Parrot Videos

Getting Started Clicker Training Mika

I’ve spent the last couple of weeks trying to convince Mika to eat a bigger variety of food. I’ve put off training with her because she’s such a picky eater that it’s hard to remove treats from her regular diet to use for rewards. Furthermore, she’s a very slooooow eater. So far there’s nothing she…

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How a Sun Conure Makes Friends

Having just posted about Stewie the sun conure and his reluctance to play nice with Mika, the precious new Pionus in our life, I’m reminded of an absolutely adorable video on the topic of how to make friends (starring Bo the sun conure): Bo, you are awesome and an inspiration!

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Parrot Props and Trick Training Toys

Where to find props for clicker training, cool training toys, parrot trick props, like birdie roller skates, bird-sized basketball hoops, skateboards for parrots, ring toss and color discrimination games for birds ranging from budgies to cockatoos and macaws.

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What You Don’t See in Parrot Training Videos

Sometimes you can get discouraged watching parrot training videos. Those birds always seem to do all the tricks perfectly (despite the trainer’s claim they’re not even tame… yeah right) while our own training efforts make us wonder if there’s something wrong with our birds… or us. The truth is, that no bird knows how to…

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Teaching My Parrot to Wave

The latest trick we’re working on is waving. This is usually one of the earlier non-prop behaviors parrot trainers teach their birds, but I started with behaviors I could capture instead of ones I’d have to shape. I finally felt we were both ready to work on this trick, and once I knew my plan…

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Video of Sun Conure and His Ball Trick

Another attempt to capture Stewie on video. Better than our previous video clip, I think. The “put the ball in the cup trick” was the first big “stupid parlor trick” this little sun conure learned, but when we started training he was still pretty bitey; in fact, he’d reach around training props just to bite…

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Skateboarding Birds: Budgies and ‘Tiels

Think only larger parrots can do cool prop tricks? Think again: First, the noob: training a cockatiel to step onto a skateboard Day 3: Cockatiel pushing off on a skateboard Skateboarding cockatiel catches air More skateboarding cockatiels Cute budgies showing off their skateboard moves Advanced skater budgie (sorry, couldn’t embed) .

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Stewie Demonstrates Targeting

I’m still a terrible cinematographer, but I figured I’d go ahead and post this anyway. I wheeled Stewie’s playstand in front of the computer (with a built-in camera) and did a couple reps of targeting. Because the target stick is a black chopstick and the background is basically black, you often can’t see it in…

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Cockatiel with Small Ring Toss Prop

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Just How Smart Are Cockatoos? Check It Out!

This cockatoo’s puzzle solving skills are really impressive. Doesn’t she look like she’s having fun? Just another example of children’s developmental toys making good (large) bird toys too. (Imagine having to keep a toddler entertained and healthy … that’s at least how much work a cockatoo takes too!)

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Amazon Singing “I Shot the Sheriff”

Another one of my favorite parrot videos. Here’s an Amazon groovin’ to Bob Marley: Whoo-hoo-HOO!

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