How to Train Parrots

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Madeline Franco and we're talking about birds. This segment addresses how to train a parrot. Parrots engage in behaviors, they engage in behaviors because there is a positive outcome for that behavior. Even from such a simple command as teaching a parrot to step up, which you will find very useful on numerous occasions, you can train a parrot to do that by using a reward. This here is Toby, he's an Umbrella Cockatoo, and I'm going to show you some basics of teaching a bird how to step up. I h ope he does it right this time, he does know how to step up. Toby, let's step up. Now, I'm offering him my arm, I am putting it so that it is a place for him that he can sit steady for him to step up, and I'm showing him a peanut. Now, he actually wants to go on my shoulder. Parrots very often want to be at a high vantage point, and that is not uncommon. But he saw the peanut, and he saw that that might be a reward, so he stepped up for me. To get him to step down, I just show him a steady place where he can put his feet and he will step down. One of the fears that parrots have is that the surface that you offer them will not be steady enough for them to actually be supported. So, very often, they use their beak as a third hand and if you pull away from that while they're trying to test that you are likely to get bitten. Just remember that they are looking for a steady platform on which to step. So, don't pull away, let your bird check it out, and when he's comfortable that it is a steady surface and one that will support his weight, he will likely step up."