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
I heard that February is National Pet Dental Health Month so I bought a toothbrush for Kili and Truman to brush their beaks with. I knew that Kili wouldn't care but that Truman would go bonkers for it. I took Truman to the pharmacy with me and picked out the cheapest/simplest toothbrush they had. Truman was already wide eyed over the selection so you can only imagine how he felt when he could get his beak on one!
I didn't even have to open the package, Truman lost no time figuring out this toy within a toy! With exquisite dexterity, Truman eagerly chewed the package open and got his prized toothbrush out. I showed Truman how to brush his beak but he grabbed the toothbrush away from me to do it his own way. He felt the bristles with his tongue and chewed the toothbrush from all sides. This must be the greatest one dollar parrot toy he has ever played with!
I came across a Parrot Foraging Tower at the bird store while shopping for some supplies. It was very expensive but the store owner seemed fairly eager to get rid of it by lowering the price to just expensive. Thus I brought the tower home for Kili and Truman to play with.
Kili being the trained parrot that she is was ready to learn the trick but only with my guidance. She would not just play with the tabs and figure it out on her own despite the treat being in plain sight. She waited for me to show/tell her what to do but then mastered the basic task very quickly through clicker training. She already knew the pull command from the magic drawer trick so it was mainly a matter of clicker training her to apply it to the tower. But the tower is much bigger than she is, so she couldn't go beyond two tabs to pull on.
Truman on the other hand became master of the parrot foraging tower. Not only is he tall enough to reach the top tab if he stands on his tippy toes, but his hooked beak is perfect for pulling the tabs open. Truman had a slight advantage in that he watched me train the trick to Kili. However, I never worked with him and the only rewards he got for attempting the trick were from the tower itself. After just a handful of almonds and sessions, Truman learned that pulling all the tabs out was key to getting the nut to fall out. Still, he does not follow any logical sequence for pulling the tabs. However, from a reinforcement standpoint, the sequence is irrelevant and the nut will only come out when all tabs are pulled out.
All advantages are on the side of Truman with this one. Not only on size and strength but also perseverance. Kili is more focused on following commands and doing tricks to earn treats from me. If the toy isn't rewarding her quickly enough, she'll turn to me and say hello or show her wings for a treat rather than keep working at it. On the other hand Truman is slower and more thoughtful. He'll approach the tower from different sides and keep working for 10 minutes if he has to until the nut is his. Then he'll spend a few more minutes still, working the nut out of its shell. Quite the entertainment package for a brainy Cape Parrot. In the video you can see Truman step away and think before approaching the tower again. He takes many breaks but he doesn't give up. His persistence pays off with a large tasty nut.
No, I didn't misplace Truman for a Turkey! I just had to fatten him up a little and Kili could use some stuffing. I laid out the biggest variety of yummy foods the parrots ever got in a single meal. They both went straight for the nuts the moment I placed them on the table. No doubt that is their number one most favorite food. Then Kili sampled the mixed veggies and snuck away pieces of Truman's Brazilian nut cause she couldn't crack her almond. The parrots played with bits of pasta while trying a bit of everything.
While Kili devoured a big piece of banana, Truman nibbled some pellets. Kili did not touch a single pellet though. She's more of a vegetarian where she'll go for fresh veggies and fruits any day. Truman on the other hand is more of a nut and pellet kinda guy. He skipped most of the greens and went straight to his pellets. Before long, both their crops were visibly bulging out of their necks.
The parrot duo engaged in the tradition of sharing by putting aside their differences and enjoying their meal side by side. Neither attacked the other or caused any trouble. But you can see in the video that they were still a little cautious around each other. As long as there's plenty of food to go around, it's every bird for himself! Happy Thanksgiving.
Check out the video of Kili and Truman's Thanksgiving Day meal and then leave a comment about what your parrots got for Thanksgiving.
While I still believe that trick training is both the best mental exercise and relationship building for parrot and owner, good foraging toys are a must for when the owner is away. Just an hour or two of trick training and interaction per day simply isn't enough to meet a parrot's intellectual needs. I would argue that a good training session (especially involving flight and complex behaviors) can make up for hours of down time, but still not a complete substitute. This is why stimulating toys are a must.
Parrot toys come in three categories: chewing, playing, and foraging. Ideally a parrot should have at least one of each category in its cage at all times. Chewing toys are usually comprised of a lot of wooden parts that are appropriate for the parrot's size and beak strength. These are the toys that you come home to see bare not long after hanging them. These are important to keep your parrot busy and beak trimmed. Better that they be chewing on that then your furniture when they are out. The play toys are often made of tougher materials and involve the parrot interacting with them in non-destructive ways such as pushing, pulling, swinging, ringing, etc.
