A Question for those with fully flighted birds

[BoomBoom]

Sorry for all the questions lately!!! I never run out of things to ask or worry about even after a year of being Boomer's caretaker. Please bear with me!

So I've kept Boomer flighted (he came clipped from the breeder). Since January of this year when his flight feathers started growing out, he has shown great flying skills. The past 2 weeks, I've actively taught him to fly to me when I call. He is learning fast and comes to me 75% of the time so far. First off, I want to stay that I love that he is flighted. He seems happier, more active and more independent. I don't have to go fetch him when I go to another room. I can just call and he would fly over. It's good exercise too.

Now my problem is this... Since about a week ago, it's been hard to do things (particularly eat dinner) without him flying to my shoulder to steal a bite. Once he even flew in the center of my plate! He smelled like grilled onions and pork for 2 days even after several showers. And yes, he has his own food bowl mounted on his cage as we always eat dinners together. He is also more hard-headed. When I tell him to poop from his poop perch so that he could ride my shoulders, he won't listen and just fly to my shoulder instead. Why not, he can do it right!? He used to listen ALL the time.

Tonight I had to keep him in his cage just so I could finish my dinner which I absolutely hated doing. But it was stressful guarding my plate from him every 2 bites. I tell him NO (which he recognizes), but he would just wait a few seconds then fly to me anyway! Hmm I guess I shouldn't complain because he is just doing what I taught him. But there must be a way to teach them to stay put! So I guess my question is, how do I properly train him so that he knows that although he can fly anywhere he pleases, he still needs to know when and when not to?

 

[psychocircus91]

say no and put him in his cage for ten minutes. when he comes when called, reward him with a treat. Don't feel bad for reinforcing each behavior.

 

[BoomBoom]

Thanks for the response. I've thought about this but forgot to put it in my original post. I am worried that if give him time out in his cage, he will see the cage as a place of punishment which I do not like since he will have to be in it while I'm at work.

It's one of the things to consider though!

 

[sodakat]

Most flighted birds will not poop on their owners. They don't have to. They can just fly to their preferred pooping spot.

I think there are two things you can do regarding eating in peace. Well, 3 actually. The first is cage him during dinner time, then let him out immediately afterward. I get that you don't want him caged then because he's been in all day, but you may have to resort to this if he is incorrigible. It will get better in time and especially as he matures.

One idea is to build or buy him a little stand that sits on the table and holds his dish so he can eat "with" you.

Another idea is to hold up your hand and say, "stay" when he starts to fly to you from wherever you expect him to be while you are eating. I do this. If the bird comes anyway, I just shoo them off me or prohibit them from even landing on me. They can fly after all!

It doesn't take terribly long for them to learn "stay" once they have learned, "come". He sounds smart. I'm sure he'll get the hint soon. Maybe not before you have birdie footprints in your mashed potatoes a few more times though!

It's so worth the effort to train them a bit in order for them to be able to fly instead of climb and walk everywhere.

 

[SandyBee]

It doesn't have to be his cage, could be a playstand or a neutral place like acouch,chair or table along with a firm no. At first he will fly right back to you but be consistent, its like teaching a child. Dinner will be harder because there's food involved. I would do three strikes and your caged till dinner is finished.

 

[BoomBoom]

Another idea is to hold up your hand and say, "stay" when he starts to fly to you from wherever you expect him to be while you are eating. I do this. If the bird comes anyway, I just shoo them off me or prohibit them from even landing on me. They can fly after all!

Sodakat,

Thank you so much for the tips! I like this one especially. In fact, just tonight out of frustration, I did try to dodge him a few times so he would not land on me. I wondered if it was good to do so, as I might lose his trust in me as a stable 'perch?'

I think I will do a combination of holding up my hand, say 'stay' and if he flies to me still, a time-out in his cage.

About the pooping, he's accidentally pooped on me 2 times in 4 weeks of his flight misadventures. I don't want him to develop that habit so I find assurance in what you write that birds will try not to poop on their humans. That's one other thing I want him to learn, to fly to his poop perch if he needs to go. Right now, he still depends on me to take him there every 15-30 minutes. Maybe I will start training him on that tomorrow! I'll leave him somewhere and call to him while I'm right next to his poop perch.

