My linnies go in a sleep cage and i uncover them about 10 min before lettin them out, so they go a bit in the cage. But then lots more follows when they are out.
Any tips on how to get a hand shy linnie- who steps onto a perch in my hand- to perch on my shoulder?
How long have you had him? Is he tame otherwise? (i.e. not afraid of you) If he's nervous about you, I would avoid putting him on your shoulder until you guys develop your bond. Otherwise allowing him to perch on your shoulder could have some problems:
1) getting him off your shoulder safely [if he doesn't trust you or your hands, he may get defensive and bite, or try to flee and potentially hurt himself)
2) a shoulder is a power position for a bird. They like to be up high and in charge. If he doesn't trust you or recognize your authority, there's always the possibility he may use proximity to your tender bits (ears, eyes, nose, lips, etc) to try to establish himself and take charge [this would also make him very difficult to control and train]
If that's the case, I would recommend spending lots of time with taming and training techniques to try to earn his trust. One way is to use a dowel for "step up" training (hold the dowel and work on getting him to step up on the other end. Use a clicker to mark a successful step, then reward him after). As he becomes more confident and receptive to perching on the end of the dowel, gradually move your hand up the dowel every few "step ups". Eventually, as the space for him to perch gets smaller, he'll get more used to your hand. Eventually, you can offer the dowel with your finger under the piece he perches on, then tilt it slightly to get him on your finger. This may take a few days (or maybe even a week or two) of practice, but eventually with this system he should become receptive to perching on your hand.
After that, you can work on more involved hand taming, rewarding him whenever he doesn't shy away (and then letting him rest or play if he becomes uncomfortable). I usually start talking softly, and then use the the word "relax" as I bring a finger sloooooolwy over to a foot, chest, wing, etc. Watch the body language, stop if his eyes start pinning, wings starts flipping, etc. But reward him every time he sits without flinching while your hand is near. Slowly, systematically, reward and repeat every time he's calm while your hand is near. This will help a LOT with hand tameness. I used the same technique with Beaker, and now when I tell him "relax" he will let me pick him up from behind and rest in my hand if I need to look at his feet, and also let me open and prod his wings. It took me about 2-3 months using this bit of hand taming to get to that point (and he came to me hand-fed). I'm using the same techniques with my budgie, who was aviary bred, with success (though it's taking significantly longer!)
More than anything it takes time, patience, and sensitivity. A great resource for hand taming techniques is The Parrot Wizard on youtube if you'd like to see videos of either of the approaches I described
Now, if he's tame otherwise, just nervous around hands, and you're confident in your ability to control him, you could try to get him to perch on a dowel, then lift him up and offer your shoulder to perch. If he accepts that, then you should use the dowel to get him back down again. This won't do much to make him less hand shy, but he may be willing to sit with you on your shoulder.
I hope that helps! Good luck!