October 2018 - Foraging with Kristi Flemming

Kristi Flemming, Behaviour Consultant from Good Friday Avian Behaviour Services gave a fun and informative presentation on "Foraging in 5 Minutes, A Step by Step Guide to Enriching Our Parrots’ Lives, On Time and On Budget." Kristi brought in a lot of examples and showed the group how to quickly and easily make safe and fun foraging toys to keep our birds busy, happy and healthy. She included ideas for small and large parrots. Her presentation was very thorough and emphasized the tremendous benefits foraging provides to our parrots, with very little time or monetary investment from us. Kristi explained that while treats are a great way to encourage our birds to start foraging, nutritious well-balnanced foods should be used on an ongoing basis. Foraging doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. In fact, she recommends starting right way with our birds current toys and adding some food surprises to encourage them to be active and look for more. Some other ideas she discussed were Veggie Kebabs, using food dishes and play stands, ideas for diggers and ground foragers, birdie bon-bons, treat boxes and stacking cups. Not only does foraging enrich our birds lives, it can help prevent behaviour problems such as feather and skin picking, screaming and aggressive biting. Their immune system function can be enhanced leading to a decreased possibility of diseases. The evening went by quickly as we were engrossed in Kristi’s presentation.

We welcomed one new member this week and one returning guest. The snack table was enjoyed by many members for a $2 donation.

Don’t forget all of these great foraging ideas next month on Tuesday November 20, 2018 at our Toy Making Night. This meeting is always a blast for our members and their birds!