training a conure to fly to my hand?

[copps321]

what is the best way to go about teaching a conure to fly back to my hand on command? i dont have my conure yet but if possible i would like to teach him this. i will be getting him later today but i know i need to leave him just asking for future

 

[Beilana]

Not sure if this is the best but I have seen it work. It's called target training.
Start by taking a chop-stick, show your bird and every time your conure touches the end of the stick, give him/her a treat. Eventually you can use the stick to guide the bird anywhere you like.

There is also clicker training, or clicker/target training. You can google it. Here is a link I found of a step-by-step method Recall Training...Train your parrot to come to you.

Good luck!

 

[copps321]

thanks. and for those interested i am getting either a pinapple or cinnamen green cheek conure (got to decide when i go look at them later)

 

[Beilana]

Congrats on your new addition!!! Also welcome to the forum, I hope you stick around and enjoy your stay!

GCC's are such a joy, they can be nippy though so stock up on band-aids lol!

 

[apatrimo94]

Great advice and link given by Beilana. I'm actually doing this with my keet soon. She's used to the target training. Next instead of using a clicker, I'm going to use the command "Come" I'll be a few flaps away from her with the stick over my finger. She knows she gets rewarded when she touches it. So she will fly over touch, then I'll say "come" and reward her.

 

[Aussie Ben]

Welcome to the forum!

As has been mentioned, highly recommend target training. I am only just now entering flying recall using the target method, but it really does work. I have used it everywhere including their cages, perches, gyms etc, both my birds eagerly seek the target stick out, they even go and pick it up themselves hoping to receive a tasty treat lol.

 

[bogo1]

Agree with all advice given although I trained my cinnamon GCC (or perhaps Sam trained me) merely by using the word "here" when I let her out of the cage in AM and she wants my attention. She has learned that "here" means wherever there is a hand. She is super affectionate so her reward is the attention and whatever treats she can negotiate from us. All birds have their own personalities, and certain breeds have tendencies but at the risk of over generalization I would define the comparatively inexpensive GCC as a great family bird. Sam is about 18months old. She interacts happily with anyone who understands how to handle her and holds own in a bilingual household overrun with animals and teenagers. She wolf whistles and clearly says "Sam, Sammy, pretty bird, save the bird" and "too sad" usually when we cover her cage. She also uses an exact duplicate of the time finished four tones of our microwave to get people to come to her when she is bored. She loves trips from our yard to auto drives. She is tolerant of strangers. All in all she, like many of the conures is a great bird. I wish you much joy with your new pet. Just be patient and consistent and all should be well.

 

[Birdamor]

I don't use clickers or sticks or anything, I use words and movements. To train them to fly to me, I start by putting the bird on a table and I sit down next to it. I tap my right arm with the fingers of my left hand and call the bird's name and give the command (for example: "Sophie, come!") Immediately after I tap my arm I hold my left hand on the other side of my right arm (so my right arm is between the bird and my left hand) with a treat in it (like a sunflower seed, for example) so the bird needs to step on my arm to get to it. Once I get the bird to do that every time and without hesitation, I start moving my arm away farther and farther from the bird until the bird has to walk the length of the table to get to it. Once I get the bird to do that, I start holding my right arm in the air next to the table where the bird is standing, once I get the bird to jump onto my arm, I start moving it away farther and farther so the bird has to take a short flight first, then longer and longer. If you do this and you make sure the bird follows the command every time before you move on to the next step, you can get the bird to come to you from anywhere in the house.

 

[Aussie Ben]

What Birdamor and Bogo have said is quite correct, you don't necessarily 'need' target sticks and clickers, its just another method. Before clickers I taught my tiel to fly to me just with words of encouragement and a reward. I just find the target stick and clicker make things happen a little faster and more accurately, but you definitely don't require them.