how to get macaw to hop?

[hnb]

So joey is great at wing flaps now. I'm not sure how to get him to start hopping? Whenever I put my hand far away he reaches out with his beak to reach my hand. And if its further than a beak grab he just paces and gives up. If he wants to get on the bed but my hand is a foot above he literally flips over on my hand so he is dangling off by his feet and reaches his beak down to lower himself on to the bed. Not sure where to go from him

 

[chris-md]

Get two perches you can slowly separate. He’ll go from stepping to BIG steppingstone to small flits/hops.

Watch this video, it explains it.

[ame="https://youtu.be/DomDr-dXZtU"]Evolution of parrot flight recall training, a tutorial on how to recall train your parrot - YouTube[/ame]

 

[hnb]

I've tried this concept though and he just seems to reach with his beak, and then if it's further he gets discouraged and quits. I love the video though! so helpful.

 

[hnb]

After rewatching the video, do you think he is quitting because I have him going from his play gym to the other perch? So he has other places to go if he quits. As opposed to two plain stands?

 

[Kiwibird]

Edit: Just looked and it looks like Joey is not a baby at all and is around the same age as Kiwi! See if putting him up higher (like the top of his cage or a tall piece of furniture) and targeting down lower will trigger his instincts. That's gotten Kiwi to attempt flight a few times. Not repeatable and scary for everyone involved, including a fairly serious head first crash.

I've tried numerous 'variations' of the "move perches farther away" technique with my stubborn amazon. He just gets frustrated and angry too. Unfortunately, he never fledged and at 19, I hold little hope he will ever really learn to fly. He does however like to hold onto my hand and flap his wings as we walk around to pretend fly. It's still good exercise and builds muscles. That could be another thing to try. Remember, when they are older and have never flown, they have underdeveloped flight muscles, flapping exercises really help build those muscles. Kiwi is hardly ever on my hand moving from point a to b where he isn't flapping his wings (just like if he were actually flying). Still, after years of those exercises, he STILL refuses to fly on his own.

 

[hnb]

I'm going to be making Joey 2 flight training perches tonight, just got back from home depot I'll try the lower height! Thanks for the tip. I've tried getting him to flap and then moving so he continues flapping, but I cant quite get the dynamics down.. could you try and explain it?