How (well) trained are your parrots? (poll)

[SammyAndyAlex]

I am curious as to how well trained parrots in general are.

I personally have a very well trained parrot, simply due to the fact that I like it when animals are well trained and obedient as i believe it strengthens the bond between human and animal. I dont say this to gloat, i am just curious!

 

[Laurasea]

Trained in what exactly? Congratulations on what ever you trained! ! Mine are most excellent talkers , kisses, abd snuggles ! I laughed at your poll on the no thing, I tell em no they tell me no, they tell each other no, but the no's they tell each other are usually about kisses, like no you can't kiss my mommy. But occasionally they tell who ever is biting no, I feel that's supportive I don't think of them as obedient, I think of them as well socialized flock members.

 

[chris-md]

Yep, you’ll have to explain what you mean by “well trained”. Do you mean simply tame and well behaved? Trick trained?

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Ooooh, that's tricky.

Cairo is an ekkie who fits the stereotype of not liking being touched, which many local folks consider to qualify him as "not tame". My vet, who is not familiar with ekkies but more with the smaller parrots, is also surprised to see he doesn't like us, his flock humans, touching him. However, he does step up and recall well (when he's not sleepy or grumpy from molting - I don't blame him, I wouldn't want to do stuff when I'm not feeling well), and he also enjoys doing tricks. But "stay" is not something we've consistently mastered yet because his previous family raised him to be a free-flight bird, so whenever we're in a training session, he thinks he should either be on his training perch or he should fly to us. However, he does have the "go to bed" and "go to perch" down.

For us, I'd be more inclined to say "obeys basic commands" simply because the rest of what he knows are very simple variations off of those commands. We've not yet tried things like "find the keys and bring them to [my partner]", but he can do the basic "take" and "put/give".

On another note, I've been actively trying not to teach him "no". "No bite" is something we're learning. But "no" as a catchphrase is something I'm avoiding for him, largely because if he picks it up, I worry about the context or lack of. I'm really trying to go for positive reinforcement - he gets praise and treats for doing something right, and no comment unless it endangers his life. Even then, I'll ask him to "give" if he has something he shouldn't have in his mouth, and I give him a treat for giving it to me so he knows that he'll always get something of greater edible value and I offer a different chew toy instead. Not sure if my approach is solid, but I want him to be a positive bird.

 

[bill_e]

I'd say that my parrot responds to some basic commands but I have a different opinion than you regarding obedience equals bonding. Obedience is conditioning, both classical and operant, like Pavlov's dog. Bonding in my mind is trust. Maybe a thin line between the two but I don't believe that they are the same. I've seen many parrots in the old days conditioned to be obedient through the use of punishment....while obedient, one could hardly call the relationship between the parrot the trainer as bonded.

Certainly training can lead to trust but they are two distinct conditions of which you can have either without the other.

 

[texsize]

Most of my birds step up for me.
not all of them step up on my hand but they will step up onto something so I can move them.


It's really a mater of safety. If something happens I need to be able to move them without fighting with them. Beyond that I don't try to train them for tricks and stuff.

 

[Scott]

Mine are trained to various states of tameness and kinship. Perhaps my most bonded bird, Gabby, is potty trained and will almost always excrete on the "go poo-poo" command!

 

[ChristaNL]

I have no idea...

I really suck at teaching them tricks on command (even forgot about harnesstraining the past month), but when Appie was broody and sitting on the eggs she would let me touch her, lift her off the eggs etc..
(No, I am not breeding them, but the females arriving here always seem to insist dropping an egg or more the first year they move in with me...usually because they are finally fed well enough and are fit enough that they are able to do so?)
I can handle all my birds in unnatural, panickinducing ways (grabbing them around the bodies, lifting them, turning them on their backs etc.) without them even blinking hard.
(All part of their going-to-the-vet-training)
They all will come with me to shower..I always see that more as their achievements than mine... just like they decide to trust me, rather than me trying to make them do anything. (Allthough I stop them doing things a lot! I would have no fingers, friends or a house left standing if I did not.)

So no, my parrots may (usually) be absurdly tame and trusting (compared to most, according to my vets) and (most of the time) wellmannered, but they do not do tricks...

