It seems fitting to share this video close to the holidays. In part because Fabian the Southern ground hornbill is holding a “gift” in his beak (of the mouse variety) and also because probably many people are dealing with the problem of animals who present undesired behavior when guests are in the house. Fabian has been known to be a bit underfoot when caregivers clean his enclosure. He finds it especially interesting when someone manipulates enrichment items. The simple solution seen here is to reinforce him for remaining on a station….any station. Because he is only interested in giving food away as a nuptial gift at the moment, he is getting head scratches as a reinforcer. The keeper delivers these periodically to teach him to stay on the rock for long duration while she attends to his habitat. The result is reinforcement for nice behavior instead of having to worry about a naughty hornbill .#southerngroundhornbill #hornbilltraining #birdtraining #stationingbehavior #stationtraining #aviarybirdtraining #santabarbarazoo #nonfoodreinforcers (at Santa Barbara Zoo) https://www.instagram.com/p/B6Q6l62lnyG/?igshid=1athu1wkpze77
