Reddit reviews Getting Started: Clicker Training for Birds

First of all, as far as trust goes.... don't treat him like a dog that you can train to obedience and start thinking him more as a creature with a unique personality, and toddler-like intelligence. You cannot "scold" or punish a bird as intelligent as a grey, the only thing that works for training is 1) rewarding good behavior and 2) ignoring bad behavior. Punishments (including yelling, squirting with water, hitting, etc) get you nowhere as the bird will only associate these negative experiences with YOU and learn to hate/fear you. Tbh your bird sounds incredibly stressed and potentially abused (I'm not blaming you at all, I just want to stress how bad the situation sounds on our end).

I do think that you need to do as much research as physically possible before you start to tackle the care of this bird. First, research the needs of greys specifically. To stop his plucking, and begin forming some sort of positive relationship with him, you need to get his basic care situated.

Does he have a balanced and nutritious diet of pellets, fresh fruit and vegetables, grains, nuts, etc? Bad diets can exacerbate feather plucking and inhibit new feather growth. Next, does he have a large enough cage with A LOT of interesting toys? A busy bird is a happy bird, and if he has plenty of things to chew, swing on, or jangle around he is less inclined to be stressed or bored enough to pluck. Finally, does he have a reliable sleep schedule, is he constantly frightened by the other animals/yelling, is he interacted with for at least 2 hrs a day, etc? All of the negative things in his environment should be fixed, or else they will hinder any progress you make with training.

Once you have everything else situated, I suggest looking into clicker training. Check out this book, or sites on the web that can teach you about bird behavior, body language, and positive reinforcement training. You need to learn how to read him to figure out what makes him happy/fearful/aggressive, and also how to gain his trust. DO NOT just sit and stare at him without making noise! Birds are prey animals, and they become MORE freaked out when predators (especially those with forward facing eyes like us) stare at them because it means they might end up as a meal. Being too quiet is also a bad sign because that often signals danger in the wild. Instead, sit next to his cage and watch TV, read a book aloud, or play the radio. Soothing background noise, while he gets used to your presence will help him learn to trust you more.

I hope this info helps and I wish you luck!

I haven't had coffee yet today, so I apologize for being blunt here: you need to approach this with a lot more patience. You've only had him three weeks. That's not enough time for him to settle in after a big change. It's definitely not enough time to have worked through a training method, or for you to be at the end of your rope.

I highly recommend you take a step back from focusing on getting him to step up and start working on minimizing his stress and forming a bond with him. Stop cornering him to get him to step up. You're going to end up in a situation where you have a bird who is terrified of your hands, and undoing that is far more difficult and time consuming than doing things right from the start. Not to mention the stress it causes your bird.

I've had the most success with clicker training and target training. If you can give your bird a treat, you can clicker train him. Dog training clickers are cheap, and a chopstick works perfectly as a target stick.

The book I've seen recommended the most from folks I trust is Getting Started: Clicker Training for Birds by Melinda Johnson. I actually just ordered a copy so I stop recommending a book I haven't read. ;) I have clicker and target trained birds with a lot of success. It's very effective.

Everything about this method is positive. It's more like a game for your bird. You're building trust and learning to communicate. The initial part is the slowest (priming to the clicker, etc.) so stick with it. Keep training sessions short, maybe 10-15 minutes. You can do several a day, but you want to stop before you bird loses interest and end on a good note.

Parrots are very expressive and communicative. Listen to your bird's body language. He'll relax a lot more if you don't push him too far beyond his comfort zone. If he's acting nervous, back off until he's comfortable. There's no reason you can't have a happy bird who enjoys being handled, but it won't happen overnight.

Even if you know how to keep it healthy this is only half the battle. You need to research your birds temperament and how to properly train it. This is not the place to constantly post asking for help with every single thing the bird does that scares. This shows a lack of knowledge regarding bird behavior and training that could cause you to hurt your new relationship. Before you interact with the bird any further you need to do some hefty research into bird behavior and training. We all love to help on this subreddit, but you need to be a problem solver when you own a parrot. Their behavior can change as they age and any parrot owner should have an in depth knowledge of bird behavior and training to negate any bad behaviors before they become a serious issue. This book https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1890948152/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 ""Getting Started: Clicker Training for Birds" is a great book to look into. Good luck!

*Edit to add that I never called you or would call you stupid, just possibly a bit uneducated. I'm not judging, I just want whats best for the bird and you so you can have a healthy happy buddy and a great relationship with them.

I strongly recommend not clipping its wings. It clearly can fly well so clipping it at this stage would be very cruel. It is one thing to clip a bird who takes no interrest in flying or has been given little opportunity to. It is quite another to clip a bird who knows how to fly. There is a strong possibility that clipping it at this stage will cause behavioral issues and/or depression. Make sure you give it at least an hour or two to fly around in your house each day.

If you end up keeping it, I hope it makes a wonderful addition to your family. They are amazing birds. Things will go better for all involved if you do as much reading as you can. Learn about diet and caging. Also I can't recommend learning clicker training enough. It is a a great way for you and your children to interact and get to know the new addition to the family. It will also help with general behavior. Perhaps reading something like this would be a good place to start.

I wish you the best of luck! By the sounds of it she is a very sweet bird.

I'm having some success with a similar issue using this book: Clicker Training for Birds

but does anyone have a suggestion on how someone can get the birds to stop biting her if she can't see well enough to read their body language?

Thank you for your positive reply. This is a really good book on clicker training - I've used clicker training to teach one of my cockatiels how to fly (after he kept breaking feathers from falling like a rock), and my other two birds also responded very well to clicker training since they LOVE treats. You can probably get your cockatiels more seed motivated if you only offer seed/millet as treats occasionally, and switch their usual diet to a pellet diet (Roudybush or Zupreem naturals are good brands - but please be careful about the switching process). Also, this is a useful book on parrot training and behavior. Even if you aren't able to get the actual books/ebooks (though I recommend them) because you aren't able to use Amazon for example, you could also google search about clicker training/behavior, and you can post future topics here in the parrots sub to ask for specific advice. Don't give up.

I really recommend the book Clicker Training for Birds (http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Started-Clicker-Training-Birds/dp/1890948152/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410049591&sr=1-1&keywords=clicker+training+for+birds)

It was really interesting and very helpful. Check it out and I think you will see really great results (I did!)