(LOL unless you consider 'step up" a trick - I just think it is completely normal that they do this when asked to.)

typing this:
... there is a grey bathing her feet etc. in the drinking bowl of the macaw, a macaw trying to disect my toiletdoor and a third one decided to poop outside the cage especially - he climbed all the way out to do so --- so I can cheat, film this and add some commands? THEN they 'do tricks' right?)


oh...speaking of tricks ...


Remember D.? (My second CAgrey and most fearsome smart grey I ever met.)
She was clickertrained at some point in the past - and when I tried it she completely turned the tables on me.
Everytime I did something she approved off, she would *click-click* at me!


A very sobering experencience and she taught me just how much we, the humans, get trained by their parrots!
(I miss her so much it hurts)

 

[Kiwibird]

Mine isn't well trained in the sense he'll do pointless tricks on command per say but he is well trained in more practical ways (such as that he may not chew up furniture must stay in his area, not to get down on the floor etc...). Basically, in addition to stepping up and potty training, our bird has a good enough grasp on what we expect out of him as a member of the household he does not require being locked in a cage during the day at all and does not require constant supervision. He is essentially free range (though stays in a defined bird area) and comes and goes as he pleases during the day within that area. He's also very adept at communicating via body language. A good example would be turning his back if he isn't interested in stopping what he's doing to step up (though he will if pressured) or hanging off the side of his cage pointing in the direction of where he'd like to go (say his swing across the room or on the couch if my husband is over there etc...). Paying attention and generally respecting his wishes have reinforced this behavior and he is constantly improvising and we're constantly reading him.

 

[T00tsyd]

Trained? You're joking! Syd steps up, comes and knows routines so fits in to life in general. But training? Noooooooo! I am trained beautifully though!

 

[GaleriaGila]

The Rb (aka Genghis Conure)... trained?
Well, if you preface any of those tricks or compliances with "if he feels like it..." he's a star! If he doesn't feel like it... well...

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

Except for my budgies, my birds are fairly well trained. They both step up, fly to me on command, are target trained, and do a variety of cued tricks. For tricks, Kermit can do wave, spin, wings, flip, and fetch reliably. He even does an aerial version of fetch where he flies with the ball and drops it in my hand. Ducky knows more tricks than Kermit, and can do wave, spin, wings, tunnel, fetch, ring toss, and basketball. She also flies to wherever I point in the bird room (for example, if I say “go to tree” and point to the tree stand, she’ll fly over and land on it). However, both Ducky and Kermit aren’t the best about going in their cages, so I often have to bribe them with seeds.

Overall, I think they’re pretty well trained. I’ve ordered an Aviator harness for Kermit and I’m going to work on that for as long as it will take. In preparation for harness training I’ve gotten him comfortable with me grabbing his body, putting my fingers around his neck, and lifting up his wings. I probably won’t harness train Ducky for a long time just because she’s skittish of new people and wouldn’t enjoy the experience. Kermit on the other hand, loves to socialize and doesn’t even mind children.

They’re both very bonded to me in the sense that they call for me, fly after me when I leave the room, and love scritches and cuddles. Kermit was actually afraid of hands touching him before I began training, and now he loves it when I cup my hand around him while I give him scritches. He closes his eyes and snuggles in and turns his head to show me where to scritch. Kermit also likes to sit on my shoulder and nuzzle against my face. He also loves to give lots of kisses, maybe too many! Ducky is also a very cuddly bird, she bows her head to demand scritches and closes her eyes and turns her head when I do. If I don’t scritch her, she’ll come up to my hand and bump it with her head - it’s so cute! Ducky also loves to sit on my chest and nuzzle against my cheek while I give her more scritches. She’ll stay in this position for several minutes and she just melts my heart.

I wouldn’t consider my budgies to be “trained” at all. They usually won’t step up for me, don’t allow me to touch them, and they don’t do any tricks. Pearl can talk clearly, but I don’t think this is really trained. My budgies aren’t bonded to me and just prefer doing their own birdie things.

 

[EllenD]

This is a very "odd" poll question, in that "trained" means something different to different people...I'm with Bill in that I don't at all believe that the more "obedient" a pet is the stronger their bond with you is; if that were true then most of us here would not be very bonded to any of our birds!!!

