Verhalten Archive - ForpusFakten https://forpusfakten.eu/en/blog/category/verhalten/ ... die Sperlingspapageien-Wissensbasis für alle vom Anfänger bis zum Nerd! Sun, 31 Dec 2023 11:38:58 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.2 https://forpusfakten.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/icon_global_ff.jpeg Verhalten Archive - ForpusFakten https://forpusfakten.eu/en/blog/category/verhalten/ 32 32 Warum macht mein Sperlingspapagei das? – Körpersprache und Verhalten verstehen https://forpusfakten.eu/en/blog/2023/11/07/koerpersprache-und-verhalten-verstehen/ https://forpusfakten.eu/en/blog/2023/11/07/koerpersprache-und-verhalten-verstehen/#respond Tue, 07 Nov 2023 13:27:30 +0000 http://192.168.188.9:8080/?p=216 Wir sind uns alle einig: Unsere gefiederten Freunde sehen bei allem was sie tun einfach zuckersüß aus. Dennoch fragen sich viele, was dieses oder jenes Verhalten eigentlich bedeutet oder wie ich erkenne, wann meine Sperlis entspannt, ängstlich oder aggressiv sind. Und das völlig zurecht, denn als Papageienhaltende liegt es in unserer Verantwortung das Verhalten und die Emotionen unserer Schützlinge richtig […]

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We can all agree on one thing: Our feathered friends are cute as a button no matter what they're doing. Still, many keepers wonder what this or that behaviour actually means or how I recognize when my parrotlets are relaxed, scared or aggressive. And rightly so because as parrot keepers it is in our responsibility to correctly read our protégés' behaviour and emotions. This way we can recognize when our parrots are doing well, when they're not, when they feel cornered or when breeding mood sets in.

Now, I'm not the first one to deal with this topic. However, most sources refer to large parrots whose behaviour differs from smaller species in several key aspects. In addition, behaviour differs from species to species. This blog post should serve as an introduction into behaviour of parrots in general but especially parrotlets in captivity. The accompanying wiki article offers a detailed encyclopedia of the behavioural repertoire of parrotlets.

Basics

The 4 characteristics for describing body language and behaviour

First, a few basics for reading body language in parrots. Overall, there are four characteristics providing us with information about a bird's emotional state:

1. The position of the feathers: Are they smooth, loose, ruffled or fluffed? Which parts of the plumage are erect and which are smooth?

2. The eyes: Are they wide open, relaxed, closed or is the bird blinking? Where does the bird look?

3. The posture: Does the bird make itself look small or big, does he sit upright or crouched?

4. The basic arousal or energy: Changes in the position of the feathers (both towards and away from the body) need energy, just as opening the eyes or any posture diverging from normal, relaxed perching. That means that everything that is not relaxed, i.e. low arousal, is tense, i.e. high arousal. If the parrot is aroused, its body is releasing energy. It only does so if something important (for survival) happens. That is why the body supplies large amounts of energy for reproduction, fear/flight and defence/fight.

With the help of these four characteristics you get a good picture of a parrots emotional state and what it's trying to communicate to his environment. Using this foundation, you can also assess unfamiliar birds and other parrot species quite well.

The most important basic emotions of body language

Mithilfe unserer vier Merkmale können wir nun die wichtigsten emotionalen Basiszustände beschreiben. Diese unterscheiden sich zwar von Art zu Art in ihren Details, der Grundaufbau ist jedoch bei allen Papageien gleich. Unser Maskottchen Forpi demonstriert das einmal für uns. 😉

Fear/tension

1. Feathers: smooth

2. Eyes: big, wide, round

3. Posture: stretched, upright

4. Arousal: high, tense

Cartoon eines Sperlingspapageien mit ängstlicher Körpersprache: der Körper ist lang, die Federn glatt angelegt, die Augen groß.

Anger/aggression

1. Feathers: erect

2. Eyes: almond-shaped or round

3. Posture: crouched, almost or fully horizontal

4. Arousal: high, tense

Cartoon eines Sperlingspapageien mit aggressiver Körpersprache: Der Körper ist geduckt, die Federn gesträubt, die Flügel abgestellt, der Schnabel offen

Friendly

1. Feathers: loose, relaxed, maybe slightly fluffed

2. Eyes: almond-shaped, almost or fully closed

3. Posture: neutral (neither upright nor crouched)

4. Arousal: low to medium

Cartoon eines Sperlingspapageien mit freundlicher Körpersprache: Körperhaltung, Augen und Gefieder sind locker/neutral, die Wangenfedern sind leicht nach vorn geschoben

Relaxed

1. Feathers: loose, relaxed or fluffed

2. Eyes: almond-shaped, almost or fully closed

3. Posture: neutral to small and round

4. Arousal: low, relaxed

Cartoon eines Sperlingspapageien mit entspannter Körpersprache: Der Körper ist klein/kugelig, die Federn locker aufgeplustert, die Augen geschlossen

Discomfort/sick

1. Feathers: extremely fluffed/ruffled

2. Eyes: almond-shaped, almost or fully closed

3. Posture: small, round

4. Arousal: very low, torpid/apathetic

Cartoon eines Sperlingspapageien mit kranker Körpersprache: Der Körper ist klein/kugelig, die Federn gesträubt, die Augen halb geschlossen

With these basics you can read the most important body language of your birdies, so you know when they're happy, stressed or if your couple harmonizes.

Understanding still more behaviour

The behavioural spectrum of parrots is much bigger, species-specific and includes much more than the covered body language. That's why the detailed behaviour encyclopedia article about parrotlets is this way:

Sperlingspapagei im Cartoo-Stil mit Brille und Absolventenkappe sitzt auf einem geöffneten Buch
Click here for the behaviour encyclopedia!

