Hi, my name is Michael and I own a 9 month old Senegal Parrot that I have owned for 6 months.

I have been fascinated by birds and airplanes since early childhood. I started with elementary bird watching and bird photography.

Above is a photo of bird photography in Kenya.

Also I have a Private Pilot Glider license and am currently just days away from taking the Private Pilot Airplane test. I fly sailplanes similar to how hawks and eagles soar on thermal and ridge air currents.  One time I flew head on with a pair of bald eagles and a juvenile not more than 50 feet away.

Above is me landing a Schweizer 1-34R Glider.

At first I bought a Cockatiel but it died shortly after I acquired it. I still suspect that it had come infected from the crappy pet shop I got it at. I strongly urge you to be careful where you buy your bird and to do your research or you may regret it afterward. During the time I had the Cockatiel, I knew next to nill about owning a bird so I scoured the internet for information. I didn’t even know you could teach birds much tricks but I came across the BirdTricks website and decided to get the Taming, Training, and Tricks DVD package. I listened to all the audio guides, read the ebooks, and watched the DVD which was very helpful. In the brief time I had the Cockatiel I was able to train it to step up, target, and almost got the flex but the bird died. Actually, just before the bird got noticeably sick I had ordered the small birds training course (with the flight training course) but the bird died with the course in the mail. I strongly considered returning it for a refund but decided not to, I instead decided that I would eventually get another bird.

I visited many bird stores and did careful research for my next bird purchase. Having watched several training videos by this point, I knew that I wanted something up from a Cockatiel because I wanted to be able to teach it all sorts of tricks and to talk but at the same time was constrained by time, budget, and living conditions. I narrowed my choices to a Conure, Senegal, or Mini-Macaw. I kept my mind open and would decide at the store. Unfortunately the people at the store were not particularly helpful although they were definitely the best bird store around. I ruled out a Conure when I saw how noisy and rambunctious they were. Next they were showing me a Hahns Macaw but it was the biggest scardy bird I have ever seen. Not only would it not come anywhere near me, it would panic and try to run away from the salespeople so I knew this was not the bird for me either. Finally I was given the last remaining Senegal Parrot to hold and right away I knew this would be the bird. It sat calmly on my finger and let me pet it off the start. There seemed to be a sort of connection right away. It felt like the bird chose me as much as I chose the bird.

Above is a photo of Kili from around the time I got her.

My background in birds is still fairly limited. I have a minor in psychology so I am very interested in all of the details of bird learning and behavior. In some ways my Senegal Parrot is my own little psychology experiment. Out of personal interest I have read an entire ornithology book, Irene Pepperburg’s Alex and Me, and several other bird books. I have nearly all of the birdtricks training series including: DVD Volumes 1,4,5,6,7,11, store ripoffs, parrot magic, countless audio cds, ebooks, and parrot magic magazines. I opted not to buy the Volume 2/3 advanced training DVDs because I already had the ebook for the same tricks from a different bundle. Having seen all the other DVDs and learned the methods used, I didn’t find the DVDs to be necessary and the written explanations were enough to work with.

In upcoming posts I will discuss how I named Kili, some of the tricks I have taught my bird, training diet tips, how I got my bird to stop biting other people, and much more.

I have a 16 year old cockatiel, is too late to teach him how to talk?

- Pres

It’s never too late to teach any animal, anything. Even to speak!

Now, some prefer talking more than others. Some just need the right environment. For instance, my cockatoo Bandit is a naturally talkative bird. He talks all the time and is always learning new words. My other cockatoo, Bondi, is a great talker but only in certain environments – such as the shower or in the car. Some birds talk more when they’re alone, around other birds, hear the radio or TV?or whatever the situation is that sparks their speech training!

Cockatiels have adorable voices and like the other types of parrots, when their eyes pin they are giving you their full attention. This is when you want to say words and phrases you want your bird to pick up!

