On Day 10 with blue front Amazon, Storm, I woke up and saw Storm playing with part of his swing in his cage! He was grabbing at the rope pieces with small wooden blocks on them and pulling them this way and that. I was really excited as I watched with one eye open, pretending still to sleep and not notice…

You see, Storm always sleeps on the right side of his cage at night but in the morning he comes over to the left side to watch me sleep in the morning until I wake up. When I wake up, he tells me hello excitedly and it’s something he waits to do every morning. Well, I guess I lost his attention that morning because he started playing with that toy instead.

Shortly after, Dave walked in the room and Storm never went back to the toy, but it was still HUGE progress from a bird who wasn’t playing at all. So far he has shown interest in 3 toys but hasn’t really gotten into them yet. I’m getting the feeling I need to be more creative with his toys and how to encourage him to play with them…

 He also began working with Dave more this day and tried some fresh apple which he was very fond of. Dave ended up using apple as Storm’s reward for his touch training lesson that day.

By this day, Storm was successfully touch trained, but refused to do it with 100% accuracy in front of my camera and sometimes even with me at all. He works best with Dave when I’m just not there.

Here is a quick clip of Storm touch training with Dave:

 On day 10, Storm got his touch training technique down, ate a new food (apple) and took his second bath. Quite a bit of progress for just one day! He has lately been accomplishing more in his single days than before.

Tip to take home: The more “in tune” you are with how your bird is feeling, the more receptive they will be towards you. And the more they will trust you.

If you always knew your significant other knew how you felt in certain situations, and knew that they would know when you were happy or uncomfortable; you would feel better going into those types of situations, as well as being around that person because you knew they were aware of YOUR feelings and would act accordingly. Your bird feels the same way, so try to be aware of how your bird is acting and feeling all the time.

This will make it more likely your bird will be more open to learning and trying new things.

Jamieleigh Womach has been working with parrots and toucans since the age of 17. She isn’t homeless but is home less than she prefers to be. She travels the world with her husband, daughter, and a flockful of parrots with whom she shares the stage.