How to Train an Older Senegal Parrot
Senegal parrots are one of the most common choices for a pet parrot. They are vibrantly colored and make excellent companions. Because most parrots are intelligent, and often headstrong, they can be difficult to train. Training an older bird presents even more problems, as the bird has already formed lifelong habits and may not take to learning anything new. It's important to be methodical and patient in order to make the training experience as pleasant as possible.
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Instructions
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Choose a behavior that you want your parrot to learn. There are many things Senegal parrots can learn, such as stepping up onto your arm, bathing by itself or even some sound mimicry. However, it's usually best to attempt to train only one behavior at a time. Depending on what your older bird already knows, start with something that's relatively easy to accomplish, working up to harder behaviors later, so that neither you nor your bird will feel discouraged about the training process.
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Start nudging your parrot toward the desired behavior by using the behavior shaping method. This method encourages birds to perform a task by praising them for each step leading up to the behavior. For example, if you want your bird to step onto your arm, first praise the bird when it looks at your arm. Then praise it when it touches your arm with its beak, and again if it touches your arm with its foot. Eventually the parrot will understand that you're asking it to step up onto your arm.
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Be patient. Allow your parrot to fully understand and repeatedly correctly perform each step in the behavior you're asking for before moving on to the next step. Keep each training session short, stopping before the bird loses interest.
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Coax your bird into the next step of the behavior. Encourage him to step onto your arm or into a bathing dish by speaking gently, tapping the dish or arm, or encouraging him for nearly correct behavior.
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Praise your bird whenever he does something correctly or partially correctly. For example, continuously praising the bird for touching your arm will make him want to repeat that behavior. Once a new step in the behavior is repeatedly performed, stop giving praise for the old step.
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Speak a cue word, such as "bath" or "step," whenever the bird correctly offers a behavior you're looking for. Repeat this word while the bird is doing the behavior. If you're trying to teach your bird to speak, repeat the sound or word you want it to learn. Continue to praise the bird.
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Begin speaking the cue word as soon as the bird performs the behavior.
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Use the cue to instigate the behavior. When the bird repeatedly performs the behavior on cue, begin to praise only those behaviors that were performed on cue, giving no praise for behavior done without a cue. This will tell your bird to listen for cues if it wants praise.
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