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
Truman, my Cape Parrot, learned the flighted retrieve in no time. Being a bird of the air that he is, he made the transition from running around (if you can call it that) to get the ball to flying for it without any special thought. You see, unlike Kili, Truman has never been clipped in his life and is completely at ease in the air as any bird should be.
Normally I develop videos and training guides for new tricks that Truman learns but this time there was really nothing to show. One time I rolled the ball on the floor and Truman walked back to me with it, the next time I kneeled with my arm higher so he flew up to it still holding the ball when I called his name. That and a few sessions of practice was all it took before Truman would fly all the way across the room to any place on the floor to fetch the ball and bring it to me.
I even took the trick a step further and taught him to land on my hand and then walk over to my shoulder with the ball before giving it to me. This too was extremely simple to teach. First I had him give me the ball on my hand, then I started having him walk more up my arm to give it to my other outstretched hand. Eventually I stopped signaling him to walk to my shoulder and he just continued doing it out of habit from the previous trials.
So instead of going into further detail about how easy it was to teach Flighted Fetch to Truman, I will tell you how I taught it to my Senegal Parrot Kili which is more likely what others would need to go through to teach the trick to their parrot. Kili already knew how to fly and how to fetch, so it was a matter of making the connection in her little bird brain to do them simultaneously. So for obvious reasons, your bird needs to already be a veteran at fetch (and be able to do it on different surfaces with different objects with ease) and be capable of flight. Ideally the bird should be flight recall trained but it is technically possible to teach a parrot that doesn't normally fly to you to do fetch on its own anyhow.
I found a pair of flat/simple chairs best for this but you could just as well use two coffee tables or other surfaces of similar shape/size that can be placed up against each other at first. Start by having the parrot walk around on one surface fetching the object at one end and bringing it to a cup or your hand at the other end. Use the objects and retrieve methods already most familiar to the bird. Once the parrot is comfortable fetching on this surface, begin having it fetch back and forth between the two joined chairs or surfaces by walking across the gap. As the parrot becomes better at fetching across the divide, slowly begin to spread the distance between the chairs with each subsequent retrieve.
At first the parrot will walk across the short gap, but as the gap widens it will have to hop and eventually flap to make it across the divide. By the time your parrot is flying from chair to chair to deposit the ball, you'll be able to place them quite far apart and the parrot out of habit will continue to fly between them to fetch the ball. All that is left now is to teach the parrot to use flight in other ways such as down to the floor and up to your hand with the object. At least the basic skill and concept of flying with an object has been achieved.
You can go back to the twin chair method but substitute the second chair for your hand. Place your hand within step up distance of the only chair you are now using. Ask the parrot to fetch but instead of flying to the other table, get it to step up on one hand and then deposit the object into your other. Just like the prior process of spreading tables, move your hand further and further away. You may or may not need to use your parrots flight recall cue to motivate or hint it to fly to your hand once it has retrieved the object.
Some things to keep in mind for teaching this trick. First of all, this is a fairly advanced trick. Don't expect your parrot to learn this fresh out of learning retrieve or its first few tricks. I waited two years since Truman learned to fetch before I decided to add the flighted element to it. I wanted a long term rock solid history of retrieve beforehand. The most common difficulty will be the parrot dropping the object when it tries to fly to you or forgetting to bring it and flying to you. The best solution is to use my spreading method because then the gap grows so gradually that the parrot transitions from walking retrieve to flighted retrieve without realizing the mobility change. If you try to go straight from normal retrieve to flying up from the floor with it, the parrot is likely to be confused. If you encounter any trouble at any stage, just go back to the last success point and keep practicing. Make even slower progress before increasing the gap. Remember to practice and perfect short distance flighted retrieves before moving onto longer ones. Once the parrot grasps the concept, be sure to challenge it and you will be surprised at how extremely capable they really are!
You can even take this a step further and incorporate flight into all tricks that are derivatives of the retrieve. For more fun and greater exercise, I have Kili fly recalls across the room for the opportunity to perform a trick. Then I create a divide that mandates flight. So instead of laying out coins on a table for her to put in her piggy bank, I throw the coins on the floor and then Kili flies up and down with them. Likewise with ring toss, I toss the rings on the floor so not only is Kili challenged by the colors puzzle but also to physically go and get them.
