You have just brought your first parrot home and are eager to start training it. You can’t wait to teach your bird to speak, step on your finger, and perform tricks. Unfortunately, your new parrot seems shy and may have even tried to bite you when you put your hands on it. What should you do?
Does Your Parrot Hate You? NO!
Now, don’t be angry or discouraged. Just because your new bird avoids or even attacks you don’t mean it hates you. Birds are very sociable creatures and your bird wants to interact with you but is not sure if it can trust you. Your parrot still doesn’t know if you are friend or foe. It wonders if you are trying to make friends or if you are trying to eat him.
Here are some essentials to lay the groundwork for training your pet. Understanding these fundamental principles will equip you with the information you need not only to establish your bird training plan but also to create a wonderful, loving, lifelong bond with your new feathered friend.
Most importantly, your bird should be comfortable with you. The bird needs to understand that you are not a threat.
Make it easy for it to adjust to you while respecting its space. You don’t want a stranger to walk directly into your house, so don’t walk into theirs. Be deliberate but respectful. Don’t create an atmosphere of fear, frustration, or anxiety.
Things to understand before start training your parrots
Parrots are great for picking up on people’s emotions and will react accordingly, so stay calm and confident when you start training your parrot. If your parrot tries to bite you, instead of pulling your hand away in retreat, raise your hand and turn it over. With a stern look, firmly say “Don’t bite!” But don’t hit him or yell at him. Stay in full control.
Watch him carefully and learn his body language. Finally, you will understand its physical signals that indicate its moods and emotions. Save the training for those times when your parrot shows that it is more relaxed and receptive.
When your parrot enters his cage, speak to him in a low, relaxing tone. Remember to always keep your movements slow and smooth. Tell him what you are going to do beforehand and talk him through your training using keywords. You want him to connect to the action you are teaching him.
Over time, you will match those specific words to tasks. Tell him what a good bird he is and how much you love him while using his name.
How treats work while training your parrot
Parrots are very intelligent and quickly learn their names and can connect verbal expressions with emotions. Incorporate treats into taming and training. Even when you start your relationship with your parrot, the treat is an important bonding tool to help you get acquainted. Offering him a treat lets him know that you want to be his new friend and that you are bringing him a “peace offering.”
For a short time, while he watches you, bring his treat day after day and he will understand that it is you who provides him and cares for his needs. Then when you start showing him that you will be giving him special treats for special actions, he will understand how a reward system works.
Your parrot and soon will be eager to please you as they get to know, trust, and respect each other. It won’t be long and you will have developed a wonderful friendship for life.
The 3 most common mistakes in bird training
Training your parrots require a lot of patience. Unfortunately, some bird owners give up training long before they achieve their goals for their birds. Most of the time, the training problems they encounter are due to the 3 common mistakes they make during initial attempts to train.
1. Jerking
This is usually the result of fear when your pet parrot tries to bite or attack you in some way. There are two problems at work when this occurs.
First, your parrot feels threatened by your actions. Make sure you are slow and smooth but deliberate in your movements.
Second, your parrot feels its own fear or apprehension and realizes that if you are scared about something, he should be too. Be confident and determined. Instead of jerking your hand away if attacked, close your hand by turning the side of your finger away from your bird. This will make your hand a less attractive target and protect your fingers at the same time.
2. Yelling and scolding
It’s easy to get frustrated and even a little angry when your bird seems unruly, but you must fight the urge to yell and scream at your bird. Many birds will find screaming very entertaining. They notice a cause and effect response.
They know that if they do a certain act, they will be entertained by your derogatory response. In fact, you could be encouraging undesirable behavior! Be careful not to set such negative patterns. There is certainly nothing wrong with saying “No” to your pet parrot but do so in a firm and controlled voice.
3. Hitting
There is no quicker way to damage your relationship and hinder training times with your bird than to attempt physical punishment. While most people would not dream of slapping or hitting their bird, many will scare or forcefully hit the beak or body.
For the bird, this is an aggressive act of swatting or hitting. It’s like starting a fight and is very likely to elicit a very unpleasant defense response. Don’t risk destroying your bonding chances by behaving in a way that your bird might perceive as violent.
Be aware of these common mistakes. You will not do yourself or your bird any favors by doing these things. Instead, take the time to learn proper gentle, and effective bird training techniques that have been shown to work and will not stress your bird or harm your relationship with it.
Tips to train your parrot if it is crazy
Parrot training is extremely important if you want to have a happy bird. They are beautiful birds and excellent pets, but it is very frustrating when you don’t have the bird you want. This is why it is so important to learn how to train your parrot the right way the first time.
Everyone loves a well-trained parrot that is obedient, can talk, and even do bird tricks. But nobody wants a crazy bird. Let’s talk about parrots and why you should train them and a little about bird psychology and how you should train your bird even if it hates you. Your bird is not crazy, it just needs to be trained
What is a parrot training?
Parrot training requires that you take the time to build a trusting relationship with your bird to the point where both of you fully trust each other. It is a process that takes time, but in the end, you will have full control of your parrot and he will be happy and eager to spend time with you and you will not have to worry about a problem bird that is unpredictable or misbehaves.
