Scared of hands

I have 6 yo ringneck parrot and he seems to be very tame except for being scared of hands. He will take food and toys out of your hand and will sit on my shoulder for as long as he can. He says a few words but will run away from you if he sees your hand come too close to him. He will not step up or have anything to do with your empty hand. He doesn't seem nervous at all around us except for that. Any suggestions?

Hello! Have you ever tried target training with your IRN? Generally birds don't trust hands because they move too quickly, come from behind (scary predator hands!), or have been subject to over handling that has made them incredibly uncomfortable. That, or they're just not hand birds.

I would begin with using a "step up stick" - any dowel, rope perch, even your arm, as a means to have your bird step up. As you're doing that, I'd also begin reinforcing target training. This will allow you to bond with your bird and your bird gets yummy treats just for touching things! Over time you could begin asking your bird to "touch" your hand and be rewarded. You want your hands to always be associated with a positive experience, such as verbal praise, treats, or scritches. Whichever motivates them best!

Monica has lots of great advice when it comes to this! Hopefully she'll chime in soon with her experience

Thanks we will try that. It just seemed different because he will climb out of his cage on my shoulder and will walk all around on the floor by our feet without being scared.

There are several different ways to teach this. I'll mention two that I've used (or a version of).


When I was teaching my untamed cockatiels to accept standing on my hand, I made my hand an extension of whatever it was that they were standing on. At the time, it was a gym made out of branches from a tree. I put my hand on or against the gym, using it as a means to stabilize my hand. In this way, once they bird steps up, there is no "dip" once they transfer their weight onto my hand. (although with small birds, this is easy to avoid anyway!)

With my other hand, I would offer them millet and keep rewarding them for coming closer to me. They were on the gym, not touching me, but that was ok. The whole point was to make them getting comfortable with me by allowing them to approach my hands on their own. I kept repeating this process, getting them to walk closer and closer to me. If they backed off, I'd repeat the process, starting where they felt most comfortable.

After a while, they would sit next to my hand, but would not touch my hand. That was ok, too! I kept repeating this process until they finally put a toe or two onto my hand. Still, they got rewarded. They'd often freak out at this point because my hand does not feel the same as the wood does, so we would repeat this process of touching me without being on me and getting rewarded.

This then led to putting one foot on me and getting rewarded for it. After more rewards, they would then put both feet on me. At this point, I just allowed them to eat millet at will. I was also feeding them their regular food from my hands. Seeds and pellets. My tiels had become comfortable enough with me that they were starting to fly to my hands or shoulders when no food was present, and would wait until I had food!


With the cockatiels, I started this method using seed, as I had gotten 5 adult, untamed budgies to willingly eat from my hand, even fly to my hand to get food. One of my tiels was watching me do this, and decided she wanted in on the behavior as well. That first tiel was previously a pet, then 'forgotten' about. A second cockatiel, a new one at the time, watched me feeding the first tiel. This second tiel, Faye, has had at least 3 homes prior to mine, no clue on age, and I don't know if she was ever a pet. I do however have a video showing how unsure she was about this new behavior between us, but it was her that had asked for it! (I never planned on feeding the tiels by hand like this)


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9w9w8nMRmw"]Hesitant Faye - YouTube[/ame]



If you compare her behavior in that video with the next, you can tell that she is much more at ease in the second video - and the only thing I did was feed them by hand every single day! No other training what-so-ever! I usually did this for 5-15 minutes in the morning.


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH9ZWxhCSAE"]Not So Hesitant Faye - YouTube[/ame]



This technique also worked with Tomi Girl, another tiel that I believe was a pet at one point in time, got lost(?) and was found by new people who then severely neglected her to the point that I have no doubt she would be dead by now if I didn't take her when I did! And the first tiels father, Pistachio. Pistachio was previously a breeder bird and has had at least two homes prior to mine. I don't see any signs that he was ever a pet, yet he surprised me the most. Pistachio was very skittish when I got him and would take off the moment I came within a few feet of him. One moment he was tentatively stepping onto my hand from the perches, the next he flew up from the floor and straight into my hand! That's a *HUGE* step! The next time? He flew to my shoulder! And when there was no food in my hand? I *v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y* walked over and got him more food! There was no way I was going to let that one slide and *not* reward him for doing something I never expected him to do!

So, here's a video of me feeding Tomi Girl and Pistachio. (ignore Casey! she's the one that climbs up my arm!) Tomi Girl and Pistachio are labeled in video.


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjKmHswgiHs"]Cockatiel Feeding - April 24th - YouTube[/ame]





Another method, and the one that I did a modified version of, but I really should have done this instead.... Teach your bird to walk down your arm! I've actually noticed that Jayde doesn't like the touch of hands or arms beneath her feet, but if she's sitting on my somewhat bare shoulder, it doesn't phase her. With her, she got comfortable stepping up onto my shoulder, so I asked her to step up onto my upper arm, then once she was "ok" with that, I went to my lower arm, then to my hand. However, once I was "shown" this other technique, I've started to employ it with her! I think it is easier for her to climb down my arm rather than up it.

This method, you start at the shoulder and reward your bird for orientating his head towards the treat which will be closer to your hand. If your bird eats it, then slowly move the treat away so he has to stretch for it. Then make him stretch a little further. Then make him take a step. Take two steps. Keep rewarding him for walking down your arm but don't ever ask for more than a few steps at a time. If he is hesitant to go on, then pause and keep rewarding him for where he's at. Then slowly, start moving the treat away.

Sooner or later, he may end up on your hand, and once on your hand, just keep feeding him there! The more comfortable he gets with your hand the more he'll be ok with sitting on your hand, then you can increase the amount of time between treats so he learns to sit there patiently waiting.



Over time you should be able to phase out the food and use other the treat reinforcers, such as praise, scritches, toys or anything else he likes! Although it does help to use a food reward every once in a while.

How long have you had your ringneck???