I often get asked what Cape Parrots are like because I have one. So for everyone that wants to know what a Cape Parrot is like, here is my review of the good, the bad, and the ugly. In case you read no further, let me just say that Truman is a great bird and I love him, but I wouldn't recommend a Cape Parrot to virtually anyone. Now to understand why, read on.
When I mail ordered Truman from a Florida breeder, I knew very little about this species. Based on my good experience with Senegals, appreciation of the Poicephalus genus, and fear that an African Grey may be too neurotic for my lifestyle, I decided to go with a Cape Parrot. I heard nothing but good things about them and unfortunately that is most of the information that is out there. That kind of information does not help an owner make an honest well thought through decision. But a decision like this must not be made lightly as these birds live for a very long time.
Before I got Truman, I heard Cape Parrots described as "gentle giant," "cuddly," "playful," "adaptable," "non-aggressive," and other high marks of praise. I heard that they are good at playing with their toys, independent, and social. Furthermore, I was impressed that they are considered less prone to common parrot problems like biting, plucking, or screaming. After nearly 3 years of Cape Parrot ownership, I can say that these descriptions are very true. BUT, the typical descriptions leave out the real problems with Cape Parrots.
While the Cape Parrot is very good on paper and on quick comparison to other parrot species, this is is very misleading about their quality as a pet. The best way to put this is that Cape Parrots are very difficult in a way unique from other species. This part is missed on comparison because it is hard to describe and unique. So for a beginner it is tempting to think that a parrot that doesn't bite, pluck, or scream must be easy and suitable. But instead, their unique difficulties are far more difficult to remedy than the more common and understood problems that other parrots may engage in such as biting.
Simply put, Cape Parrots have a very difficult and unmanageable personality. They are extremely stubborn and it is impossible to change their mind when they are set on something. Capes tend to get very moody at times and good past relationships are challenged. Cape Parrots don't take very well to normal taming and training.
For spans of time Truman may be well behaved and easy to handle but every once in a while out of nowhere he will throw a tantrum. Suddenly he decides he doesn't want to go in the cage or doesn't want to be handled by me and he'll be flying all over the place to avoid it. If I manage to get my hands on him, he'll be throwing his beak all over the place and biting like crazy. Under normal circumstances he has never bitten anyone, however, when he is throwing a fit he bites very hard. These moody spells seem to happen every several months and keep coming back. Even with great efforts on my part to resolve these matters (and even to do preventative training when things are normal), things will be bad for up to a week at a time. During this span Truman generally doesn't want to hang out with me, doesn't want to be grabbed, does a poor job at training, and I'll be lucky if he steps up without any fuss.
While my Senegal Parrot, Kili, can go through hormonal periods or get upset on rare occasion, it is far easier to work things back to normal with her and this is all extremely infrequent. So while a Cape Parrot isn't likely to bite when being stubborn, they go through extreme lengths to have their way and resist yours. Shortly I will get to why hunger and training don't sufficiently help like they might with other species. Maria Brinson from The Purring Parrot says of her Cape Parrot Jupiter (who happens to be Truman's older brother), "Overall this a not a good bird for someone that has no bird experience. I have learned that if Jupiter sees me coming for him and he doesn't want to interact he will start grooming and ignore me. If I push the issue I will get bit." Natacha the Poicephalus Lady doesn't mind so much but has a similar experience with her female Cape Lea, "Lea is also quite into drama reaction, making things seem bigger than they are...again, not something I mind but some people might find irritating. But yeah..very very very stubborn, when her mind is set on something, it's hard to redirect her attention towards something else."
If a Cape Parrot is set on doing something you don't like, virtually impossible to make them stop. Either they will keep on doing it anyway or they'll hate you for interfering. It's a very fine line in between and almost impossible to manage even with extensive parrot keeping experience.
Cape Parrots are also very injury prone. Since he was a baby, Truman frequently falls off his perch in the cage. Less so now than before, but even after 2 years I occasionally hear the "Cape Cannon Ball" when he thuds down on the cage bottom. Truman always has some kind of scrapes, bruises, or broken feathers. Whether in his cage or out he tends to knock into things and get a cut between the ceres, break feathers, or bust the tip of his beak. If in 4 years I have only seen Kili bleed once or twice, I see Truman bleeding at least once every few months. When Truman isn't hurting himself, he's getting hurt by Kili. But the unfortunate thing is that he puts himself in her way more often than she comes after him. A few ripped out feathers and a bloody cut later, he's still landing on her cage asking for it. This is that Cape Parrot stubbornness at its max. They never learn.
