How to Reward a Parrot's Behavior

Parrots are bright animals, and you can train them to do numerous tricks and respond to vocal and physical cues. Each time your pet responds as it was trained to, reward the animal to reinforce the behavior.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Put several foods in your parrot's food bowl. Over the course of a few days, watch which food your parrot eats most. Figure out which treat is your parrot's favorite and remove it from the bowl.

2. Reward the parrot with that food only when it performs as trained. The parrot will soon associate the behavior with the favorite food.

3. Talk to the parrot while you offer it the reward. The words don't rally matter, since parrots don't understand words as we do. More important is your tone of voice. Keep it upbeat, friendly and encourage. Using words you think of as positive, such as "good bird," will impart a positive tone. Be consistent. Use the same words, phrases and tone repeatedly.

4. Withdraw the favorite food if the parrot disobeys or misbehaves.

Tips & Warnings

• Be patient. Training a parrot takes a lot of time. Be consistent with your rewards, but do not overdo them.