He's biting?

[Tan182]

Hey everyone!
So my little 7 week old IRN has discovered Biting I don't know what to do I have read about it and I don't pull away I do blow at his beak and he stops this I don't know if he's just exited to have discovered he has a beak and can chew on things Lol! Any thoughts would help

[SCB 22]

Hi there, if you browse the forum, look for the posts and notes on "bluffing" and how to deal with this phase that MOST young ringnecks go through, you should find tons of tips and help here

[Tan182]

I've heard of "bluffing" and I never knew it would happen so early, thanks a lot will look into it

[InTheAir]

Hi,

There are a lot of different types of biting.
Can you clarify this by telling us exactly what happened before and after the last bite?

[Tan182]

Nothing specific before and after he'll be sitting on the bed and you come to put your hand there and he reaches out to bite and then looks at you all innocently or if he's on your shoulder and he'll nibble your ear or bite your glasses that sortof thing, anything he can bite he will attempt to

[SCB 22]

Sounds like he is just starting the stage where they nibble on anything.

Is the "bite" done in a manner where he almost seems to be testing how much and how hard of a bite he can get away with, or is it outright angry, lunge at you, pin his eyes nip you hard sort of biting?

My guess is its the first one, which isnt so much a bite, as learning his own strength, also guessing he isnt weaned, and will be learning to crack seeds at the moment, which is when i find mine started testing their nibbling capabilities on EVERYTHING, including me....

But then it lead to bluffing, and plain angry bites as he got older (My Indigo blue male Peanut)

[Tan182]

I would go for the first one where he's just testing his strength, there's no angry lunges or anything.bites on everything he can but its inquisitively biting not angry thank you for your help

[komodo]

it's unlikely that this is bluffing. at seven weeks old it's more likely he is just feeling its way around and doesn't know his own biting power yet.

while it's cute and fuzzy to have a young bird nibbling on your fingers. This behaviour needs to be discourage now.
a habit learnt young is a hard habit to break when old. Young birds become mature birds.

The face, ears and eyes are a lot softer then fingers, so at this time it is unwise to have your bird sitting on your shoulder as this is a position of dominance for the bird. Only birds that you can trust 100% can sit on shoulders.

if your bird bites hard don't jump up and down yelling and screaming as this will encourage the bird. The bird see it as a funny and a entertaining show and will bite again for a encore.

it's doesn't matter whether the bird bites gentle or hard, it's biting and it needs to be discouraged. the method I use is when the bird bites I put the bird on it's T-perch and then leave the room for two to three minutes. Birds being social creatures don't like being alone. this will take a few attempts but the bird will catch on.

[Tan182]

When he bites I don't pull away and scream I've read it encourages them, I will do what you said, the only thing is he climbs all the way onto my shoulder so I don't know if I should keep taking him down then?

[Skyes_crew]

At 7 weeks old, a baby will not understand being left alone as "punishment"

Your bird is not biting, he is beaking. Similar to when a puppy learns bite inhibition from its siblings, you will need to teach him what is acceptable. I assume you are already working with him on stepping up. This is an important first step as birds will use their beaks to test the stability of their perch aka your hand. This also teaches them acceptable beak pressure. When coaxing him to step up, hold a hulled sunflower seed just out of reach behind your perching hand. When he completes the step up praise him and treat him. I do agree that baby birds should not be allowed on shoulders. My youngest IRN is 9 months and I have just started allowing him on my shoulder. They are inquisitive and do not know what is proper to nibble on and what is not. I don't agree that it is a dominance issue. Some of those old theories have been done away with for certain species. When he is on the floor playing with toys, praise him and treat him often. This lets him know that that is acceptable behavior. If he begins to bite a bit hard on your hand or fingers, replace it with a toy and praise him. Always keep a positive note. Are you planning to keep your bird flighted?