Maria sums up the trouble by saying that Cape Parrots "can be very stubborn, prone to light injuries from too much rough play with toys. Can be a bully with other birds, will hold grudges for a least a few days, bites can be very bad since beak is so large, quick temper." Her Cape, Jupiter, once flew into something and busted the tip of his beak and was bleeding badly. Truman goes through the same and then is mad at me for a week even though I had nothing to do with it.
Not only does my Cape Parrot hurt himself a lot but he also gets very dirty. All parrots are messy, but that doesn't mean they let the mess affect them. Sure parrots will throw stuff out of the cage and make you clean the floor and things like that, but Truman will take a poop on a perch, walk around in it, get it on his beak, climb all over the cage wiping it everywhere, and then have bits sticking on his back. I've noted my Cape Parrot to be pretty smelly right from the very start. And it's not just that he's a bigger bird. I've been at a rescue with 8 Senegal Parrots and all those birds combined did not make the kind of smell a single Cape Parrot does. And all these birds eat the same foods. Truman is messy, gets dirty, and worst yet is completely shameless about it. I've had to put up with countless poopscapades with him where he'll poop on some vertical surface and manage to hit everything on the way down.
When it comes to their voice, Cape Parrots can be fairly good talkers. It is still debated if they are as good as an African Grey or not but this isn't particularly important. Personally I don't think they are. Unlike smaller parrots, Truman talks in entire phrases rather than individual words. However, the downsides are far worse than the infrequent nice bits of talking. For everyone one word he says, Truman has to let off several dozen honks, screeches, and whistles. He is extremely shy about talking in front of people and only does it when no one is looking. Truman tends to spend at least an hour a day on a screaming fit. He screams a lot when I come home and even more when he wants something. Despite the fact that I ignore screaming, he still has it in him to let off a bunch each day regardless. I encourage Truman to talk when he wants to come out and he does. But he alternates saying things and screaming just to be sure. The worst part is that if I give in to his talking or quiet and let him out, he'll come out and then start screaming but really close to me. Here is an example of Truman screaming but to get the authentic experience, turn your volume up to full, sit close to the speakers, and put it on loop for an hour:
When it comes to training, it is much more difficult with a Cape Parrot. The way I'd best describe it is that he's too smart for his own good. It's not so much that it is difficult to teach specific tricks to him as his mindset in general. When it just comes to simple things like practicing flight recalls or maintaining what he knows, he is always trying to come up with ways to cheat the system. This may seem smart but it's not because I never give in. In fact I usually am less generous with treats when he's pulling these kinds of things, yet in his stubbornness he won't give this up. However, I know that he's not stupid because when I get a good motivation day out of him, he will do everything exactly right which only indicates that he is purposefully screwing around the other times.
For example even after years of the same going back in the cage routine, he still does it all wrong. The idea is that I recall fly the parrots back and forth across the room a bunch of times and at some point put them away for their meal. Kili has this down perfect and will fly any number of times I request her to and gets to have her meal. Truman will either jump the gun and try to fly over when he wasn't called or refuses to come when I do call him. I bet he thinks that if he just stays put while I make Kili do all the flights, that he can just come once at the end and get his meal. What the smart aleck doesn't realize is that I'll just put Kili away and then make him fly as many if not more flights by himself until he gets to eat.
Managing Truman's motivation with hunger is quite problematic as well. When overfed, he's extremely stubborn and unresponsive. As he gets progressively hungrier, nothing happens for a while and then it quickly jumps to the flip side where he is too hungry and troublesome in other ways. Truman seems more likely to scream a lot when he is hungry (not that I ever feed him because he's doing this, so I still can't figure out why he thinks that's a beneficial thing to do). Also when he becomes too eager for food, he'll jump the gun and fly to me when uncalled and then be too tired to fly when I do call him. So across the spectrum of hunger, there seems to be no middle ground where he can train well without effects of being too hungry. With Kili this is no problem and there is in fact a pretty good range of weights where it works well.
