Trained Parrot Blog

Trained Parrot Blog

Kili

Type: Senegal Parrot
Genus: Poicephalus
Species: Senegalus
Subspecies: Mesotypus
Sex: Female
Weight: 120 grams
Height: 9 inches
Age: 16 years, 5 months

Truman

Type: Cape Parrot
Genus: Poicephalus
Species:Robustus
Subspecies: Fuscicollis
Sex: Male
Weight: 330 grams
Height: 13 inches
Age: 14 years, 8 months

Rachel

Type: Blue & Gold Macaw
Genus: Ara
Species:ararauna
Sex: Female
Weight: 850 grams
Height: 26 inches
Age: 12 years, 5 months

Trick Training Guides

Taming & Training Guide
Flight Recall
Target
Wave
Fetch
Shake
Bat
Wings
Go through Tube
Turn Around
Flighted Fetch
Slide
Basketball
Play Dead
Piggy Bank
Nod
Bowling
Darts
Climb Rope
Ring Toss
Flip
Puzzle

Additional Top Articles

Stop Parrot Biting
Getting Your First Parrot
Treat Selection
Evolution of Flight
Clipping Wings
How to Put Parrot In Cage
Kili's Stroller Trick
Camping Parrots
Socialization
Truman's Tree
Parrot Wizard Seminar
Kili on David Letterman
Cape Parrot Review
Roudybush Pellets

List of Common Parrots:

Parakeets:
Budgerigar (Budgie)
Alexandrine Parakeet
African Ringneck
Indian Ringneck
Monk Parakeet (Quaker Parrot)

Parrotlets:
Mexican Parrotlet
Green Rumped Parrotlet
Blue Winged Parrotlet
Spectacled Parrotlet
Dusky Billed Parrotlet
Pacific Parrotlet
Yellow Faced Parrotlet

Lovebirds:
Peach Faced Lovebird
Masked Lovebird
Fischer's Lovebird
Lilian's (Nyasa) Lovebird
Black Cheeked Lovebird
Madagascar Lovebird
Abyssinian Lovebird
Red Faced Lovebird
Swindern's Lovebird

Lories and Lorikeets:
Rainbow Lorikeet

Conures:
Sun Conure
Jenday Conure
Cherry Headed Conure
Blue Crowned Conure
Mitred Conure
Patagonian Conure
Green Cheeked Conure
Nanday Conure

Caiques:
Black Headed Caique
White Bellied Caique

Poicephalus Parrots:
Senegal Parrot
Meyer's Parrot
Red Bellied Parrot
Brown Headed Parrot
Jardine's Parrot
Cape Parrot
Ruppell's Parrot

Eclectus:
Eclectus Parrot

African Greys:
Congo African Grey (CAG)
Timneh African Grey (TAG)

Amazons:
Blue Fronted Amazon
Yellow Naped Amazon
Yellow Headed Amazon
Orange Winged Amazon
Yellow Crowned Amazon

Cockatoos:
Cockatiel
Galah (Rose Breasted) Cockatoo
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Umbrella Cockatoo
Moluccan Cockatoo
Bare Eyed Cockatoo
Goffin's Cockatoo

Macaws:
Red Shouldered (Hahn's) Macaw
Severe Macaw
Blue And Gold Macaw
Blue Throated Macaw
Military Macaw
Red Fronted Macaw
Scarlet Macaw
Green Winged Macaw
Hyacinth Macaw

Glossary of Common Parrot Terms

Kili's Air Hockey Trick

Comments (0)

By Michael Sazhin

Thursday October 27th, 2011

I taught Kili a new trick in just a matter of a few training sessions. I haven't taught her a new trick in a while. The last trick she learned was pressing a lever to initiate the rube goldberg. However, she has not forgotten how to learn new tricks and is as good as ever picking them up. My main problem is running out of good tricks to teach her and a lack of motivation on my part rather than Kili hitting a limit to how much she can learn.

The greatest challenge was to teach Kili to push the puck rather than pick it up and fetch it. Of course naturally she is inclined to pick up whatever she says to fetch it to where it has to go since so many tricks involve fetching something. But nothing the clicker couldn't solve. This is definitely a place where it was make or break to have a clicker to train. So to all the clicker deniers out there, you are missing out on a tool that facilitates learning where difficult behaviors are required.

To teach the trick I started with targeting her to just touch the puck, click, and reward. Once she knew that she had to do something with the puck, she began trying to pick it up. Well I don't want her to pick it up ever. So if she managed to pick it up entirely I would ignore Kili. Instead, I tried to click when she was just beginning to lift it and inadvertently pushing it forward a little in the process. Thus I trained her that for this trick she didn't have to lift but just push. Then we increased the distance further and further until you have the air hockey trick you see here.

The biggest problem is if Kili begins pushing the puck but isn't exactly lined up straight. Then it always ends up being pushed into a corner and she gets stuck there. She has already learned to make small corrections (pay attention for this in the video, it's quite interesting) but still cannot make substantial turns to line up with the goal if not going in a straight line. This I cannot teach her and she simply has to learn herself through trial and error. We'll keep practicing. Ideally the purpose is to have Kili be able to start with the puck anywhere on the board and be able to maneuver it to the goal.

Now check out Kili's Air Hockey Trick video as narrated by Truman in the background:

Part of: Parrot Trick Training, Senegal Parrots
Kili Senegal Parrot Trick Air Hockey

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Trained Parrot is a blog about how to train tricks to all parrots and parakeets. Read about how I teach tricks to Truman the Brown Necked Cape Parrot including flight recall, shake, wave, nod, turn around, fetch, wings, and play dead. Learn how you can train tricks to your Parrot, Parrotlet, Parakeet, Lovebird, Cockatiel, Conure, African Grey, Amazon, Cockatoo or Macaw. This blog is better than books or DVDs because the information is real, live, and completely free of charge. If you want to know how to teach your parrot tricks then you will enjoy this free parrot training tutorial.
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