[Tan182]

Thank you for your information and how you look after your birds its helps me as a new owner to learn things, I want to keep him flighted he has started flying I'm thinking of getting his wings clipped though I fear he flies into a wall to hard and gets injured, he knows how to step up he learned fast I did practice with him I still do

[Skyes_crew]

Birds will run into things when fledging lol. But it will be ok. It hurts us more to watch than it does them. Keeping your bird flighted will help with biting in the future and may eliminate bluffing all together. When a bird is faced with a situation that is scary or frustrating to him he has two options, fight or flight. Most often the bird will fly away and avoid confrontation. If you clip your bird and take away that choice he's left with only one, and that is fight. Then the urge to bite becomes more frequent because he learns to deal with every emotion with that response. It is ultimately your choice. I can only offer my advice. But with your baby already displaying a strong personality, it is my opinion that it would be a mistake to clip him.

[Tan182]

Personally I believe birds should be able to fly its like telling a fish to not swim you know? But in circumstances I understand I don't want him to fly away or get hurt haha feel like a mother, but I want that bond and he has shown a strong bond with me, when I get home from school he's the loudest and happiest he's been all day (according to my gran), if he's scared I want him to fly away and rather not fight so I think I won't clip them. When he's older and can fly properly I have a big aviary in the garden ( I live on a farm) where he can go for a few hours a day to stretch his wings ( depending on the weather:p), lol you helped me make my mind up words were very convincing

[Skyes_crew]

I'm happy I could help

[komodo]

There will always be a different in opinions on certain subjects.

When you allow a parrot is to sit on your shoulder when it feels like, it will soon regard your shoulders as their "territory" and anyone invading their "territory" will often get bitten, your hand included. Please remember that every time you allow your bird to camp out on your shoulder on its own, you are encouraging it to misbehave. Birds are very intelligent, and it does not take them very long to train their owners.

I never once mention "punishment". The negative reward / reinforcement is you leaving the room which doesn't scare, confused or make the bird hate you.
This method that shows the bird that bad behaviours are not acceptable (biting being one) and the results are achieved without making the bird become scare, confused or hate you. Because when you leave the room, the bird wants you back and is overjoyed and happy when you return. This is called "wanted good behaviour achieved by negative reward / reinforcement". The bird is of a high enough intelligent to realised what it is doing to make you leave the room and will modify it's bad behaviour to good behaviour. Some birds pick it up quicker than others, they all pick it up eventually.

Some people use the "distraction method"
My opinion is the "distraction method" will scare, confuse or make the bird hate you. It has you are offering a toy, treat, stick or worse a waving a hand at the bird while it's biting you or attempting too. The bird bites you, then you give the bird a reward. What you have done is rewarded the bird for biting you or attempting too with a toy, treat or stick. (the toy, treat or stick has now replaced a clicker) and then praise it. This is unwanted bad behaviour being reward with positive reward /reinforcement and some people still believe that this will work to stop biting.

Waving a hand at it to distract it will also, have a negative impact. From the parrots point of view, it's feeling scared and threated and has just bitten the source of its fear (your hand), when another source of fear has appeared (your waving hand) this one is more threating and scary then the other. Birds usually bite because they are scared or threaten. Birds that continue to bite regularly are poorly trained.

I knew of one parrot owner using the "distraction method. The bird was a sun conure and was 17 months old and had started biting at 8 months. the owner tried the distraction method. yet 9 months later the parrot was still biting and was unpredictable when it would bite.
and the owner was at his wits end. he used the method I recommended and within a week the bird behaviour had changed. had rarely bitten anyone since. you can't train a bird to like everyone but you can train it to behaviour appropriately.

Every time you pick up and interact with your parrot, you're training it something. The way you handle, interact, train and discipline your parrot will either encourage his good behaviour or bad behaviour. You can spend hundreds of hours training your parrot, but if you continue to train him poorly and badly, he will never lose bad behaviour. Every time your bird successfully gets away with biting you or any other bad behaviour, it encourages him to become more and more aggressive.

Coaxing or luring a bird is also not recommend as you want the bird to do what you want on its own initiative not yours.

Do not wing clip this bad, very bad.

