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
A common question I am asked by parrot owners is how I get my parrots to eat new foods. I'm not going to lie, my parrots don't have the best diet out there, but they do get a fair mix of pellets and fresh foods. It used to be much harder to get them to try new foods so I can understand the frustration parrot owners feel when their parrot refuses to try anything.
There are three main factors affecting if the parrot will eat a new food:
1) Hunger 2) Taste of the food 3) Motivation/interest
We can control all three of these variables and the likelihood of success is best when all are managed. While it is true that if you starve the parrot long enough, it will eat practically anything, there are many reasons we do not want to do this. Instead, we just want to focus on offering new foods when the parrot is hungriest. This generally tends to be in the morning and evening prior to meals. Similar to the food management practices I recommend for training, withholding food for a few hours prior to offering new foods increases the chances of the parrot eating them. As they say, everything tastes better when you are hungry. Which brings us to taste.
There will be foods that the parrot will not eat no matter what. It just doesn't like them and you have to accept that. However, there are other foods that it may desire a preference for that it is just being too stubborn to try. These are the foods we can try to get them to eat through hunger and motivation. If you know that there is a particular food that your parrot never likes, your chances of getting it to eat something similar are slim. For example, Kili doesn't like mushy foods no matter how sweet they are. She hates blueberries, raspberries, watermelon, etc. You would think most parrots should like these but she just doesn't. For this reason when I want her to try a new food I try to make sure its more similar to other foods she likes. She likes hard/crunchy foods so I knew that I had a better chance of getting her to eat pineapple on camera than some new kind of berry.
This brings us to motivation. This is where most people go wrong when introducing foods and then are disappointed the parrot won't eat them. Think about children refusing to eat what their parents try to force them to eat and then being insatiable when it is something their friends are consuming. Whenever I am eating something, the parrots are always flying over to check it out and watch anxiously. On the other hand if I just slop something in their cage bowls, they couldn't care less. In fact, if I put an unfamiliar food in their food bowls, the most likely thing is that they chuck it out piece by piece. Forcing the parrot by stuffing the food in its beak is pretty much the worst thing you can do because then it will not trust that foods you offer are enjoyable. No. The way to motivate parrots to eat new foods is to make as much excitement and anticipation about the new food as possible.
A very easy way to make a parrot want to try a new food is to let its "friends" try it too, meaning if you have other parrots that will eat the food, the new parrot will want to try it too. I wrote previously about how Truman refused to eat veggies until I had him watch Kili eat them. Of course that article didn't help if you only have one parrot or a new food that none of your parrots has yet tried. This is why I am writing this article to get you started.
I truly appreciate the power of modeling new foods when I got Kili and Truman to try Mango for the first time. The two parrots were spending outdoor time in the aviary when I had some mango slices to offer them. They were becoming accustomed to a midday fruit snack time so they waited eagerly to get their day's share. I had a lot of Mango so I wanted to eat off some of the pieces before giving the birds some. The two parrots watched eagerly as I ate it. Truman was just boiling with jealousy that he wasn't getting any. In fact he flew over to me in hopes of getting some. I stood there relishing the mango until it was nearly finished. I broke the remaining pieces into smaller bits and offered them to the parrots one at a time. However, I did not just give them mango outright but made them do tricks for it. This wasn't just an ordinary "here you go" kind of food, this was a super treat that they had to earn. They didn't know what it was but if they had to go through so much to get it, they knew it must be good. They eagerly performed their tricks and loved the mango off the first taste. During previous occasions when I offered equally tasty food to them in their cages, it would get tossed out uneaten. This is why turning the new food into a treat rather than a chore is so important.
This is just another reason why trick training is so important to parrot ownership. The parrot learns that the food it receives for performing a trick is always a good thing so when you offer the new food in reward for a trick, the parrot is more likely to try it. However, this only gets the parrot to put the food in its beak. How much it enjoys the food and is likely to eat it again depends on the taste and how excited it is about the food. Even if the taste isn't the best, if the entire experience is highly pleasant, a positive association will still be established. It can develop an acquired taste for the food in response to the positive stimuli coexistent with the food. This is why those first experiences are so critical.