Training your bird to do "tricks" is great if that's your thing, although I don't at all like some of the methods people commonly use to train their birds to do "tricks", namely food-deprivation and actually making their daily food (meaning their meals) dependent on how "obedient" they are and how well they are "performing" and "doing what they are told"...I know a few people who are excellent "parrot-trick-trainers" and have parrots that do quite an array of amazing "tricks", and who have made very successful careers from their very "well-trained" parrots, which is impressive when you watch their birds, until you learn HOW they went about and still go about "training" them to do pretty much whatever they tell them to do. So that's not my gig at all...

And as far as "stepping-up" goes, maybe I'm alone in this because all 4 of my larger birds were hand-raised/hand-fed and my 8 Budgies were hand-raised/hand-fed by me, but they ALL stepped-up for me immediately without any issues from the first day I met them, while still at their breeder's home, and I guess that's just something that baby birds who are hand-raised just learn? I'm actually asking that question because I don't know the answer...I didn't "train" my 8 Budgies that I hand-raised/hand-fed myself to "step-up", I just put my finger down in front of their bellies for them to "step-up" on, starting when they were around, I don't know, 4-5 weeks old...And they just did it. And I'm assuming the same went for my 4 larger birds that were hand-raised by other breeders, I don't think they were "trained" to do that, I think they just do it naturally if they start doing at such a young age...So no "training" there....

My birds fly to me when I call them, and I have a unique "contact call" with each of my birds, but that wasn't "trained" either; each bird started saying something or making a noise/sound/whistle that was unique when they were young, and I just answered them back making the same, unique words or sounds...And those became their "Contact Calls", and when I wanted them to fly to me I would make their individual Contact-Call and then say "Bowie, come here!", or "Kane, come to mama!" after the Contact-Call, and they just came, lol...As Noodles already said, I too suck at formal training....BUT, I simply listen to my birds. I get to know each of them well, I bond with them, and then as Bill said, I earn their trust and they earn mine, and from that comes a mutual understanding of each other, and from that comes them doing things that I ask them to do. I have NEVER actually sat and had a "training session" with any of my own birds, not ever...I have hand-tamed many a parent-raised Budgie or Cockatiel, but that's not really training them, that too is simply listening to them, getting to know them, letting them get to know me, earn their trust, they earn my trust, and eventually they are "tame" and will "step-up", not because I trained them to step-up, but because I have earned their trust and they in-turn will do what I ask of them, and because we come to understand each other, they know what I am asking them to do.

I think it's great if you use "trick training" as a way to spend time with your birds and bond with them. That's a very positive way to become closer and closer to them, and to earn their trust. So props to those that use "training" time as a way to become closer to their birds...I just don't like those who only care about achieving a certain end-result from their birds, and in order to achieve that end-result they use not only negative-reinforcement but also some methods that are anything from questionable to downright cruel and abusive.

 

[wrench13]

Well trained and very cooperative 95% of the time. Salty can be stubborn occasionally and some nights will simply not be into doing our nightly training sessions, and thats OK, he has a mind of his own and only works with me to do the advanced tricks because he likes doing them. But Salty also works well and listens to my wife too. They had a rocky begining but her patience ( and treats) has won him over.

Salty steps up when ever presented with a hand and only needs a verbal push ( Up up) once in a while. We havent poop trained him.

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

In response to Ellen’s post, the “Parrot Wizard” is an example of using food deprivation/portion control to achieve better training results. This video shows how small a serving he actually feeds his parrot in a meal.

[ame="https://youtu.be/6gNJyX7pHXw"]How to Use Food as a Training Tool | Parrot Training - YouTube[/ame]

I don’t agree with this at all, as there are much better ways to train parrots without depriving them of food. I train my birds tricks, but I only use positive reinforcement and I listen carefully to their body language. I use treats that they don’t get in their regular diet, mainly safflower seeds for Kermit and spray millet for Ducky, as reinforcers. By saving these treats for training only, my birds are willing to work for them and I don’t have to do anything to their normal diet of pellets and chop.

 

[chris-md]

It’s a misnomer to call it deprivation. When done correctly, The idea is that the training treats make up the balance of the diet outside of the smaller meal portions. So they aren’t actually deprived. You just train when they are at their most hungry, just before a meal.

 

[dhraiden]

Parrots are very food motivated. I'd venture our little feathered fids get far more in excess to meet their daily caloric requirements with human "companions" than they ever would in the wild. That said, treats are just that - something small and yummy that our buddies really want, but don't necessarily need outside of their regular meals.


