Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
•Introductions
• What is one thing
you hope to learn
today?
•A day in the life of a wild
parrot
•Our roles in caring for
our parrots
•Activities Plans
•Evaluation criteria for
playgrounds and
enrichment items
•Playground showcase
•Planning Playgrounds
based on Activities Plans
•Wrap-Up
A Day in the Life of a Wild
Parrot
We cannot recreate a
parrot’s natural
environment in its
entirety, but we look to
it for inspiration and
possible insight.
They awake from their
roosts with the sun’s
predawn ultraviolet
rays .
Depending on a bird’s
species, continent and
the time of the year,
roosting for the night
may have occurred in
large, interspecies
groups, or in small
homogenous flocks of
1 – 4 birds.
Many parrot species* are most active
between the hours of 6:30a.m. –
9:30a.m. During this time, they forage
for food, fly, walk…
*Some smaller parrot species, like the Brotogeris parakeets, are most active between
1:00p.m. – 3:00p.m.
Parrots usually spend
the hottest part of the
day resting, grooming,
and socializing.
After the hottest part of the day,
parrots have another burst of activity
(foraging, flying, etc.) in the later part
of the afternoon.
The birds return again to their evening
roosts around sunset.
There are threats to a parrot’s day
to day survival in the wild. Because
birds are prey animals, they are
hard wired to be aware of their
surrounding and potential danger
throughout the day.
Parrots have evolved into great problem
solvers.
Foraging for food 70% of their waking hours and always
being alert to potential predators have made them highly
Birds’ Senses
•Vision - Very important sense for birds
•acuity 2 – 8 times greater than mammals
•Clear lens permits them to see ultraviolet light (mammals have
a yellow tinted lens that filters out these rays)
•Have tetrachromatic or pentatchromatic color vision, while
humans have trichromatic color vision
•Touch
•Receptors for touch, heat and pain in skin and beak (including
feet)
•Some receptors are vibration sensitive
•Variety
•Intellectual & visual
stimulation
•A safe (as possible)
environment
Our Roles
We wear many hats
simultaneously:
•Zookeeper
•Nutritionist
•Interior
Designer/Decorator
•Activities Director
•Safety inspector
•Trainer/coach
•Funding agent
What is an Activities Plan?
All birds are individuals and activity levels and activities will
vary.
This bird spends
about:
12 hours sleeping at
night
2 hours foraging
2 hours grooming
4 hours resting
4 hours
socializing/playing
Note: There is no equation for an “ideal
day” for all birds. It may vary by specific
birds’ needs, abilities, and personality.
Creating an Activities
Plan
Based on the assessment,
evaluate & set goals
Insert their
name into
stories and
songs
Intellectual Stimulation
Training
•Added benefit of helping you and your bird to communicate
•Could be as little as 10 minutes a day
Swings
Bungies/Boings
“Atoms/Orbits”
Climbing nets
Hanging gyms
Hanging Toys
Benefits of climbing nets
•May be used to connect different areas/play areas, in addition to
being a play area in itself. Provides choice.
•Choice it can provide is especially wonderful for birds with clipped
wings
•Encourages movement
Playstands/Trees/Perches
Tabletops
Shelves
INTERACTIVITY: Can birds manipulate the items? Is
there a place for them to socialize?
Interact with toys, interact with others.