Note: This is really important and that is, not to FORCE Marlowe to do something it doesn't want to do. You need to EARN Marlowe's friendship and respect, not FORCE it. This is more towards interacting with Marlowe to build trust/respect through bonding. Once you have established a bond of trust with him you can start to train basic tricks. Then advance to more tricks if you desire. When you have built enough trust, you can train Marlowe to step up and down from within the cage. (good for emergencies).
However at this present time I would just open the cage door and let him come out when he decides too. He will most likely climb to the top of his cage. This could take some time. but should not go longer than 5 days. when he is on top of his cage I would start to condition Marlowe to Clicker training. Do some research on clicker training.
To teach targeting, the bird must first be clicker trained, this means that the birds understands that a click equals reward, the reward can be praise or a training treat.
Training Treats; Put five different foods on a plate and watch which one Marlowe eats first, You can use sunflower seeds, almond shiver, pine nuts, grapes and balls of millet. Whatever your bird picks, it must not be part of the bird’s diet otherwise it defeats the purpose of being a training treat.
Clicker training was developed by psychologists and behavioural scientists. This the reason why I like Clicker training, it's scientific, proven globally and can be used on just about any animal. I haven't found anything better yet, There are excises available to help get the timing of the clicker right, like bouncing a tennis ball and clicking each time the tennis ball hits the ground. Don't perform the excises in front of the bird or it's hearing range. I don't believe birds are hard to train.
Nearly 80 years ago the traditional animal training was being believed to be a hindrance, by methods of praise and reward then in use, because it didn’t inform the animal of success with enough promptness and precision to create the required cognitive connections for fast learning. enter Clicker training methodology, this animal training method which is based on a bridging stimulus (the clicker) in operant conditioning. The system uses conditioned reinforcers, which can deliver more quickly and more precisely than primary reinforces such as food and praise. The "clicker" is used to precisely mark the desired behaviour. When training a new behaviour, the clicker helps the animal to quickly identify the precise behaviour that results in a training treat.
This technique is popular with dog trainers, but has been used for all kinds of domestic and wild animals. Sometimes, instead of a click to mark the desired behaviour, other distinctive sounds are made such as "whistle, a cluck of the tongue, a snap of the fingers, a word, visual or other sensory cues (such as a flashlight, hand sign, or vibrating collar), especially helpful for deaf animals. The term "bridging stimulus" was coined in the 1940s to refer to the function of a secondary reinforcer such as a whistle or click.
The first stage in clicker training is teaching the animal to associate the clicker sound or another chosen marker such as a whistle or word with a training treat. When the sound marker is used, a training treat is immediately offered. The sound marker is used to signal that a desired behaviour has occurred. Some approaches are:
1. capturing: catching the animal in the act of doing a desired behaviour, for example hanging upside down or hopping. Eventually the animal learns to repeat the behaviour for a treat.
2. shaping: gradually building a new behavior by rewarding each small step toward it, for example training the parrot to turn around.
3. Target training: using a stick to get the animal to move to a desired location or position.
The last stage once the behaviour is learnt, is to add a cue for the desired behaviour, this can be a word or a hand signal. The animal will have learnt that after completing the desired behaviour a treat is on the way. Once a behaviour is learnt and is on cue (command), the clicker and the treats are faded out.
So in a nutshell, clicker training achieves better cognitive connections results.
The results of positive reinforcement training, specifically Clicker Training in dogs, have been nothing short of astounding. Behaviours and achievements in dog sports that took months or years to achieve using Traditional methods are now being accomplished by experienced trainers in a matter of days and weeks. Yet in the face of such amazing success, a number of misconceptions and half-truths circulate about clicker training and positive reinforcement.