Lara Joseph lives in Ohio where she shares her home with four birds; two cockatoos, a large macaw, and an eclectus hen. She dedicates her time to the work and study of parrot behavior and their welfare in their captive and native environments. She writes articles on different aspects of companion parrot welfare, including behavior, enrichment and foraging and its effects on behavior, her life with her own birds, and approaches on increasing the human/parrot bond. In her free time she enjoys consulting issues of parrot behavior, working with her avian board certified veterinarian, designing her own line of foraging and enrichment toys, and traveling to further increase her education in the world of these amazing, intelligent, and extraordinary creatures.

To further her knowledge and passion in avian behavior and welfare, Lara is also the head of the training and enrichment programs of the raptor division at a wildlife rehabilitation center near Toledo, Ohio. She also chooses to work with raptors to sharpen her skills and increase her continual learning of positive reinforcement training and behavior modification in addition to attending specific seminars, workshops, and attained certification in behavior and parrot behavior.

Other fields of interest to her are research in the abnormal behavior of captive animals due to what she feels is in abundance in the companion parrot society. She is fascinated with the effects foraging and enrichment have on the behavior of captive animals, especially birds, and has done much research in this area.

Lara is a member of organizations such as The International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators, The Animal Behavior Management Alliance, and The American Federation of Aviculture. She is proud to sponsor organizations of avian education and conservation such as The World Parrot Trust and The Indonesian Parrot Project.

Lara was a featured speaker at the 29th Annual AAV Conference and Expo in August, 2008 and writes the monthly Newsletter for Bird Paradise at www.birdparadie.biz. Lara is also an Administrator on a very educational bird forum known as Avian Nation www.aviannation.com where she offers her knowledge and experience to both new as well as experienced bird owners.