PERSONAL ARTICLES

UNDERSTANDING YOUR BIRD
(not from your own perspective, but from your bird’s)
As interpreted by:
Francis D. Hilario - PIJAC - Certified Avian Speciaist (CAS)

Why can’t my bird be petted just like my friend’s bird? Why does he scream? Why is he turning my furniture into mulch? Why does my bird suddenly bite? Why is he not stepping up? Why is he an okay bird sometimes and then at other times he is not? How can I approach a cage-bound bird? Why, why, why, why?

These are just a few of the so-called “negative behaviors” of the pet bird. But the question that I usually ask is: “Do you think it is really negative behavior?” In my own opinion, this is not a negative behavior, but rather, just the bird’s natural response to its environment.

Let’s examine the aforementioned questions in detail and hope that my personal experience and interpretation of their behavior can give you an idea on why the bird may be acting the way it is.

1) My bird can’t be petted like my friend’s – One thing you have to understand is that no two birds are exactly alike when it comes to behavior. Just like humans, they have different traits unique from one another. We react according to how our parents reared us to adulthood, the environment we live in and the people around us. This is the same thing with the birds—the breeder needs to help and prepare the bird to be as sweet as possible by hand feeding, training them and introducing them to the outside environment. If your bird is not properly trained then you are in a situation in which you have to go back to stage 1 and re-introduce your bird to get used to human interactions. Start with verbal approach first—get him or her used to your voice and slowly pet him or her once in a while and you will be surprised that as days progresses you will be able to pet that bird just like your friend’s. Another approach that I do with this kind of bird is train the bird in a room where you can dim or adjust the light. They can’t see at night, so they will focus more on your voice. Start stroking the bird (with your dim light adjusted so you can see where he or she is) as he or she gets used to the stroking, increase your lighting and soon he or she will not just get used to your voice but with your physical presence as well. This is a big task but if you have the “CUP OF TEA” to share with your bird then you both will be okay.


C – onsistency,

U – nderstanding,

P – atience,


Of – fering reward and freedom for your bird and not to mention the


T – ime you spent with the bird and the kind of

E – nvironment your birds has, will

A – lways give you the sweetest bird.


You also have to consider a few factors as to why your bird can’t be petted--reasons like: the bird is at its peak of hormones or your bird is maturing (and just like our growing teenager kids, they want to be on their own).

A piece of thought that I usually give to those who want to have a bird, birds truly were meant to fly and they are not really our dogs who want to be petted every now and then. Don’t get frustrated if suddenly a cuddly bird bites, it is their nature and it is up to us human to know when we need to respect their true nature.

2) My bird Screams – Screaming is just natural for the birds, especially in the morning. Why is it natural? It is because in the wild this is their way of saying, “The sun is up and we have another day.” Have you noticed that in the morning, we all tend to raise our voice? Now here is the question, why is he screaming a lot? He was not doing it before and now he suddenly screams a lot. First thing that you have to do whenever you see this kind of change of behavior is check his or her environment. Is his or her cage changed to a location that is now a busy area? How can your bird relax or get sleep if his or her new location is the busy place that he or she could hardly rest or sleep? Is his or her location right in front of something that is scaring him or her? I went to visit a place one time from a call stating that his sun conure is screaming at the top of his lungs ever since she placed the cage right in front of his Green winged macaw. Need I explain this one? Will you also be screaming if every morning you wake up, every angle you look at, you are seeing this big bird right in front of you and also scares you when he opens his wings? Right after, we moved the bird to a comfortable new spot and ever since then the screaming has stopped. Another question related to screaming, “Whenever my bird screams, I approached him and once I am around, the screaming stops? Is this right behavior?” For me this is wrong, you have just trained your bird to have a negative behavior. Approaching a bird while he is screaming in my experience is wrong, you, as the owner of that bird just falls into his own trick—him or her screaming will be his or her way of getting you close to him or her. So he or she will just continue doing it over and over again until you are in a situation that you can’t come to him or her and thus screaming continues. What I suggest to people, whenever their birds screams is to shout back, higher than your normal voice so he can see the difference that screaming results to higher pitch. Again, going back to the wild, if the voice is louder than theirs, they get scared and they will settle down as otherwise, they will be somebody else’s lunch. I don’t approach my bird if they are screaming, I approach them when they are in their best behavior, this for me, is a more positive approach. One more thing to consider, never ever change the time schedule that you have with your birds, if they are used to 1 hour play time every day and just because you are on vacation for 2 weeks and you want to make up it up for your bird and decided to spend more time with them in that two weeks. What happens after two weeks that you are back in the 1 hour play time with your bird? So, who is confused and will want more attention and if not getting it will show signs of bad behavior? It is the bird and we blame it all to them were in fact it is all your fault.

