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So what should you do if your parrot – which always used to say hello in an adorable voice – suddenly greets you with a deafening screech, or your cockatoo bites you when you try to pick it up or plucks out all its feathers? And what's causing those behaviours? We asked veterinary specialist Avian Medicine Yvonne van Zeeland of the ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ Animal Hospital in Utrecht.

People tend to love parrots and other tropical birds. They're great pets that can really add something to your life. Still, it takes effort to give these intelligent animals the habitat and stimuli they need. Their ancestors once flew around the rainforest freely, where they spent most of their days foraging for food in the most inventive ways. They lived in groups and had rich social lives. If you keep these types of birds in a cage indoors, they'll tend to develop behavioural problems.

Lack of sunlight

Van Zeeland at the Department of Birds and Special Animals and did her PhD on 'feather plucking'. She explains: "If an animal has behavioural problems, you need to keep in mind that there could be a medical cause. Arteriosclerosis would be a good example. Animals can develop the condition due to a lack of exercise or high-fat diet. Arteriosclerosis obstructs circulation and can cause tingling or pain in the wings or legs. The bird responds by plucking or biting at its feathers or skin."

It may also experience bone or nerve pain. That can happen if the skeleton doesn't ossify properly. "That's one of the issues we're currently researching. A lot of parrots spend most of their time indoors, in a climate that's nothing like the one they would naturally be in. That might be a factor because birds – like humans – produce vitamin D when exposed to sunlight. They need that to grow healthy bones."

Advanced CT scans

Sometimes you can tell whether birds are plucking their feathers for medical reasons by looking at the plucking pattern. For example, a bird might be plucking in very specific places: a single wing or on the breast near the heart. "The advanced CT scans we have nowadays allow us to highlight blood vessels and identify other abnormalities in the body. That's a huge help in terms of diagnosis."

Feather plucking can also occur because the bird is experiencing stress. For example, its habitat might not be adequate. "We really take the time to talk with the owners every time we get a parrot that's plucking its feathers. What does the bird's habitation look like, how does it interact with people and other birds, what does it do during the day? We ask questions to find out what caused the plucking and why the bird is still doing it."

We get a lot of birds that pluck their feathers.

Coming up with smart solutions

Foraging toys can help to create a more stimulating environment for the bird. They'll then have to work for their food, think and come up with clever solutions. "Studies have found that birds like to work for their food. They'll even interact with the foraging toy if there's a regular feeder next to it. It's a bit like their natural environment, where they forage for fruits and seeds which they then need to open somehow. That could take up anywhere between four to eight hours a day."

Bedtime story

Parrots are social animals and should be kept with a mate from an early age. Getting enough attention from the owner can also be important. "We got a macaw once that mainly plucked at night. We talked to the owner and found out that the bird was moved to a sleeping cage in a separate room at night. The thing was, it didn't like that sudden transition. The bird was like a little child who wants another bedtime story, he just wanted a bit more attention. We came up with a bedtime ritual. The owner gave the bird some time to play before bed and kept him company for a while until he voluntarily went to his cage to sleep. His behaviour improved a lot as a result."

Flying freely outdoors

Feather plucking is more common in some species. Studies show that around 40 percent of grey parrots and cockatoos pluck their feathers. "You need to bear in mind that parrots are incredibly smart and need exercise and challenges. Some people can offer them a great life. These have whole rooms set up for the birds and take them out for regular walks. Some people even train their birds to fly freely outside and come back home. That kind of free flight is especially popular among large macaw owners.

It's all about respecting the birds and their needs and figuring out how to offer them a life that really suits them. You can really improve things by giving them options and a sense of control. Those things are just as crucial to animals' sense of happiness as they are to humans."

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