Flying to "me" (help)

[PickleMeDickles]

I have let all 3 of my birds wings grow out. 1 Sun and 1 GCC are now flying. The problem is I have them out well I work and they are always on their stands. They are just now starting to fly to me (it is getting more and more frequent). Although I LOVE this behavior it is not conducive to my work.

Is their a way to maintain this behavior (perhaps put in on queue) well also teaching them to stay in place during the day.

So far I have tried inducing them to fly to me (which doesn't usually work) and reward them. But they usually decide when it is flying time. If it is "their" decision I tell them no and re-perch them. After 2 failed attempts it is time out. Other than target training, I am pretty lost.

Again, I am grateful that they love me and wan't to fly to me, but I am a graphics artist and I just can't have birds wandering around my shoulder well I work (you know how "exploitative" conures can be!).

Anyhow, any advice would be great!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I hate to say this but your best bet may be to cage them when they are interrupting your work. OR, you could do what I do. I got a shower perch and bolted it to my desk, that seems to be Skittles new 'hang out' place. He likes being 'near' me and that is generally the way with conures. They like being near you. Try putting a playstand near you and see if that works.

I know it is possible to 'target train' a sun. I have Skittles target trained and it has been a lifesaver. He flies to me when I 'pat' my shoulder and same 'come on'. Or I just leave the room and he follows. If I want him to go somewhere else, I point and snap my finger to where I want him to go and say 'over there, go' and he is usually compliant.

I think target training or caging them is your best bet to be honest. I'm not sure how your scheduling works - but what I do is save the work I have to do that I can't do with him around for after he goes to bed or before I wake him up. If I can't do that, I just have him in his cage, if need be. But truthfully, I've been able to train him so that he doesn't interfere enough to need to be caged. That being said, it wasn't always like this. So it IS possible, but it will require target training, patience and consistency.

 

[Kyoto]

My biggest struggle is balancing my Kyo time and schoolwork time, since she is very difficult to keep busy when I need to do things. I often have to giver her an anitial hour of nonstop one on one attention and then sometimes she will let me work. Other times I have to cage her and wheel her over to be with me because she won't stop going after my keyboard or pencils while I'm writing.

 

[SilverSage]

First of all with the recall; training them to come when called is a valuable safety skill and you should take advantage of it. When you see them about to take off, or in the air coming to you, GIVE THE CUE, such as "Come" or "return" and when they land on you, REWARD! Take advantage of the action as it happens, and simply reinforce it paired with the cue.


SEPERATELY (and not while you are working or otherwise distracted) teach them "stay" or "station" where you set them on the stand, give them the cue, and then reward them for staying (you start with a second or two and only work your way up as they seem ready).

THIS WILL NOT HAPPEN OVER NIGHT.

Do NOT try to keep them from flying to you, or punish them in any way for doing so, or you will destroy your recall training. You aren't trying to teach them not to come to you, you are trying to teach them to stay put. See the difference? How one is something you want them TO DO and the other is something NOT TO DO? From now on, if you can't have them on you while you work, you will need to either do what Skitty's dad said (which is also what I do, btw), cage them, or let them climb on you while you work. If you try to keep them from flying to you right now, you will just confuse them and damage their relationship with you.

 

[Anansi]

Excellent points from Dani (SilverSage) and all dead on. You definitely don't want to "punish" the birds for flying to you by putting them in their cages. Timeouts should be reserved for behavior to be discouraged. You don't want to plant the seed in their minds that coming to you is a negative thing in any way.

So yes, as both Dani and Skittys_Daddy have said, you should cage them when you know you'll be working, rather than in response to them coming to you.

That said, however, you can definitely get them to the point where they are station-trained enough that caging is no longer necessary. But this will take a while... and A LOT of consistence. Just make sure to set aside a good amount of time each day (in 15-20 minute increments, depending on their attention span) to work on their station training. The method outlined by Dani is the exact one I use as well.

Please keep us updated on your progress.

 

[PickleMeDickles]

Excellent points from Dani (SilverSage) and all dead on. You definitely don't want to "punish" the birds for flying to you by putting them in their cages. Timeouts should be reserved for behavior to be discouraged. You don't want to plant the seed in their minds that coming to you is a negative thing in any way.

Thanks so much to everyone on the advice. I think it is all spot on. And you are so right about me inadvertently providing negative reinforcement for such a special behavior (I still get goose bumps every time she chooses to fly to ME - wow).

One problem is is she is a stealth flyer. Neither my husband nor I can hear her coming. If we see her in the air we calmly say "incoming", just so we don't startle her if we startle.

It really is a beautiful thing when a bird chooses you. She will fly to both my hubby and me. She like to land on his should and my arm or finger.

Anyhow, I will definitely keep you updated. Thanks again for the advice. I think I was in dog/horse mode.

-Jen

 

[MonicaMc]

Barbara Heidenreich has some good articles on flight training!

Barbara's Force Free Animal Training Talk: The First Two Weeks Training a New Parrot
Barbara's Force Free Animal Training Talk: Parrot Flight Training- Improving Skills
Barbara's Force Free Animal Training Talk: Training a Parrot to Recall Only When Cued


And Lara Joseph has a fantastic one on station training!

https://larajoseph.wordpress.com/2011/03/12/training-a-bird-to-station-its-importance/

 

[Anansi]

Great links, Monica!

 

[Aquila]

My cockatiel is pretty good at flying to me, though she always lands on my head! Trying to redirect her to fly to my shoulder or arm but I can't complain about her coming to me!

 

[Ann333]

Pumpkin relearn ed to fly after his first and only wing clip. He is a really good flyer now and will fly after me as I walk from room to room, he will search for me. It gives him a lot of independence and freedom to make his own choices, but I have the same problem. He flies to me constantly so I cage him when I'm doing something that could be dangerous for him.

 

[MonicaMc]

Target training and stationing really help!


I unintentionally taught Casey, my first tiel, to station on her cage door (when I had the tiels in a double flight cage) instead of coming out and flying around the room or flying to me or going off to explore hidden crevices! It wasn't my plan to station train her, I just knew that I didn't always have time to retrieve her in the mornings before work, so if she came to the cage door, I would give her scritches. Casey *loves* scritches, so the more I scritched her, the more likely she was to stay put in that location waiting for scritches! Next thing I knew, she was station trained at the cage door waiting for scritches instead of flying around the room!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Absolutely! If it weren't for the target training I would have ripped my hair out a LONG time ago.