Teaching Your Parrot New Tricks - Family - Pets

Compared to other birds, parrots are among the smartest. When tested for their intellectual prowess they have ranked quite highly, mirroring the intelligence of a young child. Given this aptitude, many parrot owners decide to teach their birds tricks. As well as being entertaining, parrots that are taught tricks also seem to be better behaved and happier overall.

There are some basic guidelines to follow when teaching parrots to perform tricks. First, teaching sessions should be fairly brief. If the birds are overworked they will not enjoy the lessons and resist learning. The sessions should also use positive reinforcement and rewards for the birds, even if their performance falls a little short. Any noises and other distractions will hamper the learning process, so choose a quiet and private area. The room should also be very well lit, and comfortable for both your parrot and yourself. Be patient and kind when teaching parrots, any stress or negativity will result in sub-par learning.

A good beginning trick to teach parrots is to simply step up. It is an easy and practicle thing for your bird to learn, and will start the teaching off the right way. Simply coach your parrot to step up onto whatever object is in front of it. This can be done by placing your fingers in front of your parrot and gently asking him to step up. Your forearm can be used for larger birds. Food is always an effective reward and enticement for behavior. Have the parrot step up to receive a treat!

Another easy and common parrot trick involves teaching your parrot to turn around. Offer your parrot something to eat while shes standing on her perch. As she reaches out to eat it, rotate the food toward her back so she has to turn around to eat it. Some birds will do this quite easily, while others will need to be coaxed a bit more. When your parrot completes a full turn, food and affection should be offered. Many parrot owners encourage their parrots to speak to minimize the loud squawking that is part of the parrots usual vernacular. The vocalization of words is usually found to be more pleasant by bird owners. Start off with a simple one or two syllable word. You can start with your name, her name, or a simple greeting like hello. Repeat the word often to the bird, and she will start to mimic the sound. When the parrot responds, give her food and encouragement. The first attempts may be quite a butchered version of the word, keep in mind that the point is to get them to start responding to your voice. Repeat the desired word often until your parrot gets the pronunciation down.

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