Equally Random Jolly Update! (Photo and video heavy)

I was going to do updates for both birds in one thread, but figured I'd just do two, instead.

Mr. Jay has been pretty much a dream bird. He FINALLY understands that I don't like beaky nibbles on my ear, and now enjoys nearly unlimited access to my shoulder.

He'd also been having a bit of an issue with two or three of the flight feathers on each of his wings. He'd hit them trying to fly through the space of a partially closed door... at great speed. The impacts must've irritated him, because he took to chewing at the aforementioned first few feathers of his wings. I was afraid it would develop into a habit, And increased the number of his toys and the frequency of his baths.

I don't know if those measures made the difference, but he's since stopped. Whew! Still waiting for him to molt the chewed ones out, though.

And training has been going great! He learns quickly, and because he's far more food-motivated than Maya, the training is much easier. (Maya would choose me over food every time. Lol!)

Anyhow, onto the pics and videos!

Jolly in chill mode.


And here he is learning to carry the training ring to my hand.
[ame="https://youtu.be/Y37xJOZQP-s"]Jolly Blue Ring Placement - YouTube[/ame]

Before this, I'd only taught him how to drop it directly into my hand. But last night he learned to bring it to me, and then, finally, to fly it to me upon request!

I didn't get video of that last, but I'll try to catch him flying it to me later today. So proud of my resident speedster!

What an extra super special treat! :heart: YAY, Jolly!!!! He looks SO super sweet, I swear! I'm sitting here grinning from one ear to the next.

Please, 'treat' us with those photos and clips a tad bit more often, will you???

You've got your birds nicely trained up! He's so cute . How's the harness training?

JerseyWendy said:

What an extra super special treat! [emoji813] YAY, Jolly!!!! He looks SO super sweet, I swear! I'm sitting here grinning from one ear to the next.

Please, 'treat' us with those photos and clips a tad bit more often, will you???

Click to expand...

Thank you, Wendy!

Haha! Yes, Jolly does have that sweet innocent look to him all the time, doesn't he? Glad he made you smile.

Yeah, I do have to get better about my updates. Will do, my friend.

chris-md said:

You've got your birds nicely trained up! He's so cute . How's the harness training?

Click to expand...

Thanks, Chris!

Harness training for Jolly is going VERY slowly. He truly HATES having the loop around his neck, so I haven't progressed to getting the harness around his wings just yet.

But baby steps, right? Glacially... slow... baby steps.

Here here. I'm still stuck in the "use the treat to get the head through but don't you dare leave it there for more than 2 seconds" phase.

Hahaha! Jolly MIGHT allow 5. And Heaven forbid his head doesn't slide out effortlessly! Lol!

Bravo, Jolly! Such a nice surprise to see a Jolly progress report! He's such a handsome fellow and what a sweetheart! I love the bring the ring to Dad trick, very nicely done!

That kind of training is so much fun, and so rewarding for both bird and human.

If you bother to teach, they will learn, and it will astound you!!!

LOVE THIS STUFF!

Allee said:

Bravo, Jolly! Such a nice surprise to see a Jolly progress report! He's such a handsome fellow and what a sweetheart! I love the bring the ring to Dad trick, very nicely done!

Click to expand...

Thank you, Huckleberry!

And he's really enjoying the trick, too! Next step is to have him learn the difference between the different ring colors and to bring the specific color I request. (Which is why I tell him it's the blue ring before giving it to him) But we're still a ways off from that at this point, I reckon.

Birdman666 said:

That kind of training is so much fun, and so rewarding for both bird and human.

If you bother to teach, they will learn, and it will astound you!!!

LOVE THIS STUFF!

Click to expand...

Absolutely right, Mark! The amount they can pick up if you put in the time and persistence is amazing. They're more intelligent than most people realize.

beautiful. Eclectus are such darlings and you've trained him soooooooooo well. lovely.

Thank you so much for sharing. I really like the ring trick, and that you are preparing for the addition of more colours, that is going to be a really cool trick when he gets to that stage!

Cheers,

Cameron

WilliamKenyon said:

beautiful. Eclectus are such darlings and you've trained him soooooooooo well. lovely.

Click to expand...

Thank you!

Yes, I'm a big fan of eclectus parrots! They're so intelligent and, once you get to understand them, such wonderful companion birds.

camo said:

Thank you so much for sharing. I really like the ring trick, and that you are preparing for the addition of more colours, that is going to be a really cool trick when he gets to that stage!

Cheers,

Cameron

Click to expand...

You're welcome, Cameron! And thanks!

I can hardly wait until they get to the point where they learn to distinguish colors by name! At that level of complexity, the possibilities for learning seem nearly boundless.

Aw, Mr. Jolly is just as gorgeous as his girlfriend! You're such a great Ekkie (and human) dad Stephen ! Thanks for updating us with some new eye candy pics!

Jolly is really a handsome little guy, LOVE the ekkies!

Good luck with the harness training!

RavensGryf said:

Aw, Mr. Jolly is just as gorgeous as his girlfriend! You're such a great Ekkie (and human) dad Stephen ! Thanks for updating us with some new eye candy pics!

Click to expand...

Thank you so much, Lady Jules! I do try, on both fronts, so that means a lot.

Sunset_Chaser said:

Jolly is really a handsome little guy, LOVE the ekkies!

Good luck with the harness training!

Click to expand...

Thank you, Melissa!

You know, only a macaw parront would refer to an ekkie as a "little" guy! Hahaha! Love it!

And yes, I'll most certainly need that luck where Jolly's harness training is concerned. Lol!

Jolly is super cute! Such an eager little guy to give you that blue ring

Thanks, April!

It's funny you mention his eagerness. Most training I've done with the birds has been behavioral rather than trick oriented. But in teaching him this trick, there was definitely a moment when you saw that "light" come on. When he realized that I was training him to do something and he had to figure out what it was. He really enjoys the process. It's exciting for him.

That is great !! And such a pretty bird.

Anansi said:

Thanks, April!

It's funny you mention his eagerness. Most training I've done with the birds has been behavioral rather than trick oriented. But in teaching him this trick, there was definitely a moment when you saw that "light" come on. When he realized that I was training him to do something and he had to figure out what it was. He really enjoys the process. It's exciting for him.

Click to expand...

Thats awesome he's enjoying it! He definitely had that gears turning look in the video.

Great job, Jolly! Isn't it exciting when you really start to see training results?

Harness training with Baxter is also going very slow. I got to the point where he had the loop on and one wing in place (yay) and then something spooked him and he tried to fly away (oh no). Needless to say, getting the harness off after that was very difficult.

So, I started training all over again... from the beginning. He is willing putting his head through a bigger loop for a treat but immediately backs away from the loop once he has the treat.

Slow and steady. That's what I keep telling myself!