 

[BoomBoom]

It doesn't have to be his cage, could be a playstand or a neutral place like acouch,chair or table along with a firm no. At first he will fly right back to you but be consistent, its like teaching a child. Dinner will be harder because there's food involved. I would do three strikes and your caged till dinner is finished.

I will do that, great idea!

 

[MonicaMc]

I like the idea of having a "plate" of food just for Boomer where you are eating. Parrots are flock creatures after all, so if he's separated from you at dinner time, then it's no fun!

But the fun part would be convincing him that *HIS* food is just as good as yours! Which means he doesn't have to take food from you when he has his own plate/bowl of it! LOL

As I see it, you can teach one of two things... One, teach him to fly on cue and only on cue! This way, he can never fly to you unless you tell him to!
Good Bird Inc Parrot Training Talk: Training a Parrot to Recall Only When Cued

Two, teach him to station! Aka -stay put-.
Training a Bird to Station & Its Importance | Lara Joseph

 

[SandyBee]

Oh I believe in having Bosley eat with me, great bonding and they do like to eat with their flock.
One of the things we do is when we have casual dinners eg: In front of TV he is allowed to eat of the side of my plate.He is not allowed to walk on it, yes he has tried and has learnt not to.
When we do sit down dinners at the table he is on his stand with his own dish, yes he has flown to my shoulder and he gets put back immediately.
When we do outside dinners on the deck, we bring his big cage and he gets his own bowl there. No option to fly because he is in his cage for safety.

It took some time, but he understands all the situations and is just happy he is part of dinner!

 

[noblemacaw]

Valentino my RFM has always been fully flighted. We have adapted our home and lifestyle for him to be able to keep his wing feathers.

It did not take me long to teach him what "Valentino approved" places to fly and land are vrs places I did not want him landing on. If he landed on somewhere I didn't want him to be I walk up to him and tap the surface saying "NO" and had a "unfriendly" look on my face. Then I would pick him up and place him on a Valentino approved place and praise him by petting him and talking softly to him and of course change my facial expression to more friendly. It took about 4 days but now Valentino does not land or fly to "forbidden" areas anymore.

To help us bond to Valentino more I included him at the dinner table from day one. His cage is against the wall in my dining room so he can watch us eat. To help include him as part of the flock I began including him at the dinner table. I use the salad size plate as "his" plate and set it between Lupe and I. Valentino eats with us every evening and when he is done stuffing himself he will fly to his Java tree to wait until I am finished and can give him his "momma time".

I trained him very early on I do not tolerate him running around on the table or stepping on plates. When he took his giant talon and would try to step onto the plate I would gently take his foot in my hand say "no" and gently set it back on the table. Eventually all I would have to do is tap the foot and he would know to set it back on the table and not the plate.

Valentino's intelligence surpassed what I figured it to be. For a parrot so young he picked up things so quickly. Now if he refuses to "learn" or understand it is because we are butting heads. LOL

 

[BoomBoom]

Thanks for all the great responses and links. I'm halfway through the first one -- it's long! I wish the second link was longer because the first paragraphs described my situation perfectly.

Boomer's cage (and bowl) is right next to me when I sit down to eat. Being a single person, I eat on the couch with the coffee table and tv in front of me (lol). So boomer is not that far away from me when we're both eating, about 3-5 feet I'd say? So I don't think it's wanting to stay closer to me but just wanting my human food.

From the advice most of you gave, I can see the common idea is consistency. I don't think I've been that consistent with him since he started testing his wings. I was just too glad that he was learning to fly that I praised him every time he flew to me. So I'll set some ground rules starting today.


1. Reward when he responds to 'Come'

2. Reward when he responds to 'Stay.' From the link Monica posted, it said to wait 10 secs, then reward. Then increase the duration to 20 secs, reward. Until he gets the idea.

3. When he flies to me after I say stay, I do a mean face, say NO, put him back on his perch.

4. When he flies to a spot I don't want him to fly to, mean face, say NO, tap the surface, put him back on his perch.

5. If he flies to me repeatedly after saying NO, and I'm eating dinner, mean face, then it's cage time.


Sounds like a plan. Hope he learns it! In case you're wondering why I typed it all out, it's because ill come back to this thread later so I don't forget the steps lol. Thanks for the tips. If anyone else wants to add their experiences in handling this type of behavior, I'd love to hear it!