For example, the most exciting times we share with our birds… are when we are coming and going. This is why almost all birds learn how to say, “Hello” and “Goodbye”. They are excited (or alert) when you walk into the room and they are more likely to pick up the word you say at that time, which is usually “Hello” from most people.

Same thing when you’re leaving the room. So keep in mind, when your bird’s eyes pin, you want to say the words you want it to learn.

As another example, while living on the island of Saipan, I had to leave every night at 6pm to perform in the dinner show at the local hotel there. Every night when I came home, I would open the door and say, “Hey Cutie!” to my cockatoo. One day, a few weeks later or so, when I opened that door… before I had a chance to say anything my cockatoo exclaimed, “Hey Cutie!” to me! It’s now her favorite thing to say. So use these natural heightened senses to your advantage when teaching speech to your cockatiel (or any bird, for that matter).

The rest of teaching your bird to talk? Well, they learn best from other birds… so I recommend using our audio CD’s that play random words… randomly… (so you aren’t playing “hello hello hello hello” to your bird over and over and over making it hate its circumstances like anyone would end up doing in that situation!)

You can find the speech training course over at www.birdtricks.com/how-to-speak.htm

We use the voices of our birds -?plus many other species to give a variety to your own bird at home as?an array of pitches and tones for your bird to match.

Because of Storm’s growing interest in flying, and seeing how much FUN he is having with it, we decided to change things up even more…

Since Storm’s only out of cage time is given via Dave (he now gets excited to see Dave because it means he gets to come out!) we decided to give flight training him a try! Pairing something he really enjoys doing (flying) with someone he doesn’t like (Dave, or just men in general) while giving him a task (flying, landing, speed and accuracy) all combined gives Storm a real purpose and task at hand.

He is so focused on his take off, speed, landing, and everything else that goes into the ability to fly well that he doesn’t bother wasting any precious energy on attacking or biting Dave… otherwise he doesn’t get to fly! And what fun is that? We finally found a real reinforcer that is stronger than anything else for Storm – and that is flight, something he has never had in the past.

In just 4 days of flight training every day, Storm is now ascending which takes muscle to do. His distance has gone from merely a jump, to a few feet, to now the length of our bird room! Our bird room is around 20 feet which is what distance Storm is currently flying at.

You can see Storm’s flying skills in the video below:

Tip to take home: Flight training can DRASTICALLY change the overall mood and demeanor of your bird for the better by getting out excess energy he can’t get out by climbing around his cage or playing with toys. Birds were structured around flight, and they need it for proper excercise to FEEL GOOD.

I have a cockatieal and he is the love of my life. I just got him a few new toyes and a larger cage than what he had. however I am a full time college student and my boyfriend works fulltime….when i am home he is at work and when he is home i am at school. coco (my tieal) is hardly ever home alone for longer than 2 or 3 hours. this past weekend i went to my mothers and my bf came with me….we were gone for 13 hours and when we came home coco was destructive and very loud. he used to have a mate but she died flying into a wall ( this was before we got him from our neighbor) we were thinking of getting another tieal however we do not know if coco being a male and haveing no idea how old he is how he would adjust. we were also thinking maybe insted of another tieal maybe getting a parakeet or two to keep him company when and if we are ever gone for that long again. I dont want him to change twords us for getting another bird…like i said he is my baby. i actualy get depressed when i am gone from him for more than a day. I just want him to be happy.

- Winter

There’s a lot you can do for your cockatiel that doesn’t lead to you getting another bird. Remember, if you are already having problems with one bird… another one or two is not going to help you help your first one any better. You simply don’t have enough time in your day.

With that said, all Coco needs is a little independance and self-entertainment. Although you gave him toys, they may not be the right kind of toys. And yes, there is a difference.

Birds need both shreddable and food finding toys. Petstores and online petstores carry a wide variety of foraging foods for small birds such as cockatiels and parakeets. When you leave, you need to either take Coco with you, teach him to be more independant on his own or leave him with things to do. Or all of the above, which is best.

