Soon, He Yifei followed Fang Ye's instructions and placed a disguised Bluetooth speaker, wrapped in straw, on the large tree stump inside the enclosure.
This was a player specially configured for the parrots!
The outer layer of straw, besides looking natural, also helped prevent the parrots from pecking at it out of curiosity.
Several parrots imdiately fluttered over, and even Xiaowen spread her wings and raised her head, looking forward with anticipation.
What would be played today?
The lody was exceedingly lively and vigorous, a hot tune often heard during store openings and promotions.
Dong~dong dong! Dong dong!
"Good Luck Cos"! Wishing you good fortune…
Good fortune brings joy and love~
Martin Garrix imdiately began excitedly flapping his wings, left and right like the conductor of a choir waving his baton, Xiaowu cheerfully started dancing with a sway, and Xiaozhi was harmonizing! After every beat, he followed with a cry of "good"!
The parrots started an impromptu concert, and the visitors outside widened their eyes, instantly becoming animated!
"Damn, these macaws are so amusing, they're even keeping beat with the music!"
"Parrots have a good sense of rhythm. My pet parrot does the sa, nodding its head to the music as soon as it starts!"
"Haha, that parrot even adds a 'good' after every line, just like the straight man in a comic dialogue. The keepers are quite humorous, playing such festive music."
"Macaws are both gorgeous and talented, absolutely lovable."
Xiaowen originally wanted to maintain her lancholy, but she couldn't help herself when she heard such cheerful music!
Moods of happiness and sadness collided in her heart, causing her to lift her wings and legs slightly before putting them down again.
"Daddy, what's with that parrot? Is its leg la?"
"La? No, it's just that its legs are numb from squatting too long, it needs to stamp its feet."
A girl who had seen Fang Ye whispering with the animal keeper earlier but didn't dare to disturb their discussion, was now curious after seeing He Yifei play "Good Luck Cos." She bravely approached and asked with a clear, crisp voice, "Hello, Director! Why do you play 'Good Luck Cos' for the parrots?"
Fang Ye was patient with any question from visitors, even the odd ones, and he imdiately entered into informative mode. About to explain, he paused and first asked, "Do you know what enrichnt is?"
"I do! The tire in the enclosure is a form of enrichnt, allowing parrots to play on it like a swing." The girl was quick on the uptake, "Does that an music is also a form of enrichnt, Director?"
Fang Ye exuded an erudite aura, speaking convincingly, "Exactly, the tire swing and the perches that allow parrots to climb are examples of environntal enrichnt. There's also food enrichnt, social enrichnt, cognitive enrichnt, and so on.
Playing sounds is part of cognitive enrichnt!
Most birds are far more sensitive to colors, sounds, and slls than humans. For instance, songbirds defend their territories by singing. They are highly sensitive to the calls of their own species, especially to those from rivals who sing more complex songs, perceiving such fashionable singers as a bigger threat than those that only sing simple tunes.
During the breeding season, if they hear artificial playback of their species' calls, they will also display competitive behavior.
We usually play various bird and animal calls for the parrots. The process of analyzing and imitating sounds is also ntal exercise for them."
A boy wearing a Peppa Pig T-shirt listened intently and suddenly interjected, "Will they also play the roar of a tiger? Isn't it said that we die of comfort if we're born in distress?"
Fang Ye smiled, "Playing the sound of natural predators to reflect the actual wild environnt is necessary to so extent, but the parrots beco very stressed upon hearing it, puffing up all their feathers, their sanity dropping rapidly, so we stopped playing tiger roars after trying it once.
As for playing 'Good Luck Cos,' it's mainly because one parrot was not in a good mood, so we played so festive music to see if it could cheer it up. However, such lively music can't be played too frequently; we usually stick to soothing music, because playing too much of the lively stuff might beco botherso."
With this question answered, more visitors gathered round, asking a variety of questions, such as what macaws usually eat, whether they could keep one, and why macaw feathers are so flamboyant. Fang Ye patiently answered each one.
...
After six o'clock, the zoo was closed!
Fang Ye ca to the parrot enclosure again, and He Yifei was already waiting for him there.
As Fang Ye entered the enclosure, he greeted the parrots warmly, "Jinzhi, Jin Martin, Jingwen, Jingwu, how are you?"
Several parrots felt the friendly atmosphere and opened their beaks in response, "Hello!" "You, hello!" "Ga! Ga!" "Hello!"
He Yifei suddenly broke into a strange grin, Jinzhi was the first to learn to say hello, but when had Jin Martin and Jingwen learned it? He, the animal keeper, had no clue.
Jingwen had been feeling down lately and wasn't too keen on interacting with people, so it was no surprise not to hear it greet him, but Jin Martin obviously knew how to say hello, yet he still happily squawked at the visitors every day. So, he learned it but didn't want to say it?
If it weren't for Fang Ye's greeting, he would have no idea how much longer he would have been kept in the dark.
Fang Ye tried blowing a whistle.
At the sound of the loud whistle, several macaws all flew to the perch in front of him, looking at him expectantly, ready to wait for nuts to eat.
He Yifei, standing to one side, crooked his finger, and without a word, he very cooperatively took out a handful of peanuts from the snack pouch hanging in front of his waist and handed them over.
Fang Ye handed each parrot a nut and gently stroked their heads, praising them, "Not bad! You did very well!"
Doing the right thing warranted a reward, and praising an animal was positive reinforcent training!
He also cast an encouraging look towards He Yifei, "Your training is quite effective!"
"Hehe," He Yifei laughed modestly, then suddenly scratched his head, feeling sothing was a bit off.
"Not putting them back in the cage?"
"No need, it's too much trouble, just hold them on the arm like this!"
Both of them picked up two parrots each, placing them on their forearms. Fang Ye did not wear gloves, whereas He Yifei always wore protective gloves, afraid of being pecked.
The parrots were taken out of the enclosure, looking around at the outside environnt with disbelief.
They looked at each other, confusion written in their eyes.
What's going on? Can see the sky at a glance, no bars around? Are the keepers not taking care of us anymore? Can we still have nuts?
They wanted to fly, but they were afraid to!
Using the Eye of Observation, Fang Ye saw the parrots' emotions fluctuating intensely, a mixture of excitent, eagerness, hesitation, fear, and terror.
He then activated his soothing skill, his ntal force continuously comforting the parrots, "It's okay, it's okay!"
Suddenly, Jingwen and Jingwu, who had been standing on He Yifei's arm, flew over and perched on Fang Ye's shoulder, seeming much more at ease.
"Damn it!"
He Yifei felt helpless. Shouldn't I, the keeper who feeds them every day, be the closest to you guys?
Well, he is the zoo director after all. It's normal for animals to like the director.
But why does he still feel a bit sour inside?
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