Polly want to learn?
'Boot camp' program in Lockport lets birds be all that they can be
As seen in The Sun: Homer Township - Lockport - Lemont (IL)
March 2, 2005
By: Louise Brass

Tina Usher, a certified avian specialist, sets up her "Disneyland for Birds" equipment with ladders, swings and bird-size knickknacks and lets the recruits clamber all over the brightly colored equipment.

The birds, with names such as Shelby, Ginger and Bosco, chatter and flap their way around Disneyland, challenging their climbing skills using claws and beaks, while their owners swap stories about potty training, the appropriate use of birdie pinatas and what to say and what not to say in front of a parrot.

Birds, especially moluccans, will pick up what you say very quickly if you say it with emotion, Usher cautioned, because parrots love drama.

But an elegant 20-year-old green and gold harlequin macaw named Ginal had nothing to say, at least not during a recent boot camp. Instead, she watched quietly on a perch beside her owner, while a Moluccan cockatoo chattered at random.

Suddenly, a sulphur-crested cockatoo spread its white wings and took flight around the room, and the other cockatoos followed.

Parrots live 80 years or more, while macaws can live to be 100, Usher said. She has two pet birds, a sulphur-crested and a Congo African gray.

Birds like to bond with their owners, and even though parrots are not native to Illinois, one particular breed, the small green monk parakeet, has adapted here in the wild.

"They have been living in the wild in Chicago for over 20 years. They are thriving, and they are migrating further west now," she said.

A pet bird might like to watch TV or sit at your dinner table. "All the time your bird is learning," she told the group. Usher believes bird owners can learn to read their pets' signals and understand the subtle clues of their body language.

Potty training is easy for a bird, she said. As with training a puppy, lots of praise is important. "Some birds will let you know, because they get fidgety."

"Toys are important. Lots and lots of toys are very important for mental stimulation," she told a group of six parrot owners, who brought their birds out to the boot camp in the heated facility on a chilly Sunday afternoon in February.

The birds were instructed in some new behavioral skills and new ways to play and amuse their owners.
"Our birds have a very short attention span, and they get bored easily," Usher said.

Then there is the natural urge to chew, which is prevalent in parrots. But there is an array of chewable toys on the market that can prevent unwanted chewing problems.

Wood, plastic, rubber, rope -- all types of textured toys are important, she said.

Natural fibers are best, she advised, but plastic chains can be good for climbing and are cheaper than rope chains.

"But they need toys that they can tear up, rip up and destroy. They have to have toys to destroy," she said.

The group agreed that toilet paper rolls work well and can be destroyed at will.

But if a complex toy looks like it's getting dangerous, just take it away, the trainer advised. Jingle bells can be dangerous, because toenails can get caught in the bells.

Birds can soon tire of toys, even those that require some thinking to operate, because they are so intelligent, she said. Usher spent $40 on a gadget toy, with parts that pop out. It took one of her birds only five minutes to figure it out.

"Now, it's old hat," she said.

Usher is the proprietor of The Parrot's Perch, a small aviary in Evergreen Park. She has operated the aviary since 1981 and specializes in Congo African grays, moluccans, umbrella and medium sulphur crested (Elenora) cockatoos and green wing macaws.

"My birds are well adjusted, gentle and loving because they are hand-fed and home-raised with lots of TLC," UsApril 2, 2008

All of her baby parrots are hand-raised. She leaves the babies in the nest with their parents for the first couple of weeks after their birth to allow them to receive natural food from the mother birds.