Watch this trick-trained parrot.. Clever birdie!

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CeCe.
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Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2011 8:25 pm
Location: Queensland, Australia

Watch this trick-trained parrot.. Clever birdie!

Post by CeCe. »

Video of a parrot doing a heap of tricks, one after the other. My favourites are play dead and somersault - so cute XD
20 parrot tricks in 60 seconds
sippy11
Posts: 20
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2012 11:12 pm

Re: Watch this trick-trained parrot.. Clever birdie!

Post by sippy11 »

that was awesome. how would he train the bird to play dead
ellieelectrons
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Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: Watch this trick-trained parrot.. Clever birdie!

Post by ellieelectrons »

This is how I would do it anyway.

I think you could only train this one if your bird doesn't mind being handled. You need to teach your bird to let you grab him from behind, and then be comfortable with you cradling him on his back. You'd start by putting him down on his back on the table/floor and giving the cue (eg. bang) and following up with reward and eventually, you'd get him to do it by giving the cue and getting the bird to get itself in the position before getting the reward. You would also need to give him a cue for when he can get up too. I noticed that he seemed to use a clicker for that cue.

This would be a hard behaviour to train because birds don't naturally like lying on their back as lying on their back would definitely make them vulnerable to predators.

On another note, after watching that video again, I'm kicking myself... I saw that exact bowling set in Myer before Christmas... and I didn't buy it because it was more than I wanted to pay for something I wasn't sure that the birds would be able to do. I wasn't sure if the ball size was right, etc. I went back after Christmas hoping it was reduced and they had none left and they said it was probably something they only got in for Christmas! Soooo annoyed... I should have bought it when i saw it!

Since you've got a young bird now, it's a good idea to get your bird used to being handled like this and see if you can get it comfortable with you cradling it on its back and hopefully you will be able to continue this practice even after bluffing. I didn't know to do this when Janey was young and when I got Charlie, he was slightly older and really scared of us despite being handraised.

Ellie.
sippy11
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Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2012 11:12 pm

Re: Watch this trick-trained parrot.. Clever birdie!

Post by sippy11 »

Thanks for explaining how to do the trick :) Nila is starting her bluffing we think, but she isnt doing anything too bad as of yet. Hopefull we will be able to learn the bang trick :) but we are stating small with high 5 which she getting really quick :)
MissK
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Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: Watch this trick-trained parrot.. Clever birdie!

Post by MissK »

How are you teaching the high five?
Last edited by MissK on Sat Apr 23, 2016 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
-MissK
ellieelectrons
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Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: Watch this trick-trained parrot.. Clever birdie!

Post by ellieelectrons »

I hope you don't mind me answering this one. Both my birds wave and I did it by capturing the moving foot behaviour. I'd stand there and watch them and wait until they moved their foot on their play perch just a bit and then I'd give the cue and the word, say "good bird" and give the reward. At the beginning, I'd reward a small movement, a scratch, anything! Eventually, I started rewarding for only the behaviour I want. It took quite a while to train this one for both of them but once they've got it, they've really got it!

When I'm training other behaviours (eg. at the moment I'm trying to harness train - I think that one might take 30 years!) Janey will sometimes use waving as a signal to me that she's ready to try again... sometimes I'll say, "are you ready?" and she'll wave at me, other times, she'll just do it when she's impatient, telling me to hurry up. It reminds me of someone at a poker table asking the dealer to "hit them". It's very cute.

Training really does seem to give you a good repertoire of ways to communicate with your bird.

Previously, I had watched a Barbara Heidenreich video suggesting you train your bird this by asking him to step up and removing your hand, giving the visual and verbale cue and rewarding. This approach didn't work for me. I tried this once with Charlie and he almost fell off his perch because he started to put weight on the foot just as my hand moved... so I stopped doing it that way and reverted back to capturing the behaviour.

There are no "right" ways to do this kind of thing though, it comes down to what works for the two of you.

Ellie.
sippy11
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Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2012 11:12 pm

Re: Watch this trick-trained parrot.. Clever birdie!

Post by sippy11 »

good way of doing it ellie :) How i trained Nila was that when she would step up, it would tend to be her right foot so when she touched my finger i would say high 5 nila and reward her and now i just have to touch her foot and say high 5 and she will do it most of the time.

I hope this helps missk :)
ellieelectrons
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Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 1:17 am
Location: Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

Re: Watch this trick-trained parrot.. Clever birdie!

Post by ellieelectrons »

That's great! There are lots of ways to train any trick & you have to adapt them to your bird. Have you to a video of the high5?

Ellie.
MissK
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Location: Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.

Re: Watch this trick-trained parrot.. Clever birdie!

Post by MissK »

Well, thank you both!
Last edited by MissK on Sat Apr 23, 2016 9:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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subodhhire
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Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2013 11:43 am
Location: India, Mumbai

Re: Watch this trick-trained parrot.. Clever birdie!

Post by subodhhire »

Hi to All,

Miss K your view about training is good. but i have lost 2 birds and unfortunately nobody returned them to me. My guess is because my birds were trained and very friendly whoever found them kept them for himself/herself. I lost one IRN when i was 10 years old and last year my Alexandrine flew out of the window. I am sure he must have landed on somebody's window. He was with me for only a month but he had started to step up and was responding to my voice very well. He was just a baby around 4 months and had just started to fly. I didnt clip his wings cause i thought let him first learn to fly a bit. But i never dreamed that he will fly off from the open window. Now i am not taking any chances with my new Alexandrines. I am taking all the necessary precautions.

Subodh
sippy11
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Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2012 11:12 pm

Re: Watch this trick-trained parrot.. Clever birdie!

Post by sippy11 »

hey ellie havnt made a video yet she still a little hit and mkiss but once we get pretty good i will :)

Also i hope Nila doesnt fly off i would be devostated :(
Valeria
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Location: Bucharest, Romania
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Re: Watch this trick-trained parrot.. Clever birdie!

Post by Valeria »

I think it was takes a lot of time to teach this kind of tricks.
Dave Jacas
Posts: 35
Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2012 4:27 pm

Re: Watch this trick-trained parrot.. Clever birdie!

Post by Dave Jacas »

Cute, must be time consuming to teach so much tricks.Must be very Rewarding to see the end result.
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