Parrot training

Parrot training, also called parrot teaching, is the application of training techniques to modify the behavior of household companion parrots. Training is used to deal with behavior problems such as biting and screaming, to train husbandry behaviors such as allowing claw trimming without restraint or accepting a parrot harness, and to teach various tricks.

Although very trainable and intelligent, parrots are a prey species and are naturally more cautious than predatory species such as dogs. They often must be trained more slowly and carefully. Parrots can, however, eventually be taught many complicated tricks and behaviors, and remember them for years. Parrots are often used in shows at zoos and amusement parks.

Parrots need to socialize. Some behavior problems may be averted through parrot training. As with any animal, training birds also requires patience, time, and commitment for up to several minutes a couple times a day.

Parrot taming is a construct, a general term that can mean many different things according to different people. Where one person may classify their bird as tame because it can step-up and do tricks but not like its head touched, another person may think that this bird is not fully tame because it does not like its head being touched. This however is not true because of the poor choice of using a construct. It is best to refer to the level of tameness a bird is perceived to have as to how many, or types of behaviors it knows. Thus teaching is a better term as it only applies to learning something new, and is therefore more accurate in measuring how much an animal may know. Teaching can be achieved through the science behind operant or classical conditioning and is what is currently accepted by the major AZA accredited zoos and aquariums in the US. The parrot is never exposed to an unusual or mildly aversive stimulus on purpose, such as a new toy or a hand. This can create a fear response very easily in a prey animal such as a bird. Instead, if an animal is too frightened of a new object or person the bird is taught at a comfortable pace to accept the object via small approximations in behavior. Teaching any animal this way prevents flooding and initiation of its fight or flight response. Parrots must not be harmed while taming them.

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