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Training a Green Winged Macaw to Hang Upside Down

When I began presenting the parrot shows, I was lucky that they had already been trained lots of behaviours and tricks – for example, I cannot take credit for teaching Ruby (7 year old Green-winged Macaw) how to ride a bike; all I had to learn was how to pick her up and put her on the bike, and how to turn the bike around with her sat on it!

Ruby, Green-winged Macaw, riding her ...

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Four Things To Make Right Before You Begin Training

There are so many aspects to the training experience for both the trainer and the parrot. It’s about bond building and mutual trust. It’s wonderful enrichment for a caged bird. It’s about cooperation. Mostly, though, it’s about communication. It provides a common language through which a human and a parrot can begin to converse and understand one another. It is exciting and deeply rewarding for everyone.

That I would suggest that someone NOT train their bird is troubling to me, especially when it is such a positive thing. But there are ...

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Understanding The Training Diet

If I’m going to be honest, I have to admit that I used to have a real problem with the idea of a training diet. It seemed unthinkable that a bird, virtually a wild animal in terms of its lack of domestication, should be locked in a cage and then denied food, something it would be free to acquire in the wild. It is psychologically damaging for any sentient being to be kept at another’s mercy, how could this ever be considered a good thing?

Training bridges a gap, fills ...

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How to Properly End a Training Session with Your Bird

As soon as I read this question about how to properly end a training session with your bird I thought it was a GREAT question.

 

The best thing you can do for yourself and your bird is video tape your training sessions. I don’t care if you are camera shy or training in your pajamas… no one has to see the videos, I’m not asking you to put it up on youtube for the world to bock at… just video tape them for yourself.

 

I can’t tell you how many ...

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A Training Success Story

We recently received this email from a customer and just had to share it:

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!  In just a few short hours your training tips have made me love my bird again.
My African Grey had become a screamer, I think mostly from being left alone too much.  The kids are grown and I work two jobs, so she spent a lot of time alone.  When I came home she screamed constantly.  I was on the verge of finding her a new home, but hesitated ...

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3 Tips To Help You Change Your Bird’s Behaviors

Congo african grey

No bird is perfect – not yours, not mine. Throughout your bird’s lifetime you will encounter many occasions where you will find it necessary to help your bird make behavior modifications that will ultimately make life more satisfying for you both.

Changing a bird’s behavior is never as simple as moving from point A to point B. It requires intricate steps, thoughtfulness and lots of patience. Outlining the procedure ahead of time will help to move through these steps, but without acknowledging the following tips, your job will be ...

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