Bird tricks to avoid.....

I found this interesting piece and thought its worth sharing...
Opinions anybody ?

The Real Secrets of Training Success and Where to Find Them « Bird Training Blog

I remember a time, when Amigo was new to us, checking out Bird Tricks because I didn't know what else to do, I needed help. They were definitely in it for the money. They would give a little, teaser, advice then want you to pay for any more. I was just sooo happy when I discovered this forum, it's helped us a lot!

Its just sick some people made it as far as they did ..the only way they did was because they "used" other people's work and made it their own ....that should be illegal , and morally it is , but some people have no morals...I mean , we all know the circus is just animal cruelty at its best. ** JUST MY OPINION**

Here is my problem with this article that criticizes Birdtricks.com:

He criticizes a specific article in which the "writers writing style rings very close to the style of the marketeers own style" but nowhere does he link to that specific article.

I for one am a non-paying reader to their facebook page, I watch their Spreecasts and I have never heard anyone say or write anything negative to them that they could directly respond too. I have first hand knowledge that the people behind birdtricks are professional bird trainers and they currently run a show called ParrotFX at Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho. That being said, yes they do make their living by training birds and producing bird shows and to my knowledge their alternate income is via their Birdtricks.com website. Again, I am not one of these so-called "recruited writers that is hired to post to online groups" that Sid Price references.

i HATE most the circus!!! their are some that the animals are treated nicely, but for the most part, they are so cruel, especially to the elephants. it makes me so angry that people still watch it, its like paying to watch animals get abused! im not a huge fan of bird tricks, but i did subscribe to their mailing list because it gives useful info about household dangers and sometimes deals on toys, plus i don't have enough experience with them to give a negative or positive opinion. Their blog also has good cleaning tips, but that's as far as it goes. however, I don't like how they market their training methods. The only one of them i like is "Jameleighs parrot help", it is very helpful and fun to watch. she is married to the brother of the founder of bird tricks. I have watched some of her training videos and they don't involve taking the birds food, and from what i have seen, her videos are much different than the bird tricks dvd. I'm not saying i like bird tricks, but i do like Jameleigh.

I don't have a problem with birdtricks, because they can't force anyone to buy their product. A lot of people love them and what they sell and than you have people who bought the product that should know not every bird can be trained the same way who get so upset when it didn't work for them . I love reading their blog and watching their videos, I find they show a lot of their methods for free so you can get a pretty good idea of what you would be paying for.

I don't know I guess I agree with most of what they say, and I don't really know why people get so mad that they make a living training and doing bird shows.

I am subcribed to their emails and this thread reminded me of their latest one about how they "were KILLING" their birds with the food they were giving them. Did anyone else read it?? I thought it was a bit funny considering how dramatic it sounded..

AVM said:

I am subcribed to their emails and this thread reminded me of their latest one about how they "were KILLING" their birds with the food they were giving them. Did anyone else read it?? I thought it was a bit funny considering how dramatic it sounded..

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lol yea their facebook followers gave them so much s*** about that. Its the cookbook they have been saying they have been working on for half a year i assume. Just another marketing ploy. I highly doubt any of their previous information on their blogs were actually killing their birds, or they would be obliged to publicly recind that advice.

They are a little spammy and in-elegant in the way they try to sell things, and i havent actually bought from them because they just talk deals and how awesome it is, without giving a proper description, and theres so many products i dont know which ones are actually applicable to me.

That said i do read their, and jamieleigh's blog, as they do have many informative and interesting things on there, as well as many secondary writers who actually know their stuff.

Although I stick to my statement of liking them, that whole new diet that will cure so many health issues in your bird was a little much. But again I can use my adult judgement and see that it's a sale ploy lol

Oedipussrex said:

AVM said:

I am subcribed to their emails and this thread reminded me of their latest one about how they "were KILLING" their birds with the food they were giving them. Did anyone else read it?? I thought it was a bit funny considering how dramatic it sounded..