Bluffing is not a learnt Behaviour. Your bird has just reached puberty and is being Hormonal. Expect to get bitten, but it's very important that you continue training your bird two to three times a day during the bluffing stage. The bluffing stage can last for a couple of days, weeks or at worse months although this is rare.

[Skyes_crew]

There will always be a different in opinions on certain subjects.

When you allow a parrot is to sit on your shoulder when it feels like, it will soon regard your shoulders as their "territory" and anyone invading their "territory" will often get bitten, your hand included. Please remember that every time you allow your bird to camp out on your shoulder on its own, you are encouraging it to misbehave. Birds are very intelligent, and it does not take them very long to train their owners.
that is why I agreed with not allowing a young bird on her shoulder. Many species, not all, can handle being on a shoulder without considering it a dominant position if they were trained right from a fledgling.

I never once mention "punishment". The negative reward / reinforcement is you leaving the room which doesn't scare, confused or make the bird hate you.
This method that shows the bird that bad behaviours are not acceptable (biting being one) and the results are achieved without making the bird become scare, confused or hate you. Because when you leave the room, the bird wants you back and is overjoyed and happy when you return. This is called "wanted good behaviour achieved by negative reward / reinforcement". The bird is of a high enough intelligent to realised what it is doing to make you leave the room and will modify it's bad behaviour to good behaviour. Some birds pick it up quicker than others, they all pick it up eventually.

negative reinforcement has been shown to have many lasting side effects on birds if not used correctly by an experienced handler and trainer. It is not recommended to be used on a fledgling at all. The cortex of the birds brain is forming a mass of intricate connections daily and it doubles when they begin to fledge. Studies have shown those connections to be broken or frayed when using negative context in training. That is why I said a 7 week old baby should not have that method of "punishment" used on him.

Some people use the "distraction method"
My opinion is the "distraction method" will scare, confuse or make the bird hate you. It has you are offering a toy, treat, stick or worse a waving a hand at the bird while it's biting you or attempting too. The bird bites you, then you give the bird a reward. What you have done is rewarded the bird for biting you or attempting too with a toy, treat or stick. (the toy, treat or stick has now replaced a clicker) and then praise it. This is unwanted bad behaviour being reward with positive reward /reinforcement and some people still believe that this will work to stop biting.

the distraction method is not aimed at treating a negative behavior. You aren't treating a bite. You are treating the preferred behavior. You should be able to read your birds body language. If you see an imminent bite, you block it by putting a toy or treat in the birds beak. It should be a smooth transition. Not a three ring circus with hands waving and scaring the daylights out if the bird.

Waving a hand at it to distract it will also, have a negative impact. From the parrots point of view, it's feeling scared and threated and has just bitten the source of its fear (your hand), when another source of fear has appeared (your waving hand) this one is more threating and scary then the other. Birds usually bite because they are scared or threaten. Birds that continue to bite regularly are poorly trained.

waving your hand at a bird to distract from biting is never recommended. That is not blocking at all. Blocking is preventing a bite from occurring.

I knew of one parrot owner using the "distraction method. The bird was a sun conure and was 17 months old and had started biting at 8 months. the owner tried the distraction method. yet 9 months later the parrot was still biting and was unpredictable when it would bite.
and the owner was at his wits end. he used the method I recommended and within a week the bird behaviour had changed. had rarely bitten anyone since. you can't train a bird to like everyone but you can train it to behaviour appropriately.

i am happy that you helped that person with their conure...but you can not compare the two when talking about IRN's. Every species trains differently. And having trained conures myself, I can say with certainty that they are completely different.

Every time you pick up and interact with your parrot, you're training it something. The way you handle, interact, train and discipline your parrot will either encourage his good behaviour or bad behaviour. You can spend hundreds of hours training your parrot, but if you continue to train him poorly and badly, he will never lose bad behaviour. Every time your bird successfully gets away with biting you or any other bad behaviour, it encourages him to become more and more aggressive.

Coaxing or luring a bird is also not recommend as you want the bird to do what you want on its own initiative not yours.

