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
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone from Parrot Wizard and TrainedParrot.com! It has been a fun filled year of parrot training and I hope you have been enjoying the experience as well.
Despite having just arrived, I had a special Christmas present in store for Santina, the gift of training! I got her a Parrot Training Perch Kit from the Parrot Wizard (oh yeah, that's me) because it is the most powerful training tool you can have for a parrot. Not only does the kit include two training stands, it also comes with a clicker, target stick, and basic instructional DVD to get you started. I think becoming social, learning to fly, and simply developing a mutual form of communication is the best thing for a captive parrot.
I unwrapped Santina's present and had the perches set up in no time. I made for her a set of T-Perches in size Extra-Large because she has some massive feet (about the size of my hands!). I assembled the perches in play sight but not too close so she could see what's going on and not get frightened (after all it's only been a day since she had come from the rescue). In no time I had her up on the Training Perches stepping on and off. She got super excited about her Christmas surprise and did a little dance!
The stands took a big weight off my shoulders.... quite literally! Santina weighs more than two pounds and can be quite a handful. My arm feels like it's going to fall out of its socket after a few minutes of holding her. Part of the problem is that I try to hold her away from my body just to be safe that she can't bite my face. The bigger issue, however, is that she has a killer grip and digs her talons into my arm. Worse yet she starts to slip as she leans back and the claw slides across my skin making a long cut. By having these training perches, I can take her out of the cage room and have a place to set her down to begin training.
But this is only the beginning, I look forward to teaching her tricks and more importantly flight using these stands. There's no better gift for your parrot than the gift of training and Parrot Training Perches help you make that happen! Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
It's that season of giving and my birds have it all. So I am looking to make some donations to some more needing parrot organizations. Please help me decide the best causes and why. Leave a comment stating which organization can use some Wizard supplies or money most this holiday season. Tell my why they may need some new perches, a harness, book, toy parts, or something else? The more comments or compelling reasons I get, the more donations I will be sending out so be sure to comment and share and get a lot of thought going around the parrots that need our help.
I will also match supply donations. If someone is interested in purchasing Parrot Wizard stuff to send to a rescue, contact me and we can arrange for Parrot Wizard supplies to be sent to the non-profit parrot organization of your choice with matching contribution.
My personal recommendation is Ginger's Parrots, a 501c3 Senegal and Cockatiel rescue and rehabilitation center in Phoenix Arizona. You can make a holiday donation to Ginger's Parrots or better yet give a gift that keeps giving by sponsoring a parrot.
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.
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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