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lol yea their facebook followers gave them so much s*** about that. Its the cookbook they have been saying they have been working on for half a year i assume. Just another marketing ploy. I highly doubt any of their previous information on their blogs were actually killing their birds, or they would be obliged to publicly recind that advice.

They are a little spammy and in-elegant in the way they try to sell things, and i havent actually bought from them because they just talk deals and how awesome it is, without giving a proper description, and theres so many products i dont know which ones are actually applicable to me.

That said i do read their, and jamieleigh's blog, as they do have many informative and interesting things on there, as well as many secondary writers who actually know their stuff.

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That explains their "thank you to HATERS" email lol
I haven't bought anything from them either because the info on trick training is out there for free. Although I almost bought their pellets once because they keep saying zupreem pellets are junkfood to birds, and well that's what Phoenix was weaned on. BTW is this true?? I mix in harrisons with his zupreem now thou lol
And I totally agree with you they have great videos and information, that's the reason I am subscribed to their emails

I wouldn't know about the Pellets... :/ I cant get them here without buying them on the Internet and paying ridiculous postage. I use a more local brand... Can't remember what it's called but I think it starts with a p... I doubt it's as good as either of those as I hear a lot about them, but pickle doesn't have a very pellet based diet anyway.

I also get the free emails from bird tricks some of there info is handy but other stuff is abit over the top i mean the other day i got an email from them saying that they had noo idea they were killing there birds by feeding them organic food but im sure loads of people have fed there birds organic food for years on end and there birds are still alive

I would go with the more scientific information on line, but their birds are adorable and one would think they love them very much working with them day and night as they do. Maybe those things work for them, so they sell their information.

It's like anything else out there; do your research.

I do find this forum very helpful.

Some argue that keeping birds at all is wrong and bad for the birds. Even though I don't think that what they do is the best way for me personally, I just see a couple who loves their birds so much that they chose to do it for a living.

I certainly couldn't do what they do. I like my one conure at my parent's house and to birdie sit sometimes.

Well folks , all I can say is the more you learn about these people the more you will find out they aren't what you thought they were...
Then again , some only see what they want to see.
JMHO.

That makes me sad. You're talking about Dave, Jet, and Jamie? The food thing I was suspicious of but their care, training, and flying programs all seem to be very good. I have some of their programs. I'm rescuing a greenwing and I was planning to use a lot of their information to help bond with her, get her to think/play, and then keep herself occupied when alone like a wild macaw so she is fulfilled as a bird (helps with screaming, bored you probably know etc) They love their birds and they are very well trained, stimulated, healthy, and happy. What should I watch out for? Mainly the pellet scam? I have zupreem ready for Tori (GW) if the adoption works out well for both of us. Thanks

Sarah, there are many mixed reviews for the Womack brothers/family.

If I'm not mistaken about the pellets, they are selling TOPS (Totally Organics Pellets) under a different name and at a higher price.

As for their training methods, I am sure it has worked for MANY people.

I wish you the best of luck, and that you can adopt the GW, and furthermore, I only wish you the best of success with him.

I'm surprised that so many people have strong feelings about birdtricks.com. They seem to be personable young people whose birds perform beautifully for them (you try and make a parrot do those things out of fear). I especially like the girl, Jamie. She has no tickets on herself and only appears to love her birds and want the best for them. Some of their methods may not coincide with mine, but that's OK. I do what works for me and my birds and take an interest in everything others do as well.

I don't know about diets:I have exactly one brand of pellets available to me, so guess what? That's the one I feed! It has been my experience that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Once we learn a bit about a topic, we feel we are an expert and can therefore criticise others. What's the point? I see no cruelty on the Womach Brothers' videos. Of course, I'd never pay for such tapes as I believe in the free distribution of information. This is why I'm a member here and why I'm so happy to share whatever I've learned with anyone else for free.