Coaxing, by definition is to persuade. You are asking the bird to do something and sweetening the deal with a treat if he does it. It is still his choice. There is absolutely no force involved.
Do not wing clip this bad, very bad.

Bluffing is not a learnt Behaviour. Your bird has just reached puberty and is being Hormonal. Expect to get bitten, but it's very important that you continue training your bird two to three times a day during the bluffing stage. The bluffing stage can last for a couple of days, weeks or at worse months although this is rare.

Bluffing can be avoided. Yes it is a hormonal shift, but by forcing interaction with your bird during this timeframe, you can make it worse. It should always be about choices. My youngest male is now 9 months. He never bluffed. He was flight recall trained by 4 months. He was always given choices. I made training and interacting with me so appealing that he would come to me. I have never been bitten by him.


Yes we will all have our difference of opinion...I agree. But please let us keep it professional as there are many new people that would benefit more from our help and less from our arguing.

[komodo]

I have looked on the internet and couldn't find any studies that showed negative reinforcements have lasting side effects if not used correctly by an experience handler and trainer nor could I find any statements, or studies that backed up your statement "it is not recommended to be used on a fledging at all". the recommendation have been start training your bird has early as possible.

while I was on the internet there was numerous site indicating that Negative reinforcement is one of the most misunderstood training methods and that a lot of people think and believe it's a punishment and have been condemning it without any research.

Positive reinforcement: the addition of something in a bird’s environment that increases the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated.
Negative reinforcement: the deletion of something in the environment that increases the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated.
That’s all – there are no implications of good or bad, right or wrong. One does not mean reward and the other punishment.

I believe that clicker training is the way to go when it comes to training. clicker training has been successfully use on 140 species of animal's from birds to humans. there is one system to train birds with a clicker I have yet to find different clicker systems of training for different birds.

Bluffing is the stage when chemical changes are occurring within the birds body "THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP THIS"
it's a natural occurring process. to say you can avoid bluffing is false. IRN need to be handle daily as they revert to a wild state very quickly. this can be noticed within three days of no contact with you. in fact the recommendation is to keep training your IRN during the bluffing stage. Bluffing can start when several months old to over a year old.

I never argued. I gave my opinions when you applied that I was suggesting punishment was to be use. I also found it offensive that you discredited my opinions. then tell me to keep it professional. why are your methods right and mine are wrong. new parrot owners are not going to benefit when the information given to them is bad or wrong. I thought that this forum was different but it's just like the rest, run by narrow-minded people who have had trained the number of animals that you could count on one hand, and only to step up and take food from their hand and think they are experts in training and their methods are right and use out of date statements or fictitious studies to dis-credit anyone who questions their training method.
I never claimed to be an expert. but I think outside the box and found training methods that worked successfully and worked in a very short time and was sharing them with other people. you seem proud that you manage to have your bird flight recalled in four months. I had my bird free flying from the cage to me and back in a week, and you dis-credit my methods.
THIS IS THE LAST TIME I WILL VISIT THIS FORUM.

[Skyes_crew]

I gave my opinions...just as you have given yours. If they work for you that's great not all people who come here are experienced with birds. They are newbies who are looking for advice. If given methods that can cause issues, it would discredit our family here so I tend to give simpler advice to those who don't have a long background in training. You say I give advice based on the number of birds I've trained that can be counted on one hand. You don't know me at all so that is a bit narrow minded. I've actually been handling and training birds for 30 years. I've trained everything from a cockatiel to a cockatoo. And yes I am proud that I trained my bird to recall by 4 months. Especially since I got him parent raised at 12 weeks. And we can just agree to disagree on bluffing. Bluffing is a hormonal shift that happens shortly after weaning. The hormonal shift itself can not be avoided, but the temperamental biting can with proper handling. And I must strongly disagree with your assessment that an IRN can go wild in as little as 3 days with no contact. I must have extraordinary ringnecks then. There have been plenty of occasions where I have been ill and I have left them in their cage for a couple of days. I also trained for independence in my birds. Telling newbies things like that is what scares people into not wanting to own an IrN because of silly rumors that start. I'm sorry that you can not debate differences of opinions without getting your feelings hurt. We all can't always agree.

