building success with flight recall

[EnglishMuffin]

It seems Sootie and I are stuck in a rut with our flight recall training.

She now successfully understands the 'come here' call and can flu 8-10 feet to get to me, as well as flying down and even flying up (she is clipped right now so her flight skills are pretty good considering). Until her wings grow in I can't realistically expect her to do things like fly to me when she can't see me in a different room.


The problem I'm having is that her recall is probably only at around 60%. If she's feeling tired, distracted by a toy or another person, or frankly even if she's just full up, she won't come to me. She's very willful, and if I don't have anything to offer her, she's not interested! It doesn't really matter for flying around the house but if she were to ever escape again (god forbid) I want her recall instinct to be so strong that she'll come to me immediately on call.


Does anyone have any hints on how to increase the success rate for our recall?

 

[Anansi]

Hello! Here is my take on flight recall. It's worked rather well for me with Bixby.

Repetition, consistence, strategic timing, motivation and time management are key, I believe. The first two are self-explanatory, but the last three are just as important.

Strategic timing: You already know the circumstances that serve as distractors for your bird, so time your training accordingly. Or strategically. The key is to train your bird in recall only when these distractors are either absent, or at their lowest ebb. This is important because you want Sootie to become accustomed to coming every time she is called. So you practice recall with her during times when she is most likely to heed your call. You want it to become ingrained. Like a habit. Habits are hard for parrots to break. Just ask the owner of any feather pluckers.

Motivation: I don't personally believe in withholding food as a means to motivate your bird. Some do, but it's just not my cup of tea. BUT I do find that training them at the midway point between meals is more likely to yield results, as the parrot will be more motivated by the treats you are using as incentive. And again, the aim here is to develop a habit. Once Sootie gets into the habit of coming to you every time, you'll be able to call her to you at whatever time you wish. But until you get there, limit the calls to these training sessions.

Time management: This one is vital. Learn Sootie's attention span and respect it. So you want to keep the sessions relatively short. Don't keep pushing until she gets bored with the exercise, because at that point her interest and motivation will most certainly wane. Again, you want to only practice recall with her when you know she will come. For most parrots, the attention span ranges between 10-15 minutes. I've heard of some going as long as 25, and others as little as 5. Respect the attention span.

As long as you employ consistency and repetition with these steps, I believe you should see an improvement in your girl's flight recall. Hope this all helps.

 

[Birdman666]

It's an inexact science, and that is what I try to warn people about.

It's not 100%, and even the performing SeaWorld birds, who do 4 shows a day sometimes refuse to do their bit. (There is a particularly stubborn greenwing.)

With my own birds, I originally kept Sweepea flighted, but she was out and about trained, and I DID NOT HARNESS. SHE FLEW TO THE TOP OF A 3 STORY BUILDING ONE DAY, AND REFUSED TO COME DOWN FOR TWO HOURS. I had to sit there and wait her out. While she sat there with a foot up in the air signaling for me to come up there and pick her up. (I think she was afraid.)

So, it's not 100%, and expecting it to be is not reasonable. 60% is a start, but if you wear them out with it, they stop paying attention.

Keep lessons short. Maintain their attention.

Remember: These are like little kids, not dogs. Do your kids always come to you when you call? Or do they sometimes get distracted. Same principle applies.

 

[MonicaMc]

Keep rewards small so she doesn't fill up fast. Keep training sessions short. It's better to have multiple short training sessions than one long boring training session.

You can teach her to fly to you out of site with clipped wings. Part of that is *slightly* hiding yourself around a corner or a wall and calling to her. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Hide yourself a little more but still enough for her to see you. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Eventually, you might be able to get to a point where you can call her without her seeing you.



I think one of the most important things about recall training is getting the bird comfortable with a variety of situations. If your bird is not accustomed to being outside, she might freeze up and not come to you. If she's comfortable being outside from low distractions to high distractions and she accidentally gets away, then there's a higher chance of her flying to you then. That's where a harness or carrying cage might come into play!

 

[EnglishMuffin]

Thanks for all the suggestions folks I'll keep working with her. She IS always harnessed outside but I want to make sure there's an insurance plan in case she should ever wriggle out of it somehow!