Sun Conures- good trick birds?

[alcmene]

I could have asked this in my "would it be crazy to buy a sun" thread, but since it's super long now, i'm afraid people have stopped reading lol.

I know that suns dont usually speak and they dont really whistle or learn songs. But they are such outgoing energetic little clowns it seems to me like they'd be talented at learning tricks. Is that true?

 

[Mekaisto]

Absolutely, suns and other conures are fantastic at learning behaviours, mainly due to their very inquisitive and curious nature.

Getting them to repeat the motion on command is the hard part - they can be very stubborn

 

[Birdman666]

Pretty much all conures make good trick birds.

My sun could fly to me on command. He could shoot a basketball into a net. He could ride a little tech deck skateboard across the coffee table. He could turn around and roll over on command. He would lay on his back in the palm of my hand. He could roll a little bowling ball down the lane. And there were probably a couple of others I am forgetting...

My Jenday did all of those same tricks, except she didn't like the little skateboards. THAT BIRD ONCE BOWLED A PERFECT GAME!

My dusky conure could do all that PLUS kick a soccer ball into a net, PLUS shoot a hockey puck into the same net using a little toy hockey stick.

We were working on birdie putt-putt golf when he died.

 

[riddick07]

I haven't taught my Sun any tricks yet besides up and learning about how rough is too rough when playing. He seems quite smart though and learned these two things fast enough. Though he doesn't seem so smart when he throws himself on his back and ends up rolling down my side in between the couch cushions

My green cheek female can play soccer too, though I hadn't thought about getting a net... She also knows how to hang upside down on command and will hang upside down by one foot if I tap one of her feet while shes upside down. She will also lay on her back if I ask. It took forever to get her to do even these tricks because shes the most stubborn, bull headed bird I own at the moment lol. She also chases the cockatoo around if I'm not watching her closely...poor Ivory.

I'm working on getting my female green cheek to fly to me on command but the wings are still new to her since she was clipped for so long and she still does the lean towards me when I'm calling for her. She will follow me around without me asking though so that can count I guess....

 

[Frumpydumple]

I haven't gotten our Sun to do ANY tricks, but he does say a few words.

 

[Ashleigh86]

Indy, our 5 month old Sun says "Hers a pretty bird" and also mimicks my laugh which is hilarious Right now I'm teaching her to wave with her foot, and she seems to be getting it already, and we are only a few days in. I just have to make sure I have her full attention or she'll just ignore me lol also I'm teaching her to "go potty" when she is on her perch which she does about 95% of the time now, so it's coming along! If I put my arms over my head she will fly to me They are super smart and playful so if you can find whatever motivates them they will figure out what you want! clicker training helps a lot too.

 

[Birdman666]

My two rescue conures were PURE EVIL!!!

We were rehome number five for those two, and they almost required a sixth...

Trick training, however, held their full attention, and instilled discipline and gave them good attention, where they only had bad attention to that point...

Once we started doing that stuff for 15-30 minutes a night, their behavior improved overnight, AND they became much more bonded to me than they were.

My Dusky was a competative ham... He couldn't stand another bird "one upping" him. I was teaching my sun conure to skateboard.... I didn't have to teach my Dusky. He snatched the little board away and hopped on... shot all the way across the coffee table, and flew off the end and onto the couch. Then got up and did a little conure victory dance...

It was quite entertaining!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Suns are clever little clowns - and my vet told me that teaching Skittles tricks is a great way to not only keep him occupied but is also a great way to bond with your bird. It also reinforces the 'master' role for you. Suns can become territorial and possessive, so by training your conure to act on command shows it to know who is in charge.

There are a number of videos of sun conures doing tricks on YouTube, you may want to check that out. Some even have channels that show you how to teach them tricks. So check out YouTube.

Some suns will even do tricks on their own. Most of that depends on the individual sun, but I find it helpful because then I know what area of tricks to look into training him. For example, Skittles likes things that move and make noise - so the tricks I teach him, I try to incorporate that into the trick.

 

[alcmene]

Pretty much all conures make good trick birds.

My sun could fly to me on command. He could shoot a basketball into a net. He could ride a little tech deck skateboard across the coffee table. He could turn around and roll over on command. He would lay on his back in the palm of my hand. He could roll a little bowling ball down the lane. And there were probably a couple of others I am forgetting...

My Jenday did all of those same tricks, except she didn't like the little skateboards. THAT BIRD ONCE BOWLED A PERFECT GAME!

My dusky conure could do all that PLUS kick a soccer ball into a net, PLUS shoot a hockey puck into the same net using a little toy hockey stick.

We were working on birdie putt-putt golf when he died.

That is all excellent and i may be consulting you about how to train these tricks because i seem to find myself in possession of a sun conure. :52: (you can check out my previous thread for updates of how that came to be if you're interested)

 

[Ashleigh86]

You tube has a lot of videos on how to train them to do tricks, and you can also google and find some good articles on it

 

[MikeyTN]

Yes any conures can learn to do tricks as the one I used to have does it pretty good. BUT I don't believe in getting a companion bird just because they can be good trick learning birds. That's the last thing anyone needs to worry about is can my bird do tricks. That's a false pretense on getting a companion parrot.

 

[alcmene]

Yes any conures can learn to do tricks as the one I used to have does it pretty good. BUT I don't believe in getting a companion bird just because they can be good trick learning birds. That's the last thing anyone needs to worry about is can my bird do tricks. That's a false pretense on getting a companion parrot.

I agree, but i never said i was planning on getting a sun just to do tricks. I was just wondering if they have an apptitude for it. Mental stimulation is so important. My thinking was that if suns seem to enjoy trick training, that training one to "perform" would be great brain work for it. AND burn off some of that endless conure energy

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Keeping your birds occupied helps to not only avoid boredom but also decreases the chances of having 'behavioral' issues. Training is a great way to keep your birds occupied and in line with who's in charge.

It's just that too often people get a bird with expectations and when the bird doesn't meet them, they lose interest in the bird and neglect it. It's a LOT more common than you might think.

One of the things that ANNOYS me most is whenever I take Skittles out for walks in the summer time - the FIRST thing people say after compliment his beautiful feathers is 'does he talk?', like all bird talk - which isn't true. But they have this false belief that all birds talk, all birds do any trick and so on. They are all individual personalities and you have to go with what you get.

I see lots of videos about suns doing things I'd love to see Skittles do, but I doubt he would do those things given his personality. But I don't want a 'reflect-a-bird' I want an individual one. It just makes me appreciate Skittles more for being unique and what he does do, I appreciate it for what it is - his way of being him.

To be honest, I think talking birds can be overrated. Yes, they are hilarious and its so sweet to see - but you ask anyone with a talking bird - once they start to speak they tend to repeat that phrase or word over and over - and they pick up on naughty words cause anything said with 'emphasis' gets their attention. I use profanity too much to even want a talking bird. Granted, most of my profanity is when I'm on the phone, but it's not something I want Skittles repeating - especially if that person happens to visit.

The best thing I can suggest is observe your birds - find out their individual personalities and focus tricks and training based on that. Suns are highly intelligent and they do have the 'capability' to talk and do tricks - but not every sun will talk and not every sun will do tricks.

 

[riddick07]

We have a cockatoo who only repeats the word 'Hello' or the phrase 'Hello Ivory'. We have a really bad habit of cursing and our nicknames for each other aren't exactly kid friendly. We were kind of worried she was going to pick something up but so far we have been lucky!