Alexandrine parakeet Rasta stepping onto my hand for the first time ever after having him 2 months

It took 2 months but I finally earned Rasta the alexandrine parrot’s trust enough to get him to overcome his hand hatred and step up onto my hand for the first time.

This consisted of working with him at least once every day, sometimes twice and never ever forcing him to do anything at all. Not even to come in or out of his cage. His cage was left open all the time and in the beginning ...

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Rasta the alexandrine parakeet waving on cue

Using capturing, I was able to teach this alexandrine parakeet trick training, tricks like the wave (shown above) on cue. I wave, he waves back.

I did this by waiting for a natural behavior to capture, and then shaping that captured behavior into exactly what I wanted with a clicker.

So, I would wait for the alexandrine parakeet to scratch his head, click and walk over and offer him a treat. If your bird is too mean to take a treat from your hand, use a dish to ...

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Isaac, Great Grey Owl, at 6 weeks old, photo by Ben Coulson

I’m very happy to introduce you to Isaac, our Great Grey Owl! Literally a couple of weeks after Odin the Raven became grown-up enough to move into big aviary… we got a new baby bird who is now almost 7 weeks old, I must admit I was thrilled because Odin’s baby stage just flew by.

Collected at 3 weeks old, he was already much less intensive ...

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