This is my Senegal Parrot’s first appearance in a video and I had only had my bird for about 6 months at the time it was shot. In the video she demonstrates 7 tricks: wave, shake, nod, turn around, bat, fetch, and bowling. That is greater than an average of 1 trick per month.

Also I had taught several other taming behaviors and established a regime. She also knew target, let me pet her, hold her in any angle, and open her wings to check feathers. I taught these tricks at a leisurely but consistent pace. Check back at this blog for more training tips.

This summer I had to go to a BBQ outing so I brought my Senegal Parrot along for the day. It’s a good way to socialize the bird and introduce it to new people and surroundings.

By bird is usually much more tame during such outings and never bites anyone (although at home she can get territorial). Such outings are a great opportunity to introduce new people, new foods, new objects. The parrot is like a sponge and soaks this all in because it’s curious and observant.

And of course this is a great opportunity to show off your bird’s tricks to friends and family.

Also, I had to go to a birthday party to which I decided to bring my Senegal. Everyone is always quite impressed, the bird learns, and I have my favorite companion along with me to enjoy it. I don’t keep her out for too long at a time.

I give the bird breaks in the carrier but usually place it some place nearby so that she can see me. On occasion, however, I leave the carrier (in a safe and undisturbed place) for a while so that the bird can learn to be alone in the carrier if need be transported.

So by all means, bringing your bird on single day outings is a great experience for you, your bird, and your friends. When you have to go visit the in-laws or some other outing you aren’t so much looking forward to, bring your feathered friend along to keep you company.

Warning: Your bird should be on a harness when taken outside unless properly trained by a professional for un-tethered outside interaction.

The wave was the first trick I taught my Senegal Parrot and so it had become her best and most practiced trick over time. That is why I was surprised that she forgot the cue for it when I started to train her to lift her wings. I use the word “wave” as the cue to wave her foot or I can use a hand cue by waving my fingers. To lift her wings I say “wings” or I point two fingers at her. She started to do wings not only when I would say wings but also when I would say wave. I realized that the “w” sound in both words was what confused her.

Senegal Parrot

I felt bad that she forgot her best trick and wanted to correct this before the problem got any more serious. So instead of continuing training for the new wings trick, I went back to practicing wave for a while. I dropped variable frequency of reinfocrement techniques and went back to rewarding every trick. I started to practice the wave for maybe 80% of the tricks in the session rather than the usual maybe 10% (because she used to do it so well, would get less practice). But I did not practice the wave exclusively. I would stick some other tricks in on occasion so that she wouldn’t get so used to waving every time that she wouldn’t listen for the cue.

The way I got her to learn the verbal cue back for wave was fairly simple. She still clearly remembered the hand cue so I would say wave but she would do wings. I would ignore her. I would try this a few times. If she waved, she would get rewarded. If she did not, I would ignore her and then on the next try say wave and wave my hand for the hand cue. What I was doing was retraining the verbal cue for my bird for a trick she had already known. I would also practice the wings verbal cue in between as well so that she can learn the difference in the sound. Parrots are really good at discerning sounds so I think anyone who tells you that the bird cannot remember verbal cues is misleading. It just takes more practice to maintain the verbal cues but they can learn them and be consistent. My bird knows 6 tricks on verbal cue and growing. Teaching a verbal cue is easy but time consuming. If your bird already knows a trick with a hand cue or is learning a new trick, just be sure to say the verbal cue every time you are cuing it for the trick. Eventually it will associate both the word and the hand cue and will perform for either.

So in that same 10 minute training session that I realized that my Senegal Parrot forgot how to wave, I practiced it extensively with her until she could do wings or wave consistently on verbal cue. I was sure she learned the difference because on the following training session that day she was doing significantly better. Seems like she just needed a reminder of which word goes to which trick.

Since I’ve had a bird, I have had to make some small sacrifices in my daily life to accommodate my feathered friend. And believe me, to me these sacrifices were small compared to losing my parrot to deadly fumes. If giving up non-stick cookware seems too big of a sacrifice, you may need to reconsider having a bird.

The nice thing is that most non-stick cookwares we are used to have alternatives without those deadly chemicals. For instance, giving up the non-stick pan was a no brainer. I just replaced it with a stainless steel pan. While the non-stick pan could be cleaned just with one quick wipe, the stainless steel pan needed to soak in soap for a few minutes and then a light scrub. The cleaning wasn’t the problem but the food just didn’t cook the way I wanted on that. So I continued to search for the best alternative.

A few appliances that I had to give up included my electric waffle iron, and george forman electric grill. I have not since found a replacement for the waffle iron but it’s a loss I can go without. The grill on the other hand seemed a greater loss because I enjoyed steaks cooked on it. It took me a few months of searching till I found a solution. I did not come across a single electric grill without the non-stick coating. Someone recommended I try cast iron so I bought a cast iron pan with the lines in it like a grill. I learned to cook steaks, burgers, hot dogs, etc on it and taste as good (if not better) than going out for those. I used to have a non-stick pancake griddle which I replaced with a flat cast iron pan. On both pans, I lightly grease the bottom with cooking spray or oil before use and they are practically non-stick for a single session.

Cleaning cast iron is a slightly different story. If you cook things on it that aren’t messy, it’s actually very easy to clean. Just a wipe down with a moist paper towel and oiling the surface to season it. The oily surface of the seasoned pan becomes almost like a nonstick surface if you maintain it properly. If you do cook something messy, cleaning is a different story. You’re not supposed to soak cast iron so you need to do some hard scrubbing with some steal wool sponges. But not to worry, you can always scrape it clean, season, and reuse it. It’s not the easy one wipe cleaning like non stick, but it’s not as difficult of a sacrifice as it may seem. And honestly, I think the food comes out better prepared on cast iron anyway.

