Learn your Parrot Tricks

Parrots are amazing and smart birds. They have been tested for their intellectual abilities and have been proven to have the intelligence level of a small child. For some, part of the fun of owning a parrot is to teach it tricks. But, teaching a parrot tricks is not just for entertainment purposes. Training a parrot will create a better behaved and more sociable bird and may solve some behavioral problems.

When teaching a parrot owners need to keep the training sessions short. They do not want to tire the parrot out and cause the session to be a negative experience for the bird. Owners also keep their training sessions positive and do not start a training session until they are both ready. Training in a quiet and a room free of distractions will only increase the chances of success. Another good tip is to make sure that the room is well lit and that your parrot is comfortable in that room. Owners need to be stress free when starting to train parrots. Not having enough patience with the parrot will affect the way the parrot learns.

An easy trick that most parrot owners start with is teaching their parrots how to “step up”. This is an extremely useful trick that will be used most often and throughout the bird’s lifetime. It is the simple act of asking the parrot to step onto the object that is in front of it. This act can simply be done by placing one’s fingers in front of the bird’s feet and asking them in a calm soothing voice to “step up”. Use a forearm for larger birds. Owners can use a piece of food to entice the parrot to move forward. When the act is completed, the food is given as a reward.
Another trick that people like to teach their parrots is to “turn around”. As the parrot is standing on its perch offer it a piece of food. As it reaches for it move one’s hand slowly to its back so that the bird has to turn its head around to see the food. Owners have to coax some birds to do a full turn while other birds immediately turn themselves around on the perch. Once the parrot has completed a full turn, the food reward is given to it.

Teaching a parrot to speak can solve the problem of the bird being too vocal with its screeching. Some birds have learned how to get attention this way. By teaching a parrot a word owners can enjoy their vocalization more. Owners need to start with only one simple word that contains only one or two syllables. Most people start with the word “hello”. Owners will repeat the word slowly to the parrot several times until the parrot makes a sound it response. Once the parrot responds, owners give it a food reward. The first sound it makes may not be the word that the owners are trying to teach it. But, they idea is to get the bird to respond to a human voice. Owners repeat this drill several times until the parrot begins to mimic the word.

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