That has not been my experience Ira7--
There have been incidents when I have had to leave Noodles in her cage much longer due to error on my part. I once accidentally slept in until 9am and she was covered and sitting in there---not mad, not screaming, but definitely doing some nesting-types of behavior because she was awake and still covered many hours past wake-up. I have also gotten home late before (as in 5:30-6) and while that was TREMENDOUSLY unfair to her, she didn't give me any trouble--but she basically came out long enough to eat and then went back in for bed--not fair for a social bird who needs a ton of interaction and activity).
She doesn't FREAK OUT if routine is disrupted and if she were to react to the change, I wouldn't alter my behavior or react to her reaction...Our routine exists so that she is able to spend time with me (during the limited time I have) and so she still can get enough sleep.
In fact- the only time I can think of her being mad about routine change was on a car trip when it was dark and she couldn't go to sleep because she didn't have room to get comfortable even though she knew it was dark and therefore bedtime...and that is a bird's nature--- the car was very dark, she knew it was like 2 hours past her bedtime, and her sleeping space was absent.
While I may be "the boss", that doesn't mean it is fair to her to do what I want when I want all of the time whenever I want...Captivity is so unnatural for birds, and a lot of their "behaviors" have nothing to do with them wanting to be "the boss" and everything to do with unmet needs or learned behaviors.
In my experience, a routine doesn't produce a ridged bird if you know what you are doing behaviorally---especially if without said routine, your bird would be locked up and leading a stagnant life without enough sleep. Having no routine was not working for Noodles, and establishing a routine has helped her 100 fold.
In the first post- I described my typical day with her. When I deviate from that description slightly, she is fine too (heck-- I have had to change major parts of the routines in emergency situations and she was fine).
She had been OCD and on anxiety meds for years with her old owners who admitted they had no routine---even though she had lots of daily time out of her cage.
When I got her (as an adult re-home), I established a semi-predictable routine and in doing so, I was able to stop all of her OCD/anxiety medications and reduce chest plucking almost completely. She had never had a routine in her life, and as soon as she had one, she relaxed a bit (kids and birds crave routine and that is okay). Her behaviors were actually coming from a lack of routine (not the other way around). Cockatoos are unique-- especially umbrellas--- yes, you don't want to make them used to a totally inflexible daily pattern, but you also need to keep in mind that with the cognitive capacity of a toddler, routine is important to some extent. It is only fair when you think about the amount of time they spend locked up and wondering...
Here's the thing---parrots and toddlers are super similar (behaviorally and cognitively). If a lack of routine works for you, then that works for me.
Looking at child development etc though, a good human parent establishes a routine for his/her human child. YES--- experts warn that one should no be overly ridged or there may be push-back when things change (change is a part of life and sometimes kids react badly to it), but that in and of itself is a learning experience and NO EXPERT is going to say, "the less routine your kid has, the better because they might get bent out of shape if it changes".
Structure and predictability are HUGE for reducing anxiety in children and helping to manage behavior. They also help the child feel more in-control and therefore, less likely to try and exert control in other aspects of life. I guess my point is, yeah, a kid may be pissed if they don't get to sit where they always sit at the dinner table, but that doesn't mean you should make them eat dinner in a new place everyday (It just means that when the kid has the first tantrum about "his/her" chair, you explain, and then ignore)...Getting rid of routine due to the risk of potential behavior when the routine changes is kind of like throwing the baby out with the bath water. A good parent lets his/her child get familiar with routines....that is healthy and normal (and recommended by doctors and psychiatrists)---yeah, they may get weird about it when they change, but without any structure, you are looking at an even more messed up situation. Think about what happens when parents ignore the importance or bedtimes, or have a different person pick their kid up from school every single day of the week...or have a different love- interest over every other day, or feed their kid at all hours of the night....Those kids are always anxious and generally have behavioral issues/ weird attention-seeking behaviors and outbursts.
Parrots are very similar in many ways---at least, Noodles is...and when you look at nature, there is routine there as well (sun rise, sunset... returning to nest at certain times, leaving at certain times, flying certain places at certain times)...It isn't totally random---PLUS, in nature, they wouldn't be locked up (and this confinement does take a mental toll on a bird intended to be freely flying miles and miles).
Establishing a general routine has changed her behavior in many positive ways and has actually allowed her to be MORE flexible than she was when there were no patterns in her past homes (she feels safer now). Imagine never knowing what was going to happen next... If you were locked up all day long and randomly, someone let you out someday, but not other days (so you could never be sure that they were coming)...and sometimes only for a few minutes, but other times for many hours (before locking you up again). It makes me nervous just thinking about it. When I am on a flight (closest human thing to a bird cage)---I always want to know how long the flight is. If I didn't know how long I was going to be stuck there (at least ball-park) it would be miserable because I would constantly be wondering (are we there yet, are we there yet etc etc). All higher-level creatures crave a certain level of predictability.
There is a middle ground to all of this, but saying that routine should be all over the place is not necessarily the best advice, even if that is what some people have heard.
Birds don't understand a lot of what could be explained to a child, and when we cage them, we remove so much from their control. Adding high levels of unpredictability/inconsistency on top of that can definitely become problematic for some birds.