[Skyes_crew]

Double post

[MissK]

Tan182, Sorry I just read this thread for the first time now!

I think if the bird is biting a real bite and you can dissuade him with a little gentle blowing, that is a distraction that does no harm. However, I would imagine as the bird gets used to it the effect may likely be lost. Doesn't make it bad, but you should look ahead to another method for the "one day" when it doesn't work. Try not to let that next method be an escalation of arms, so to speak, because that would be a less helpful route to follow. I think for a real bite, blocking and distracting are valid techniques. However, you would want to anticipate the bite and distract or block BEFORE it happens. If you want to distract after the bite, make the bird do some other action that is rewardable first, such as offer a treat if the bird moves six inches from the site of the bite. Be sure to change it up, or you could get a bird who bites, moves 6 inches, and looks for a treat. They are very smart that way.

However, I also think it sounded like he's just investigating. Investigation is good. Guide him away from sensitive bits. My bird continues to "investigate" even though he knows perfectly well what I am by now. My bird is very different from yours, as he is quite mature and this is his second home after nobody knows exactly what kind of first few years on the market. He was a bit wild when I got him. I mention it so you know straight up I'm not experienced with the babies. ANYWAY, I let Rocky go ahead and nibble, but if it starts to hurt I just gently twist myself out of his mouth, or jiggle a very slight jiggle and say "No". If he bites hard I just smoothly (nonviolently) throw my hand up and he flies off. It isn't nice to toss your bird into the air, and I cannot recommend it to others, but I feel from experience that when he bites hard he has bypassed his "I'm dealing with my human" time and tapped into his "I'm really wild at heart" time. It doesn't happen much, but now and again it does. I have no wish to deny Rocky his nature, so this is cool with me. Not everyone will accept that, though.

I agree that placing the biting bird on the play perch and leaving the room has merit *in the realm of theory* and may well work if you have an established relationship with your bird and you have a reasonable amount of communication. However, for the bird who bites as defense, getting you to leave is exactly what they want, so leaving is not really likely to solve the problem. In actuality, you may find the bird has trained you to leave the room!

For the bird who bites more innocently, if you will, I still think this method is not likely to be hugely effective simply because in the time it took you to take the bird to a designated spot and put him down, your feedback of leaving is made meaningless. When an animal learns, whatever feedback immediately follows the action in question is the de facto consequence or "reward". With that method, your bird's reward for biting is that you put it down. The reward for letting himself be put down is you leaving. Again, a bird with whom you have some mutual understanding and rapport, this may work, but for initial training, I am highly skeptical.

With regard to the bird on your shoulder, you may find it helpful to simply hold your hand (where the bird is) higher than your shoulder. You may also use your other hand to make a wall to block his progress, although it might invite a bite. As far as the dominance theory, I have no confidence in it with regard to Indian Ringnecks. I suspect it is an outdated model projected onto many other species by the species who has the actual dominance issues - the humans. A bird who spends a lot of time on the shoulder may come to regard it as his own, and may guard you against others. Displacement could well lead to a bite there. However, I think it most unlikely that simply being on the shoulder alone would make the bird that strongly and inappropriately bonded to you. I do agree that a bird who cannot be trusted 100% should not be let on the shoulder if you are not willing to chance a bite. However, I also believe that NO bird can be trusted 100% because they are living creatures, not machines. You do the math.

Having seen what I believe to be the effects of clipping and not clipping in the same bird, I also believe clipping is inadvisable. With regard to crashing into things, well, a baby has to learn. With practice comes better skill. Ringnecks are really excellent flyers. Do guard against windows and mirrors, as well as moving things like fans, and NEVER chase. Provide more than one safe landing spot. Birdie will sort out the rest.

I have found the concept of teaching "bite inhibition" to be valid, even with my (then) 10 year old bird. Never too old, really, to learn.

