Overcoming Parrot Training Challenges

Heather 1 resting during the afternoon

One of the cornerstones of animal training is to set your environment so that it is easy for your parrot to do what you want. This often means arranging your props just right, having a stash of the perfect training treats and making the set up comfortable for both you and your bird.  

As I am writing this I am on a remote island in New Zealand working with rare kakapo parrots. We are training three of this year’s chicks to cooperate in medical care and transmitter changes, among other things. Just as I would with a companion parrot, we are trying to create a great training environment. But working here has presented a few out of the ordinary challenges.

Kakapo chick pen number 1

The chicks live in an outdoor enclosure because they are being prepared to transition into the wild. Outdoors in New Zealand this time of year means temperatures mostly in the 30’s and 40’s F (-1 to 4 C).  It is also quite rainy and muddy.  This is all normal habitat and conditions for kakapo, so they are completely at home with such conditions. Humans on the other hand need to bundle up and plan to get wet and dirty.

Kakapo are also nocturnal and the chicks need to sleep in the daytime, so the bulk of the training sessions happen in the dark. We can use head lamps when training, but it is better to keep them on dim or green so as not to make the birds uncomfortable with bright lights. This is another adjustment for the humans to make sure the birds are receptive to training.

Kakapo are nocturnal. Training sessions happen at night.

The current enclosure has a low ceiling, sloping ground and is currently mostly covered in lush vegetation. This is great for kakapo! A little tough for training though. There isn’t really an easily accessed space for trainers and birds to comfortably hang out. Plus for added bio security for the chicks, we must dress in big white coveralls and specially designated boots before entering the pen. On the positive side, the suits help keep us warm and free of mud on our clothes.

Being on an island that is only accessed by plane or helicopter every two weeks there is no running to the store if you run out of training treats or supplies. We make do with what we have. This may mean raiding the scrap wood pile to make perches and gathering training treats from the forest (which in reality is a good thing since they are learning to  eat naturally growing food)

Many of these training challenges aren’t a big problem to overcome. They are just a bit of a nuisance to humans. And fortunately some will go away because the chicks are moving into a larger enclosure to prepare for release. We have already set up a training area in the larger pen. This will allow us to work on a number of behaviors on a flat surface, away from mud and while standing up. We will also have the room to practice some behaviors that take more space, like recall and climbing down to us when cued. We are excited about this upgrade!

One challenge that we are thankful for is that we have three very motivated students. Typically all three chicks are ready to engage in a training session when we enter the enclosure. On the other hand, it also means managing the behavior of three birds at once. Unlike muddy, dark, cold conditions, this is a problem other parrot enthusiasts may be encountering with their own birds. Sometimes training involves working with several birds at the same time. What has been working for us is to get started training one bird and reinforce the other two birds for staying out of the way. Once the first bird begins to satiate on favorite treats, we can redirect him or her to other activities and focus on another bird. Sometimes all three stay engaged and other items besides food, such as interesting browse or items to chew on, can be used to keep birds occupied and reinforced for staying out of the way.

Today is the day the chicks get their telemetry transmitters fitted. The device rests on the back and is held in place by a specially designed harness. We have put in some extra time on training for this behavior and anticipate it will go smoothly. Once this task is accomplished the birds will be moved to the big pen and our training will get a bit more intensive. Stay tuned for more blogs on the chick’s progress.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.BarbarasFFAT.com
Copyright 2014

Tips to Train a Parrot to do a Difficult Behavior…like Nail Trimming

“Go Slow to Get There Fast” is a phrase you will hear me say over and over at my parrot training workshops.  It’s quirky, ironic, a little ambiguous ……..and it works to help caregivers achieve amazing behaviors.  So what exactly does this catchy little phrase mean?  Some may interpret it as you need to be patient. And perhaps that is a part of it, but in reality it is about helping trainers focus on the process of training a behavior, rather than just getting to the end result.

Think about the behavior of trimming your parrot’s nails. The inclination is to get those nail clippers up to the bird toes and snip off a bit of nail before your bird has time to react. If you have ever attempted this, you know all too well that very quickly it becomes nearly impossible to get the trimmers anywhere close to your bird once he figures out what you are up to. This is an example of going too fast and only focusing on getting to the end result.

In the same time it takes to struggle with a bird to get those nails trimmed, caregivers can actually make tremendous progress in training a parrot to accept voluntarily nail trims by slowing down. This means using smaller approximations.  To do this, caregivers need to pay close attention to their parrot’s body language. Bring the nail clippers up slow enough that your bird notices them, but does not show the slightest fear response. Pair this with desired experiences like getting food treats or head scratches.  Keep bringing the clippers closer as long as the bird remains very calm. You would be surprised how fast this can go if you are attentive to your parrot’s responses.

Once by a toe nail, don’t go for clipping just yet. Squeeze the handle of the clippers in the air. Barely touch the toe nail. Squeeze the trimmers around the nail, but don’t clip. Pair all these actions with desired goodies. All these are important tiny steps towards your end goal. As long as your parrot is calm, you can keep moving through these approximations. When you think he is ready for clipping, just barely take the tip off. You don’t want any pain or bleeding to occur.

Many times I have been able to trim a few toenails in just a matter of 20 minutes by going slow to get there fast. This approach can be applied to any behavior you are finding challenging to train. This might include restraint training,  going back in the cage,  harness training, learning to trust hands and stepping up. 

The reason going slow is faster is because every time we push for more than what the parrot is ready for we create a setback in training. The bird that is pushed beyond his comfort level becomes unwilling to participate. And the training process has to begin all over again. This scenario often gets repeated. In the long run it takes more time to train, and many times is never successful in achieving the behavior goal.

If you find yourself pushing your parrot past his threshold of tolerance for what you are asking of him, remind yourself “Go Slow to Get There Fast.”  You will discover you can train difficult behaviors in no time at all.

Barbara Heidenreich
Copyright Good Bird Inc 2014
www.GoodBirdInc.com
www.BarbarasFFAT.com