Implementing an Avian Training Program
In the wild, baby birds stay with their parents over a prolonged period of time–long past weaning age. The length of time varies with species but it is during this time that the parents are teaching critical survival skills in an incredibly complex environment. Offspring must be taught about food location and procurement, predator avoidance and adaptability in the face of change. They also need schooling in the areas of social interactions within the flock, response to the flock leader, and the individual’s rank within the flock. This is the training that domestic bred, human-raised parrots lack, and it is precisely that lack of parental training that may get them into trouble. Parrots seem to sense this missing training most deeply at the age when they would, in the wild, start developing more independence; between 6 and 18 months of age (depending on the species). It is during this period most of the serious behavior problems appear; including fears, excessive territory protection, biting, excessive screaming and feather picking–all different manifestations of stress.
Since it is “teaching” that is lacking in our domestic pet birds, we must fill in the gaps by implementing a training program in which the bird learns and follows simple commands while owners establish their own dominance within the “flock.” By consistently requiring parrots to obey these commands, owners are firmly establishing the parrots in a subservient role. The owners have thereby assumed the role of flock leader. Once in that position of authority, the owner can enclose the young animal within a framework of clear and consistent rules. In doing so, the parrot’s confusion is resolved–its own rank within the human flock is clearly defined
Most people are familiar with the need for training a puppy that has joined the household. Puppies that are taught to come on command, sit, stay, walk on a leash, etc. are less likely to show behavior problems and make for more desirable family “members”. The same holds true for pet birds. As a general rule training is simple, logical, and easy to remember. The commands are Up, Down, Stay, and OK. Up is defined as “Step onto the human’s hand”. Teaching a bird to step up is not difficult: place your hand (or a dowel perch) gently from the front against the breast of the bird, just above the legs, and say “step up” in a firm but friendly tone. This pressure typically triggers an instinctive reaction, and the bird usually steps right onto the perch or hand. Follow with lots of praise. Down is the opposite, defined as “Get off the human hand onto an inanimate object (such as a perch or cage)”. The step down request is delivered by placing the beak of the bird to the perch with your hand below the level of the perch, rotating your hand to encourage a transferal of weight to beak and initiating the bird’s step toward the perch with their foot. Giving the command “step down” results in the bird stepping from your hand to the training perch—-not to the head, the shoulder, the floor or down the hallway. The command STAY is self-explanatory. The pet bird that is willing to stay where it has been placed is more apt to enjoy “flock-type” interactions with their owners such as watching a television show, sharing time in the kitchen, or even enjoying time outside in the garden. The stationary perched bird is also more likely to be able to be trained to sing on command or learn to play with new toys. Ok gives the bird permission to do something that it wants to do, thereby making that decision the human’s decision, not the bird’s. Simply put, the point of all the commands is control… by the human, not the parrot. These commands should be taught during short, upbeat lessons that are conducted daily in neutral territory–some area of the house that the parrot does not consider to be its own. From then on, all household members that handle the bird must always use the same commands in the same manner. The parrot will understand the rules only if the behavior of the humans is consistent.
In nature birds spend a significant amount of time searching for, harvesting and eating food. When we provide the pet bird with all its nutritional needs on an around-the-clock basis we remove one of nature’s key survival stimuli. Diet can be used as both a training tool and as a form of environmental enrichment. Studies have shown that toys that involve a food reward continue to be explored and played with for much longer periods of time than toys alone. Make birds search for their food by hiding pieces of your bird’s favorite food inside various toys or hiding food items in grass hay through which the birds forage. Reserve good tasting food items such as pasta, peanuts, shelled sunflower seeds or other table foods for training sessions as most parrots will be willing to work for them. The parrot that has these types of desirable items available daily in their food bowl is significantly less motivated to work for them. As a result, we recommend that birds be maintained on pelleted diets and that treat foods be reserved for training sessions.
Example of a training program session you can design for your bird:
Birdie’s Favorite Things Ways These Are Earned
1. Cheese 1. Sings a tune
2. Pasta Noodles 2. Fetches a small plastic ball
3. Pork Burritos 3. Learns a new trick
4. Peanut Butter 4. Plays with a new toy
Rules of the Game:
1. These food items are never offered in the cage or food bowl
2. They are always earned
3. No one in the family is allowed to bend these rules
4. Favorite things can change with time
5. Desired behaviors that earn rewards can be changed and modified
Other “tricks” you can teach your bird include: doing pull-ups on a finger or dowel, rolling over and “playing dead”, dancing, talking or singing.
In addition to training sessions it is important to realize that parrots that are left alone for long periods of time need a wide variety of interesting and challenging toys. Four basic categories of toys exist: climbing toys, chewing toys, foot toys, and puzzle toys. Climbing toys would include plastic chains, ladders, swings and the cage itself. Examples of chewing toys would include wood and rawhide, raw pasta, and non-toxic twigs (herbicide and insecticide-free) with the bark left on, and empty paper towel and toilet paper rolls (no perfume). Paper towels tucked around the cage are also of great interest for shredding. Foot toys encourage manual dexterity. Puzzle toys are an important group, including parrot- style music boxes, boxes that hold food treats and even the C- clamps used to suspend other toys. Parrots only need four toys in their cage at a time–one from each toy group. This gives them lots of room in which to play. To maintain high interest levels, the owner should move these toys around the cage, and rotate them in and out weekly.
Finally, it is important to keep in mind that environmental change can prove to be stressful for birds that have no experience with it. Parrot owners should introduce change into the lives of their parrots as early as possible. Considering that parrots are capable of extremely long lives–anywhere from a maximum of 18 years for budgerigars to 80 years for Amazons–change is inevitable in these long life spans. Therefore it behooves a parrot owner to teach their birds that change is interesting and non-threatening. In that way when change happens, and it always does, it will be no problem for the parrot to adapt.
Acknowledgement: The author would like to thank Dr Brian Speer, The Medical Center for Birds, Oakley, CA for providing information that served as a framework for this handout.
