Harness training older BH Caique

Hglunn02 · Mar 30, 2026

Hello everyone, this is my first post on the forum since getting my(23yo) first bird(16yo), this might bw a bit lengthy. Things are going absolutely amazing with him and he loves just hanging out with me and watching what i am doing. He also will rub his head and neck back on forth like a cat on my neck to dry off/preen himself after his sink shower which is very cute. He has also graduated to hanging out on my shoulder this week since hes being good and i can let him hang out with me as im going around the house.

My problem, which i have encountered this evening, is harness training(Aviator Harness). Before the harness arrived he has been really good at sticking his head through my hand (

). However, the first time I was able to get the harness over his head he started getting frustrated, and when I take it off his feathers on his neck go the wrong way and he gets even more frustrated. He is fine having it go over his eyes and down his neck, but only once it's fully on and he feels the weight of it, or he accidentally steps on it and pulls his head down a little bit he gets frustrated.

Once i get it off, i take it a step back and just feed him a treat through the harness without it going over his head, then i give him a break, then i switch to another trick for a bit, so he doesn't get traumatized by the harness or wreck our relationship. I don't know what to do because he starts to panic once I get to the point that he can get tangled if im not careful, and he has to cooperate with me to get it off.

How should i react in the moment when he panics? He is really good at the step prior I dont want to make him do anything he hates but its the next step. I noticed in another forum post that i can work with a hairtie instead of my hand, which will allow him to get used to his head feathers going back and forth a little bit, plus he doesnt panic by stepping on it or feeling the weight of it.

He unfortunately is a solo bird, and loves his flying exercises, staring out the windows with me, etc. so I know he is going to love the outdoors but he doesn't know that's what the end goal is. I will take the training incredibly slow at this point but any tips would be nice. He already knows to fly to my hand, spin both ways, and somersault around my finger, and is eager to learn.

Hglunn02 · Mar 30, 2026

Tomorrow afternoon I will also try bring a TV table over to my back door where I can open the window that has the screen up, and do harness training right next to the door. My hope is that he wants to go outside and realizes I have to put the harness on him to get him outdoors. It might be worth a shot, he only makes water droplet noises when he wants a bath in the sink even when he's in his cage he is quite smart.

rheashard2 · Mar 31, 2026

Did you watch the video? The important thing is to have your bird comfortable with having body parts handled especially wings. I'm not sure if putting harness on next to the door matters. I put my CAG's on near cage as far from door as it can be. We then go out. Harness means outside even to the curb. I emphasize that so she doesn't associate it with trip to the torturers aka vet for dreaded nail and beak trim. After placement I give lots of verbal praise and a treat. Here's the catch. She's been harness trained with the Aviator for nearly 21 years. There's days when she swears it's a hangmans noose or a torture device. It's a regular birdie tantrum I have to wait out. Patince and repetition are best. Be liberal with the verbal praise.

Hglunn02 · Mar 31, 2026

Yes I have watched the official aviator harness videos, and other videos from parrot youtubers. I will take a step back and work on wing handling more, but I think he is hormonal at the moment and I am worried about triggering a hormonal response from wing handling. Outside of harness training he will just randomly start rubbing himself (mid preening session, after a bath etc.). He keeps it to his cage, and I make sure to leave the room for a minute. He has not started rubbing while I am handling and working with him. I check his feathers briefly daily to monitor his feather barbering to make sure it isn't getting worse, but I have not practiced extending his wing more than a little bit to take a peek at his feathers. He doesn't have anything in his cage similar to a nest, just a big variety of perches, swings, and toys.

I just favorited a youtube video about cooperative care - wing handling to watch after work to understand the best approach to clicker training and knowing what may accidentally trigger a hormonal response.

wrench13 · Mar 31, 2026

Good advice above. It took me a solid year of every night training with my Salty to get him OK with putting a harness on. And we still include putting it on and taking it off in our nightly training sessions. First critical thing is the bird must be 100% OK with you touching and manipulating body and wings. Until that's achieved, you are just asking for a frightened and frustrated bird. Next is the steps you see in the common videos - putting head thru the loop etc. An intermediate step we used was to just drape the wing loops over his body for awhile until he got used to the weight of the harness. THis whole thing is best done in steps, and done at the birds pace and NOT the pace of your expectations. If you rush it, he may never be 100% comfy wearing the harness. Remember - a whole year devoted to this! Yours may be much qucker butit gives you an idea of the time it can take.

rheashard2 · Mar 31, 2026

There's a technique for handling the wings. Each bird is a little different. The only way that I can describe it is this. When you scratch a dog in a spot one way he thumps his leg and gets excited. Scratch that same spot another way and nothing happens. Learn your birds tells. I can put my CAG's harness on year round. Full blown hormonal she still has to go to the vet for whatever's. I am paranoid about flyaway. So she wears her harness. She even wears it in the house if frequent door opening is being done for any reason. Your avian can't help his/her hormones. But you can learn his avian body language, anticipate them and read here and other places tricks to deal with them. The number one thing is patience and working around.