The first piece offered should be quite small. A large piece is more likely to be dropped and less likely to be tasted and swallowed. Start with very small pieces so that the parrot has a better chance of feeling the taste. Then if you see it eating the small pieces can you go onto bigger ones. You see the parrot isn't likely to hold the food with its foot unless it likes it. And it doesn't know that it likes it until it has tried a few pieces. Once you see the parrot use its foot to hold or at least support the food, you will know that it approves of it. If you see eyes pinning or other signs of excitement, then you'll know the parrot absolutely loves the food.
Once you have developed this first level of food acceptance, it is your choice whether to continue offering it only as treats or as cage food. If the food is healthy in large quantities, then it is alright to offer it in the cage. However, if the food can be considered empty calories or junk food, then save it strictly as a treat.
Just remember that even though a food might seem really tasty to you (and even other people's parrots), it doesn't mean that your parrot will eat it. Most of the time the experience around eating the food plays a large role in it but sometimes your parrot will not eat it no matter what. Do your best to get your parrot to try stuff but if it just isn't working you have to accept that. Just because a parrot won't try something this time or even a bunch more times doesn't mean that it will never eat that food. I had tried to feed banana and grapes to Kili many many times and she always refused. Then I skipped offering it to her to avoid wasting time. Then at some point I tried again and they became some of her favorite fruits. So even though you may fail with a particular food in the short term, it still pays to try every once in a while in case your parrot changes its mind.
In the video, you will see me offering pineapple to Kili and Truman for the first time. They had never seen or eaten it before. I picked pineapple because it is less mushy than other things I could think of that they hadn't tried. At first I just ate the pineapple in front of them to build up the anticipation. I peaked their interest by not giving it to them even when they made it clear that they wanted it. Finally I gave in but only gave it to them in response to tricks. Truman liked it off the bat but Kili was being picky. She was dropping the pieces at first. But after watching Truman enjoy it a lot, she began to chew/swallow as well. I did this new food introduction during training time but just before starting any training so the birds were at their hungriest. So without further ado, here are Kili & Truman eating pineapple for the first time.
Kili and Truman were thrilled to find their stockings filled with goodies on Christmas morning. After coming out of their cages, they checked out all the wonderful things Santa Claus left for them on their climbing tree. Truman was as (if not more) impressed with the stocking itself as he was with the contents of it. Kili, having had a similar Christmas surprise last year, was less shocked.
While Truman focused on toys, Kili munched away at the almond she got. Truman loved the foot toys he was pulling out of his stocking and almost missed the Brazilian Nut waiting inside for him. He worked at it and finally cracked it open. Kili jumped down to the table and approached stealthily. She snuck up and cautiously grabbed small leftovers of Truman's nut from the table below. Truman didn't mind sharing the little bits with Kili and she benefited from mutual cooperation. In the spirit of Christmas, the two birds did not fight at all and played nice.
Kili and Truman are eagerly awaiting Christmas. They already helped put up the Christmas tree and are now putting up their stockings. While Kili looks forward to tasty treats, Truman generally prefers to get chewy toys.
What about your parrots? Have they been naughty or nice this year? What do you think they'd want Santa to bring them? Please leave a comment below.
Feel free to share this picture with all of your parrot loving friends and people you want to wish a Merry Christmas. You can simply post this URL:
Kili and Truman love Christmas. They enjoy all the activity, decorations, attention, and treats. I had to help put up the Christmas tree over at my parent's house so I brought the parrot duo along with me. In the beginning they just watched from their carriers but eventually I started letting them out and closer.
I brought a Parrot Training Perch along to give the birds a familiar place to fly to. They watched as my brother and I erected the artificial tree and sneezed endlessly from a year's worth of dust. I took Kili out first and showed her the beginnings of a tree coming together. Then I let her perch on her training stand at a distance to watch.
Although a bit cautious, Kili was not scared of the new environment and activity. She was most happy sitting on the sidelines watching rather than being directly involved. On occasion Kili would fly back to me to be more involved or I would recall her over to help out. There was no trouble getting her to come as she was eager to see what was going on. Kili rode my shoulder while my brother and I strung out the colored lights onto the xmas tree.
