Ask An Expert: Steve Martin & Staff

Answered by Steve Martin & Staff:

Hello Mary! My name is Chris Jenkins, and I am one of the Senior Avian Trainers at Natural Encounters, Inc. I recently received your question about training your budgie, and I'd be happy to help make some suggestions.

First off, I'd like to commend you for seeking to further your knowledge of training and to continue to grow your relationship with your bird. It sounds like the two of you already have a great relationship, and it's great that you want to try to find a way to make it even better. At Natural Encounters, Inc., we strive to train all of our animals through a system of positive reinforcement -- put simply, whenever an animal does something that we like, we make sure that animal gets a reward (or, as you put it, giving the animal "rewards when he acts as requested"). If the animal does something else or chooses not to do the desired behavior, we simply ignore it and try again later. Too many people attempt to teach their animals to do things using punishment, and, while it can be effective in some situations and can produce results, it can be confusing, frustrating, and (in its worst form) painful for the animal, and produces a wide variety of unwanted side affects. That you understand the importance of positive reinforcement puts you one step ahead of many pet owners, and should provide the backbone of all the training that you do with Pepito.

Here at Natural Encounters, Inc., we like to think of "training" as something that occurs each and every time we interact with an animal. Training, in its most basic form, occurs when an animal learns to direct its behavior in such a way as to receive a desired consequence. Without really realizing it, you've been training your bird since the day it came into your home! All of the things that you've listed above -- approaching you as you move near the cage, stepping on your hand, flying to you -- are all behaviors that your bird has learned to perform. Many of the questions that we receive from companion bird owners are requests about how to get their birds to do the things your bird is already doing -- give yourself a pat on the back, because you've already taught your bird more than many companion birds learn to do in their lifetimes!

What it sounds like you are looking for is where to start with a more formal system of training, where you are setting goals for a behavior you want and then trying to figure out how best to go about the process of teaching those behaviors. I can give you insight into how we do this with our animals, and I think you'll find that the same system can be highly effective for you as well.

When we set out to train a behavior, we first have to define what the final behavior will look like. Behavior, by definition, is anything that can be observed, so we try to be as specific as possible -- for example, "I want the bird to walk over and grab a string and shake it with its beak to make it ring a bell." The better we can define the behavior itself, the easier it will be for us to break the behavior down into smaller approximations, the "baby steps" that the bird will take until it is performing the final behavior from start to finish.

In any training, it's important to be able to tell your bird when it is doing something right. Depending on the behavior that is being performed, it may be difficult for you to give Pepito a treat at the exact moment that he is doing what you want him to be rewarded for. In order to let our birds know when they have done something right, we at Natural Encounters, Inc., use what we call a "bridge," normally a quick verbal "good!" The use of the bridge tells the bird that what they have done at that exact moment was good, and that a treat is on its way. It is called a bridge because it "bridges" the gap in time between when the desired behavior has occurred and when the animal actually gets its reward for doing it. When we say "good!" to our birds, it is the same as when a dog trainer makes a clicking noise with a clicker, or when a marine mammal trainer blows their high-pitched whistle.

As far as what to use as a reward during your training, only your bird can tell you what it likes. Many parakeet owners I have talked to say that their birds like millet above all other treats, while others prefer small seed treats you can find at most pet stores. It should be noted, however, that some birds seem to ignore food treats altogether and instead prefer the presence of their favorite person or toy as a reward. Since your bird eats from your hand it should be no problem getting him to take treats from you during training, although if your bird likes being handled, then a small scratch may be an equally effective reward as well.