3) Why is he turning my furniture into mulch? – You have a parrot that has the natural instinct of chewing wood. In the wild, this is how they spend their time; this is how they trim their beaks and this is expected of them. So whose fault is it? It’s ours and not theirs. So how will you prevent it? Prevent it by providing them with wood to chew on and toys to play with and most especially move that furniture out of their reach. They don’t know that that is an expensive piece or one of your priceless collections.

4) Why does my bird suddenly bite? – Come on! There is a time when you don’t feel like talking or being approached even by your loved ones. That holds true with your bird, he or she woke up on the wrong side of the perch and just needs some space for himself or herself. I never approach my birds if I can sense that they are not in the mood to play or being handled. I must provide them with a bit of a time and they will settle down and once settled, they will be back to their normal selves. Another reason is if you are pushing them too hard, you are already being warned that they don’t want to be bothered and yet you continue, so what is the response? They usually give us 4 warning signs; 1) They will touch you to start with (little redness of your skin) 2) then they will nip (you will get a little impression on your skin); 3) then the bite (skin bruises and bleeding) and if you will still continue your action, is when you get 4) the chomp (deep bruise and more bleeding). One more reason that they don’t want to be touched and in turn bite back is that during their molting season, dropping feathers and having new feathers is so painful that a slight stroke hurts them. Learn to know when this time is, this way you will not aggravate your bird’s condition and you experience something that you will interpret as a negative behavior by your bird.

5) Why is he not stepping up? – Not stepping up can be of the few reasons; a) he or she has never been trained to do so, b) he or she prefers your left arm than the right arm or vice versa, c) he does back step instead of the front step, d) he prefers a stick than your arm and more especially e) he or she doesn’t want to be handled. These are some of the things you have to consider to be able to have your bird step up. Spend some time understanding your bird’s behavior before you introduce yourself, check what he likes in his food bowl and use that as a treat if you want to instill positive behavior. I always introduce varieties of nuts in their food dish and once I noticed that there is a particular nut that they like, I will remove that from the dish use that as their treat--a treat that will be able to help you a lot in behavior modifications.

6) How can I approach a cage-bound bird? – Let me tell you, this is the most common problem that majority of the bird owner has. They find difficulty getting their bird out of their cage, it has always been a struggle and not to mention bites from here to there. How do I approach a cage bound bird? First things first, why is this bird cage bound? Chances are, this bird never had to play outside his/her cage and thus resulting in the cage being the safe haven because the outside environment may pose as a threat. As bird owners, we need to know that they have to be out of their cage once in a while (just like us, we need to go to the mall, movie theater or some other places so we can be relaxed and have some tuning ups. This is the same thing with the birds, they may not have those credit cards you have to shop around with but they need to be out of their cage and be in their play gym to get that relaxation that they need. Can we correct a bird that is cage bound? Absolutely yes, you just have to make sure that they is safe once they are out of their cage or are at times, as the starting approach, be part of his/her domain. What I normally do with this kind of bird is I talk to them outside their cage first and as days passes by, I introduce a part of my body to their cage and make them aware that I am not a threat to them. If I can pet them while they are inside their cage, then I will do so, I will not even bother taking them out of their cage by force. They will step out of their cage once they feel they are safe. I usually transfer the cage bound birds in a cage big enough to have half of my body in there so I can play and interact with them. So in a way, be a part of their domain first. It will not happen over night but that bird will give way to the point that one day you can have them out of their cage on their own. Once you are able to take them out of their cage, allow them to have a play time outside their cage and remember, your bird is not a piece of furniture in one corner of your house, they need attention and care and I think being part of your household, they deserve one.