Anyhow - both ours know how to Step-up, and poop, on command. Mango does both willingly. Mochi the GCC does both for my spouse but not for me, especially when Spouse is around.

 

[Scott]

The Rb (aka Genghis Conure)... trained?
Well, if you preface any of those tricks or compliances with "if he feels like it..." he's a star! If he doesn't feel like it... well...

More like he has you trained!!

 

[ChristaNL]

Parrots are very food motivated.

Actually that is not always true...
the group of research parrots here is so enthousistic about "working for their supper" that if they are given the choice to do some work and get a snack or just get a snack for free...they all choose to do the work!


One of them (you really should hear Nico tell this story) loved getting into the action SO much, he even risked getting obese because the initial rewardsystem was automated ... so they adapted it and it turned out he would just as enthousaistic perform the little tasks if he got no reward at all or only sometimes!
For him and the others (who all got their normal food, so no peckish/ marginally hungry/starving parrots whatsoever) is was all about the fun and the challenge. The reward was a nice extra.


Of course (for us) offering snacks is a great motivator in the beginning (because a lot of things we ask of them can be a bit scary / against their normal behaviour) but I think most of us find that after a while you do not need to reward so heavily/densely anymore because they eihether get used to it or even just plain enjoy doing it.
Getting a reward can become just part of the trick-routine as well...

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Parrots are very food motivated.

Actually that is not always true...
the group of research parrots here is so enthousistic about "working for their supper" that if they are given the choice to do some work and get a snack or just get a snack for free...they all choose to do the work!


One of them (you really should hear Nico tell this story) loved getting into the action SO much, he even risked getting obese because the initial rewardsystem was automated ... so they adapted it and it turned out he would just as enthousaistic perform the little tasks if he got no reward at all or only sometimes!
For him and the others (who all got their normal food, so no peckish/ marginally hungry/starving parrots whatsoever) is was all about the fun and the challenge. The reward was a nice extra.


Of course (for us) offering snacks is a great motivator in the beginning (because a lot of things we ask of them can be a bit scary / against their normal behaviour) but I think most of us find that after a while you do not need to reward so heavily/densely anymore because they eihether get used to it or even just plain enjoy doing it.
Getting a reward can become just part of the trick-routine as well...

Can personally attest to this (or at least, on behalf of Cairo). He'll start of doing things for treats, and it really seems just to be a way to get him comfortable with something.

He was very hesitant about flipping upside-down at first. We coaxed and encouraged him with treats. Now one of his favourite things to do is to flip upside-down and pretend attack his perch. Then I got him a rope hoop perch this Christmas. He initially saw it as just a rope ladder, I think because he felt it was too unstable. So I first gave him a treat every time I put him on the hoop and he stayed there to get an extra treat (one for going on there and one for staying a longer period of time). Then I trained him to fly to the rope hoop on command (and then recall). He got really confident about it. Now, he spent all of tonight playing on it (he had so much fun play-attacking the toys around him and chewing on them).

Even when it comes to stacking cups or his box of shapes (something more trick-like). He'll play by himself, stacking and unstacking them. If he notices us watching him, he will sometimes run over, expecting a treat. But if we ignore, he's happy to play by himself. He sometimes grunts in frustration if a shape doesn't fit properly where it should and gets more agitated, frantically trying to fit a piece in. Then the moment it does fit in, he runs to grab another piece to fit into the box.

I see tricks like "wave" and "shake" (the ones he can't use to play by himself) as more socialisation tools. He normally gets very shy in front of strangers - initially he was skittish, now he's just reserved. But practicing those simple tricks that don't require anything but him and me help put him in the mindset that this outside space with strangers in it was also a safe place because it was a training space full of opportunities for treats. And treats in this case is always used to reassure him that things were a-ok. We would quickly access strangers - those who were respectful of Cairo's space, we asked if they would feed him a small sliver of almond or we would ask him, and those who didn't know how to handle themselves around an animal, we would ask him to wave then offer him a treat. After several outings like this, Cairo is less skittish when strangers walk past him. He'll even start practicing his vocab outside on our walks.

So while Cairo is food-motivated (our vet even commented on it), after he understands how to play or after he puts the positive association with an experience, then he's happy to proceed without treats even. That being said, since he was a free-flight bird, I will always give him a treat when he's recalled (I can't afford to risk losing that strong positive association - it's the only way he gets dehydrated bananas).