Our 100% natural parrot toys provide both – they can be used as food finding toys and they can be shredded apart afterwards.

These toys will give him something to do while you’re away and build some independence.

As far as getting a pair of parakeets for your cockatiel – parakeets and cockatiels don’t get along so great and the size difference isn’t preferable, either. Parakeets tend to pick on other birds, especially if there is more than one of them. They will literally pull the feathers out of the others birds, even if they are larger than them. They usually pull around the eyes and legs. They just don’t mix well with other species.

Although a lot of socialization training can be done to get two species to get along well, it’s a lot of work and dedication and you want to set yourself and your birds up for success with it. A cockatiel and parakeet is going to be tricky and if anything were to happen, the cockatiel could take the parakeet out a lot easier… it’s just a dangerous mix I don’t recommend attempting.

You can literally feed your cockatiel his whole meal within these toys and it takes him hours to eat – just like it would in the wild. It’s good for them to be given this kind of mental challenge to overcome. You may need to start with treats inside the toys first, just to inspire your bird’s curiousity first.

Parrots are more likely to go after treats than their normal pellet within these toys if they aren’t hungry right away. This is what I have done for Magoo, Chet’s cockatiel, in the pictures above. I started with millet and seed because I knew his want for millet would overcome his fear of the new toys.

Food finding toys build independence so you will eventually be able to leave again for 13 hours and not come back to a destructive bird.

Trick training also builds independence because it gets your bird’s mind going. So when you are home, challenge your bird with some training. We start with the very basics in the trick training course where we simply teach you how to teach your bird that it can learn. It’s simple and usually only takes a day or two to see results.

Using training and providing your cockatiel with the right kind of toys, you will be teaching him self entertainment and in no time you will be able to leave the house without a destructive cockatiel to come home to.

And remember, traveling is good for parrots! They do it in the wild! You can always take your bird with you as an option as well, especially on short trips. It’s just another form of desensitization.

I found this cute little parrot kit at PetSmart and had to buy it! It’s mainly for small parrots like budgies and the like but I decided to give it a try with my medium sized birds. I can see why it’s for the small ones, though, as my parrots could easily ruin the thing!

Above is a short clip of Bondi lifting the barbell weight it came with. I love the way it is set up because it sets your bird up for success in learning how to do it. The bird has no other choice in what behavior to really do with the barbell so it is a fast trick to teach. Here are the steps I took to get Bondi to learn this in ONE training session!

Photo from www.petsmart.com

I got her to touch the blue ball on the end of the barbell first. I would have preferred if she touched the skinny stick part of it, but she wasn’t interested. Because the toy was new, she was naturally curious and once she touched the barbell, I clicked and rewarded.

Once she understood touching the barbell got her a reward, she began doing it easily so I decided to change things up. I pushed the barbell as far to the right as possible, so some of the connecting stick piece was showing more. I let her explore the blue ball part of the barbell and when she accidentally touched the stick part, I clicked and gave her a jackpot reward. She was willing to touch other parts of the barbell to earn the treat since I was no longer rewarding for just touching the ball. From this point forward, I didn’t reward ever again for touching the ball part of the barbell.

Next, I encouraged her to touch the middle of the stick as I moved it back to the left more and more each time. She got confused a couple times, and went back to touching the ball but quickly remembered it wasn’t earning anything and tried again with the stick part. Once she touched the middle of it (which I had to help her do by lifting it as high as it would go) I began only rewarding for her grabbing the skinny part by the middle and not the sides.

Note: I lifted the barbell up because I realized it was uncomfortable for Bondi to put her head in between two things. It’s important to recognize these things when teaching your bird new things. If I wouldn’t have caught onto that, the training session would have gone a lot slower and wouldn’t have been as fun for Bondi.