7) How can Night Frights be avoided? For us who show birds, this is one of the things that as much don’t want to be experienced by our show birds. Any flight feather or tail feather lost prior to the show is a big loss, regardless of our bird being on it’s top condition, if he or she is missing something, that bird will be having a hard time competing and even worse, we have to pull him or her out of the show arena. Now the question, how can we avoid it? Can we really avoid it? In a sense, we can’t really avoid it but we can minimize the occurrence. Some bird owners prefer covering their birds with a blanket at night and some turn the lights off so they can have a full rest. The question is, which of the two approaches is better. In my opinion they are both okay but the problem there is when there is a slight movement or noise, the bird’s initial response is to react and one reaction by one bird is a reaction of all the birds thus causing night fright and then injury to some of them. How do I approach this in my aviary? As these are truly wild (regardless of us domesticating them) there will and will always be that wild instinct from them. In the wild, at night, their only sole vision is the shadow cast by the moon and the light from the moon gives them this safety as they can still see what is going with their surroundings. So what do I do to replicate their natural environment? In my aviary, the light is off and I don’t cover their cages with a blanket but in one corner of the aviary, I have a night-light that serves as their moon. This night light was installed in the aviary so this way, they can still see a glimpse of their environment and yet still provides them the comfort level they need at night. I have never had any night frights in doing so and I think it is worth a try on your part to do so. Total darkness, in my opinion, makes the bird not that comfortable at their habitat.

If you are planning to have a bird or already have one….understand your bird just like what you want to be understood.

[TOP]

WHEN GIVING UP IS NOT THE RIGHT MOVE!

Do you sometimes feel like giving up?
Depressed, Exhausted, Discouraged?....
You're not alone...You're not the only one.

Every success has its failure in the beginning
And you'll almost giving up at the end...
But there's always a bright side of life,
Try not to ignore it....

Obstacles are created not by GOD....
He does not want to destroy us...
He only wants us to listen to Him,
And lead us to the right path of success.
It may not be by wealth or recognition
But by people who will love you dearly,
Respect you for who you are....
Without expecting anything in return.

We are only human.
We cannot give what we don’t have
But we can share little of what we have.
Someone out there cares for you...
It's not enough I know...
But please try not to give up....
They may not see you...or will never see you at all....
You may not even care for them....
But in their hearts they will always pray...
That all these troubles and burden you have now
Will never ever come to your way tomorrow.

Little hopes that they can share...
Will make your life feel better each day...
Don't give up each day.....
As they are not giving up on you everyday...
They also hope that one day....
God will show you the way....
Right there in your heart...
They wish they could stay.

[TOP]

TO MY PARENTS, I AM FOREVER GRATEFUL

I went out this morning to see that once a nest occupied by 4 baby birds was empty and I could hear them chirping around the area begging for their parents' attention and food. The parents will leave them but are just around the area making sure they are all okay and ready for the challenges they have to endure as they fly on their own.

Babies, who are innocent as they all are, have to have their wings ready because it is a jungle out there. Now you ask me what the purpose of me writing this is. Simply said, that scenario is also our own experiences in life--our parents will and will always be by our side no matter what happens. We, the children, though we have the love and respect for our parents still have to do things on our own.

