How to Tame Frightened or Aggressive Parrots
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by Heike Ewing Ott Taming a frightened or aggressive parrot can be a big challenge. Here are some step-by-step instructions written by an experienced bird owner detailing how she has successfully tamed aggressive birds in the past. If you are searching for a slow, gentle way to approach the training of this type of bird, this article is for you. |
My experiences with cockatiels have been that their attitude is at least partly proportional to the length of their flight feathers. Here is how I do intensive taming with a frightened or aggressive bird.
Step 1: Catch the bird in a towel (2 people for this would be good) and clip its wings fairly severely. Put it back in the cage and let it calm down/recover for 24 hours.
Step 2: Open the cage and let the bird walk around on/outside the cage if he will come out. If not, stay with step 2 by leaving the cage door open for an hour or two each day until he is brave enough to emerge. After 4 days go on to step 3 anyway. Have a perch-sized stick handy - if the bird jumps or falls off the cage, get him to step onto the stick and return him to the cage.
Step 3: Approach the cage with the stick (a pencil works for a cockatiel) and try to get the bird to step up onto it, then off, repeatedly. When he will readily get up onto the stick, move to step 4. If the bird will not get on the stick from the cage, towel or catch him gently and and take him to a small, relatively empty room. (Bathroom, closet, utility room type). Close the door, place him on the floor, and sit down near him. Work with him on stepping onto the stick from the floor until he loses his fear of the stick. Then go back to the cage and complete step 3.
Step 4: With the bird on the stick perch at about waist level, try to get him to step onto your other forefinger. If he doesn't startle at the sound of your voice, start saying Up and Down. If he falls or jumps, pick him up with the stick and try again. When he will readily step onto your finger from the stick, start getting him off the cage with your finger. When he will reliably step on to your finger from the cage, go to step 5.
Step 5: Hopefully by now you know what one or two of the bird's favorite treats are. Offer one on your palm, or two fingers, so that he only has to reach out to get it. When he is comfortable with that, move the treat so he has to step onto your hand to get it. Then offer it between thumb and forefinger. When he will calmly and easily take the treat from your fingers or hand, go to Step 6.
Step 6: With the bird on your hand or finger, offer a treat. While he is eating it, gently reach up and touch the breast feathers. If he doesn't jump away, stroke the breast gently for a second or two, then offer another treat. Alternate stroking and treats until he doesn't pull away from the touch any more. Then slowly progress up the chest to the neck, around to the cheeks, and to the top of the head. Some birds will eventually let you go under the wings, too, some never will.
When step 6 is completed, you have a fairly calm, tame bird that is not really afraid of you any more. From here on, work on your own towards the things that you want the bird to do, such as talking, simple tricks, cuddling, etc. At any time if the bird gets overly stressed or freaks out, go back to the previous step for a day or two, then try to move on again.
Yes, this is a long, time-consuming, frustrating process, but it generally works and minimizes stress to the bird. I have successfully tamed/re-tamed wild-caught and never tamed, hand-fed then neglected, hand-fed then bred, and abused birds including cockatiels, mini-macaws, conures, a mealy amazon, CAGs, a B&G macaw, and cockatoos. The only bird it didn't work on was Winston the Severe Macaw, and I later found out that was because he hated women. Today he is his (male) owner's best buddy.
9 Comments on How to Tame Frightened or Aggressive Parrots »
January 8, 2008
Jeanne Andrew @ 12:31 pm:
HI, i WHOLE-HEARTEDLY AGREE WITH YOUR WAY OF TAMING YOUR BIRDS. iT IS A GREAT ARTICLE AND VERY WELL EXPLAINED! I recently acquired VERY FRIGHTENED
Cockatiels. Dont know their sex, because they are about 5-8 mo. old, I was told. They are free from a breeder. I LOVE THEM! However, they were with so many other cockatiels they are all bald, maybe from pecking or inbreeding I dont know.
