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	"Imprinting/Familiarity"
	In the case of our Budgerigars, another phenomenon, called imprinting may also be an inhibiting factor of the alarm/escape reaction involving man or in the case of the example given; man's best friend. Imprinting was a phenomenon observed by Conrad Lorenz, where geese hatchlings attached themselves to the first object they saw upon exiting the egg. It was as if this object, man/animal/bird was interpreted to be the parent.
	Whether it is imprinting or familiarity from contact, it is universally accepted that hand fed parrots are tamer and more responsive to humans.
	They appear more settled on approach and the inhibition to the alarm/escape response makes them well adjusted to the ever changing household environment - even the sudden ringing of the telephone seems not to startle them. In fact, statistical analysis of aviary kept versus pet Budgerigars show a significant disparity in life expectancy between the two.
	As a percentage of total populations studied, pet birds outlive their aviary raised and housed counterparts by nearly twice as many years.
	After discounting high breeding pressures and high productivity as causes, necropsy studies confirmed that stress was the major factor for the difference in longevity. The reduction of this stress may well be attributable to imprinting and familiarity. As it relates to controlled breeding, all of the principles of routine, alarm/escape, attenuation and imprinting/familiarity are equally applicable.
	As pairs are taken from the flights and confined in breeding cages, we are effectively reducing the size of their world to the dimensions of the cage in which they are placed. In the process not only do we initiate territorial behaviors but also we reduce the distance from which escape is possible when the birds feel threatened.
	The more routine an action, such as entering the nest box to inspect eggs, replacing feeding dishes within the breeding cage, even cleaning the breeding cage with a vacuum, the less stress that will be experienced by the birds.
	As the goal of stress reduction as it relates to approach/avoidance is to reduce the distance that you approach your birds before they take flight to zero, the earlier and more frequently you handle hatchlings, the more likely they will be to develop inhibitions to the alarm/escape reaction.
	The more routine and familiar your actions, the more likely it is that you will reduce the alarm/escape reaction in adults. In the long term, all of these strategies will do more for overall stress reduction in the aviary than the current deep litter management practices.
	In the case of our Budgerigars, another phenomenon, called imprinting may also be an inhibiting factor of the alarm/escape reaction involving man or in the case of the example given; man's best friend. Imprinting was a phenomenon observed by Conrad Lorenz, where geese hatchlings attached themselves to the first object they saw upon exiting the egg. It was as if this object, man/animal/bird was interpreted to be the parent.
	Whether it is imprinting or familiarity from contact, it is universally accepted that hand fed parrots are tamer and more responsive to humans. They appear more settled on approach and the inhibition to the alarm/escape response makes them well adjusted to the ever changing household environment - even the sudden ringing of the telephone seems not to startle them.
	In fact, statistical analysis of aviary kept versus pet Budgerigars show a significant disparity in life expectancy between the two.
	As a percentage of total populations studied, pet birds outlive their aviary raised and housed counterparts by nearly twice as many years. After discounting high breeding pressures and high productivity as causes, necropsy studies confirmed that stress was the major factor for the difference in longevity.
	The reduction of this stress may well be attributable to imprinting and familiarity. As it relates to controlled breeding, all of the principles of routine, alarm/escape, attenuation and imprinting/familiarity are equally applicable. As pairs are taken from the flights and confined in breeding cages, we are effectively reducing the size of their world to the dimensions of the cage in which they are placed.
	In the process not only do we initiate territorial behaviors but also we reduce the distance from which escape is possible when the birds feel threatened.
	The more routine an action, such as entering the nest box to inspect eggs, replacing feeding dishes within the breeding cage, even cleaning the breeding cage with a vacuum, the less stress that will be experienced by the birds.
	As the goal of stress reduction as it relates to approach/avoidance is to reduce the distance that you approach your birds before they take flight to zero, the earlier and more frequently you handle hatchlings, the more likely they will be to develop inhibitions to the alarm/escape reaction.
	The more routine and familiar your actions, the more likely it is that you will reduce the alarm/escape reaction in adults. In the long term, all of these strategies will do more for overall stress reduction in the aviary than the current deep litter management practices.

Thanks to the un-named author in BUDGIE BULLETIN

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