As for what to train your bird, the possibilities are only limited by what your bird is physically capable of doing, and by your own imagination! If there is a particular activity that your bird enjoys doing, using that as a starting point may be a great way to get things started. For example, if there's a particular toy or object that your bird likes to play with, you might start out by bridging and reinforcing Pepito every time he touches his beak to that object. This is what is known as target training. When an animal learns that it gets a treat when it touches a particular object with a particular part of its body, you can start to move this object (or "target") around, and the bird will likely move to where the object is in order to be able to touch it and earn a treat. Target training can be the basis of a wide variety of behaviors - going from point A to point B, maneuvering through a maze or obstacle course, or turning around in a circle can all be taught by using target training. The key is to think about what small steps need to be performed in order for the whole behavior to occur, and then training these smaller steps one at a time, only moving ahead when the animal is performing the current step each time without hesitation. One of the nice things about breaking behaviors into steps is that if for some reason during your training you find that Pepito gets lost, confused, or frustrated, all you need to do is go back a step or two until he's back on track again.

Another method of training is what is known as capturing. Instead of teaching an animal to perform a behavior by teaching it in small steps, capturing consists of taking a behavior that the animal is already doing on its own, and then trying to put that behavior on cue so it can be performed when you request it. For example, there may be a particular sound or whistle that you've heard Pepito make in the past. In order to get this behavior on cue, any time you hear him make that sound, immediately bridge the behavior (that is, say "good!"), and then give him a treat. From doing this over and over, the bird will likely figure out the connection between this behavior and the treats that you're giving, and will likely begin to offer it more often. You may notice that every time Pepito makes the desired noise, beforehand he flaps his wings or does some sort of behavior just before the noise is about to occur. This is a good time to present whatever cue you want him to learn, maybe a certain gesture of the hand or you saying the word "sing". When you see this first behavior, you can give your cue, bridge after the noise is presented, and then walk over and provide the reinforcement. It sounds like a lot, but with practice it becomes very second nature -- the basic order is 1) present cue, 2) behavior is performed, 3) present the bridge ("good!"), 4) present the reward. This will, of course, take some practice for both of you, but sticking with it and just doing it over and over again is the best way to cement in your bird's mind exactly what it is that you're looking for.

Another behavior that a lot of people like to train is to teach the bird to wave. While the behavior itself seems fairly simple, training it can be a fairly detailed process. There are many ways to do this, and I'll share with you how we do it with our birds. You mentioned that your bird steps on your finger. This is the where we start with our birds. When we present a hand for a bird to step on, the first thing they will do is lift a foot up. As soon as we see this, we gently pull our hand away, say "good!" and then give them a treat. This behavior of picking up the foot is the start of a very crude wave, and a great beginning. We then repeat this process again and again (present hand, watch foot go up, pull away hand, bridge and reinforce; present hand, watch foot go up and then maybe down a little, bridge and reinforce; etc, etc) until we are getting what looks to us like a wave. Budgies are very small and very quick, so you'll have to be equally quick and accurate in the timing of your bridging while you do this, otherwise your bird may think that it's simply supposed to jump to your finger. At the same time, we want to make sure that in training this new behavior we do not end up simply punishing the behavior of actually stepping up, as this is something we still want the bird to do when we ask for it. Because of this, as soon as you are confident that the bird understands the concept of putting the foot up to gain reinforcement, you'll then want to start changing the cue to something other than just bringing your hand in (we often do this by introducing a small "wiggle" of the finger on the hand we are presenting, and then with each repetition making the wiggle bigger while at the same time fading out the original cue by not bringing the hand itself in as close anymore). By presenting this new cue from a slightly farther distance, we help clarify our communication to the bird about what it is that we are asking for (i.e. -- a stable finger close up means "step up", while a wiggling finger further away means "wave").

Once the bird learns that your new cue means "foot up", you might be able to get a bigger wave by only bridging and reinforcing Pepito for waves that are at least as big as a larger criteria than what you were accepting before. This process takes advantage of what is known as an "extinction burst." The extinction burst happens when an animal, in seeing that it's no longer getting reinforcement for performing a behavior at a level at which it used to get reinforced for, will make a larger, more robust attempt at the behavior before giving up. An example of this phenomenon in the human world might be raising your voice to get someone's attention: you first say "Hey..." and get no response, so then you offer a slightly louder "HEY..." and still get no response, so you then holler "HEEEYYY!!!" If you don't get a response after that, you might simply give up. In Pepito's case, he might make a small wave once and not get a response, then another small wave and not get a response, and then try a slightly bigger wave to see if that works. If he then gets bridged and reinforced for this larger wave, it's likely that he'll stick to bigger waves from then on. The trick here, though, is to keep your criteria reasonable -- if you try to wait too long for a bigger wave, Pepito will likely just stop waving altogether. Rest assured, this process will take time. We've found in our experience that it's better to work with our birds in frequent, short training sessions than in longer ones that occur with larger gaps of time between them. One of our mantras at Natural Encounters, Inc., is "Repetition builds confidence", not only for the bird doing the behavior but also for the person presenting the cues, so practice and clear communication will be your greatest assets as you attempt to train this (or any other) behavior.

