Training Our Parrots For the Circus

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Camelot Macaw

As many of you know, Dave Womach (stage name David DaVinci) has been performing magic his entire life from the age of 4 years old when he discovered his first magic kit (or I should say… Chet’s magic kit he never put to use!)

Ever since the age of 13, Dave has been hired to perform his magic tricks for audiences and it became a career very early on for him. He used doves at first, like every magician used to, until he and Chet began training their childhood parrots for Taming Training and Tricks and discovered how beneficial it would be to implement the birds into the magic show, too. From that point on, bird training and magic shows merged into one.

When adding parrots to the magic show, we try to work within what they already like to make the transition as easy as possible for the birds.

Starting this circus contract with Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus, we had never used Comet or Tusa our Camelot Macaws in the show before. They’ve been primarily outdoor freeflyers.

We really wanted to use them in the show as flight behaviors were a big thing for the circus. They don’t use any de-clawed animals and to add to that, they also wanted to show off birds in flight rather than your average clipped parrot. Quality of life and the animal-person bond is of huge importance here and we really strive to get those things across to the audience.

To get Comet and Tusa used to a “show” environment, we had to do things in steps. For some “behind the scenes” photos of our training with the macaws, check them out here on our flickr.

Here are the steps we took, and keep in mind they happened pretty fast for us as our birds are used to flight recall already and have the experience of flying outside and being introduced to new things daily:

1. Our first goal was to get them used to the size of the arena. Our birds have been in theaters as well as outside in many different locations, but never in a giant sized arena which feels much different than a large theater. This took about 4-5 days of flying them in the open lighting and letting them check it all out. Because so many acts are in the show, there’s a lot more hung up on the ceiling than our birds are used to in any other theater.
2. Next, we got them used to the show lighting. This was actually easier because everything is pretty much dark except the stage area which makes it a lot more likely they will do the behavior we want and stay within the ring. It also helps the entire time that we are there to offer comfort to them as they trust us.
3. Once they were performing their recall in show lighting on the stage which took about 1-2 days, we added show music. The music in the circus is all played LIVE by the band so this was a new element for them. It took only one day. Once the birds conquered one step, we kept it there so for example, once they were used to lighting, we always used lighting then when they got used to music; we always used lighting AND music before implementing the next thing. So everything built on itself.
4. Next was cast. A lot of the dancer movements were similar to our flight cues which really confused the parrots about who to fly to. It took them one day to get used to the cast and for the cast to be able to do all their choreography.

So far, the macaws are doing great! We are to the point of running through large sections of the show now and using the birds within it. There are lions, elephants, horses, ponies, dogs and birds in the show and it’s a very animal-based show. Luckily, the birds don’t have interaction moments with any of the animals except the elephants.

They have been getting extra time in the arena in the comfort of travel cages to be able to watch and hear everything going on so to get them used to the setting. They’ve shown no signs of stress about the other animals being around nor have they cared much about the magic props we’re using in the show. These are great things as they mean less work for everyone and easier implementation. They’ve been pretty accustomed to magic props since even when our birds aren’t in our magic shows, we still bring them to the theaters and get them used to the environment so we can easily add them when a routine comes up that will come easily to one in particular. We always treat every bird as if it will go into the show in a matter of time, making it easier in the long run.

I’m excited to keep you all posted with more progress as there are many more steps left for us to take before the rehearsal process is complete and much to learn!