The Definition of Stubborn

I sometimes look to my three parrots — Ripley, Cleo and Bishop — for handy behavioral advice...in TRAIL SAFE (due back from the printer early next month) I talked about how they invariably respond to aggression with aggression, which got me thinking about how we as humans might deescalate dangerous situation.

This morning Bishop, our green-winged macaw, checked her calendar and decided once and for all it's spring, and by god she was going to her outside aviary. Period. So now she's sitting outside, puffed up like a bluejay in January, in a flite half full of snow. She can come in any time she wants, but she's so far holding the line. 

This is the opposite of her usual response to the first snow every fall, where she insists on going outside and sticking her big red head in the snow to prove to herself that we're not torturing her by keeping her inside.