The final thing that I can offer you in your training adventure is a simple piece of advice: remember to be patient. Even the smallest, simplest behaviors may not be so small and simple in the mind of your bird, but what we have found time and time again is that repetition is the best way for you and your bird to build confidence in one and other. Just as the old saying goes, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again! Another saying that we have at Natural Encounters, Inc., is that "The animal is never wrong." If our birds are falling short of our expectations in their behaviors, we take responsibility for it and say that it is probably a breakdown in our own communication to them that is causing the problem. Two-way communication -- that is, communication where we are being clear in our cues, criteria, bridges, and reinforcements, and where we are always paying attention to the body language and behavior of the animal in front of us as this is how they communicate back to us their understanding of what we are asking -- is the single most important tool we have as animal trainers. If an animal is not interested in participating with us in training at a certain time, we simply walk away and try again later. Giving our animals the power to tell us when they are and aren't interested in playing "the training game" is a way to give them power over their environment, and an animal that is empowered is one that will be happier, healthier, and more confident, three goals that we should strive to achieve each and every day with our birds.

I hope that what I've written above gives you some idea of the many possibilities that lie ahead for you and Pepito where training is concerned, and gives you an idea of where you might get started to begin to make some of these ideas become a reality. If you would like to learn more, I suggest you begin by checking out our website, http://www.naturalencounters.com, where you can find a variety of articles on bird training, enrichment, and behavior that may be helpful in your efforts to continue to learn about Pepito and how to continue to build and improve your relationship with him.

Thank you again for writing to us, Mary. Best of luck in your training endeavors, and we look forward to hearing about your future successes!

Sincerely,

Chris Jenkins
Senior Avian Trainer
Natural Encounters, Inc.

Answered by Steve Martin & Staff:

Hello Crystal, My name is Miranda DeVries and I am an avian trainer with Steve Martin's Natural Encounters, Inc. First, I would like to commend you for seeking help so quickly for Joey and your husband, Evan. It says a lot about your compassion for Joey that you want him to have a positive and reinforcing relationship with everyone in your household.

My first thoughts when reading your question was that any man who enters Joey's life after the abuse and mistreatment he may have suffered by his previous male owner may have to start his relationship with Joey basically from scratch. The past does not equal the present, however, and despite what may have occurred in the past you and your husband have the power to shape and modify the behavior you're seeing now. This may sound a little daunting at first but with lots of positive reinforcements and interactions I believe Joey and Evan can have a relationship that they both are happy with.

You are well on your way to helping Evan and Joey build a positive relationship by not forcing Evan on Joey. Forcing a bird to be around someone or do something that makes the bird fearful can lead to more aggressive behaviors, even biting. Any interactions Evan and Joey have right now should be when Joey is in his cage because from your question you say that is the only place Joey will take treats from Evan. I do not recommend that Evan read to Joey because from your question it would seem that the simple presence of Evan is a negative experience for Joey right now since he may not trust Evan. I love your idea of having Evan feed Joey his favorite treats. The treat Evan gives Joey is something positive that he will begin to associate with your husband. You want to make sure, though, that when Evan does this the body language that Joey is presenting is positive and calm, and that he is not displaying possible signs of fear or aggression such as quick, jerking body movements, feathers slicked tightly against his body, or alarm calling. If Joey does present Evan with negative body language Evan should simply walk away from his cage. Walking away from the cage allows Joey to have power over his environment. Evan can simply return later and give Joey a treat when he is presenting positive body language. By giving Joey the power to make Evan leave if he is feeling uncomfortable, and limiting their time together to those instances when Joey's behavior suggests that he is feeling comfortable about Evan's presence, this will only help both Evan and your bird decrease the amount of negative interactions they have, therefore making their overall history together a more positive one in total. After the positive interactions of Evan giving Joey his treat have occurred for awhile you and your husband might notice that Joey looks at Evan when he enters the room or moves toward his food bowl before he even gets the treat.

