Parrot training

Parrot training, also called parrot teaching, is the application of training techniques to modify the behaviour of household companion parrots. Training is used to deal with behavior problems such as biting and screaming), to train husbandry behaviors such as allowing claw trimming without restraint or accepting a parrot harness, and to teach various tricks.

Parrot psychology

Although very trainable and intelligent, parrots are a prey species and are naturally more cautious than predatory species such as dogs. They often must be trained more slowly and carefully. Parrots can, however, eventually be taught many complicated tricks and behaviors, and remember them for years. Trained parrot shows are found at zoos and amusement parks.

Parrots need to socialize. Some behavior problems may be averted through parrot training. Bird trick training requires patience, time, and a commitment to working with a parrot for several minutes or hours every day. Working positively with parrots to teach them bird tricks means spending a short amount of time to meet the bird's intellectual and socialization needs.

Taming

Parrot taming is used to accomplish greater tolerance of physical handling and manipulation of a parrot. Taming can be achieved through systematic desensitization, or positive and negative reinforcement. The parrot is usually exposed to an unusual or mildly aversive stimulus - such as a new toy or a hand - and rewarded for calm behavior. By taking the aversive stimulus away (negative reinforcement) and giving a food reward (positive reinforcement), the parrot learns to tolerate the action being performed by not biting, fleeing, or moving.

Common tricks

Tricks commonly taught to pet parrots may include targeting, approaching on command, fetching, shaking hands, spreading wings, and putting rings onto pegs. Professionally trained parrots in shows may be taught more complex behaviors such as riding bicycles, flying through hoops, flying free outdoors, talking or singing on command, or roller skating.

One of the easiest tricks to teach a parrot is to wave its foot on cue. The trick can be taught in as few as five training sessions. One trick:Train it to spin:Take the lovebird out of his cage and put him on his perch. Remove the shell from a sunflower seed and divide the seed into halves. Grasp the sunflower seed half in your fingers and hold it in front of the bird's face. When he begins to reach for the sunflower seed, spin him slowly around his perch as you repeat the command, "Spin." Offer the lovebird the sunflower seed once he has completed the spin, and praise her profusely. Keep practicing the trick for a few minutes a day and the lovebird will soon spin when he hears the command.

Flight tricks

Parrots are different from other animals that can be taught tricks because, unlike other trainable animals, parrots can fly. A wide assortment of parrot tricks can be taught which incorporate flight. Recall flight, targeted flight, and flying through hoops are the basic flight tricks. Advanced flight tricks can include derivatives of the flighted retrieve trick, where the parrot flies to retrieve an object and bring it back to a specified receptacle. A parrot can fly to retrieve a coin and fly to a different location to drop it in a piggy bank or it can fly to pick up a ball and fly up to a basketball hoop and drop it in. Alternatively, the parrot can be trained from one prop to the next to perform otherwise non-flighted tricks.

Flooding

In the past, flooding has been used to train parrots: Flooding involves the forced exposure of a subject to a stimuli it is fearful of. While this can be a useful technique when used on adult human beings, it is emotionally damaging to animals and should be avoided. Flooding can cause a parrot to become untrustworthy, fearful, or withdrawn, thus making the development of a bond between the companion parrot and its owner more difficult. More effective training methods are available.

Punishment

If one has a bird with behavior problems, expert Diane Burroughs of Chirp n Squawk Bird Supplies strongly recommends that one develop a plan to resolve it as soon as possible. Common behavior problems include screaming, biting, feather picking, and fear behaviors. Parrots develop behavior problems for a variety of reasons; however, most behavior problems can be corrected. Parrots are intelligent and pick up bird training cues quickly when they feel safe. Investing ten to 15 minutes each day in bird training and developing a bird behavior plan that everyone in a household can adhere to is often all it takes to resolve the issues.

Parrots do not respond well to physical punishment. It is sometimes recommended to punish a misbehaving parrot by spraying it with water or flicking its beak. However, such techniques are more likely to cause confusion and fear, and are not considered good training methods either. Non-physical punishment such as covering the cage of a screaming bird are acceptable; however, punishments are decided by the bird, not the handler.

Negative punishment is commonly used with parrots and involves taking away something a parrot likes when it misbehaves. Most tame parrots love attention, so negative punishment for parrots typically involves the trainer leaving the room or ignoring the parrot for a short time when it screams excessively or otherwise misbehaves. While this technique is effective, negative punishment should be used in conjunction with positive reinforcement.

Positive reinforcement

Positive training puts the owner in the position of leader. One's parrot will begin looking to him or her for cues on how to behave. By using positive reinforcement and keeping bird training sessions fun, the parrot will try to please its owner to get positive attention as a reward. According to Irene Pepperberg's avian research, pet birds have the intelligence of a three to five-year-old child. They require mental stimulation to remain emotionally healthy, and bird trick-training exercises a bird's brain. Training a parrot with positive reinforcement techniques uses rewards to strengthen or increase the frequency of a behavior.

Examples of positive reinforcement training with a companion parrot are to take a parrot who is afraid of stepping up onto its owner's hand and rewarding it with a desired treat when it shows relaxed behavior next to the owner's hand. The parrot would then be rewarded for allowing the hand to come closer, and would be rewarded for stepping up onto the hand. Another example would be for a trainer to wait until a screaming parrot is quiet for a very short time, and then immediately reward it with praise and attention. The owner would then gradually increase the amount of time the parrot must be quiet to receive the extra attention.

With this type of positive reinforcement approach to training (see shaping), the parrot is only rewarded for behaviors that bring it closer to the final desired outcome. For this technique to work effectively, it is common to have to reward a parrot several times for making very small amounts of progress.

Training a parrot with this type of positive reinforcement is the least abrasive approach to training parrots, and often the most effective parrot training technique to use when a companion parrot owner desires to use a training technique that will develop a stronger emotional bond with their parrot.

Positive reinforcement is also very useful for trick training. A desired trick behavior can be shaped gradually, rewarding a parrot for approximations to the desired behavior. Trick training is generally considered to be positive for parrots.

In Clicker training, a parrot is taught to associate a click with receiving a reward and is a particularly popular form of positive reinforcement training. In clicker training, The click noise can be used to mark the instant a parrot does the desired behavior, making for more efficient training.

Counter-conditioning

Counter-conditioning is the process of altering a parrot's behavior to a stimulus by altering the consequence from aversive to positive. If a parrot that bites an approaching hand in self-defense, the biting behavior can be counter-conditioned by supplementing the approaching hand with positive reinforcement. The parrot will learn to not bite and to favor the approaching hand because it is coupled with positive reinforcement.

External sources

• TrainedParrot - a website About Parrot Training
• pricelessparrots.com: More about parrot training
• Tinkerbell of Taiwan - Living with a flighted parrot at home and how to train and bond together

See also

• flooding
• Clicker training
• positive reinforcement