Becky Fox 

Current Position:                                                                                     Postdoctoral Researcher                                                                                      University of Nevada, Reno                                                                               Biology Department

Soon-to-be Position:
Assistant Professor
Transylvania University, Lexington, KY
Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics

Personality and mate choice in cockatiels
Long-lived socially monogamous birds such as parrots form long-term, sometimes lifelong, partnerships with their mates. Pair compatibility can be an important component of fitness and reproductive success for such birds, suggesting that personality could be a factor in mate choice. I am using methods originally developed by primate researchers to design a survey for rating personality in cockatiels, and will use the results of this survey to examine the influence of personality on mate choice and pair compatibility.

Captive parrot welfare
Although the exact number is not known, there at least several million parrots in captivity in the United States alone, making the welfare of captive parrots an increasingly important issue. Environmental enrichment is a “hot topic” in companion parrot welfare. However, while the importance of enrichments is now generally appreciated, few studies have examined the best ways to provide enrichments to parrots. Recently, I conducted a study to examine the impact of high novelty (in this case, frequent toy rotation) on neophobia in Orange-winged Amazons. I have shown that frequent toy changes significantly reduce fear of novel objects in Orange-winged Amazons. The results of this study were reported in the August 2, 2003 issue of Science News.

Concerns have also been raised regarding the behavioral and welfare implications of hand-rearing parrots for the pet trade. My work comparing the effects of hand-rearing, parent-rearing, and parent-rearing with human handling (known in aviculture as “co-parenting”) on fearful behavior in Orange-winged Amazon parrots (Amazona amazonica) represents a first step toward understanding the behavioral impacts of hand-rearing and parent-rearing.