Once Bondi was grabbing the middle of the barbell by herself as I held it up, I tried it once where I didn’t hold it up and she immediately went for it and picked it up. I clicked and rewarded and she began offering the behavior over and over again. I realized I could get her to do more than one lift of the barbell if I wanted, and we worked up to 3.

To learn more about prop trick training with your own parrot, check out http://www.birdtricks.com/trick-training!

Some birds have the strangest fears: a certain color, a leather jacket, a particular chair, sunglasses, flies.  As random as these might seem, each of my birds has had nightmares over one of the items on this list at one time or another. Fear of toys is frustrating because it leaves your bird with nothing to do all day while you’re away.  Many resort to feather destructive behaviors, and worse.  Such was the case with Theo, my rehomed goffins cockatoo.

When I took her in, she had never been caged and sat all day on the perch that had been her “home” for 22 years, waiting for her people to come back from work.   In an effort to entertain herself, she would barber her feathers down to the skin.  She never went further into mutilative behaviors, and I am very grateful for that.  This wasn’t a situation of neglect.  She had been very loved and well cared for in her previous home.  She simply didn’t know what fun parrot toys were.  To her, they were strange objects in her space and she preferred that they not be there.  Her owners obliged her.

The solution seems simple enough: get her some fun stuff to play with! That proved to be easier said than done as everything I brought to her, no matter how small, caused her to retreat in fear.  She was in a new environment and was understandably on high-alert and I didn’t want to do anything to cause her any discomfort or reinforce her fears.

I decided that a shredder toy would be a good starter toy for a bird that was new to chewing.  I cut several four inch lengths from a roll of shredder tape and strung it onto a leather strip with a knot in between each piece.   The toy was ugly, but perfect.  I made sure she could watch from a comfortable distance (about 25-30 feet) as I made the toy.  I played with it off and on all day, each time setting it down a foot or so closer to her cage.  I tried to make it clear that this was my toy and that I was interested in it.  This is usually enough to drive a normally curious parrot nearly insane by evoking the “mine” complex: nothing is “yours”. Everything belongs to your parrot, and sometimes he’ll allow you to use it.

The next day was more of the same in the morning but by the afternoon the toy had made its way to about 10 feet from the cage. Her cage door was open and she was inside preening.  I sat on the floor with the toy, still about ten feet away, and played -  gleefully and vocally (and a little embarrassingly, if I’m going to be honest.)  I squished it in my hand till it made a wonderful crunching sound, I batted it around just a little bit, I pulled pieces off and just when I was running out of things to do with it, my smaller birds swooped in to save the day.   They had Theo’s full attention.  As the cockateils chewed on the peices I had broken off, the quaker and I had a tug of war with the rest. During all the excitement, she cautiously stepped outside of the cage to get a closer look.   After playtime was over, the toy stayed on the floor and she showed no signs of stress.  I decided to keep it there, and on the third day, she ventured down by herself to check it out.  This was the only toy she would accept for several months, and never inside her cage, but it was a great beginning, and the first positive step in teaching her that new things don’t have to be scary.

This toy was finally allowed on top of Theo’s cage. I strung in some little wooden spoons to start the introductions to wood.

Theo’s fear was of the unknown, not toys specifically, because she didn’t know what a toy was.  It was just an object that frightened her. The slow, deliberate introduction to this new object taught her that it meant her no harm.  It hadn’t snuck up on her as she napped, it hadn’t tried to hurt the small birds during play, in fact, it hadn’t done anything at all, except provide a good time.  The assumption from her point of view would soon be that an unfamiliar thing isn’t necessarily a potential threat, but a thing of interest. While it’s smart to be cautious, curiosity kills cats, not birds.

Note the fanned tail: swing good, camera bad! The swing only lasted a few weeks. She chewed on it till it was dangerously frayed.

For safe, organic and 100% natural parrot toys, check out our store at http://www.birdtricks.com/parrot-toys! Some of the toys sold there are pictured in this post!

Go hug your bird.