I have to disagree with the notion that luring is bad. Luring has proved to be a highly effective training tool for me with my bird. It is a teaching tool. Indeed, it is highly effective at inducing the bird to perform certain behaviours which can then be cued and rewarded. With luring I taught my bird to use the cage's nest door as his personal entrance and exit. In turn, he taught me to open the door when he stands on the perch next to it. I think this is a beautiful thing, allowing me to effectively communicate to my bird that I want him out, and allowing him to effectively request out time. When the day comes that the second bird cage is too close for use of the nest door, I expect to use luring to teach Rocky to use one of the feeder doors as his own, and I expect quick and easy success.

Clicker training is said to be very effective, but it is by no means the only successful method. In actuality, it is just an easier way of giving feedback. You could as easily just say the word "CLICK", "GOOD", or "RUMPLESTILTSKIN", though, to be fair, I think it would just be the "RUMP" giving your feedback. The critical thing in any case is the timing of the feedback which helps your subject learn. That, and the initial establishment of the meaning of audio feedback in the first place. A bird could live its whole live not understanding that "CLICK" means "you did what I wanted". GOOGLE will teach you what you need to know. If you need a more concrete resource for learning to use clickers or any other training method, just ask. Someone here (probably many someones) will be glad to point you.

I have read a lot of things on this thread today, and I agree with some things and disagree with others. There has been discussion and points have been addressed. There is one statement, however, I must say is simply out and out misleading, and that is the assertion that "IRN need to be handle daily as they revert to a wild state very quickly. this can be noticed within three days of no contact with you." I am here to state that while I was helping my Mother deal with heart surgery I barely even looked at my bird for nearly four months. It is regrettable and shameful, but that is how it had to be. The result was that the bird did take a step backwards in his comfort level (aka tameness) to the point that he did more beak testing and inched away when I put my arm in the cage. He still stepped to my wrist, which was yet a new behaviour for him at the time I had to spend so much time away from home with my Mom, and he was still comfortable around me. Yes, there was a change, but it was a small change in the big picture and it was easily overcome. Every bird is different, and I am sure that our longstanding relationship played a part in helping Rocky weather his abandonment with good grace. I would not expect the same result from other birds necessarily, although I am convinced my bird is not remarkable compared to others of his kind. I simply want to point out that absolute statements about birds reverting to wild if not handled daily is not valid. Also I like to brag on my bird.

[Tan182]

Thank you missK and everyone else who helped I didn't want anyone to get offeneded by my thread I was just looking for different opinions and I value them all and I will find one that works for my bird, I don't think there is a territorial issue as he loves attention from everyone in the house and loves cuddling and playing with everyone, I will just have to find a way that works with him as not every answer is the right one for every single type of bird as they develope their own personalities and are individuals so to speak. Thank you for all the comments they have helped My baby IRN can fly from his cage to my brother (this is what they do when they're alone). I'm not sure about the shoulder thing as he sits there and cuddles I value your points as why its wrong but then again everyones bird is different & everyone has their views of how to raise a bird the same with mothers and their babies. Natural instinct comes and you do what u think is best I love this forum because of all the different opinions so I don't believe anyone here is narrow minded just simply stating opinions thank you

[MissK]

Hi Tan182,

Just to clarify - I didn't mean bird on shoulder is wrong; I meant it's risky.

[Tan182]

Hey MissK
no no I didn't take it any wrong way. Sorry about not wording it properly I understand the risks involved as he could hurt me, but all he does is put his beak close to my neck and fall asleep. I value your opinions though thank you

[AJPeter]