I'm assuming the Womachs are performing with a circus? That's a disappointment, as I really do hate circuses. Still, if training birds is the way they make their living, they have to do it somewhere I suppose. It must be hard, going on the road with birds that need to be kept healthy and happy. Those macaws could easily just flap off into the distance if they felt there was something amiss in the treatment they get. But they don't: they come back for more. So yeah. I don't see what all the fuss is about. If you don't like 'em, don't buy their stuff.

I've not really looked at the Bird Tricks commercial product but before I adopted Alice I watched all of Jamie's galah related clips on Youtube and found them very useful and informative, and I've looked at training stuff since by her which has been a big help at times. None of her clips feel like they have a hard sell attached for commercial product they're selling. Between her, Barbara Heidenreich and Michael Sazhin I've learned a great deal and primarily from material they've chosen to offer for free through Youtube so, whatever Bird Trick's back story may be, she deserves some credit.

I have mixed feeling about Dave, Chet, and Jamie's work. I believe that they are very wonderful Professional Bird Trainers, that love their birds and want the best for them. I believe that their work does work for many many people, but it is a little pricey. I have to admit that I subscribed to their website and they send me tons of spam on my email.

They have given some very good free advice though, and it helped tremendously with all the parrots I trained. I learned from Jamie the most, and remember Jamie and Dave actually isn't the people who are selling the Bird Tricks stuff. Dave's brother, Chet, is.

As for the circus, I believe that many animals are abused at circus's, but not the company they had previously worked at. They made sure that they were very clear when they said the company treats their animals very well, or else they wouldn't had worked for them. Although I personally haven't seen the conditions, I believe most of the things they say is true.

Sarah13 said:

That makes me sad. You're talking about Dave, Jet, and Jamie? The food thing I was suspicious of but their care, training, and flying programs all seem to be very good. I have some of their programs. I'm rescuing a greenwing and I was planning to use a lot of their information to help bond with her, get her to think/play, and then keep herself occupied when alone like a wild macaw so she is fulfilled as a bird (helps with screaming, bored you probably know etc) They love their birds and they are very well trained, stimulated, healthy, and happy. What should I watch out for? Mainly the pellet scam? I have zupreem ready for Tori (GW) if the adoption works out well for both of us. Thanks

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I'm not sure if you've read the article or not, but here is the new link for it.

The Real Secrets of Training Success and Where to Find Them « Bird Training Blog

I know the video which this article talks about. Their B&G macaw was not enjoying it but was forced to endure what Chet was doing to him.

I remember their old website, it was so full of marketing BS I hated it! They would have a story about what an amazing job they did with one of their birds customers, such as a macaw. Then you go to another page and find another story about a different species of bird. Funny thing is, the stories read exactly the same! The only difference was in the species.

BirdTricks have recommended some horrendous things over the years, including starving the birds in order to train them. And when I say starving, I mean making the birds underweight so they are so hungry they'll do anything for food.




I hear their newer stuff is a lot better. They have made a public apology about using flooding techniques, but I don't know if they still sell their flooding DVD's or not. Chet supposedly even said they've done things they aren't proud of but that they don't do them anymore. I don't know how true that is.



Main thing is, if you get (or have, you said you have some?) their newer stuff, you might be fine! But if you get their older stuff, it's crap! Heck, they still have crap on their Youtube channel! I haven't seen any of their newer DVD's so I can't say for sure.

I would be interested in seeing their new DVD's, but there's no way I'm going to purchase them! I don't trust them enough, not with the hassle that other customers have had with buying products from them. (getting "free gifts", then getting charged for said gift being one) They even have a DVD set titled "One Day Miracles" where they go into peoples homes to train their parrots (or rather, train the humans!). I hear that 'One Day Miracles' is quite misleading. And, to prove they are sales people, they even have a DVD on how to become a bird trainer! Stuff like that makes me not want to trust them at all.




I am sure though that they love their birds and that they love training animals, as well as helping other people with their animals. However, you can find some great information out there for a lot cheaper, if not for free. I'd just personally rather stick to well established trainers and behaviorists.