Have you ever thought of how intelligent your pet bird is? Really? You would be surprised! Pet birds, just like any pet dog or cat, can be trained to do several behaviours and tricks. All you need are some treats that your feathered friend loves and craves, some patience and enthusiasm. And they love the stimulation too! So let’s get our training caps on and follow us step by step to birdie preschool!

The ‘Step up’

Touch your bird’s chest, and give it a reward.The aim is to be able to eventually allow the birds to let you touch its legs and feet (a sign of great trust that the bird has for you). Slowly and gradually lower your touch of the bird’s chest, rewarding your pet each time it allows you to do so, until the feet are reached and the bird is willing and accepting.

Patience is of the essence. The previous exercise may take days to weeks to obtain the bird’s trustAs each touch is rewarded with a treat, say “up” simultaneously as the treat is offered. This links the reward with the word, so in the future the phrase “up” will provoke the behaviour of stepping up.

Once your pet bird has recognised that a reward follows the touch, show it a treat and hold your hand just away from its legs. Many will come towards you to elicit the treat. This is an important process as it allows the bird to decide to perform the behaviour. Begin to reward as the bird moves towards you. In subsequent sessions only reward the completed behaviour i.e. when it steps onto your hand.

The ‘Step down’

The aim is to get your feathered friend to step forward or backward onto the perch. Using similar principles above with the step up with the aid of a treat, bring your hand up to the perch, and say “down”. Once he/she steps down successfully, a reward is given.

The ‘Stay’

When the bird is perching, say “stay” and remove your hand away far enough to block it stepping. A reward is offered after a short time. This is a good one to practice once the ‘step down’ has been mastered, and can be done as a sequence with the step down.

Hooding

This is a fun one, but it is also for the ‘A’ grade students who have mastered all of the above! Cup your hands over the bird’s head and eyes while whispering some calm words of comfort. For small birds like budgies and canaries, the bird can be taught to crawl through a tunnel formed with your hand. This can become an enjoyable game as well as challenging, as the tunnel can be made longer and longer by repeatedly placing one hand on top of the other as the bird crawls through.

The ‘Mr Towel’

This technique is not only fun for your feathered friend, but it can prove very useful for the purposes of keeping your bird restrained during handling (e.g. For wing clipping, medicating, nail clipping etc).
Get a small hand towel, and place it near the bird, initially just to show it to him/her and to reassure it that it is harmless
Then, cover your hand with the towel and move it up, down, sideways near the bird to get it accustomed to its movement.
Each day, increase the proximity of the towel until you can touch the bird with it and lead up to placing it over the bird’s back, shoulders and head. Remember, these are giant leaps of faith and trust from the bird’s perspective, so have your treats handy, as well as warm vocal tones, and treat it as a game!

Drop the towel over the bird’s head and body while it is sitting comfortably on a perch, and let it move around, to realise that the towel is not a threat.

Progress to gently wrapping the towel around the bird’s body, and allowing it to find its way out.

Eventually you should be able to wrap the whole bird’s body, and hold it securely without panicking.

Just remember…

Positive consequences reinforce the behaviour and ensure that it will be repeated, whereas negative should never consist of physical punishment. Removal or withholding of something the bird desires (e.g. Rewards, treats, interaction, or just your attention) will be adequate to inform the bird it has not performed to the standard required. It is also important to make each session as enjoyable as possible, something that both you and your bird look forward to each day. Always begin each session with cheerful body language and voice, and remember that short sessions are much more preferable to long drawn out ones. Consistency is the key, with the aim being repetition and reinforcement.Happy training!!!

Written by Dr David Lee BVSc (Hons), MVSt, MACVSc (Avian Health, SAM)