Though shielded from what we have learned from our parents, we still need to weigh things out so we can be a better person. Just like those four baby birds, they all have to be careful every single day as there will be a lot out there who will take advantage of their weakness and innocence. How nice will it be when they can fly around without thinking of any danger?

We all know that it is the fact of life that danger is all over. The more those birds can face the danger and learn from it the more their chances of survival is to the most. For us, we have a lot who really take advantage of everything--people who will try to put one down and use that person to be his or her stepping-stone for a success/goal aimed to be achieved. But can we blame them for doing it?

We can’t. It is up to that person (one used as a stepping stone) to stand and let that person stepping on him/her fall and come to his/her senses that the action he/she did isn’t right. My point is not to let anybody use you as the stepping-stone. You may just be a stone for now but if given a chance and are around other stones, you will be a rock garden that others would love to be a part of it.

We all need to remember that stones will not be forever one; they will be a rock sometime, a rock so solid that others will have difficulty breaking it down to pieces. I wrote this in respect for my parents, a respect that they both truly deserve. They both prepared me ready to face everything in our life and I am sure you are all are. I love you both and I am forever grateful!

I have learned from them and to tell you me, it’s a lot and they made me a person true to myself. I am able to share to my son lessons that I learned from my parents and others. Hopefully my son will also share the lessons learned. To my father, he may not be with us anymore but his words will always be here and thank you for everything you did for me and my siblings.

I love you both!

[TOP]

WHAT MY NAME STANDS FOR

Loving you means.....

F - acing the truth that it's really hard to be loved by you....But forever I am here for you,
R - especting your decisions
A - nd supporting you in fulfilling your dreams,
N - ot hurting you but
C - ommitting myself though you may not commit yourself to me for
I - will always be here to love you...dying to
S - how my true feelings for you.

And loving you more means.....

D - oing the best that I can do
E - ven though you may not appreciate everything that I can do because I know that in
L - oving you..... I should not expect anything in return but still I will remain
F - aithful to you for
I - n my heart you'll always be my woman
N - o matter how far you are from me.

And it's best to love you because I now....

H - ave reason to live.... will to survive and
I - will always ask God to give me a chance to see you and
L - et me feel the warmth of your embrace...the sweetness of your kiss
A - nd feel the true meaning of being loved by you.... I wish that the
R - ight time will come no matter how long...
I - will wait for you....
O - ffering my undying love for you......forever.

[TOP]

TIYO VIC

I thank you Tiyo

V – ery few people will have an
I – nfluence in our life,
C – are they have given us,
T – thoughtfulness that they have shared with us and that
O - utstanding
R – espect they have given us. It will always


D - ictate how it will
E - nvelope all our achievements with
L - ong lasting love, respect and relationship to all.
F - inding the right words on how they
I - nfluenced us in our daily life and
N - ot to mention our pursuit for success is something that will always be part of us as

     inspired by them.


I am forever grateful to have my Uncle (Mama’s brother) by our side, he is like a second father to us all (especially to me) . Tiyo Vic, physically you may not be around but in spirit you are and will be always be with us.

[TOP]

MY PRIDE AND JOY

Dear God I wanted to thank You for giving me the best gift I ever have in my life,
my dear son…

F – rom the time he opened his eyes and cried out loud, I knew that he is
R – eaching out for me to notice him,
A – nd when I touched his hands and carried him,
N – icely he smiled and I saw the
C – omfort he felt in my arms.
I – ndeed it made my day complete and bright….and
S – oftly I heard his heart says “Papa Thank You, I Love You”.

K – nowing that time flies so fast, I will always cherish the memories of his childhood.
E – veryday I know that he is growing up, enough to be on his own, but in his mind I

      know that
N – othing can separate us,
N – o matter how hard life is or
E – ven if we need to make the toughest decisions in our life.
T – ruly I will never let him out of my sight.
H – ow grateful I am that up to this day, we still have that father and son bond, bond that

      will be forever in there.