I gave away all my non-stick pots and cookware since I have no use for them anymore and it’s safer than having someone use one by mistake. A few days ago I forgot my cast iron pan on the burner for 3 hours which made me realize how lucky I was that it was not non-stick because then my birds would have been dead. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can get by with non-stick cookware. I’ve read so many sad stories about people who killed their birds that way so I wouldn’t want to take any of those chances.

As most of you know, parrots are usually terrified of the vacuum cleaner. Here’s what I did so that mine is not scared and I can run the vac right next to her sitting in the open and not scare her.

I started with buying a smaller/quieter vacuum cleaner because the big one would probably give the bird a panic attack. I bought this one and highly recommend it for anyone who has a pet (especially a bird).

This mini vac is battery powered, light, and relatively quiet which makes it ideal for cleaning up after your bird. I started to have a routine where I would put my bird into the cage in the evening, serve evening meal, and clean up around the bird area while she ate. I started with the little vac far away while letting her eat and watch and work my way closer in but without making her panic. I avoided making eye contact or looking at the bird and vacuumed very matter of factly so that it did not appear like this vacuuming was to harm her. I made it look like it has absolutely nothing to do with her. And like I said, I started far away and worked my way closer so the sound got only gradually louder. I made a routine of vacuuming feathers and food scattered around the cage while my bird ate so the vacuuming was almost a pleasant sound associated to food rather than terror. Furthermore, I put the battery charger stand for the stick vac right next to the bird cage. This way she can see it from the cage every day and is used to me taking it in and out and vacuuming near her cage. For instance, if I use the stick vac in another room, I will come back with it running up till the stand and then turn it off as I pop it in. This way, every use of it involves the bird and shows it that the vacuum is not dangerous. One more thing I’ve done is let her sit on my shoulder while I vacuum which makes her feel less scared and at a safe enough distance from the vac.

Eventually I could vacuum in any vicinity of the bird and even inside the bird cage with the bird in it without any issue. I think she is still cautious and keeps an eye on it but doesn’t mind. I repeated this same process to get her used to the big noisy full size vacuum by starting far and working my way closer and never making it look like it was aimed at the bird. So start with a smaller/quieter vac and get the bird used to it before moving up to the full sized noisy one. Follow these steps and you won’t have to tiptoe around your bird and worry while cleaning.

Above is a video of how Kili is calm when I am vacuuming in and around her cage.

Although I had heard of bowling parrots before, I was not really trying to teach this to my bird. I was at a store called Big Lots just picking up some miscellaneous junk when near the cash register I walked by a desktop bowling game. I stopped and went back to look at it and said “this is just the right size for my bird.” I bought it for 10 bucks, one of the coolest and yet cheapest props I bought for training my bird. I always keep my eyes out for toys and props that I can use for my bird and you find these things when most unexpected.

The way the trick works is the bird walks up to the bowling game, pushes the ball, the ball rolls toward the pins and knocks them down.

Luckily this is one of the easiest tricks I have ever taught my bird and yet visually perhaps the most impressive. Fact is, the setup does all the work; the bird only provides the momentum to get the balling rolling. Gravity and the setup do the rest of the work. No one is going to care about how many pins get knocked down because just the site of a bird bowling is so amazing by itself. If you want, you can teach your bird to knock down the remaining pins with its beak or fetch the pins one by one to you to clean up.

The way I taught my bird to nudge the ball to get it rolling was quite easy. With clicker and treats at hand, I put her down near the bowling game and the red launcher and shiny ball got her attention immediately. She started beaking these and messing around on her own. I would click and reward the bird whenever she made contact with the ball. Unfortunately she was never using enough power to get the ball to roll over the notch that keeps it in place, so I needed to teach her that she needs to push the ball harder. What I did here was pick up the bird in my hand and held her in such a way that her beak was against the ball. I then nudged my bird toward the ball so that the beak pushed the ball over the retaining notch and rolled it down the ramp toward the pins. Of course I immediately clicked and gave her a jackpot reward. I didn’t have to do this more than 5 times if I can remember correctly for her to understand that she gets a reward for putting the ball in motion. So next time, I let her try it on her own and it took her a minute of fighting the ball and pushing on it from different angles till she set it off. Once she figured out how to beak the ball to get it rolling, she had mastered the trick. Basically I taught the complete trick in just one training session. All subsequent training sessions of this trick were only for the purpose of getting her to do it more reliably and willingly.

There is no formal cue for the trick. Seeing the bowling setup is the cue for walking up to it and launching the ball. I try to say “bowl” every time she is walking up to roll the ball but she will do it without the command just the same. It just makes it look like she is following a command and I think it also gives her extra encouragement to do it.

One final tip. At first I tried to train this trick to my bird on the floor and in the middle/end of her normal trick training routine. She would get too full and too distracted to do the trick and sometimes would ignore the ball. I suggest training the trick on a very small and empty table and at the beginning of the trick training routine rather than at the end. This way the bird is hungry and focused and will try harder to make it happen. If the ball is trying to roll the ball and can’t get it rolling and is not getting treats, it may end up giving up. Don’t let it get so discouraged, try to reward it for the best effort possible and eventually it will bump it hard enough by accident and then will know how to do it. Your bird should know at least a few elementary tricks like target, wave, and shake before teaching this trick.

Anyone who used the birdtricks training system should be able to train this bowling trick and similar tricks with ease. Just remember to apply the skills you learned in the areas of target training, clicker training, training diet, and immediate positive reinforcement.