So in conclusion, even though Capes have many desirable qualities and seem to make pretty good pets on that basis, they are extremely difficult in ways that are not well known. Except for people with extensive parrot experience, no one should even consider them as a companion because they will run into difficult issues. Clipping a Cape Parrot is about the stupidest thing someone could do, so forget that as an option. They are clumsy and get hurt flighted as is, if they can't catch themselves they'll get even more hurt. Worse yet, a Cape Parrot that cannot fly away when upset will turn to biting and that is not a beak you can afford to get bit by. Little is documented or known about Cape Parrots so if you get one, you're pretty much on your own. Basically if you rely on books, videos, help from other people, etc, you will be in deep trouble with a Cape because that sort of information doesn't exist for them and you'll have to figure it all out on your own. Like I said, their stubbornness is like no other and I don't know anyone who has found a universal and successful way to manage it (except putting up with it). While for example a Senegal Parrot may be prone to known problems such as aggression and be a one-person-bird, I find those issues to be simpler and more probable to solve. When it comes to the Cape issues, it's not only that I haven't been able to solve them yet but I don't even have a solution/approach on the horizon. For now it's just something I have to put up with and keep trying.
I hope this article will help people understand that even though Cape Parrots can be fun and exciting parrots, they should be avoided as pets by anyone that is looking for anything but an extreme challenge.
The new line of I ♥ Parrots merchandise is now available for purchase on the Parrot Wizard website.Kili and Truman are featured on this special release on a TShirt (available in S-XXXXL adult unisex sizes), Hat (one size fits all), and Mug. Collect all three for the complete line of I Heart Parrots memorabilia and I'll throw in a free I ♥ Parrots mousepad. These items make a great gift for parrot lovers.
Feel free to share the I Heart Parrots cartoon below and purchase your memorabilia from http://ParrotWizard.com
I am always looking for good socialization opportunities to get my parrots out and used to people. Not only does this prepare them for shows, but more importantly companion pet life in general. The more people and situations that they are exposed to preemptively, the more prepared they will be to unforeseen life changes still to come for them.
This was Kili's second year going to the street carnival (they skipped a year and the one prior to that Truman was injured and couldn't go). Even though she hadn't seen this sort of activity in two years, it was like she was there just yesterday. For Truman it was the first time going to such an event but it was not a big deal to him either. After all the socialization at the park, shows, and other opportunities, there is little that can phase Truman (even bells ringing, balloons popping, hands touching, and all the other mayhem you can expect at a street fair).
So for the extent of the week the carnival lasted, I tried to bring my two parrots there every evening to get them as many interactions with other people as possible. In the span of this week they had been petted, held, and put smiles on the faces of hundreds of people. Kili greeted people with "hellos" and Truman got fluffy for head scratches. While I would not recommend just taking your parrot straight out to something like this on the first try, once socialized, it's an excellent challenge for them. It is a lot of fun for everyone! Onlookers enjoy seeing parrots, the parrots enjoy seeing onlookers, and it's a way for you to get out with your parrots and spend one on one time with them. It's a wonderful bonding experience because the parrots cling to you for safety and entrust their lives to you. Sit back and enjoy Kili and Truman's experiences at the street carnival this year:
Kili & Truman visited the street fair nearly every evening
They love eating carnival foods and do tricks for a bite of corn
Everyone enjoys handling the birds because they are so friendly and cute
Truman absolutely goes bonkers for funnel cake and will do any trick or flight perfectly for a piece
The seminar was an outstanding chance to present to parrot owners the application of taming/training to have well behaved companion parrots. I was able to discuss and demonstrate endless interesting topics without constraint.
The 5 hour seminar opened with a bird show. Dressed as the Parrot Wizard, I entered from the back of the room and paced around the anxious crowd with a Senegal Parrot on my hand. I made a few laps of the room showing off this bird before setting it down and calling Kili and Truman to the front of the room. They swooped over everyone's heads and landed on my outstretched arms. The birds performed their extensive repertoire of tricks without much hesitation and Truman thrilled everyone with his Boomerang flights. I walked around the audience with the parrots so they could see some of the tricks close up or volunteer to assist with them.
After the parrot tricks show, I disrobed and began the seminar. I talked about a lot of advanced trick training and answered questions specific to trick training. I explained the process of teaching many tricks that I haven't made online tutorials for such as play dead, ring toss, slide, and boomerang. Then I went on to demonstrate how easily I can harness my parrots and explained the entire training process. I finished the first half of the seminar by explaining why taming/training is so important for companion parrots beyond just amusement.