A – ll that I am asking for now…
M– ay God lead him to right way and success
A – nd give me more health and long life to be able to guide him.
D – o whatever you want My Dear Son,
O – r decide on whatever you think is right for you.
R – emember that you are now a Man and I will always be here to support you.

H – appiness is all I want for you and
I – n times of trials and troubles, never forget that I am always here for you.
L – ife is full of hope and love,
A – nd when you reach success in life, never forget God,
R – emember what I taught you.
I – n our life there is always me and you…and my life started to have meaning
O – n the day God gave you to me. “I love you very much”

Papa

[TOP]

MY LITTLE ANGEL

I worry not for He loves us all so much.
GOD took her away from us for us to lead a good life.
She will always be in our heart and she will be at our side as well.
No matter how, no matter what, she will always be there in spirit.

M - y little girl…..never seen her, never touched her but in my heart I know she looks like an

      angel.
A - s I dream I can see her face full of joy that brings happiness to my heart.
R - eaching my hands as I come near her….both of us longing for the warmth of our

     embraces…
Y - et only in my dream that I can see and hear her say “worry not Papa for I love you so 

     much”.

F - orgive me my little angel,
R - emember that I never neglected you...if I had a chance I will show you the love that I

     have in my heart,
A - s I am proud that I am your father.
N - o one knows the pain I suffered when I lost you.
C - aring for you is all I wanted but God is the best Father for you.
I - know that you will always be around, guiding me to the right path of my life
A - nd will protect me from harm.

P - lease Dear God, give my little angel the best care that you have (I know You are).
A - lways make her smile and happy.
N - ever let her cry or be harm by other angels around.
G - ive her a kiss before she sleeps at night.
I - n the morning when she opens her eyes, let the sun shine and
L - et her play but please don’t let her out of your sight and
I - n darkness give her light so she can be relaxed.
N - ever that I worry as I know she is safe living there with You.
A - t night when I look up in the sky, tell her to kiss me goodnight and
N - ot to worry... we are all okay here.

H - eaven is your home, my dear.
I - nnocence in your face will always remain in my mind.
L - ove overflows in my heart as I know you are always in good hands.
A - ll I wanted you to know is that someday I will see you up there.
R - emember that you are my girl and my little angel.
I - n our hearts you will always be remembered, you may not be around but you are always in

    our thoughts.
O - n the other side of life I know that you are always there watching over me, your mom and

     your brothers.

We love you, My Little Angel.

[TOP]

COCKATIEL LOVERS

We are

C - aring, cuddling and hand feeding a bird is not an easy task,
O - bviously it’s a commitment and responsibility to take.
C - ockatiels will be an excellent choice. Believe me as I own some.
K - nown to be the best bird companion in life, it is also a pet, a friend, and healer at the       

     same tiime.
A - dorable and affectionate they are or even amazing as you hear it talks.
T - o treasure more than gold, even I can’t describe the happiness it provides.
I - ntelligent enough to imitate whistle and mimic other sounds.
E - asy to train that makes worthy of your time.
L - ike a friend that you can trust and will be there to provide one if needed.

L - earn not to neglect cockatiel in the cage but treat them nicely,
O - r show them to others with pride for no bird will bite you unless you gave them good      

     reason to do so.
V - alue their presence and loyalty in return you will gain something.
E - very cockatiel is calm, clever and confident.
R - emember to own them is your choice….
S - omehow to care for them is a must for they deserve to be loved like humans and proudly

I may share that I am a Cockatiel Lover myself.

[TOP]

Dipsy Galore
(Tricolor Collie)
September 3, 2000 - January 27, 2010

A part of the family, a friend, and a companion has decided that her physical role with us needs to come to an end and have her presence in spirit. Dipsy Galore, our tricolor collie, has brought us a lot of good things, showed in her own way, responsibilities to her young master Kenneth. Growing up together, they have shown respect to one another. Dipsy was always on guard for Kenneth; always at the door of his room making sure that he was safe and sound sleeping. Kenneth was always making sure that she was provided with proper comfort, food, and shelter.