Sources

Alan B. Bond & Judy Diamond: Thinking like a Parrot – Perspectives from the Wild. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London 2019, ISBN 978-0-226-24878-3.

https://meine-papageien.wixsite.com/manu/blank-mop79 (as of 13.01.2023)

Johanna-Louise Dehne: Körpersprache und normale Verhaltensweisen der in Gefangenschaft lebenden Großpapageien. Arbeitsgemeinschaft Vogel und ich bei www.vogelforen.de, Infoblatt V03 2005.

Volker Munkes & Heidrun Schrooten: Papageienverhalten verstehen: Edition Gefiederte Welt. Ulmer, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-5446-3.

Werner Lantermann: Sittiche und Papageien – Verhalten in Freiland und Voliere. Oertel+Spörer, Reutlingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-88627-406-2.

Der Beitrag Warum macht mein Sperlingspapagei das? – Körpersprache und Verhalten verstehen erschien zuerst auf ForpusFakten.

]]> https://forpusfakten.eu/en/blog/2023/11/07/koerpersprache-und-verhalten-verstehen/feed/ 0 Warum streiten Sperlingspapageien so viel? https://forpusfakten.eu/en/blog/2023/11/03/warum-streiten-sperlingspapageien-so-viel/ https://forpusfakten.eu/en/blog/2023/11/03/warum-streiten-sperlingspapageien-so-viel/#respond Fri, 03 Nov 2023 10:14:10 +0000 http://192.168.188.9:8080/?p=1 Wer seine Sperlis eine Weile hat, wird, besonders bei Blaugenick-Sperlingspapageien, schnell beobachten, dass sich auch feste Paare streiten wie die Spatzen. Woran liegts? Am Namen?  Nein, das natürlich nicht. Es liegt sozusagen am Waffenarsenal. Wissenschaftliche Datenlage Eine Studie bei verschiedenen Keilschwanzlori-Arten zeigte, dass Arten, die größere Schnäbel haben, komplexere Drohgebärden zeigen (Serpell 1982). Die Forschenden interpretierten […]

Der Beitrag Warum streiten Sperlingspapageien so viel? erschien zuerst auf ForpusFakten.

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If you've had your parrotlets, especially pacific parrotlets, for a while, you will have noticed that they are fighting a lot. Why is that? The reason is, so to speak, the arsenal of weapons available.

Scientific data

One study on different Trichoglossus lorikeets showed that species with larger beaks exhibit more complex aggressive displays (Serpell 1982). The researches interpreted this to mean that bigger beaks can cause more severe injuries which is why conflicts should be contended without using the beak for as long as possible. A species killing one another during every fight about the last seed won't survive very long. Species with smaller, less dangerous beaks can afford to beat each other up a little without being seriously injured.

Something similar can be observed in the closely related Kea and Kaka. Though Keas have intimidating beaks, they have a much lower bite force than the related Kakas. The reason for this is that Keas live in the mountains and are therefore opportunistic omnivores who have a "multi tool" for a beak. Kakas on the other side live in forests and mainly eat fruits and seeds which have to be peeled and cracked open for which they need a stronger beak. If you compare both species, you can see that Kakas exhibit more bite inhibition dealing with each other than Keas do. In juveniles playing with each other, this can be observed especially well (or felt as a naive intern, ouch!). Keas properly nip each other without ever drawing blood (at least not with conspecifics), Kakas instinctively inhibit their strong bite, so play can remain playful.

Kopf eines subadulten Kea-Männchens, der Oberschnabel ist lang, aber schmal.
A Kea's beak. Photo by Ellephant, free to use under the Unsplash License, unsplash.com
Kopf eines Kakas, der Schnabel ist lang und breit, ein kräftiges Werkzeug
A Kaka's beak is sturdier and its bite force bigger. Photo by Matthias Speicher, free to use under the Unsplash License, unsplash.com

Transfer to parrotlets

If you transfer these findings to our parrotlets, a picture forms. Although all parrotlet species have large beaks relative to their body size (noticeable in comparison to budgies), as seed and berry eaters they don't need nor have much bite force. In addition, a small bird's beak is still small in absolute terms. That may be why, compared to other parrot species, you can observe relatively little ritualized aggressive displays when parrotlets fight, mostly they directly hack, peck and bite. Though parrotlets are known to bite off other birds' toes, bloody, let alone life-threatening injuries hardly ever occur during typical marital spats.

Observing Amazon parrots, cockatoos or other parrots with large nutcracker beaks, for instance, you can see much more complex aggressive displays. They ruffle feathers, fan out tails and growl with lowered bodies. Such so-called ritualized behaviour can be observed to a much lower degree and with less complexity in parrotlets.

So now we know why parrotlets fight so much. Because they can. 😉

You want to know more about parrotlet personality now? Have a look at the species blog post and the species encyclopedia.

You want to know more about what agressive behaviour looks like in parrotlets? Browse the behaviour encyclopedia!

Sources

Alan B. Bond & Judy Diamond: Thinking like a Parrot – Perspectives from the Wild. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London 2019, ISBN 978-0-226-24878-3.

Andrew U. Luescher: Manual of Parrot Behavior. Blackwell Publishing 2006, ISBN 978-0-8138-2749-0.

James A. Serpell (1982): Factors influencing fighting and threat in the parrot genus Trichoglossus. Animal Behaviour 30.4: 1244-1251. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-3472(82)80217-0

Der Beitrag Warum streiten Sperlingspapageien so viel? erschien zuerst auf ForpusFakten.

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