When clicker training your bird, you should teach at least three prop behaviors before you work on non-prop behaviors (to avoid having the bird use his first and strongest behavior as way to beg for treats or attention). A training prop could be anything, it doesn’t have to be expensive, but sometimes it’s just easier to buy a prop specifically designed for bird training.
Since finding parrot training props isn’t as easy as it should be, I’ve gathered together various links I’ve bookmarked where you can find trick training toys for birds. If you know of other good sources for clicker training props, please leave a comment and and I’ll add it to the list. If you’d like to share your shopping experience with any of the parrot supply stores below, I’d welcome that as well since I haven’t tried all these sites out myself.
Obviously some of these parrot tricks are much harder to teach than others, and your bird would have to be macaw-sized to operate anything as complicated as a bicycle, but don’t get discouraged — some of the behaviors are actually not that complicated to teach! Ring toss and basketball are only one step removed from retrieve (teaching your bird to fetch), which is one the first prop tricks to teach a beginner bird anyway. (Stewie’s first real trick was to put a ball in a cup, and I’m a terrible trainer. If we can do it, anyone with a little patience and a lot of humor can do the same.)
The obvious disclaimer: buy from these online parrot toy stores at your own risk. I’m not vouching for them.
Should-be-obvious statement #2: “Because they do cool tricks” is not a good reason to run out and buy a parrot. Tigers jump through hoops of fire – doesn’t mean you just run out and get one because of that. Ok, enough preaching.
For your viewing pleasure: A Macaw Parrot Riding a Bicycle, among other things:
Sometimes you can get discouraged watching parrot training videos. Those birds always seem to do all the tricks perfectly (despite the trainer’s claim they’re not even tame… yeah right) while our own training efforts make us wonder if there’s something wrong with our birds… or us.
The truth is, that no bird knows how to do every trick the first time we try to teach it. And even a fairly well trained parrot can have an off day. What’s important to remember is that that’s perfectly okay. We’re not dealing with matters of life or death; we’re just working on some fun tricks. So if your parrot isn’t in the mood to practice his tricks, try again some other time.
Just to show you what happens “behind the scenes” of parrot training videos, here’s what you usually don’t see (because it gets edited out):
We did clicker training for 3 minutes. The first minute went well, then something set Stewie off and I spent the next 2 minutes (the part shown in the above video) trying to get his attention back on training. Eventually I decided to end the session and let him do his own thing.
Just as I don’t force him to train when he’s not in the mood, I also don’t bother training when I’m not in the mood. Remember, training is supposed to be fun! Your training sessions will be much more rewarding if it’s something you do because you both want to, not because you think you should stick to some sort of schedule.
The latest trick we’re working on is waving. This is usually one of the earlier non-prop behaviors parrot trainers teach their birds, but I started with behaviors I could capture instead of ones I’d have to shape. I finally felt we were both ready to work on this trick, and once I knew my plan of attack, Stewie picked up on it quickly. At least half the energy of teaching Stewie new tricks is me simply mapping out what the steps are going to be (creating a lesson plan, so to speak).
The video below is of our 4th session working on wave. Below the jump I describe how we got to this point.
Here’s How I Shaped Waving
In session one, I offer him my finger as if asking him to step up. I click and treat when he lifts his foot onto my finger. In session two, I hold my finger higher, closer to his head, and point it down a little more so it no longer looks like I’m asking for a step up. He uses his beak to hold onto my finger while he lifts his foot high enough to grab it. I c/t all foot lifts, even if they don’t reach my finger.
In the third session I start moving my finger away when he reaches for it with his beak . This was probably the most difficult session since he really wanted to hold onto my finger with both his beak and his foot. I was surprised how determined he was to grab hold of it, even though I was rewarding him just for foot lifts.
About half the reps during the first half of the third training session had me trying to pull me finger out of his reach. During the second half I hold my finger further away and wave it at him while giving the verbal cue. This resulted in him offering several behaviors including the desired foot lift, but also “wings up” and “turn around.”
This video is of session four. I was surprised that he only did foot lifts during this session, completely forgoing attempts to grab my finger.
The “put the ball in the cup trick” was the first big “stupid parlor trick” this little sun conure learned, but when we started training he was still pretty bitey; in fact, he’d reach around training props just to bite me, so I needed to be careful not to leave my fingers exposed when I gave him the wiffle ball. As you can see in this video (below), it’s a non-issue now, because he’s stopped seeking out biting opportunities. (Personally, “not biting” is my favorite trick , but that doesn’t make for very exciting YouTube clips.)
I’m still a terrible cinematographer, but I figured I’d go ahead and post this anyway. I wheeled Stewie’s playstand in front of the computer (with a built-in camera) and did a couple reps of targeting. Because the target stick is a black chopstick and the background is basically black, you often can’t see it in this video — but he does beak the end of it to earn a “good boy” and a safflower seed each time he does it.
Even if you can’t see the chopstick well in this video, you can definitely see how Stewie will climb all over to touch it. That’s a solidly reinforced behavior.
If you’re interested in learning how to clicker train your bird, check out Melinda Johnson’s book Clicker Training for Birds, on clickertraining.com:
I’ll post some better YouTube videos of other people training their birds to target in a bit.
This cockatoo’s puzzle solving skills are really impressive.
Doesn’t she look like she’s having fun? Just another example of children’s developmental toys making good (large) bird toys too. (Imagine having to keep a toddler entertained and healthy … that’s at least how much work a cockatoo takes too!)
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Welcome!
Welcome to my parrot blog, where I share insights with other and would-be parrot owners on ways to keep their pet birds happy. I'm not a professional trainer or avian expert; these are just my opinions, observations and insights based on my life with Stewie and Mika, and my efforts to do the very best for my birds. I also read voraciously and will share other cool stuff I find related to parrot ownership and training.
, but that doesn’t make for very exciting YouTube clips.)
