The New Foraging Sub-forum!

[Anansi]

Hello, and welcome to our newest sub-forum: Foraging. And a big thanks to Chris (chris-md), long-time and cherished member of our Parrot Forums family, for the suggestion.

For anyone new to the topic of foraging, you might be wondering why it merits it's own sub-forum. What makes foraging so important? Well, keep in mind that our parrots are extremely intelligent. And while they are fundamentally different from us in so many ways, their minds crave stimulation and diversion every bit as much as ours do.

Consider that, in the wild, birds' days are filled with activity. They search and forage to survive. (Male eclectus parrots, for example, are known to fly upward of forty miles in a given day searching for food.) Precious little of their time is spent idle. As such, they can find themselves bored and restless sitting in cages where all of their dietary needs are met with absolutely no effort on their parts.

And that kind of boredom can lead to unhappiness, frustration, and even negative behaviors such as screaming, plucking, or aggression.

But foraging allows them to engage their active minds. It gives them the satisfaction of solving a problem and earning the reward of a meal for their trouble. It lets them engage in behavior more like what they would be experiencing in the wild. Behavior more in line with their 'hard-wired' instincts.

Which tends to result in a happier bird.

So, this sub-forum is dedicated to Foraging. Whether you'd like to post a foraging idea, ask a foraging question, or share video of foraging activities, all posts would be encouraged and welcomed. We look forward to hearing from all of you.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Woohoo!!! As I'm reading this, I hear Cairo rustling through a paper bag I hid some figs in Can't wait to read all the different ideas here!

 

[chris-md]

I couldn’t agree more, charmed! This should be a very fruitful subforum!

 

[wrench13]

A foraging thing we do with Salty is to take crushed walnuts or pine nuts and roll a long cigar with a paper towel and then weave it thru the bars of his cage.

 

[Tami2]

Beautifully stated, Stephen, it is complete with substantive educational and historical informative content. Well done, my friend!


Here are a couple of recent things I’ve done.

Recycle the TP roll. I put a treat in the middle & fold the ends in to close them.

This is the first time I stuffed an artichoke for Levi. It was a big hit!

Levi loves bubble wrap. Here I added a 1/2 of hot pepper. But, he'll work the bubble wrap for anything.

I also use small empty boxes and cardboard egg cartons. He can work a an egg carton for a long time.

 

[Scott]

Thanks Chris for suggesting and Stephen for kicking off a new forum!

I know little about foraging and look forward to exciting ideas.

Terrific suggestions thus far from Al and Tami!!

 

[LaManuka]

Depending on your location, lorikeets are either the easiest to satisfy with a bit of natural foraging, or the most difficult. Here in Brisbane, the Crown Princess is often spoilt for choice as to what types of native flowers she is presented with on an almost daily basis. Even when she has picked over every millimetre she will still go back during the day to see if she has missed a spot. Some of the larger eucalypt blossoms will hold their shape for a good 24 hours, so I sometimes "recharge" them by dunking them in some watered down honey, then dusting them with some of her dry mix to replicate nectar and pollen. It keeps Lilly busy for hours and is hugely entertaining for me to watch too. Exhibit A here shows Lilly happily chowing down on some beautiful white bottlebrush flowers (added bonus is she smells just as sweet as the flowers when she's finished!)

[ame="https://youtu.be/Z1X1g41n2Ic"]https://youtu.be/Z1X1g41n2Ic[/ame]

Some days however it just isn't possible to get flowers if nothing is blooming, or if you don't happen to live in Australia they are impossible to obtain. I was recently inspired by those little silicone knobbly things you get on some bird toys that bear a striking resemblance to some native Aussie flowers, (actually they kinda look a little like coronaviruses too, eeeeek!) I've done the dunking in diluted honey trick and it seems to have met with Royal Approval - see Exhibit B below ...

[ame="https://youtu.be/nZxKPur1H-4"]https://youtu.be/nZxKPur1H-4[/ame]

 

[bill_e]

By foraging do you mean me scouring the internet for good deals on food and treat, ordering it, paying for it, figuring out how to open the package and then handing it to Nike? I got that down pat.

 

[Cycletim]

As soon as we saw the toilet paper roll treat holder we tried. Our grey loved it.
And we did a rendition of the artichoke with a honey dew we had here in the fridge our red belly loved that.

Thanks

 

[Anansi]

I'm loving all the foraging ideas we're seeing here already! And in every example shown, the level of engagement and joy is clearly visible on the birds' faces. I think I'm going to go try out that egg carton idea.

 

[bill_e]

I'm going to try hiding a cashew in a TP roll today and see if she notices it before tossing the roll out of her play area.

 

[bill_e]

As expected, Nike attacked the TP roll with the cashew inside and tore into it a bit before she tossed the roll out of her play area....about 5 times. I finally had to tear it open so she could see it, which didn't help and it fell out of the TP roll during her sixth toss from her play area.

I guess I need to find something she likes but is less aggressive towards...dont know what that would be at the moment.

 

[chris-md]

Bill, if Nike is target trained you can have her target the roll. Gentle targeting can help relieve the aggressive response.

 

[bill_e]

Chris, I have all the tools but alas no, she is not target trained.

 

[Cycletim]

We loaded it with treats the first time and tore a hole in it so our grey knew what was in there. We put less and less in now. And we no longer need to put a hole on it. After like 2 rolls. Have fun!

 

[chris-md]

Chris, I have all the tools but alas no, she is not target trained.

Omg please do it, and record it! It so much fun to do!