Recently on my YouTube videos, I've received a lot of the same question, "What treats do you use to give your bird during training sessions?"  

And I know what those askers are really thinking... if they use what I use for my birds, their birds will do that which my birds are doing, right? WRONG!   That's the whole point of "Bird Treats for Training: Finding Yours". Every bird is different and will prefer something different as their own treat reward for training.

In this video with Bondi  I use sunflower seeds because I know that is what she will work for. I also caught onto "random rewarding" where I throw in a small nut or a few nuts as a jackpot reward that she will really get excited and motivated about.   

So, even though my galah works for sunflower seeds doesn't mean yours will.

 Dave and Bondi working on ring toss training. 

Problems can arise if using the wrong treat:

Years ago, my Congo African Grey "Cressi" had begun to get very lax with her recall. It slowly became slower and slower and I needed to find out why. She began playing a game of Marco Polo but without saying Polo and it wasn't any fun for me. I figured out she just didn't want to work for sunflower seeds anymore and other things were become more rewarding than a simple seed.

An almond, however, was a different story and worth working for to her. Although she still likes sunflower seeds, they aren't encouraging enough on their own to motivate her to do a desired behavior anymore as they once were. So it's important to stay up on what your bird likes best and use that when training.  

If it's a large nut like an almond, walnut or other nuts (we do not recommend peanuts, see why here), break it into small pieces for training. If you use the whole nut, you aren't going to get very many repetitions in.

I would recommend doing a treat test with your bird. By laying all the different kinds of treats on a table, you can let your bird choose which one it wants. The one it picks first, is its favorite treat and what you should be using for those jackpot rewards. It is also good to get an idea of what your bird's number two and three treats are as well. Another helpful blog is this one on Treat Size. 

Comet enjoying a larger treat during a photo shoot.  

I find that when my treat bag has variety of nuts and seeds in it my birds are much more enthusiastic during the training session. There is more of the "casino effect". Like when we pull the lever on a slot machine not knowing what the prize will be, this will help keep them interested and excited for what might be just around the corner as the next payout.   

Tusa does not know what exact treat is in Dave's hand, which can create more enthusiasm to find out

When it comes to your tiny flock members, such as budgies, parrotlets, lovebirds, cockatiels, and some conures and quakers many times at the top of their list is spray millet, but I would not just stop there when offering a treat test for these little guys too. You can also try safflowers, sunflowers (both shelled and unshelled), or our Blueberry's Seed & Grain Mix. For the tiny birds this seed mix should be making up 10% of their daily diet and the perfect way to deliver that 10% is through training and/or foraging! 

Keeping in tune to each member of our flock's favorite treats is key to successful training sessions. The only opinion that counts when it comes to knowing if a particular treat food is a positive reinforcer, is the bird that it is being offered to!