As new parents, me and my wife get parenting e-mails and today my wife got one on why it's wrong to let baby’s “cry it out,” in other words, to ignore cries for attention so that the behavior extinguishes. The reasoning for why it's wrong to do this with human children also applies to other animals, such as birds (Gifts of the Crow covers the avain aspect of this for those interested). If one focuses on the bolded parts it’ll sound very familiar……
Parent:
“He’s got to learn that we don’t come to him every time he cries. Janet totally indulged him those first few months.” Keith continues, “But we are in charge. We are the parents. He’s got to learn his place.”
Relative:
“You mean, you purposefully let him cry…”
Tyler’s little body, covered in sweat and tears, soon exhausts itself from relentlessly crying out in panic, anger, and despair. Due to the mechanism of self-preservation, his body shuts down his conscious self and falls into a forced sleep.
CIO, also known as “controlled crying,” is an “extinction method” of
ending – “extinguishing” --the cuing for attention, help, nourishment, hydration, support, and loving, physical comfort that is programmed into the biology of young mammals. (neurochemically it works the same in birds so maybe it should read young
vertebrates)
While popularized by Dr. Richard Ferber in his 1985 book, “Solve Your Child’s Sleep Problem,” advocates of CIO date back to pre-Ferber days. In his 1946 classic entitled “Baby and Child Care,” Dr. Benjamin Spock advised parents to "say good night affectionately but firmly, walk out of the room, and don't go back."
This “don’t go back” approach perfectly describes CIO in its “unmodified” or “total extinction” form. Some pediatricians who subscribe to this method of CIO advise parents to shut the door to their baby or toddler’s room and not open it again for a full twelve-hour period. The only caveat to this involves assuming nighttime parenting duties if the child is physically ill. Yet, throwing up due to the stress of nocturnal abandonment doesn’t constitute a sign of physical illness and parents are advised by proponents of “total extinction” CIO to clean up the vomit promptly without touching the child or displaying emotion.
In its “modified extinction” form, CIO advocates argue that parents should leave a baby or toddler alone to cry to sleep. But this stressful experience is best practiced when punctuated with intermittent, and increasingly less frequent, check-ins from the caregiver.
The intention of such visits is to persuade the little one verbally, or with minimal physical touch,
that their nighttime expression of distress, thirst, and/or panic will not lead to the comfort being sought.
In both methods of CIO described above, babies and/or toddlers are repeatedly left alone to fall into cycles of sleep.
Over time, they learn not to signal to their caregivers as the bonds of attachment fray.
Recent research conducted at the University of North Texas
clearly reveals that the (stress hormone) cortisol levels of babies left alone to CIO remain at unnaturally high levels even days after they learn to stop crying/cuing for help. However, the cortisol levels of mothers --which register as abnormally high when their babies cry -- return to normal levels in the silence. At this point, mothers and babies are no longer biologically in sync. The mothers assume all is well; they interpret their babies’ silence as proof that their little ones have learned to self-soothe. Yet, physiologically babies can’t self-soothe. Rather,
CIO teaches them to panic silently and detach from those whom nature intends for them to trust.
Sarah Ockwell-Smith, a psychotherapist, doula, and UK-based author of the soon-to-be published book, “The Gentle Sleep Book: A Guide for Calm Babies, Toddlers and Pre-Schoolers” argues that the erroneous pursuit of a baby that self-soothes profoundly misleads parents. She writes:
“You are categorically not leaving your baby to ‘soothe,’ you are leaving him to cry, even if it is only for periods of two minutes at a time… Is it possible to train a baby or a toddler to not call out for their parents when they are in need? Yes, it is, but this is categorically not indicative of an infant who is happy, calm and soothed.”
http://www.phillyvoice.com/screaming-sleep/
"Recent research conducted at the University of North Texas clearly reveals that the (stress hormone) cortisol levels of babies left alone to CIO remain at unnaturally high levels even days after they learn to stop crying/cuing for help. However, the cortisol levels of mothers --which register as abnormally high when their babies cry -- return to normal levels in the silence. At this point, mothers and babies are no longer biologically in sync."
I want to compare this quote from the above linked article on human children to what is said in relation to birds by scientists.....
From "The Bird of Prey Management Series: Healthcare" found at Mike'sFalconry.com:
Why is stress bad for birds?
"When birds are stressed they release a hormone called cortisol which depresses the immune system leaving the bird open to infections which under normal circumstances would probably be harmless. In the wild, stressful events are normally sporadic, and so cortisol is released only briefly. However in captivity the stressful events are normally prolonged resulting in cortisol being released continually and the birds immune function being depressed for long periods."
On the effects of social isolation, from
"Gifts of the Crow," by John Marzluff and Tony Angell:
"Like food, companionship is rewarding to a social animal."
"Social isoloation is a powerful motivator. Alone, a young animal gives distress calls and seeks companionship, even if it is risky. When a social partner is found, typically a parent or sibling, is found, the cries dissipate and calm returns. Acquiring a social partner after isolation causes endorphins to be released that then bind to neurons of the septum, striatum, preoptic area, thalamus, amygdala, and hypothalamus. This opioid reward replaces emotional distress with comfort and pleasure. Endorphins are important to the organization of reward seeking behaviors like affiliation just as they are to other reward-seeking behaviors like foraging, sex, and play. A young lone crow or raven would be highly motivated to alleviate its stress by finding a buddy."
The book makes comparisons to parrots as similar in intelligence throughout, for example: "In fact, parrots' forebrains outsize even the biggest brained corvids."
As vertebrates (and related) we have homologous similarities with regards to our needs as social animals - among other emotions. The highly social nature of parrots indicates that the advice given by parrot "behaviorists" (to ignore unwanted calls for attention so that they "extinguish") is actually advice that is contradictory to captive avian welfare.
I also recommend Temple Grandin PhD's, and Jonathan Balcombe PhD's books as they cover similar subject matter.
That is a lovely picture of her and your bird 