Finally, foraging toys are the third category of parrot toys. In a way these are the ultimate toy because they involve both play and destruction. Foraging toys can best be described as toys with goodies inside. In the simplest sense they are toys with food treats inside but I'd like to talk about going beyond just treats. Since I do a lot of formal parrot training, I don't approve of food oriented toys because then the parrot won't be hungry when I get home and want to do training. So instead, I try to focus on non food based foraging toys.
Truman can spend hours trying to get a hold of the toys inside this coconut foraging toy
For a parrot that doesn't know how to play with toys but is treat oriented, hiding food in toys is a great way to get them started. However, for a naturally inquisitive/playful bird like Truman, just having more toys inside is enough. When toy shopping for my parrots, I especially look out for sophisticated toys like this.
Another thing I like to do is to hang toys near swinging perches rather than solid ones. If the parrot is perched on a solid perch, it is all too easy to shred a toy to smithereens in no time. However, if the parrot is standing on an already swinging perch and the toy moves, it really provides a challenge. Not only is it mentally challenging to move the swing and toy to reach, it is also great exercise. The parrot has to use all of its muscles to balance, hold, and play. In the video below you can see how Truman is holding onto his swinging atom with one foot and the coconut foraging toy with the other. It's both an exercise and a challenge to keep him busy while I am away.
This article tells you how you can teach your parrot the turn around trick on cue. The turn around trick, also called spin by others, is where the trainer shows a cue and the parrot does a 360 degree turn around on its perch. This is a very easy trick to teach and can be considered a beginner trick. Any parrot from a budgie to a macaw can learn this trick. The only requisites are that the parrot be tame and already target trained. If this is not the case or if you simply need a refresher, check the target training and taming article before continuing with turn around.
The turn around trick is taught by targeting the parrot in a circle. So the first thing to do is to refresh your parrot's memory by doing some targeting. Make sure your parrot is willing to turn its head toward the target stick and to follow the stick. Hold the target stick behind the parrot so that it makes a 180 degree turn to touch the target. If it is not doing this, you can try holding it at 90 degrees and then move back to 180 when the parrot begins to turn toward the stick. Of course promptly click and reward the parrot whenever it touches the target stick.
Next work on getting the parrot to turn 270 and then 360 degrees to touch the target stick. Get it started by holding the target stick just ahead of where it is reaching and continuing to turn the stick around the parrot so that it can follow. Keep the pace such that the parrot can keep up with the motion of the stick but does not have the chance to touch it before completing the 360 degree turn. Continue practicing the turn around target method until the parrot reliably turns around to follow the stick. However tempting it may be, don't lure the parrot around with a treat instead. The targeting method is more effective because it learns the behavior rather than just going where food is. At this point you can start saying "turn around" or whatever the cue will be. Also you can stop letting it touch the stick upon completion and just click/reward when it completes the turn. It is important that the click is when 360 degrees have been turned rather than too soon or the bird may not learn to turn all the way.
It is convenient to have the parrot on a perch and below you so that you can target it around in a circle from above. This later helps transition the cue as well. I do not recommend teaching this trick on a flat surface because it is harder to get a precise 360 degree turn. On a perch, turns have to be a half or full circle in order for the parrot to perch. For these reasons an adjustable height Parrot Training Perch is the ideal tool for training this trick.
The next stage is to switch the parrot from following the target stick around to following your finger around. Hold your index finger along the target stick to accomplish this. Start by holding it high on the stick but progressively hold it lower and lower so that less of the target stick is visible and your finger is more obvious. Eventually don't hold the stick at all and see if the parrot will follow your finger around instead. Once you can get your parrot to turn around by following your finger rather than using the target stick you are ready for the final step.
Now all that is left is to recede the finger turn and it will become the cue. Start by targeting the parrot around less and less with your finger so that it still completes the 360 turn. Move your finger 3/4 way around, then 1/2, 1/4, etc. From the inertia of previous training, the parrot should continue completing the 360 turn with less and less targeting with your finger. Eventually you should get to a point where just showing your finger in a vertical orientation. At this point it's just a matter of switching this motion into the cue which can be a twist or flick of the finger. Just keep practicing and gradually switching the finger target to the finger cue that will become the permanent cue.
As soon as the parrot has caught on to the trick, I recommend mixing it back with previously known tricks so that it does not forget those in favor of the newer one. Once the parrot has completely learned this trick on a perch, you can practice it on a flat surface as well. Here is a video of how I taught Truman the turn around trick in just two training sessions:
Here is another video about teaching a Blue and Gold Macaw to turn around. You'll see that the technique is exactly the same and very suitable for any sized parrot:
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.
Truman can spend hours trying to get a hold of the toys inside this coconut foraging toy
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