How to train parrot to fly down to you

[noblemacaw]

I have a almost 5 month old RFM that has never been clipped. Valentino has been with me almost a month and is starting to bond to me. He will fly to me and when I am out of the room will fly around the house to find me. He has no trouble finding me anywhere in the house when I call to him.

I have started recall training with him inside my home. Valentino now will fly to me on command which I think is a good start. However when I was working with him today I realized he is unable to fly to me from the upper level of my home down to the lower level where I would be standing.

Lighting was not an issue. It was a sunny day and my home was very well lit today. I know Valentino can see me because he would call to me and try to fly to me but he really could not fly DOWN to the lower level of the home TO me even when he could SEE where I was. He was getting quite frustrated with the inability to get to me so I went up the stairs to retrieve him by hand and gave him lots of pets and "good boy" praise.

I am in awe of how beautiful and skillful Valentino flies. He is a very adept flyer and has no trouble flying UP to the second level of the home to me. I am wondering how to train him to be able to fly down to me. I think this is a very important skill for him to know if I am to take him outside for free flight training. Someday I want to be able to free fly Valentino. I know people do this with their RFM's and hopefully someday with mentoring and training Valentino will be able to do this as well.

Any insight on how to teach Valentino to fly down to the lower level of the house to me would be wonderful. Thank you for any information.

 

[MonicaMc]

If Valentino already flies to you from the floor and from head height, then the next goal is to find something slightly higher than your head. A very tall ladder would work... or the top of a book case, cabinets and other things that may be slightly above your head.

Find something and cue Valentino from a short distance away and from a long distance away. It will actually be harder for him to figure out how to fly straight down than at an angle, but both will be important for him to learn!

Once he figures out how to fly down with ease from that spot, find a somewhat higher spot and cue him to fly to you. Keep doing this until you have him flying down from the second story of your house!

 

[parrot14]

Flying down is the hardest part to learn... Imho. I train my baby blue crown conure at early age (3 months) and it worked well. I sent him to the top of my kitchen cabinet , approximately 3 metres high and he darely flew down to my hand. I still train him indoor. I'll update you when I start the outdoor session.

 

[weco]

If you have someone who could take him to the balcony & let him go, while you are below encouraging him to fly to you, he will not fall, but it may take several times for him to get it right, flying to you.....

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Start small, put a perch at the bottom of the stairs and have him fly to you, slowly move the perch up a step every or every couple successful recalls. Use a clicker as a bridge rather then good boy if you have one, they work really well.

 

[noblemacaw]

Update: Valentino now will consistently fly down to me from the second level of my home. Once he figured it out there was no stopping him. No more flying around in circles screaming to me and becoming frustrated. Now Lupe can hold him from the second upper level of my home, I raise my hand and call him and he will fly straight DOWN to me. No more flying in circles in confusion. Valentino is such a smart parrot.

Now I am working with more difficult recall training involving him to fly to me without me in site. I am using my voice to guide him too me as he flies to "find" me. Actually this is easier than I thought it was going to be because ...ummm....well...when I leave him alone on the Java tree to go potty with the half bath on the same level he will call to me and will fly into the bathroom while I am ....umm...using it (sitting on the pot). As you can see I do not close the door when using it so...well....he just flies on in and lands on my arm. (Just to let you know..house rule is NO TOILET SEATS UP. They are all closed here)

Even if I step out of the room to go upstairs he will call to me, take off from his tree, and fly upstairs to find me. One thing I have noticed is sometimes he will fly though a doorway and sometimes he doesn't seem to understand how to fly through the doorway but will land close and scream for me to come and get him. I think in time he will gain more confidence to fly into any room of my home to find me.

By the time the weather becomes nice enough to take Valentino outside I want him to be full recall trained. I have ordered a special harness called "The Aviator" which allows the parrot to be outside with you and safe. I am impressed with the design of this harness after using harnesses for my parrot for over 20 years.

As much as I love to watch Valentino fly and as talented a flyer as the RFM is I do not think I am brave enough to train him for free flight. I will train with him very hard to fly him in the house to make sure he gets enough exercise but I am afraid of unforseen events outside of free flight training that could happen. Valentino has become very important to me and I do not want to lose him. Our bond becomes stronger every day and I recently learned RFM's can fly up to 40 MPH. HOLY CRAP!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Update: Valentino now will consistently fly down to me from the second level of my home. Once he figured it out there was no stopping him. No more flying around in circles screaming to me and becoming frustrated. Now Lupe can hold him from the second upper level of my home, I raise my hand and call him and he will fly straight DOWN to me. No more flying in circles in confusion. Valentino is such a smart parrot.

Now I am working with more difficult recall training involving him to fly to me without me in site. I am using my voice to guide him too me as he flies to "find" me. Actually this is easier than I thought it was going to be because ...ummm....well...when I leave him alone on the Java tree to go potty with the half bath on the same level he will call to me and will fly into the bathroom while I am ....umm...using it (sitting on the pot). As you can see I do not close the door when using it so...well....he just flies on in and lands on my arm. (Just to let you know..house rule is NO TOILET SEATS UP. They are all closed here)

Even if I step out of the room to go upstairs he will call to me, take off from his tree, and fly upstairs to find me. One thing I have noticed is sometimes he will fly though a doorway and sometimes he doesn't seem to understand how to fly through the doorway but will land close and scream for me to come and get him. I think in time he will gain more confidence to fly into any room of my home to find me.

