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

Truman Tameness Progress Update

Comments (0)

By Michael Sazhin

Friday October 1st, 2010

Between all the physical therapy and trick training that's been going on with Truman, behind the scenes I have also been doing a lot of taming exercises with him as well. Just like Kili, I can now hold Truman on his back, open his wings, hold him by the neck, hold him by the tail, and hold him by the beak.

Actually the holding by the beak trick is unique to Truman. Although I can sort of get away with holding Kili in this way, her beak is just too small to get any sort of grip by. But by sliding my finger into Truman's beak, I can lift and hold by his maxilla. This does not only show tameness but also very strong trust between trainer and animal. He can easily crack almond and walnut shells with that powerful beak, yet he is very gentle with my fingers and lets me hold him that way. For me it provides an alternate way to hold him but also helps to maintain the beak/hands comfort between us. If my hands and his beak interact on a daily basis then there will be no fear for either of us.

The primary training method I have been using for developing all of this tameness with Truman has been flooding with negative reinforcement. Now I am definitely not suggesting this for everyone, but just sharing what worked for me. Keep in mind I have previous training experience and am working with a baby parrot. I absolutely do not recommend this method for aggressive, problematic, or older birds. I believe that the main reasons this seemingly unrewarding technique is working so well for me is because Truman is so young and eager to learn. He doesn't develop a negative association for me as I am increasing the discomfort gradually. I'm definitely not pushing him straight to the limit. There is no need for positive reinforcement (although he gets some scratches and praise anyway) because he is not actually doing anything. He is learning through negative reinforcement that if he puts up with what I want to do without resisting, he can get it over with and we'll proceed to better things.

To hold Truman by the tail I took slow steps to get him ready for this. I definitely didn't just do it out of the blue. I had been accustoming him to being held on his back so now the main difference would be by where he would be held rather than the angle. I began by holding him on his back in my hand and touching his tail. I would increase this with each step by holding the tail and releasing part of the weight from the hand that was holding his back. I kept practicing this just a few times a day over a few weeks and now he trusts me to hold him by the tail. He is flighted so he's not scared of falling and I'm not too worried about dropping him then. Please don't ever subject a clipped parrot to this though.

By handling my bird in all different ways every day, the overall tameness improves. Unlike trick training which is accelerated to facilitate quick learning, taming is about going slow and only over time developing a comfort zone. This comfort zone is very important though. Sure holding by the tail might just be silly but being able to hold the parrot by the neck or beak can be quite important. Holding by the neck allows for carrying a flighted parrot through an unsafe zone (that is how I carry him the few yards from home to aviary) and is also useful for restraining the parrot during grooming/vet exams. The ability to hold the beak reduces fear of the beak, biting, and can be useful if any beak care is required. This article isn't meant to serve as a lesson on parrot taming, however, a previous one I wrote should be more helpful. It shows how to tame parrot to open its wings and hold it on its back. The same concepts can be applied for the other tameness demonstrations I show as well.

Here is a video to show Truman's little trick routine which consists of shake, wave, target, and fetch as well as his latest tameness demonstration. Although he was tame from the day I got him, there is no way he would have allowed me to do the things I show in this video without all the work we did. Also this is the first video where he can do shake and wave interchangeably. It took much longer to get him used to doing the trick I ask for rather than just one or the other.

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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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