Table of Contents
Introduction
Birds are highly intelligent and simple to educate to carry out a variety of great tricks or commands. Their repertoire is extensive, and they can teach your bird anything from talking and dancing to waving. A great approach to keep your pet interested and mentally occupied is through training. Additionally, it’s a great method for you to bond with your bird and spend time together.
The following significant subjects will be covered in this essay to enable you and your feathered companion to have a successful and joyful experience when teaching birds:
- List of bird-teaching tips and techniques
- When should you train your bird
- Top avian training advice
- How to handle obnoxious bird behavior
What skills are teachable in birds?
You must choose your objectives before starting your new training trip. While parrots and songbirds are the only animals that can learn complex abilities like understanding and imitating human speech, other commands can be taught to a wider range of animals.
Here are a few abilities that birds can be taught, depending on the kind you own:
- Train your bird to step (step up command)
- Train your bird to dance or wave
- Train your bird to talk (parrots and songbirds)
When to Start Bird Training
The key to effective bird training is timing. It’s crucial to schedule training sessions when you don’t feel rushed or under pressure because training requires patience and focus. If you’re not at ease, you can lose patience with your bird, which could ruin the training session. Keep in mind that birds are very perceptive to your feelings and subtle body language. Choose a moment when your bird is alert as well. Your feathered buddy is human like you and can get distracted. Make sure the location where you train is peaceful and free from outside distractions. If you observe your bird eating, grooming, or sleeping, don’t begin training. At these times, they are probably not as interested in learning.
Tip for Training Birds
The importance of timing:
When it comes to training birds, there is a tonne of material available. It can seem daunting with so many varied suggestions and viewpoints on how to handle it best but don’t give up. The most crucial thing is to be joyful and optimistic! Positive reinforcement is always more effective than trying to change your bird’s undesirable behavior when it comes to training. Simply put, if they behave well, reward them, and if they behave badly, ignore them.
Avoid punishing your Bird
During training exercises, resist the impulse to chastise your bird. Due to their high level of sensitivity, birds are particularly vulnerable, therefore an ineffective training session may have the opposite effect. Birds are intelligent, so it’s not difficult for them to figure out that engaging in unpleasant behavior would draw attention. In the end, any attention is preferable to none, positive or negative. You should never hit a bird, even though it may seem apparent to bird lovers. They are brittle and prone to harm. Even a small tap could accidentally hurt someone.
Shorten bird training sessions
Never train for longer than 15 minutes at a time, especially if your bird is having trouble understanding the behavior. Keep your sessions brief yet frequent since consistency is important. Develop trust by being persistent and patient.
Do Not Forget To Reward Your Bird
Make sure to pick an appealing incentive for your feathery companion (treat, toy, praise, or attention). Clicker training, which has gained popularity in the field of canine training, is preferred by some parents. By identifying the precise moment your pet bird exhibits the desired behavior, a clicker can shorten the training period. Use a command word like “yes” or “good” in place of a click if you don’t want to worry about extra hardware.
Reduce the number of goodies you give your bird once it learns the behavior and begins to follow instructions; instead, reinforce it with praise or attention. This will prevent them from learning to just perform the behavior while you are holding treats.
Be upbeat when dealing with your bird
Even if your bird struggles to understand the action you are asking for, always end each training session on a positive note. Give them a less difficult assignment, or praise them when they complete something nearly as you had hoped. They will look forward to the following training session and the training session will end with a treat or praise.
Bird Training Tips in Review:
- Maintain a cheerful attitude during your workout.
- Stay away from punishment and emphasize encouragement.
- Maintain brief yet frequent training sessions.
- Pick a treat that your bird will like receiving.
- Never fail to leave on a happy note!
The Best Ways To Handle Unwanted Bird Behaviour
There will be occasions during training when you must deal with your bird’s undesirable behavior. Your bird may have developed a screaming or biting cry for attention. Avoid ignoring these actions because doing so might encourage future repetitions. During the training process, it’s equally crucial to convey that undesirable behaviors are not acceptable, just as you would while rewarding your bird for his desired behaviors. Although yelling at your bird might be your first inclination, doing so is actually highly ineffective. Birds are vocal, thus they might interpret your singing as joining them in their vocalizations rather than seeing it as a bad thing. For instance, yelling at them while they are screaming won’t stop the behavior but can rather make it worse.
Instead, convey your annoyance through facial expressions (such as a frown or “mom glare”). It has been demonstrated that birds are adept at reading human facial expressions and body language. Your feathered buddy will immediately pick up on your facial expressions of happiness, sadness, and displeasure. Always talk clearly and softly; never yell. A scowl and a firm “no” are sufficient, but the following move is also crucial.
Place your bird back on its perch or in its cage to take a break and reflect for a few minutes. Cover their cage if it’s already there, just like you would before night. They must comprehend that this behavior is unattractive and that doing it will result in them no longer receiving attention. You are establishing a limit with them. Go back and play with them again after a while so they understand that you are no longer offended and have overlooked the inappropriate behavior.
Conclusion
You must be patient and consistent, much as while learning tricks. Don’t instruct them to refrain from the undesirable behaviour one time, then dismiss it the next. There will be confusion as a result. Maintain firm boundaries and don’t forget to give them lots of praise when they behave well!
Even though training requires some patience and work, it is a great method to strengthen your bird’s relationship. Start with easy tasks like stepping up onto your hand or stepping off onto the perch using the strategies we’ve discussed. Then you can advance to increasingly challenging exercises and activities. There is no end to what birds can accomplish because they are so entertaining and clever!