Macaws

Macaws are very smart parrots and can learn things very quickly.  Whether you’re trying to teach your macaw to do tricks or just plain behave there is no reason you shouldn’t have success unless you’re going about it completely the wrong way.  One of the first steps in training macaws is to gain their trust.  How can you expect a macaw to behave or perform tricks for you if he doesn’t even trust you? 

This is usually accomplished over the course of a couple weeks.  If you are raising a macaw from a baby it’s typically a little easier.  However, even if you adopt a rescued macaw that has had a questionable past you can still use our training by trust methods to modify his behavior.  Once you’ve gained your macaws trust you can teach him tricks like the one below!

 

Macaw Biting

Macaw biting can occur for lots of different reasons.  You need to remember their lack of feed and other means to protect themselves results in them using their beak as their defense mechanism.  However, this does not make it ok for them to bite you for no reason.  You can stop Macaw Biting through the use of Target training.  The guys over at Birdtricks got this down to a science.  Plus they provide tons of information to help keep your Macaw From Biting.  So if Macaw Biting is an issue in your house, check out this free video and jump over to their site to see what else you can do about it.

 

Parakeet Behavior and Training

Parakeet Behavior and Training are not to difficult to understand if you stop and think about it.  If you consider how they must feel being a tiny creature and having you reaching into their cage I can imagine the fear they must be having.

Once you figure out a way you can use training as a way to communicate with them you’ll develop a better relationship with your parakeet.  The guys over at Birdtricks have Parakeet Training down to a science. They have a video of a parakeet doing some pretty amazing things. 

Here is another short video of a parakeet whom you can tell has had some pretty serious training. 

Why Cockatiels Bite

Cockatiels bite for several reasons but no matter what the reason it sucks to get bitten.  Whether you’re working with a large macaw or a small cockatiel you want to avoid this and when it happens it’s no fun. Here are several reasons your cockatiel or any other parrot may be biting you.

• Fear- If a cockatiel is afraid for his well being biting may be his only recourse
• Sickness- If your cockatiel is ill he could be biting to keep you away from him
• Learned Reaction- Your cockatiel may be biting just to get a reaction from you
• Alone time- Believe it or not some birds just are not in the mood sometimes to play

More important than why they bite is what you can to to stop it.  Here is a great video that gives you a quick method to stop your cockatiels biting.

 

Training Cockatiels To Do Tricks

Training Cockatiels to do tricks can be fun and not that difficult.  Here is a great video that shows you an easy method to use.  More Cockatiel Training information can be found on our web site.  We want to provide you with as much easy to use information as possible so if you have questions on Training Cockatiels or anything else for that matter dont hesitate to ask!

Training Your Parrot without Causing Fear

While few people think that intentionally causing fear is a good thing to do, there are some common training techniques that can make a parrot feel very anxious, or worse. It’s thought that fear is an unavoidable aspect of training, and in order to make headway, you have to push through it.

There’s an alternative. Even a totally “wild” bird can be trained without freaking out every time he sees you. It requires patience and understanding, but these are traits that serve you well if you have parrots.  Many animal training techniques are “borrowed” from human therapy methods. Helping a person overcome fear of pubic speaking (or spiders, heights, clowns, whatever) and helping a parrot get used to being petted isn’t all that different.

We may express fear differently from parrots–people don’t usually bite-but the Stress Response is similar. Think about the last time you were upset and had that out-of-control, panicked feeling. Would you want to spare your parrot that feeling if you had a choice?

How would you rather handle something that makes you anxious? Take it on all at once and be forced to “just deal with it”, or work with the issue a bit at a time as you learn to relax and gain confidence? The latter method, known as desensitization, is an effective therapy/training method that keeps stress to a minimum so that it doesn’t take over the situation.

While not everyone may be keen on taking this route (it’s slow and can seem like it takes forever to get anywhere), some research suggests that it’s more successful than other methods of exposure training. A bonus: If you’re a softy and it breaks your heart to see an animal afraid and upset, you don’t have to put him in that state. That’s less anxiety for you, too.

The process is simple: You help your bird get used to something gradually, progressing towards more and more exposure to the feared situation until he’s comfortable. Confident behavior is reinforced with treats, praise or anything the bird likes.

Signs of nervousness and fear show that you need to back off a bit, so go back to a point where the bird feels better. Sessions can be very brief, less than a minute if that’s what it takes. Since progress over time is what’s important, don’t worry if each session isn’t ground-breaking. And don’t freak out if the bird has some off days. Setbacks are normal. Adopt a low-key, we’ll-get-there-when-we-get-there attitude.

Desensitization works whether you’re training your parrot to accept a new toy or trying to get a new parrot used to you. It’s especially useful in rescue situations. You can rebuild the bird’s associations with people by replacing the bad with good. Parrots that have been teased or abused, or those that weren’t properly socialized, may need to start from scratch-The Ground Floor, so to speak.

If you’ve got a parrot that trembles or tosses himself around at the very sight of you, probably the least stress-inducing way to start is to work on being near the cage. I like to think of this as “Level One” interaction. Pull up a chair or stand just close enough that the bird notices you, but doesn’t seem too bothered.

At this point in your relationship, treats and praise may mean very little to him as rewards. It’s possible that as far as he’s concerned the best reward is you leaving him alone. That’s fine for now. Remember the point is to keep him as calm as you can.

You will be able to move closer and closer and move up in “levels” of contact. When he no longer sees you as a threat, you’ll be able to work on stepping up, and so on. Parrots, for all their wild animal instincts, are social animals, and tend to crave companionship. You can become that companion without scaring your parrot, so have no fear!

