Recalling

[mrgoogls]

I want to get cooper flying more. Right now he goes to perch on command perfectly, but I can't get him to recall. He is target trained, but is very lazy with it, and only goes when it doesn't involve flying. Could him going to perches easily (only took about 10 min to reliably train him to do), and not recalling so easily, be part of his personality. He is the kind of bird to kind of do his own thing, not super cuddly, person bird. (still very nice, just prefers to do his own thing). To all you guys with recall trained birds, do you have any tips?

 

[Dustbunny]

*Pulls up a chair and awaits the flight instructor* :22: I've just recently started recall training PB. She'll come if there is a treat. Otherwise she'll only come if she feels like it. There's room for improvement here and I'm open to suggestions as well. LOL

How did you get Cooper to fly to his perch on command? Telling PB to leave one of us is a lot harder than asking her to come.

 

[Birdman666]

Recalling is an inexact science, and I don't really advise teaching this one over the internet, or attempting to learn it that way. It is so easy to lose a bird who is not 110% recalled. In fact, even if they are, they enter the food chain... so you still lose them.

 

[Dustbunny]

I only train PB indoors and she's in a carrier when she's outside now (hopefully a harness and leash one day). I just think recall is a good skill for her to learn for indoor use AND in case she ever gets free outside on accident. I hope her recall ability will never have to be outdoor tested though.

 

[Birdman666]

I used to free fly mine. So, that's why I caution people about this one...

In a 15 year period of time:

I had one hit by a car. I had one eaten by an owl. I had one stuck in a 40 foot tree that got attacked by crows, and I had to climb up and get her down.

I had one stuck on top of a 3 story building, and lost that one on another occasion, but managed to find her again.

I lost my CAG 4 times, but always managed to find him again.

I lost another amazon on one occasion.

A friend of mine lost his greenwing to a hawk...

And a whole host of friends who used to freefly their birds, had birds that simply never came back... and we never knew what happened to them.

So recall, but don't rely on recall alone.

 

[Phlox]

I only want to recall in the house...and just in case someone gets outside. But my thinking was if they love to fly and I can also harness train, then recall + harness should equal safer times outdoors?

Iris apparently has been learning by watching Phlox recall to me from her playstand, because she did it today all on her own. Baby steps!

So far, I don't even use treats, just affection and it seems to work really well.

 

[mrgoogls]

Sorry for not being clear, i only want to fly him indoors, and with a harness outside. I dont ever plan to freefly Cooper outside.

 

[Dustbunny]

Birdman, I am so sorry for all the friends you lost. Thank you for the warning!