Its amazing how much birds are like us. My friends umbrella starting acting out a bit and in general being a little crankier. I found out he was going to bed at like 11 and getting up with the sun. Cockatoos NEED tons of sleep. At least 10 if not 12 hours. If they dont get that, they are cranky and more hormonal, having more behavioral problems. Now he gets tons of sleep, and is much happier, wants to work harder to do tricks, his feathers look better, on and on. Birds need their beauty sleep!!! I know you know this, Kimba, and this was a freak thing, but I think everyone here needs to know how important uninterupted sleep is to our birds. I beleive strongly in a sleeping cage, in another room, where its noise free and your bird can sleep uniterupted. Very important! This was a great point to bring up!!!!
Yeah this is the very reason eve's cage is in the office. He is out all day long, because I'm home all day, (lucky bird) And my roommate goes to bed at 9pm, so the no one goes in the office after eve is asleep. As a behaviorist I am a strong believer in sleep cages or at the very least the ability to provide good quality uninterrupted sleep. The difference in behavior is to big to ignore! Same goes for naps! If your bird is out all day and does not have the ability to nap, your in for some aggression and noise. Birds are highly photosensitive, light control there hormones greatly depending on species. It controls their moods....how many of us experience the difference of our birds behavior on rainy and over cast days vs. sunny days? Any species naturally living close to the equator is going to require equal night to Day time hours. Any less sleep than that ..your headed for problems. I think as humans we tend to forget that the birds we keep have different needs than us.
Bobbie Q. has the same schedule as Eve, right down to nappy time. Since we're losing daylight this time of year I supplement her with a full spectrum light through early morning until dawn and from sundown to roosting time.
And it is entirely too true that birds are different from other warmbloods in that you have to adapt more to their needs rather than them adapting to your lifestyle; your life has to be able to accommodate a bird's schedule--they cannot be made to accommodate yours.
Well, maybe with artificial lighting you can tweak the start of daybreak and onset of dusk, for instance if you're a second-shifter who sleeps during the day, but that's about it. I wouldn't want to try it myself.
Think that's the reason Greys have the reputation they do? Too many folks bought them for the novelty of their mimicry and failed to consider the needs of the bird? Gotta wonder...
Pity you don't need to pass a test before being allowed to become a bird companion...or any other animal for that matter. Let's not get me started on fish, cats, dogs, and children. Some folks just aren't fit, and some are just ignorant. You can fix the latter, but there's no helping the former.
I have found that all of my birds have their own schedules. My blue and gold (Taz) doesn't sleep as much as my cockatoo and my conure. I even take Taz to watch movies at the drive-in. I find that if he doesn't get out of the house, he is really cranky. Joey on the other hand (blue front amazon), prefers to sit at home and relax. He will sleep 18 hours out of his day if we don't keep him active. I try to get him out of the house once a week. My parakeet is completely different. She loves going out for rides in the car and visiting pet stores. She requires very little sleep and will go to sleep anywhere I happen to be. All she needs is a travel cage or my shirt pocket and she will nap anywhere.
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