Sisters Parrot Disrupts Convent

>>> Question sent in from a parrot owning nun:

Good morning Chet -

First of all, I want to tell you how great your programs are.  They have so many helpful ways of doing things.  I have purchased the following Video/CD’s from you: Talking On Cue, Flying on Cue, Parakeets and Other Small Birds Part 1 &Part 2.  Thank you for taking the time to provide such helpful resources.

Next, I want to introduce Buka.  He is a Pacific Parrotlets who is almost 2 years old.  I have had him since he was 8 weeks old and have enjoyed almost every minute.  I say “almost” because he has a vicious bite when he is mad.

I am a Sister of St. Joseph and live in a convent in California.  I got Buka because I had understood that Parrotlets were “Apartment Parrots” that had only a tiny voice and would not bother the neighbors.  Well, Buka’s voice is far from “tiny”.  We have 23 Sisters living here and no garage door to open when he makes noise, so nothing outside of me to startle him.  I have thought about taping a loud sound, but there is no one there to turn on the player when I am out of the room.  Do you have any suggestions?

Sincerely,

Sister Ann Marie Steffen

>>> My thoughts:

First of all, Thank you for being such a Valued customer Marie.  I appreciate it VERY much.  Without people like you who are eager to invest in learning what it takes to help make their pet parrots happy, my life just wouldn’t be the same.

But on to your question…

Oh the joys of a Parrotlet  

God stuffed WAY too much personality into these little guys.  They’re super hyper-active and like Sister Ann Marie discovered… not exactly quiet.

They can screech for hours on end.

But it’s not like the screaming of a Cockatoo or some other type of bird that’s just screaming because it wants your attention.  It’s just that they’re loud birds naturally.  They like to chatter and screech all the time.

I actually used to have a little Parrotlet, Ricky, but he died unexpectedly of a heart attack.  From my experience in working with my Parrotlet Ricky, his screeching would intensify when he was not getting his way.  He’d get louder when coming near his cage (cage territorial issues)  Or when he was bored.

The solution?

What you do to fix issues like this is first grab your trusty note pad and start writing down situations that cause your parrot to start screeching.  Does he screech when you leave him alone, or when you come back to get him out of his cage?  How long can he be in his cage before he’s territorial?

I recently did this exercise with my Cockatiel Magoo.  Many so called experts would say he is cage territorial.  He’s fully trained, yet is known to seemingly at random fly off his cage and bite at people’s faces.  It was getting kind of embarrassing to be calling myself a parrot trainer, yet running into this issue.

You know how I fixed it?  I realized that Magoo only defends his cage if it’s a day where he can see his own shadow.  He’s the kind of bird that will literally spend hours looking at his own shadow.  He gets all possessive of it and starts to defend anyone who comes near it.  But if it’s a cloudy day outside he doesn’t bite me, and calmly comes over to sing to you from inside his cage.

Mirrors are the same way with him.  If he can see a reflection of himself, even in a shiny metal food bowl, he’ll defend any intruders that come within a 3 foot radius to the death.  I was able to fix my bird’s situation by simply rearranging his environment so that the lights didn’t cast shadows. 

In areas where ceiling lights cast shadows on the wall, I had to buy some plants that would camouflage the shadow and break it up so it wouldn’t be as easily noticed by my bird.  The behavior was fixed instantly!

This Sister’s Parrotlet might not be the same way, but there’s a good chance that paying attention to what causes him to start his screeching, and then adjusting that situation so it’s not in his environment any more will drastically cut back on his behavior.

Teaching Your Blue Fronted Amazon Who’s Boss

When your Blue Fronted Amazon says jump, do you ask how high?  Don’t laugh and shake your head, many bird owners let their Amazon’s get away with murder simply because it’s easier.  They’ve basically spent several hundred dollars to bring home a beautiful, feathered master.  So I ask again, who’s the boss – you or your Blue Fronted Amazon? Before you answer too quickly, take a look at the following questions

When your Blue Fronted Amazon screams do you jump up and do what ever you can to stop the screaming? When your Blue Fronted Amazon bites do you yell or react dramatically?

When your Blue Fronted doesn’t like what’s for dinner do you make them something else? When you train your Amazon do they give you attitude? Do they hiss, bite, scream, or lunge at you when they’re done playing or simply want to be left alone?

If you answered yes to any one of these questions, it’s time to put your foot down because your Blue Fronted Amazon thinks they’re the boss.  If you let this behavior continue, it’ll only get worse. So what do you do to teach your Blue Fronted you’re the one who rules the roost? 

Well the first step, if you’re jumping to attention every time your Blue Fronted Amazon squeaks your first step is to stop doing that!  If your Amazon bites, screams or lunges at you, you must control your reaction.  Any kind of dramatic reaction, whether it is positive or negative, will reinforce your Amazon’s behavior.  Parrots love drama and if you react then they’re pulling your strings.

In addition to changing your behavior it is time to modify your bird’s behavior.  If they’re acting aggressively toward you, use the Power Pause Technique.  This technique teaches your Amazon that you’re the boss and their snippy behavior isn’t going to scare you away.  Here’s how it works. 

Approaching your bird you get as close as you can until they begin to demonstrate aggression.  Once they start acting out, you stop and hold your position.  Stay there until your bird calms down.  It may take five seconds or it may take five minutes.  The important thing is to hold your ground.  As soon as your Blue Fronted Amazon relaxes you click and back away.  Your Amazon will quickly realize that they are being rewarded when they relax. 

This technique accomplishes two things.  It teaches your bird that you’re the boss and it begins to eliminate any aggressive and unwanted behaviors your Blue fronted Amazon exhibits when they’re not getting their way.  The key to letting your bird know who is boss is to become the boss. Make your Blue fronted Amazon do a trick in exchange for something he wants.   Make your Amazon perform on your terms, not the other way around!