Flying on “demand”

[CKP]

Today Maverick surprised me greatly. I was busy doing house chores so I ignored his head-bobbing, wing-flapping, Amazon chattering attempts at attention. He was on top of his cage, which is positioned near our stairs, but it’s not a straight shot up the staircase. Anyways, I walked upstairs and dropped some things off in my bedroom before crossing the hall to the office and I hear a bunch of wing flapping noises. I turn and look as my little man lands gracefully on his playden (on the loft/landing at the top of the staircase). I guess he was not interested in being left alone downstairs!

My brother in law watches Mav when we aren’t home, and he said that last time he was hear Mav flew off his cage then flew back up to the top. This is his first time having his flight feathers, as he was fledged then clipped before the breeder sent him home with us. I CANNOT get him excited enough to fly to me on demand though. I even wave his favorite treat at him (papaya) and he just makes the refrigerator squeaky noise at me (his usual sign that he wants something).

I’ve been researching target training a bit but I’m not sure how to proceed. We have a pretty large open main floor about 25 foot long and 12 foot at the smallest area wide, so I would love for him to be able to exercise by flying the length of our house between my wife and I. But we seem to be stuck at flying only when he wants to. Any suggestions on starting a more intentional training regimen?

 

[SailBoat]

When your Amazon is on your hand are you teaching flight paths by using a quick short hand drop, getting him to flap his wings and fast walking those paths?

When your Amazon is on his cage or perch are you holding a treat at the other end to get him to come to you for the treat?

These are the starting points for developing an Amazon that will fly to different locations and with practice come on demand.

 

[CKP]

He will flap his wings when I say "flap flap". And if he is on one side of his cage or playden if I tap somewhere on it and say "come here" he walks over to where I tapped.

I haven't tried walking the flight paths. We'll have to add that to our daily routine.

Me standing 2 feet from the cage using my high energy voice and his favorite treats gets him to shiver his wings and LOOK like he is going to launch himself at me, but thus far that is as far as he goes. He just keeps telling me "step up" and "come here" and "I wanna go upstairs!"

 

[SailBoat]

He will flap his wings when I say "flap flap". And if he is on one side of his cage or playden if I tap somewhere on it and say "come here" he walks over to where I tapped.

I haven't tried walking the flight paths. We'll have to add that to our daily routine.

Me standing 2 feet from the cage using my high energy voice and his favorite treats gets him to shiver his wings and LOOK like he is going to launch himself at me, but thus far that is as far as he goes. He just keeps telling me "step up" and "come here" and "I wanna go upstairs!"

Start much closer to the cage! Like 2" (50 mm) first! So, its a long step! After he has master that, move to 3" (75 mm) and work at mastering that. Point here, to fly across the room first starts with a very small step.

Remember, some days you will need to start closer and then work away! Never assume that just because yesterday, you went from a step to a quick flap, that you will be able to start that the ending point of yesterday.

 

[CKP]

We've been working on short flights.

He has been doing really well on short little flights. Yesterday I was folding laundry on the couch (about 10 ft from his cage) and I heard a rustle of feathers and looked up in time to stick my hand out as he flew to me. Lots and lots of praise, he got his favorite dried papaya treat, echoed me with some "goooood bird! good booyyyeee!"

This morning we were working on short flights again (about 3 inches out of his reach). He did GREAT the first 3 attempts, lots of praise and reinforcing "Fly Mavy". I figure that command sounds least like anything else we work with. On the 4th attempt I guess he overshot it because he took off over my shoulder instead, flew the entire length of my house up to the top of my cathedral ceilings, did a little hover move, then flew back towards me and turned into the living room (normal ceiling height) to land on his favorite place: the ceiling fan.

I didn't know how to treat this move, didn't wanna punish him for flying but didn't want to reward since he didn't come to me. So I grabbed his long stick we use for when pet-sitters watch him and got him to step up onto it and just rewarded that instead.

Apart from the unintended flight, I was in awe of him. It is so beautiful to watch him fly, and he clearly loves it because he gets all fluffy and pinning eyes and "want a papayaaaa!!"

Sorry for the long winded response, I'm just in love with my little fid! <3

 

[Jottlebot]

That's lovely!

I'm a bit strict I'm afraid. If you're training him to fly to you on command, I wouldn't treat him for flying to you when he wants. He's less likely to fly to you when you ask if he knows he'll get a treat if he flys to you at another time.

It sounds like he generally does well for the first 3 times, so stop after 3. Sometimes do 1 or 2 only. Always try and end training on a high so things are clear.

Could you bare only giving him papaya when training and no other times?

 

[CKP]

Jottlebot, I hope that with some enthusiasm he will realize that flying is a GOOD thing, then I'll be much more strict. I guess there could be some confusion there, but... it's a learning experience for us both I suppose.

The little guy has been an energizer bunny since we got him - the breeder even warned us that he never stopped moving - so I would LOVE for him to have this as a method of exercise and burning off some energy.

I will make sure we stop the training sessions while things are still on a positive note. We use this method in all of our other training, I just got excited :54:

Papaya is reserved for only training. But that includes when we practice his tricks, work with his harness, etc. His absolute favorite treat is fresh banana, but he tends to go into Amazon overload whenever he sees them so it doesn't bode well for training purposes...

 

[Florem]

That's awsome!
I've been practicing this with Ebbe, mostly because he doesn't like arms or hands and he's gotten a bit..fluffy, lately.
I wish he would fly for papaya like your Maverick, but cashews are (so far) his biggest and almost only weakness.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/duk4zx4zi4f7k2t/ebbe flygövning.mp4?dl=0