Foraging is a crucial activity for captive parrots since wild parrots spend 50% of their day foraging. It is a very natural behavior, and provides them with not only the maximum amount of Mental Stimulation than any other activity, but also an interactive way to feed your birds versus throwing their food in a dish. We at ParrotWorld.net would like to highlight the importance of replicating these natural behaviors in captivity to improve the quality of life for companion parrots, and illuminate the importance of implementing these behaviors to occupy your bird's time with a productive activity by means of readily available, refillable parrot and bird foraging & enrichment toys.
Shop our entire selection of bird foraging toys, below:
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Foraging and Your Parrot
By Angie Johnson, Certified Avian Specialist
Foraging is a crucial activity for captive parrots since wild parrots spend 50% of their day foraging. It is a very natural behavior, and provides them with not only the maximum amount of Mental Stimulation than any other activity, but also an interactive way to feed your birds versus throwing their food in a dish. I would like to highlight the importance of replicating these natural behaviors in captivity to improve the quality of life for companion parrots, and illuminate the importance of implementing these behaviors to occupy your bird's time with a productive activity.
First off, there are Destructible Forage Toys. These would include those parrot toys that require the bird to chew, destroy or otherwise get through a material in order to get the food/treat. These toys replicate natural behaviors when birds must chew through trees or other dense objects to retrieve their food. Examples include Forage blocks, where the parrot must chew through wood to reveal the hidden nut or seed ball, Nature's Instinct Tiki-Takeouts, where the bird must chew through the wooden dowels to retrieve the hidden treats behind, Pinatas, where the parrot must chew through the Pinata in order to eat the treats hidden inside and similar.
Then there are Indestructible Forage Toys, which include a wide variety of toys that require the bird to in some way manipulate the toy in order to receive the reward/treat. These would include a variety of acrylic and/or plastic Nature's Instinct toys, like Learn-N-Turn Logs, Treasure Chest, Rings of Fortune, Barrel of Fun, Snack Rack, etc. These toys replicate behaviors that parrots must have in the wild in order to maneuver food out of certain obstacles. These toys offer not only the mental stimulation experienced with Foraging, but also a great outlet of pent up energy as well as an interactive method of feeding your parrot.
The high intelligence level of parrots is widely known, yet we parrot-keepers do so little to stimulate those inquisitive minds. Providing your parrot with toys that stimulate their senses, and problem-solving nature will help reduce Feather Plucking, Screaming, Biting and other undesirable behaviors commonly associated with boredom. Experts will agree that the best way to stimulate your parrot psychologically & physically is to introduce environmentally enriching toys, like foraging devices, "Integrating foraging behavior into your daily feeding protocol will create a stimulating environment, which encourages the natural behaviors universally recommended by avian veterinarians." -Caitec Corp.
Regardless of the type of Foraging toy, there are options to increase or decrease difficulty for experienced foragers, or vice versa. Most new-foragers may need simpler tasks to begin with, while you build your birds' confidence with the skill, and their brilliance. With that said, I highly recommend that you mix & match several Foraging toys in your parrots' environment to offer a variety of activities for your bird to explore throughout the day!
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