I have been reading the posts about biting, being a newbie please excuse me for being so forward, but l do find leaving the room for unaceptable behaviour has the desired result. Billie does not like being left alone, and if go into the kitchen she calls continuously for me to come back. Her happy time is when she can see me in the same room.
But there are several types of biting a playful nip, and a painful bite which draws blood. Being only human she gets a slap around the face for biting and then l leave the room. We are both getting better at dealing with each other if l do something she does not like she tuts and growls and then makes manaces with open beak. Equally if she wants to show approval she clicks her tongue.
But l also leave the rooms when she starts screaming although like a spollit child these screaming bouts are because l do not understand what she wants. Like breakfast time or or foot toy time, when she wants a scratch she lifts her head at right angles to her body and squeaks, when l do scratch her neck she purrs but sometimes my approach is wrong and she attempts to bite me, a quick withdrawal of my finger and saying "Naughty" or something disapproving, and this escaltesd into her screaming and my leaving the room. After a few minutes l hear her say "Sorry." And then she calls for me to return. Why do forums not have a spell checker? My spelling is atrocious. Aslo l am dyslexic and get letters in hte wong order.
When l want to show approval of her behaviour l rub noses with her. I think she quites likes that at least she does not bite me!
AJPeter

[InTheAir]

Aj, I really like this trainer http://goodbirdinc.blogspot.com.au/2012 ... e.html?m=1 I have found her advice very helpful for working with my bird.

[ellieelectrons]

Thought I'd add a bit of training theory to this thread. These are all from a Pamela Clark & Barbara Heidenreich workshop & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforcement. If you ever get the opportunity to go to one of Pam's or Barbara's workshops I can recommend it. I'm hoping I've got this right, feel free to correct if I haven't.

Positive Punishment - adding/presenting an unpleasant stimulus to decrease behaviour - NOT RECOMMENDED for training birds
Example. Yelling at a child as they run across the street.
Example. Spray a bird with a spray bottle to stop a bird from screaming.

Negative Reinforcement - removing/taking away an unpleasant stimulus to increase behaviour - NOT RECOMMENDED for training birds
Example. A child cleans their room to stop the nagging of a parent.

Negative Punishment - removing/taking away a pleasant stimulus to decrease behaviour - USE WITH CAUTION for training birds
Example. Leaving the room to discourage the bird from biting (Note: that this is only negative punishment if the bird enjoys the company of the person.)

Positive Reinforcement - adding/presenting pleasant stimulus to increase behaviour - USE GENEROUSLY for training birds
Example. give your bird a treat for going back to its cage

Classical conditioning - pairing something with an experience to associate a feeling with it - ESPECIALLY USEFUL FOR FEAR RESPONSES for training birds
Example. Feeding a bird it's favourite treats whilst slowly introducing a new toy that it is fearful of.

Punishment and negative reinforcement "are more likely to cause escape, avoidance, aggression, apathy, generalized fear of the environment, or generalized reduction in behavior, and are not considered good training methods." (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parrot_training). In the first Barbara workshop I went to she described a flamingo at a zoo that the zoo keepers had to catch regularly for medical treatment. Eventually, the bird stopped running away it just sat there and let the zoo keepers to catch it. It knew there was no point running because they would eventually catch it any way. It didn't look forward to the interactions but it was resigned to them. If they had been able to work out how to use positive reinforcement with the flamingo it would have made the interactions more positive for the bird.

Birds that do things to avoid punishment or negative reinforcement will tend to the bare minimum, whereas birds that are working to positive reinforcement are more likely to do more than is required.

With our pet birds, the aim to have birds feeling comfortable with our interactions.

Ellie.

[ellieelectrons]

But there are several types of biting a playful nip, and a painful bite which draws blood. Being only human she gets a slap around the face for biting and then l leave the room. We are both getting better at dealing with each other if l do something she does not like she tuts and growls and then makes manaces with open beak. Equally if she wants to show approval she clicks her tongue.

Hi AJPeter,

I cannot condone any one hitting a bird. I'm not sure if that's what you meant by "slap around the face"... but I don't think that will get you the desired relationship you want with your bird as it will make your bird fear you. Although reading your next sentence, perhaps you didn't mean that the way it sounded?

Regarding leaving the room - if it is done it is a form of "negative punishment". It is a "use with caution" technique. If you do choose to do this, the absence doesn't need to be for very long for it to have it's effect (eg. 1-2 mins would be sufficient).

Ellie.