Best Techniques For Teaching Parrots Tricks

Most people want to teach their parrot how to do tricks. Parrots tricks are one of the most enjoyable parts of sharing your life with one of these fun and intelligent birds.

Training makes him more focused on you, better socialized, better behaved and can even help in correction of behavioral problems! Since many of these problems arise out of boredom and lack of mental stimulation, learning parrot tricks can be the answer to a healthier, happier parrot.

A good example of this is the loud screeching that can both irritate you and stress you out. Parrots screech to get attention. By teaching your parrot to talk you will enjoy his vocalizations much more than you enjoyed the screeching, it is much more pleasant to listen to.

You don't need to provide a conventional lesson setting. If, when walking by your bird's cage, you stop and repeat the word that you are trying to teach him once or twice on a regular basis he will learn to repeat what you say.

When teaching your parrot to talk make sure to speak slowly and clearly and keep the words short, just a syllable or two. When he repeats the word you can give him a treat as a reward. It may take more than one session, and his first few attempts may not be as clear sounding as later on when he has the word mastered.

It's also wise to be careful of what you say around your parrot. It can prove embarrassing when he repeats a word or phrase around guests that you had no idea he knew!

Another popular trick is training your parrot to step up. This trick is easy to teach and also can be quite useful when trying to catch him. You teach him to step up onto the object right in front of him.

To do this you can start by pressing your finger against your parrot's chest right above his legs while saying "step up". Don't poke with the tip of your finger. Instead, gently press with the side of your finger.

A good technique for teaching parrot tricks is to use food as a reward. For teaching step up you can hold the treat just out of reach to help guide him onto your finger. If you have one of the larger species of parrot you can substitute your forearm for your finger.

Remember to keep training sessions short. You don't want to repeat things so many times that you annoy your parrot and cause him to resent the sessions. Make sure to end on a good note and once your parrot "gets it", even if it only took two or three tries, reward him and end the session.

It's also wise to train your bird in a quiet room with as few distractions as possible. You want to make sure that he is totally focused on you during training.

Another trick that is fun and fairly easy to teach is "turn around." With your parrot standing either on a perch or your finger, hold out a piece of food. Say "turn around." Next move the treat slowly around to a position behind your bird. He should follow it with his eyes and when he can't see it should turn his whole body.

As soon as he does, reward him with the treat. At first you can work on half turns (180 degrees) and then proceed to full turns (360 degrees).

A last piece of advice is never work with your parrot when you are feeling stressed. Always keep a calm and patient attitude and you should have no trouble teaching your parrots tricks.

The author, Karla Deacon, is an expert parrot enthusiast. For more great information on parrots tricks visit ParrotCareBasics.com

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