Training and Bonding advice

[Monica]

You start "training" as soon as you are around a bird. The way you move, the way you interact with the bird, the way you don't interact, etc. Merely walking into a room is a training session, whether or not you look at the bird or pay any attention to them. The bird is still learning something.


The first video is teaching sun conures to station, aka *NOT* fly onto a human, and being rewarded for it.

 

[Shinobi]

Well it seems that your concept of training is different to mine. I believe that training is conducted by instruction through a trainer who passes on theory and information by activities to share and help retain the information to an agreed standard of proficiency, etc, by practice and instruction.
You on the other hand believe that merely walking into a room is a training session and believe the bird is learning something, whether or not you give them any attention.

The first video show the sun conures in a cage (except one) being fed through the cage door. Until the keeper walks inside the cage then they all fly over to the other perch. One conure flies onto the keepers shoulder and she lean over to the perch and the conure jumps onto the perch and then they all get fed. I have fed wild birds that have allow me to hand feed them and some have even followed me inside our house. A couple of birds have perch on my hand to be fed. I didn't train them to do this. I think their desire for food outweighed their fear of me.

 

[Monica]

The thing is, birds are *always* learning. When some people come home, they immediately rush over to see their birds and interact with them. Birds learn that as soon as human gets home, they get attention! Other humans come home, they shower, they eat, or whatever it is that they need to do first. Once everything is settled, *THEN* the birds come out. The birds learn that they must wait to come out once the human comes home.

In that sense, yes, it's a training experience. Sure, the birds may not be getting what you define as training, but they are still learning.


The sun conure that flew onto the shoulder? The conure didn't get rewarded for that. The conure did, however, get rewarded for stepping back onto a perch and staying there. This could fall under both target training (the "target" being the perches - i.e. targeting their feet to the perch) and station training (staying on the perches, not flying onto the human).

 

[Mariah Hughes]

Hi all,
I am a first time poster and a new cockatiel owner.
Way way back I had a cockatiel when I was 5 years old which my dad sold when I was 10 as we were moving house. I loved that bird and now 30 years later I have decided to get another cockatiel for my two sons to enjoy, and me too of course.
Anyway, I ended up getting two cockatiels and my son's have named them Bipsey and Harry.
We have had them two months and I was told they are 7 months old (when picked up, 9 months now). After doing some research I feel one is 9 months old but the other seems older, maybe even tho years old. But I'm no expert.
The birds were aviary birds with no real human contact apart from to fill up their food bowls and water dishes. So when I got them they were completely scared of any human contact and we're constantly looking for hands.
Whenever a hand came near their cage they would be flapping all over their cage.
2 months later they are now taking seeds from our finger tips and Harry (the seemingly younger bird) has stepped onto my finger. Bipsey also stepped up twice but he absolutely hates it.
I am looking for tips/reassurance that I am going in the right direction.
The reason for my post is to ask why, when Harry steps up he only stays on my finger for a few seconds and then flies back to his perch. If I hold him on my finger and constantly feed him sunflower seeds he will stay, but as soon the seeds are finishes he will go back to his perch. He initially has a tight posture and hair up but this settles after a few seed bribes. But still goes back to his perch.
Bipsey has stepped up twice but even with sunflower seed bribes he will immediately fly back to his perch, won't take the seed. He perches with a tight posture and hair up.
I am concerned that I am forcing them onto my finger and they don't really want to be there. The reason I feel this is because to get Harry onto my finger it takes several attempts of him flying off his perch doing a few laps of the living room and returning back to the perch. After about 5 times of doing this he decides "OK, your not going to stop" and he steps up. Bipsey is the same but he will probably takes 10 laps of the living room.
This process probably tires them out to the point they are too tired to fly so eventually step up.
After a few weeks of doing this they are still unsure of hands, I can put my hand on their perch and they will just scoot to the other end of the perch. I can put seeds on the finger and palms of my hand and rest my hand on the perch, Harry will take the seeds laying on my fingers but not the palms, Bipsey won't even attempt to go near my hand.
How would I go about training them to want to perch on my finger, rather than being forced. They obviously feel safe on the perch but I would like them to feel safe on hands.
Any advice would be appreciated
May thanks

I think your progress is sounds great for 2 months! Especially for having two birds together instead of just one single bird. I had my first cockatiel for almost an entire year before he decided to step up for me, and he was an aviary bird as well and I worked with him every single day! Be patient and keep working with them at their own pace and your work will pay off!

 

[Shinobi]

I'm a qualified workplace assessor and have found that people whos "training' consisted of "stand there and pay attention" have a lower knowledge and ability of the work skillset compared to people who received one on one hands on training. It's not about the "always learning experience". It's about the best method of delivering skillsets through training, one on one, hands on training is the best, FACT.

One on one hands on training delivers a high quality interaction, low stress environment, avoids overstimulation and eliminates many distractions. This allows a trainer to gauge the bird's progress and mastery with the ability to personalise and adapt to the bird's learning ability.