By the time the weather becomes nice enough to take Valentino outside I want him to be full recall trained. I have ordered a special harness called "The Aviator" which allows the parrot to be outside with you and safe. I am impressed with the design of this harness after using harnesses for my parrot for over 20 years.

As much as I love to watch Valentino fly and as talented a flyer as the RFM is I do not think I am brave enough to train him for free flight. I will train with him very hard to fly him in the house to make sure he gets enough exercise but I am afraid of unforseen events outside of free flight training that could happen. Valentino has become very important to me and I do not want to lose him. Our bond becomes stronger every day and I recently learned RFM's can fly up to 40 MPH. HOLY CRAP!

Your doing amazing with him! Are you able to take video of him?

I use the aviator harness with rosie, It's awesome and very safe as long as your parrot doesn't chew on it constantly and break it. You can buy a 30' extension for the harness for flying outdoors but I didn't bother with that- 30' is super short for a fast flying bird. I bought a 100' light nylon rope and a large stainless steal quick link that twist tightly shut. The rope works like a charm and I have more confidence in my overkill of knots than a manufactured line. The rope is also inexpensive, I check it before every outing to make sure the knots are secure and the line isn't worn down, if it is it was only $8 and easily replaced.

Here's a video of Rosie flying in her harness, this was a windy day and her first time flying on the hills, it was actually her best outdoor flights so far. At 0:29 my friends dog gets in the way of the rope, it tightens but the elastic part of the harness's lead keeps her from falling or being hurt, all that happens is she flaps harder to regain her lift and over powers up missing my hand. So even thought the rope itself isn't stretchy she still won't be jerked out of the air. That's also another reason why I prefer the 100' rope compared to the aviator's 30' extension, she would reach the end of 30 feet very quickly while with 100' she can fly around and be more confident.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oh34E_ikRjE&feature=share&list=UU5QPzcyW6sHN0OBkffHzk7A]Rosie in the wind slow motiom - YouTube[/ame]

this video shows the quick link I use, I attach the quick link to my belt, or if a belt isn't available I put it around my waist and attach it to itself.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-FuqXAWvkg&feature=share&list=UU5QPzcyW6sHN0OBkffHzk7A]rosie flying againts the wind - YouTube[/ame]

and two pics of her using it

This was taken seconds after the above photo, (I was using rapid fire), her first time loosing control to wind. It looks like she's going to have a perfect landing in the photo above, but she actually landed 40' away in the grass.

I hope these help to give you a little idea of the harness, it's awesome and I love it.

 

[noblemacaw]

Wow Copper those videos are amazing! Thank you so much for sharing them with me. I am very excited to be able to use the Aviator on Valentino this spring. I had already ordered the harness and everyday I am training recall flight with him in my home.

I like your idea of getting a longer cord to extend the flight capabilities and will probably end up adding that on to the harness system. My area to fly Valentino is not as open as yours as we have a lot of trees here. I will start with the original equipment and if it seems to "restrain" his flying abilities I will add on the extension. I fly Valentino every day in my home getting him a good workout enough he is breathing hard. My home is a two story town home so he has multiple levels to fly and really does get quite a work out. Valentino will be 6 months old on Feb 12th.

Your videos make me excited to take Valentino outside to fly in his harness. It has been my dream to free fly Valentino but at this time I do not have a mentor to help train us and at this point I will not take Valentino outside without a harness. Now that Valentino can consistently fly down to me and has mastered that skill I have a bit more confidence in being able to fly him in his harness.

I have a camera that can take short videos like what was shot for Valentino's bath time which was made on new years day so I will experiment with that to get more video of Valentino's adventures.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Wow Copper those videos are amazing! Thank you so much for sharing them with me. I am very excited to be able to use the Aviator on Valentino this spring. I had already ordered the harness and everyday I am training recall flight with him in my home.

I like your idea of getting a longer cord to extend the flight capabilities and will probably end up adding that on to the harness system. My area to fly Valentino is not as open as yours as we have a lot of trees here. I will start with the original equipment and if it seems to "restrain" his flying abilities I will add on the extension. I fly Valentino every day in my home getting him a good workout enough he is breathing hard. My home is a two story town home so he has multiple levels to fly and really does get quite a work out. Valentino will be 6 months old on Feb 12th.

Your videos make me excited to take Valentino outside to fly in his harness. It has been my dream to free fly Valentino but at this time I do not have a mentor to help train us and at this point I will not take Valentino outside without a harness. Now that Valentino can consistently fly down to me and has mastered that skill I have a bit more confidence in being able to fly him in his harness.

I have a camera that can take short videos like what was shot for Valentino's bath time which was made on new years day so I will experiment with that to get more video of Valentino's adventures.

You'll have no problem with valinto and the harness. Although I take Rosie outside in her harness Valentino is much more advanced in recall than Rosie. I still can't get Rosie to fly to me from a stationary object. It's hard to teach her to come to me because she can't physically hop to my hand because of her bad leg. That's the first step to recall, so instead I have to stand further and call to her while she begs for me to come pick her up so she can be with me. I don't ever plan to free fly her, I just don't think she has the right mentality to be a free flight bird and I feel that's responsible of me. Plus the area I live in is full of coopers hawks, peregrine falcons, and merlins that eat Rosie sized birds. We also have other hawks like red shouldered hawks, red tails, and also golden eagles and the occasional bald eagle, but they tend to be lazy opportunistic hunters rather then ambush.

I'm excited to see what type of video you take of him Red fronts are such cool birds.