After Evan can give Joey a treat in his bowl (that is both positive and reinforcing to both) he can start to give him treats from his hand while Joey sits nicely on his perch. At first Evan can bait Joey away from his bowl by showing him a treat in his hand over by Joey's perch. Evan can eventually fade out the bait and just use a hand motion to send Joey to his perch and feed him through the cage. Just remember if Joey shows Evan any negative body language (behavior) Evan should simply walk away and return when Joey's behavior is more positive – the basic rule that we follow in all our training is to reward behaviors that we like and to ignore the ones that we don't. We always strive to give our birds the power to choose whether or not to participate in our training sessions. If our birds choose not to participate, by displaying body language such as the examples mentioned above, we simply leave with the treats and try again later when they offer body language that is calm and inviting, such as still body posture with loose feathering, or walking towards the side of the cage where we are standing.

Once Joey is comfortable with Evan coming up to his cage and feeding him, Evan may even try getting some of Joey's behaviors on cue while still in his cage. The behavior could be simply a pleasing sound that Joey makes or targeting a toy with his beak. When training these behaviors, if Evan finds he cannot give Joey his treat quickly after the correct behavior is performed, he can use a bridge. A bridge is a signal to the animal that what it has just done at that exact moment was good, and that reinforcement is on its way – it gets its name because it "bridges" the gap in time between when the animal has performed the desired behavior and when the rewards is presented to the animal for performing the behavior. We at Natural Encounters, Inc., normally use a quick verbal ‘good' as a bridge. As was suggested in your question, you can also give a click with a clicker. Evan should keep a handful of treats on him and whenever he hears Joey make the noise or do whatever behavior he decides, he can bridge Joey and give him the treat. When Joey is making the noise (or performing the behavior) consistently Evan can start to cue him for it. A cue can be anything at all (verbal or hand signal) that lets the bird know that you want him to make that noise or perform that behavior. Birds are extremely visual and tend to pick up on hand cues easier than verbal cues. Evan may notice that every time Joey performs the desired noise/behavior, he first flaps his wings or does some sort of behavior just before the noise/behavior is about to occur. When Evan sees that, he can cue Joey for the desired behavior, bridge after it is presented, and then walk over and provide the reinforcement. The behavior itself can be something very simple at first, such as training Joey to touch or hold a toy that is in his cage, and if both Joey and Evan enjoy the interactions it entails then you can move on to more complicated behaviors from there.

Once Evan and Joey have a comfortable relationship within the cage they can start working on their relationship outside of the cage. Depending on their comfort level with one another and Evan's criteria of what he wants his relationship with Joey to be, he may even choose to work on stepping Joey up out of his cage using either his hand or a more stable tool like a stick or T-perch. While this may seem like a simple behavior at first glance, the process of teaching a bird to do this using positive training methods can actually be quite a detailed and lengthy process that should never be rushed. If you are interested in learning more about the steps involved in training a bird to step up using positive reinforcement, please let us know and we'd be happy to provide you with further details. The key to all this is that Evan should continue to reinforce the behavior that he likes, allow Joey's body language to shape his own, and in doing so diligently I think you will be amazed at the progress both your bird and your husband will be able to make. In your email you say that Joey is currently fleeing from Evan when he approaches. If Evan can learn to read Joey's subtle signs of discomfort, Evan can take steps now to make sure it doesn't get to that point with the two of them again. If Evan slowly approaches Joey with a treat and Joey's feathers become tight or his posture changes suggesting that he wants to move away, Evan should freeze and take a small step back. If Joey's feathers soften and his weight shifts to a comfortable low position, Evan can then slowly proceed forward, repeating this process and truly allowing Joey to tell Evan how quickly or slowly (or even whether or not) he can approach. This process gives Joey power by allowing him to make Evan retreat with just the slightest change in body language, and will make Joey much more comfortable with Evan's presence overall.