I dont have bet nearby that cuts wings or for that matter even knows about birds at all, they they do fly well, haha. They are in a very large cage , adequate for them.
They were always being chased around when the breeder would go into their cage at his place to catch all the birds he was giving away. Needless to say these poor little guys (girls), are scared to death of hands. Now they are calming down some but one got out when I was changing their water and screaming as he banged into everything in the room , all of them became frantic , screaming and flying around. All that stress of the screaming and fluttering and him or her flying and banging into things scared ALL of them so badly. I dont really want to clip their wings because I love to let my other birds fly around for excersize and them return them to their cage. But these guys, how long will it take for them to trust me and Im pretty good with birds, but never had a severly frightened bird. So will it just take time? or will it EVER happen?
tHANK YOU jEANNE
bIRD LOVER!!
July 23, 2008
Victoria @ 11:35 am:
The best way to tame a bird is to clip the wings. If you do not have a local veterinary who specializes in birds you could always bring them to a local pet store to have thier wings clipped. The reason it is best to have the wings clipped when taming is because when they have thier wings and get spooked they are more likely to fly into something(such as a window trying to escape) and it can lead to seriously injuries and in some cases possibly cause a bird to break its neck. As far as this article goes, I think this is a very accurate way of taming birds and in most cases can be very accurate. I have a quaker Parrot whom I rescued from a neglectful environment and she is doing quite well now. She is very aggressive in protecting her home but has now come out of her cage and is even climbing on my shoulder and taking a walk around the house with me. I wish you luck with your birds and hope you have many happy years with them.
November 17, 2008
michael @ 8:18 pm:
Hi, I have two cockatiels and I want them to be tame, one of the cockatiels comes onto my leg or shoulder but only when I am holding our recently weaned lovebird. I can get the one cockatiel to go onto a stick but she (I think) has quite a hard bite and I am frightned that I am going to get bit if I try to get her to go onto my hand.
Thank you, Michael
February 15, 2009
quinsi @ 9:12 pm:
Hi,
I recently rescued a Quaker, after haveing it seen by a vet. i decided to keep it, he refuses to let me touch him at all. he fights tooth and nail. is there anything anyone can tell me to help me out. don't know what to do to calm this bird down, he try's to eat the cage to get out and he just rips every toy i give him.
March 1, 2009
Sheryl @ 2:01 pm:
quinsi, Hi I 'm in the same boat as you are. I recentley recieved a rescued quaker. Your story is just like mine. I was wondering if you got any information yet that you can share to help me with my quaker. Thank you Sherri
May 1, 2009
jeff @ 9:58 pm:
Our quaker bites very hard if we approach him on or in his cage. After he is on the floor or someplace he is more calm. Approaching him/her with a treat or fingers ends in pain and blood on my part. Any suggestions
May 2, 2009
Liz @ 11:20 am:
I got my quaker Guapo last summer, I'm his 4th owner and he's only 2. He was ABSOTLUTELY VICIOUS whe I got him and the best thing I ever did was to invest in the taming and training tools from birdtricks.com! I thought I was probably getting scammed but I was willing to try anything to stop getting attacked and make Guapo a happy healthy bird….within 3 days of following their advice he was stepping up and learning tricks. He has completely stopped biting, feather plucking and screaming! It works and any parrot owner should do themselves and their kid the favor of purchasing this system!
It's awesome! And no, I don't work for them, I'm just a first time parrot owner that got the help that we needed! Try it it's inexpensive and guaranteed to work…AND IT DOES!!
May 9, 2009
Paul @ 11:45 am:
I am curious if the last post recommending birdtricks.com is one of their staff LOL!
I have in a way tried all this on my cag with failed results. so i'll step up the steps again and we'll see.
May 26, 2009
Sarah @ 10:21 am:
How Do You Clip Quaker Parrots Wings ?
Please Help me I Need To Tame My Quaker Parrot !