During the intermission, audience members got to meet Kili & Truman in person. I was not prepared for such a flood of fans and couldn't control the endless outreach of hands toward the birds. Yet they were unbothered and just dealt with it. Their extensive socialization was really paying off. The parrots stepped on hands and posed for pictures while I answered numerous questions.
The second half began with a special introduction by avian veterinarian Dr. Todd Driggers. He discussed the importance of training for a parrot's psychological well being and compared the idle parrot's life to unemployment. I was very pleased to have the full support of a highly respected vet in the Phoenix Valley. I hope this helped convince people of the necessity to follow my training approach. And if for no other reason, then for the health of their companion parrots.
Then came the best part of the Seminar. I went back to basics, using rescue parrots for the demonstrations. While I had sufficient confidence in my guys to perform, it was entirely unknown how the inexperienced rescue parrots would behave. Luckily, they were very cooperative and were able to demonstrate a week's worth of training progress in front of a live audience for the first time ever.
I worked with an untrained rescue Cockatiel. By the time of the seminar, the only experience he had was a week's worth of target training in the cage. I had never taken him out of his cage until the Seminar. In front of a huge live audience I targeted him around in his cage, then eventually onto my hand, and then out of the cage entirely. This was the first time he had come out of the cage in his known history. I showed everyone how I was teaching him to target for anyone and not just me by having audience members come up and succeed in doing the same.
Next I worked with two rescue Senegal Parrots (a male and a female). Again, only demonstrating a week's worth of training progress, I was able to show how I taught one of them to turn around and the other to be grabbed. Audience members got to interact with these recently wild rescue birds as well as see training improvement before their very eyes. I wrapped up the seminar with a discussion about motivation and how to get parrots to willingly cooperate with us.
What you may find interesting is that I performed the entire seminar without planning it out. All I had was a basic idea of the general topics I wanted to cover and the performance but otherwise I winged it entirely. Even the opening show was chosen at random as I went. The only thing that was previously choreographed was the opening entrance and flight recalls. This keeps my birds on their zygodactyl toes and presents a genuine presentation of their skills. They don't just remember a routine, they can perform any of their tricks as requested.
The biggest reason I could not plan my talk in advance was because, the week leading up to the show was so extensive that I could not predict how much the rescue birds would learn nor what I would learn from them. I wanted to give my audience my freshest and most complete outlook on parrot behavior so I let the experience of training 8 rescue parrots during the preceding week drive my seminar. Being unprepared worked in my favor. It gave me the chance to jump around from topic to topic without constraint. I allowed the audience to help me steer the course of discussion and make sure their curiosities were foremost answered. I was able to get audience participation, answer questions, and share countless anecdotes about specific parrot themes. I think this collective mayhem will just keep you captivated and entertained despite the substantial duration of this video series.
It may seem strange that the seminar and DVDs begin with the most advanced stuff and then work their way back. However, this was mainly done to maintain the order of the parrots involved. You see, Kili & Truman were the highlight of the opening act so I wanted to make the most use of them in the first segment. This is why we focused on demonstrating flight, harness, and advanced trick training in the first half. Since the rescue parrots weren't used until the second half, I saved all the basics and fundamentals for then. For the same reasons, the DVDs begin with advanced results and then return to how to teach them.
I hope you can buy a set of DVDs from the Seminar so you too can feel like you were there and learn everything the audience got to experience. While you don't get the same interactive experience as a live seminar, a major benefit of the DVD is that you can watch it in smaller spans and rewatch parts of interest.
Like the seminar, the DVDs are really meant to be purchased in a 2 part series. However, for people who only want a specific disc, they are also available separately. It is possible to watch the 2nd video alone for learning basics of parrot taming & training or to watch the 1st video alone to enjoy the show and discussion of advanced tricks, flight, and harness. However, I would really like to encourage everyone to just buy the 2 disc set to see the entire Seminar start to finish. Individual DVDs can be purchased for $19.99 + s/h or the entire set for $29.99 plus the same price of shipping as a single DVD. The combo is like buying one DVD and getting the second for half price and free shipping.
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.
Trained Parrot site content Copyright 2010-2020 Michael Sazhin. Reproduction of text, images, or videos without prior permission prohibited. All rights reserved.
Kili & Truman visited the street fair nearly every evening
They love eating carnival foods and do tricks for a bite of corn
Everyone enjoys handling the birds because they are so friendly and cute
Truman absolutely goes bonkers for funnel cake and will do any trick or flight perfectly for a piece
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