Crystal, I hope the above helps Evan and Joey and even yourself build a more positive relationship. If you have any further questions I recommend our website http://www.naturalencounters.com, which features our responses to companion parrot questions such as yours that we have received over the years, articles on bird behavior, training, and enrichment, and information on the companion parrot owner workshops that we offer several times a year at our training facility in Winter Haven, FL. Best of luck to you all!


Sincerely,


Miranda DeVries
Avian Trainer
Natural Encounters, Inc.

Answered by Steve Martin & Staff:

Hello Neka,
Thank you for your question about Charlie. I suspect the tail feather you found on the bottom of his cage is the result of a normal molt pattern.

Most birds loose and replace their feathers once a year. This process usually takes three or four months, and sometimes even longer depending on the species of bird. The feathers are molted, or replaced, a few at a time so the bird does not loose its flight ability, and each feather takes a few weeks to grow back in. You might notice that Charlie has some new feathers growing in at this time, and that there are several small body feathers around the cage as they are replaced with new feathers. You might also notice an increase in small pieces of feather shafts that are discarded as Charlie preens the excess material off the new feathers.

It is important to know that if Charlie’s wing feathers were clipped he will replace those clipped feathers with new complete feathers. Soon, he will have all his flight feathers grown in and he will be capable of flight. Whether or not he has good control of that flight skill or not is partially determined by the amount of flight experience he had when he was young. If Charlie did not learn to fly when he was very young then it is likely that he will have poor control of his flight when the new feathers grow in. This may result in Charlie crashing into things when he is frightened and tries to fly. However, with time, Charlie can learn to control his flight once the new feathers have grown in. It is up to you to decide if you want to have Charlie’s wings clipped again after his molt or not. But, it is important to be aware that once Charlie’s wing feathers have started to grow back his flight abilities will improve to the point he can fly long distances. This is especially important for people who take their parrots outside without any confinement such as a cage or carrier.

Steve

Answered by Steve Martin & Staff:

Hello Cathy,

I believe the best place to start is to simply catch the bird in the act of pooping while on top of its cage. If you see him poop, reinforce the behavior by giving the bird a treat, or something else he likes, such as a scratch on the head, verbal praise and attention, etc. If the bird likes being with you, you might even pick him up just after he poops to reinforce the pooping behavior.

If you are really attentive to your bird’s body language and learn his rate of pooping, or how often he generally poops in a given amount of time, you can anticipate when he feels the urge to go and put him back on the cage then wait for him to go. You might find that you will put him back on his cage every 15 minutes or so. You might also pick him up and put him on the cage when you see him going to one of his current favorite "pooping places." If you wait long enough while he is on the cage, he will eventually poop and you can pick him up, praise him, give him a treat, etc., to reinforce the behavior. At this time you can also start putting in a cue for him to poop. All you have to do is say the word “poop,” or whatever word you want him to associate with the action. It really doesn’t matter what word or sentence you use as a cue, and you can even use a hand gesture or other visual cue. In the beginning you should say the word when you see him beginning to shows signs that he is about to defecate. Gradually you should start saying the cue word before he shows the signs so he can learn to understand the cue is a signal for a specific behavior that you want him to perform. Once he has learned the pooping behavior on cue, you should be able to cue the behavior in other areas, such as when you hold him over a trashcan or when he is sitting on a perch away from his cage.

Remember, behavior is strongly influenced by its consequences. So, whatever happens immediately after a behavior will help determine whether or not the behavior will occur again. The more you reinforce the pooping behavior with experiences the bird likes, the more likely it is that the bird will do the behavior again. Another important point to remember is to ignore unwanted behavior. If he makes a mistake and poops somewhere other than at his cage, just ignore it. The best training involves using positive reinforcement to train behaviors, and avoiding aversives, or things that the bird dislikes, to try and decrease the occurrence of a behavior. This is actually called punishment, and is usually a poor way to train animals. When you arrange the environment and set the bird up to succeed, and focus on positive reinforcement while avoiding negative interactions, I suspect you will be amazed at what your bird can learn.

