Training over Taming – A Birds Perspective

Parrot Training

Parrot Training Fundamentals

Let us use a common taught skill “step up” to explore the difference between training and taming.

Taming

One of the most common of all taming methods to teach step up to a parrot is ignoring the parrots bite and push on their lower abdomen.

This method has been around for decades if not longer and remains one of the most common methods used to tame a bird to step up by the general population.

While it is effective for many parrot owners it is also very limiting and erodes trust that has been built between parrot and human.

Now let us look at what a parrot might be experiencing during this style of taming.

The Parrots Perspective

My human is opening my cage, let me go to the back so they can put my food in,

My human did not bring my food, this is not normal

My human is poking their finger at me, am getting a bit nervous.

My human starts pushing me “squawk” I am going to fall I step forward to rebalance

My human said something, but I was too scared to listen, I jump back to my perch as quickly as I can. Please go away human I don’t feel safe anymore.

My human is poking their finger at me again, Don’t push me again human I say but they did not listen so I bite them. Not hard but hopefully enough for them to know I don’t like this

“Squawk” I am losing my balance again and step forward to rebalance.

My human is pushing on my abdomen again, I bite really hard this time and they pull away. Finally, they listened. If they do it again, I know how to stop them.

My human is pushing again but this time they did it so quickly I did not have a chance to bite before I started to lose balance. I have to be quicker to bite next time.

They are saying step up, that must be what they say when they are going to push me off my perch. I bite but they keep pushing until I lose balance and grab on to their finger.

My biting is no longer keeping them away, they say step up and push on my abdomen so I grab their finger to stop from falling backwards.

They come again and say step up but before they can push me I jump to their finger. I don’t want to be pushed any more.

Now lets look at a method of positive Parrot Training

Step up using a cobination of both target and clicker training

Training

While there are many methods Bird Trainers use that engages a parrot in a positive way the following is a basic outline of how parrot trainers Majick Feathers currently trains step up using both target training & clicker training combined together.

Use a Clicker to associate a click sound with positive reinforcement

Teach targeting using a Target Stick as the target and positively reinforce the behaviour with a Clicker and treat

Use the target to guide the parrot to the outstretched finger, when the bird touches the target stick, click and positively reinforce with a treat and repeat.

Reduce how much of the target stick can be seen by the parrot by holding it further back in the hand until the parrot will step up without the target stick seen. Positively reinforce all steps toward the desired behaviour.

Practice set up regular to maintain the behaviour. Reinforce step up behaviour intermittently to maintain the behaviour.

Now let us look at how a parrot may see THIS style of Training

My human is coming to my cage, this is good they aways bring my favourite food with them.

Humm yum sunflower seeds. I only get them when my human is here.

Click, I look around at a new sound and my human gives me another sunflower seed. Yum

Click I look around again and my human holds out another sunflower seed, this is nice.

I hear the click and now I look at my human because I know that sound means more sunflower seeds. My human gives me one

Click I look again at my human waiting for the sunflower seed, they take a little longer this time but I know they will give it to me because I heard the click. Yum there it is.

My human gives me new food and water and a bit of time to digest all the yummy sunflower seeds. I am happy

My human is coming to my cage, I hope I hear the click again

Click I look at my human and they give me a yummy sunflower seed

My human holds out a long thin stick and makes it dance a little, I try to catch it and I hear the click, I know what that means, Yummy

My human holds the long stick near me again and I try to taste it to see what it is,

Click, I get a seed again

The long stick is held out again near me and I grab at the end playfully.

Click I get another seed.

The long stick is held out a little bit away from me, I look at it, I wait a little bit and then I move closer to it. Click I get a seed.

I think I know how to get the click sound now. When the stick is held out I walk straight to it. Click I get my seed.

The stick is held at the other end of my perch this time. I move to it and get another click followed by a seed. This is fun.

The stick is held up high and I stretch for it, click I get another seed.

The stick is held down low and I bend for it, Click I get another seed

Now my human is holding out a finger and the stick is behind the finger.

I have to step on the finger to reach the stick. I think about it a little and give it a try ( I want my click and I want my seed)

I get my click and I get my seed, I am a happy little parrot.

My human says step up and puts the stick behind their finger again.

You guessed it, I got on that finger and got my click and treat again

My human says step up every time they hold their finger out now and we lost the long stick after a while, but I know when they say “step up” they want me to step on their finger and I am happy to do it because they still give me seeds sometimes but it also means I can be with the human I love.

Further information on training methods that are animal centric can be found at the Animal Training Academy.

A great way to hone your training skills is with the training game PORTL – Available in our shop, GET YOUR KIT NOW and become the bird trainer you want to be for your feather baby

The birds prospective articles are written in a way to elicit empathy for our feathered friends and encourage training methods that promote positive experiences for both the parrot and human. Training your parrot in a positive way can help to elievate problem parrot behaviours, increase enjoyment for both you and your parrot and reduce the expence of hiring a proffessional parrot trainer.

There is no way to understand what a bird is thinking or feeling but as humans we can use kinder methods to achieve extraordinary parrot training results,

It has been Majick Feathers experience that parrot training becomes even easier using kinder more animal centric training methods and once the fundamentals of clicker training and target training are established many new behaviours can be trained even quicker.

Current training practices should be based on scientific methods. Most commonly current animal training is based around Applied Behaviour Analysis and fantastic work is being done by many leading experts to give animals positive experiences, choice and even a voice in their own lives.