Detailed Animal Action Report

During filming, two trainers and a vet were present on the set at all times. One trainer had prepared the cage that Charlie appears in throughout the film so that the bird was comfortable at all times. When the parrot is shown being removed from the cage by an actor or sitting on an actor’s shoulder, the bird was placed on its mark and both trainers stood off camera and supervised the action. The bird was familiar with the actors and the set so it felt quite at ease. There are two scenes in which it looks as though the bird has bitten the finger of an actor. The actor began by feeding the bird through the cage under the watchful eye of the trainers. After the parrot ate the food, the actor put his fingers back into the cage without any food and the parrot naturally thought it was going to get more, so it nipped at the actor’s hand thinking it had food in it. As soon as this was filmed, the parrot was given a treat by the actor so it didn’t feel deceived!