Today, we are back at Kirkleatham Owl Centre, giving you a behind the scenes tour. Read about the birds, watch their progress in training, and get up close and personal with other residents, including the favourite meerkat families. This week, we learn about some behaviour changes due to lockdown

WE have been closed for four weeks now due to the current national lockdown and one of the questions we keep getting asked is, “do our animals notice the lack of visitors, and do they act any different?” The answer is, yes they do.
Although many of our animals are clearly aware that something is a bit different to the normal, it is our parrots who clearly notice the most and whose behaviour has changed.

The Northern Echo: One of the Patagonia ConuresOne of the Patagonia Conures

We have lots of different parrot species here at the centre, from small budgies and swift parakeets to larger king parrots and a breeding colony of black-cheeked lovebirds, and for the most part these birds have just got on with life – they have their mates and flocks and they really aren’t bothered one way or the other if visitors are here or not.

The Northern Echo: Black-cheeked lovebirds have their flock for companyBlack-cheeked lovebirds have their flock for company

But it is a different story with our hand-reared parrots. Yellow-crested cockatoo Sophie, green-winged macaw Jewel and Patagonia Conures (also known as burrowing parrots) Inca and Cyam have all noticed the lack of visitors and all are quite upset about it.

They have all been hand reared, so are very confident around people and, when we are open, spend most of their time interacting with visitors. Jewel will chat for hours to people, saying “hello” in three different accents, whereas Sophie will spend large parts of her day having her head stroked by obliging members of the public, and with no visitors here we have seen a change in the behaviour of them all.

The Northern Echo: Jewel is missing the crowdsJewel is missing the crowds

An increase in bickering between individuals and an increase in noise levels all point to our parrots being unsettled by the change in routine and this has meant we have had to think of new ways to keep them happy and active. We have introduced new toys, especially ones they can chew, lots of fresh branches of willow and apple, again for them to chew.

Parrots love (and need) to chew, and unusual food items presented to them in a variety of ways make them “work” and helps to keep them entertained.

But it is visitors they really want. Hopefully, it won’t be long until we can reopen and visitors will return, and we will be happy about that and so will the parrots.