I remember when Kenneth was in grade school, Dipsy knew when her young master was arriving from school as she would be by the door eager to meet him by the street and have some fun together before he prepared himself for his daily chores and homework. When summertime came, you could see them both playing outside like siblings and in return she would get that cold water as her refreshment after that long and tiring play.

Having birds in our household, you would think that it would be a problem, but don’t you worry. You would see the birds enjoying themselves while riding on Dipsy’s back, a scene that our neighbors enjoyed. They enjoyed the image of a Macaw riding on the back of our dog or at times just a snapshot of our cockatiels enjoying their canine perch. Dipsy had a silly side as well. She would be able to go up and down steps with ease but when she would see you, she would pretend that she could not just so she would have the luxury of being carried upstairs. She had many sides but the most important one was her ability to love and to be loved.

You are such a great dog and we are always thankful that you had become a part of our family. As a promise for your loving care, we will not forget you.


D - on't cry, my dear son, as for now our little angel will have Dipsy on her side.
I - n heaven they will play and together they will stay
P - rotecting us day and night as she will remember the love and care we shared when
        she was here with us.
S - he will never leave us; forever she will stay in our hearts.
Y - ou will see how happy our little angel will be, for Dipsy is not just a dog but a special
        one from you and me.

[TOP]

THE BIRDMAN OF HUP
SAVING MY BIRD
LITTLE BOY NO MORE
MY FATHER, MY HERO
THIS IS DIPSY

Mother Dear

   We owe everything to our Mother Dear because

M any times we have asked

O urselves, what we will be without

T he guidance she has given her children,

H er unending love and her

E ndurance for us to be prepared and

R eady for all the challenges in life.

     In return we must

D edicate our time and be thankful for

E verything she has done for us.

A ll what we have to give her is the

R espect she very much deserves.

     We are what we are right now because of the love and care you have given us.  What more can we ask for in life if the woman who carried us for nine months is still with us no matter what comes her way.  You are one special woman and words may not be enough to express how much you mean to us but yet you will always be in our heart and nobody or anything can take that away from us.

     Thank you for everything Mother Dear.

My note to a woman

Woman,

     I only have

         one heart to give,

         one body to protect you.

         two arms to embrace you,

         two eyes to watch over you and

         two ears to listen to your sweet voice

    But I have

        thousands and thousands of hair foliicles to tell you

              how much you mean to me and

        gallons and gallons of blood flowing so I can

             convey the words I meant to say for you.

                                                    (Francis D. Hilario)     

“Yes” to my Parents (Marcos and Josefina)

Words are not enough to express how thankful I am to have you both by my side.

     Yes… there are some misunderstandings and yet you are there to make it understood.

     Yes… there are problems and yet you are there to have it solved.

     Yes… there is a mistake and yet you are there not to have it as mistakes.

     Yes… I fell once or twice but yet you were there to carry me.

     Yes… I was lost but yet you were there to guide me.

     Yes… I was lonely but yet you put a smile on my face.

     Yes… I was in tears one day but yet you were there to comfort me.

Just but few of the Yes’ I have from you both and in return, I will give some of my

                    Yes for you both.

    Yes… I promise to give you both the love and respect you both deserve.

    Yes… I will use the guidance you have given me so I can raise my children            

                   according to what you have shown me.

    Yes... I will use my words according to what you have instilled in me.

    Yes… I will show kindness, love, trust and respect to others the way I was given by

                   you.

    Yes… I will not forget what I was when I have attained the ladder of success as this is

                  how you have taught me how to.

    Yes… I will fear God because aside from you both, He is the One I can always rely on

    Yes... I will be that person that you can always be proud of.

    Yes... I will forever love you both.

                                                          Francis D. Hilario