Truman watched from his travel cage, so none of it was a big surprise to him when I took him out and let him join us. One time he slipped off my shoulder and flew through several rooms and landed on the chair in the kitchen. I was happy to know he could find a safe landing place. Another time he flew off, went to another room, circled around, and came right back to me. He's a good flier and can think well on the fly. He did not knock anything over, poop anywhere, or do anything someone would fear a bird doing as a visitor in their home. Whenever the birds needed to poop, they went back to the training perch I had set up for them (with a newspaper below).
While we put up fragile decorations, I put the birds back into their carriers for a break. After clean up, when the tree was finished, I took the parrots out one more time to see the transformation that had happened. They looked on in astonishment and just dreamed of how incredibly awesome it would be to chew every bit of it all into tiny shreds. I did a few more flight recalls with the birds and they had no fear of flying around the Christmas tree. They didn't fly into anything or cause any trouble.
This is just one of many such social outings I take my parrots on. I want them to be exposed to as many different environments and situations possible while they are still young. Since they are flighted, every time they get to fly some place different, it builds their flight skills and makes the chances of recovering them if they get out better with every time.
While the parrots were out, I took several precautions for their safety. I locked the doors and made sure there was no cooking going on in the kitchen. I put their carriers out in a place where they can see everything but also such that they could fly back to them while out. I brought a familiar Parrot Training Perch from home not only to provide a comfortable perching location but also a safe spot to fly back to if spooked. The birds got used to a new situation, had fun, and lightened my day through all the labors of holiday preparations. What are your parrots doing for the holidays? Leave a comment.
Flight is an integral part of the parrot's "birdedness" but also one of the fun aspects of keeping them as a companion. I would like to share with you some of the cool flighted things my parrots do:
Last but not least, when a parrot gets too annoying being on me, I can chuck it toward its cage and it will fly back and hang out there for a while. While there are some new precautions we need to take when dealing with flighted parrots, there are also new perks involved. With a flighted parrot it becomes possible to spend a lazy evening without leaving the couch and have your parrot come to you and go at will. I can sit at my tv/computer (my TV is my computer... the computer has a 42" TV hooked up to it with wireless keyboard and mouse so I browse the net from my couch) and browse my parrot forum or watch a movie and call a parrot over to play with and then send it off to do its own thing when I'm done. The parrots can also notify they want my attention by flying over or more typically looking anxious to fly and letting me call them.
Come on, most other pets do not come with the incredible features that parrots include by default such as dazzling colors, vocalization capability, and flight. It is a major shame when owners cannot appreciate their birds for everything that they are capable of. Flight should not be considered a hindrance to your relationship but rather a bonus. I miss none of the benefits a clipped parrot owner may claim but also get to enjoy the flighted fun. My parrots are no less likely to step up, accept handling, and desire to be with me than if they were clipped. The secret to success is good taming techniques, patience, routine, and consistency and not clipping.
I can spend just as much time complaining about how much flighted parrots can be a pain in the butt, however, this article is meant to outline the positive aspects. Most of the undesirable ones really are just related to how parrots are rather than a fault of being flighted. So I made this video just to share some of the thrill of keeping parrots flighted in hopes of encouraging others to get to experience this for themselves. This is also meant to serve as a flight training progress update for Truman as I realized that I haven't shared his latest capabilities although they have greatly improved since last shown. Truman can recall to me anywhere and is very maneuverable. The following video shows how he recalls to me when completely out of sight around two corners. He follows the sound of my voice from his cage and finds me wherever I am. Kili can do this to some extent as well, but she is nowhere near as maneuverable as Truman. I also realized that I haven't really shared how I put my parrots away in their cages so I share that as well. Lately I've been able to recall them simultaneously when it is time to go back to cages and they both fly and land on each of my hands. Unfortunately in the video Truman hesitated a little. I just couldn't capture a shot where they fly at the same time, but when it happens it is truly beautiful. Flight is beautiful.
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.
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