It is important that you be loving and affectionate with your parrot, of course, but at the same time let him know who is in charge. You do it with bird training. That means gaining a dominant position and maintaining it. In the end, both you and your bird are happy because you will have a relationship and understand who the boss is.
When to start training your parrot
Obviously training your bird early is the best way to go. If you have a hand-fed baby, you are in a great position. You will have a really nice and happy bird that loves people and is not as scary as some birds tend to be later in life.
Handling young [parrots often gets them used to you early on so they are fearless and human interaction becomes normal for them.
Your main challenge will be to train them not to bite or bite as they discover the power of their beaks after weaning. If you have an older bird that hasn’t been well socialized, you’ll have a bit more work to do, especially if it’s scared. But you can train it. You will simply have to chart a slower course and first earn your bird’s trust before you can earn their affection.
Understanding the nature of parrots
Birds don’t think like us, so understanding the nature of your pet parrot will help you tremendously in your training efforts. Don’t be upset that your parrot is sometimes a bit loud and seems crazy. Birds communicate through vocalization and that is why they are occasionally so loud.
Now your bird will scream and bite if it is not properly cared for or even scared off, so make sure it always has enough food, water and toys to play with and a large cage to move around.
These are your bird’s basic essentials and you just can’t neglect them. Even so, there will still be a certain amount of bird chatter that is unavoidable. Of course, there is a difference between idle talk and chronic yelling or biting. But understanding the nature of your bird will help you understand how to approach its training.
Parrot training process
Repetition training is a standard and the best way to start. It is very simple and yes, repetitive. The process simply involves selecting a specific task or reaction that you want to teach or train your parrot.
You set the stage, initiate the action, and reward your bird based on its response. Now before you start advanced training, you must have a bird that is not afraid of you. Spend time with him, sit by his cage, and talk to him until he’s not so scared or nervous.
If your bird is scared, then you should approach slowly and back off when he tells you. Your bird will let you know through a verbal or physical reaction. Stay still for a minute and then back off.
It is important to let him know that he will not get hurt. It seems too simple, but this is actually the first step in training parrots. Over time, your bird will begin to relax. You just have to do this first step repeatedly.
The next step is to get closer and then move on to the “up, down” command. Advanced training is on the way, but you have to start somewhere, so the earlier you start the better obviously. Before you know it, your parrot will be his best and soon, you’ll even have him doing bird tricks.
Is Bird Training That Simple?
Don’t worry if you have a bird that seems crazy and out of control, a bird that screams, lunges and tries to bite people all the time. It’s not his fault, he just hasn’t been trained. Any bird can be trained and it is only a matter of strategy and also the desire to do it on your part. You have to properly engage in socializing your parrot and patient during the process.
Clicker Training: The best way to train your parrot
If you have any interest in training your parrot to take food from its mouth or ring a bell, you can! The training of birds is no longer regulated by professionals. Taking the time to train your pet parrot will be rewarding for both of you. It is a way of communicating and your relationship is sure to improve regardless of how good it is. If you’re ready to start “clicking”, let’s see what it’s all about.
What is “clicker training”?
Clicker training is a gentle way to communicate with your bird. Clicker training has been used to train all types of animals and has proven successful for birds as well. Basically, you help your parrot understand what you want from him in a fun way.
Clicker training is never a punishment. If the parrot feels that when the clicker comes out, he/she is in trouble, then you better forget about the training session.
Clicker training always uses food as a reward, as all animals see food as a good thing. So when your pet parrot sees that clicker, he/she should squawk with happiness knowing that a gift is coming soon.
The first rule of the clicker instruction is “Behavior” of the bird. Clicker trainers can wait for the behavior to happen naturally, attracting or shaping the behavior in small increments. When the preferred behavior occurs, the clicker trainer marks it with the clicker and rewards it. Unwanted behaviors are ignored or given a warning sign that means “Try again.”
How can you train your parrot with Clicker training?
The goal as the trainer is to be the authority figure without complete dominance. Your bird will then treat you with respect and without fear. Bird owners realize that physical exercise is necessary for a happy, healthy bird, but so is a mental exercise.
A bird without mental exercise can be restless and disinterested. Birds are born as problem solvers and clicker training helps stimulate their natural desire to solve things. The added benefit of training is that the more a parrot learns, the faster it can learn even more.
Here are the 3 rules of clicker training your parrot:
a) Bridging the communication between the trainer and the parrot
When researching clicker training, the term “bridge” may be mentioned. A bridge is a training term that refers to the communication between the trainer and the parrot. The bridge is the signal that lets the bird know that it has done the task correctly.
This is what the “click” is. After the parrot hears the click, it knows a treat is coming. It is important to give your parrot the treat immediately after the clicking noise so that it brings the click and the reward together.
b) Food reward
As for the food reward, you never want to use it as deprivation or punishment. It’s always a pleasure. A good reward to use is nuts and seeds. Your parrot will perform best if training starts before mealtime but don’t overdo it or your bird will resent it and stop training.
C) Clicker training should be short and fun
Just remember not to rush your parrot so it learns faster than it can. Clicker training sessions should be short and fun. Keep the treats assorted and you will be surprised how receptive they become. Enjoy your training sessions and you are sure to see great results.