much more. You can check out our swapped episode on mentorship on Jon's Rossifari podcast page and so much more on zoos, conservation, and animals.
If you are loving our ethos on animal training, teaching and working with humans and non-humans, check out the Avian Behavior Lab and you can take advantage of our free trial for 14 days with the code AVIAN.

Using food as a contrived reinforcer to train our parrots is often fraught with emotions and tension. And not without good reason. But we can discuss the differences in contrived reinforcement and natural reinforcement and how both are important components in building strong relationships and decode our interactions with our birds. These concepts can uncover why our birds might stop doing what they used to do, what skills they need to build to be successful in our homes and lives and how we can become better buddies together. Show notes cite our references here.
As always, let us know what you think on our social media and in the Avian Behavior Lab community forum as a Premium Member.
Join the Avian Behavior Lab for a free 14 day trial with the code AVIAN
Check out our Patreon

Training free lofted birds of prey can be an incredibly enriching program for trainer and bird, but it can also lead to an unnecessarily protracted program that brings all parties a lot of stress. Bird of prey trainers that are interested in this type of training need to assess a number of environmental conditions, including their own skills and support system in their assessment prior to commencing a project such as this. This is because a lot of stress can be transmitted, either in over management of weight or in rehearsal of fear patterns while we plod on, footloose and fancy free of deadlines. We highlight two case studies of two very different birds we recently worked with free lofted, as well as discuss the costs and benefits of free loft training
It's MemberFest at the Avian Behavior Lab this week! We have our special for premium annual memberships, a limited release of our sold-out  mentorship program, behavior makeovers, and much more!
Our 2022 workshops are also completely full and we will be announcing our 2023 workshops this month.
 

Why does science in animal care matter? My bestie Barbara Heidenreich and I sit down - this time in person - for a conversation about what it actually means to be scientific in animal care and behavior. And why that's important. We talk about natural behavior, species differences, the constructional approach, and so much more.
Resources for the Avian Behavior Lab (it's growing, people! We have big things on the horizon!) can be found on the link.
You can check out Barbara's Animal Training Fundamentals Program, of which I am a proud member and affiliate, also here.