Best of luck with the “poop training.”

Steve

Answered by Steve Martin & Staff:

Hello Renate,
Thank you for this interesting question. It is obvious that you are a good provider and caregiver for your little ducorps cockatoo (one of my favorite birds years ago was a ducorps). I appreciate that you take the time and effort to provide him with safe enrichment items. However, parrots can sometimes make even the safest enrichment items dangerous.

As you know parrots may chew on almost anything they get their beaks on. There are probably many purposes for this chewing, only some of which we can guess at. Chewing and tearing apart items is a great way for a parrot to play with and investigate an object. Wild parrots often chew on branches, leaves, husks, etc., shredding them into small pieces that they drop to the ground. I believe chewing on wood helps a parrot keep its beak in good shape. I often give my parrots things to chew on for enrichment, exercise, and to help keep their beaks clean and well-coped. In fact, I have never had to cope, or trim, a parrot's beak in over 40 years of keeping parrots.

I think it is very rare for a parrot to eat and pass wooden pieces. As you already know, parrots often chew apart objects such as wood, rope, plastic, etc. Most of the time these items are just chewed into small pieces spread over the bottom of the cage. You mentioned that there is wood in your bird's droppings. Is it possible that tiny pieces of the wood he has chewed have fallen on the bottom of the cage and become mixed with his feces? I have had a few shocking discoveries myself when I found feces mixed in with tiny pieces of wood. At first, I thought the bird had passed the pieces of wood, but on further investigation it became apparent that the feces were deposited on top of the pieces of wood and made it look like the bird passed the wood. However, if your bird is actually passing wood, then I believe it is a serious situation that needs to be addresses quickly before the bird injures itself.

The first step should be a consultation with a veterinarian. You might pose your question to one of the avian veterinarians on this site to get their opinion. However, you can never go wrong taking your bird to a qualified avian veterinarian for an examination.

It is possible that increasing the activity level of your bird can have a positive impact on his wood chewing/eating behavior. I am happy to see you have hemp and sisal rope for your bird. I have not used hemp, but I know my birds do very well with the sisal rope. It is natural and safe for the birds. It gives them lots of exercise and plenty of enrichment. I suggest you try to set up an area where the bird has plenty of room to exercise outside of the cage. Ideally it would be an area where the bird can climb around on natural tree branches, sisal rope, etc. These play areas are great for birds when the owner is there to monitor their behavior. However, if left alone a parrot might get off of this play area and wander around the house and get into trouble. That's why I recommend a very large cage. Most of our parrots are in cages that are about four to six feet wide, by six to eight feet deep, and seven feet high. A cage this size can offer enough room for a parrot to fly from one end to the other and still leave room for plenty of toys, branches and other enrichment items. The cages we use come from a company called Corner's Limited. This company makes cages mostly for zoo animals. Their cages are custom designed and usually less expensive than even smaller sized parrot cages.

Also, I suspect your bird is more likely to chew and eat wood when you are not around. So, the challenge is to find a way to entertain the bird when you are gone. I often recommend to people who have a single bird that they leave alone while they are at work all day that they consider getting a companion parrot for their bird. Even if you do not put the two birds together, they can offer each other some level of comfort just being in adjacent cages. These days there are many parrots available for adoption through various rescue centers, sanctuaries, etc. Wild parrots are rarely seen alone. They are almost always in groups, or with at least with a companion. I suspect a single parrot in someone's house would feel much more comfortable with another bird around. I also suspect a bird that is comfortable will be less likely to exhibit aberrant behavior, like eating wood. If you do decide to get a partner for your parrot and want to house them together, be careful to take out any boxes, or other dark areas that they might want to try and nest in. Also be very careful about how you introduce the birds to one another. It is always best to take it slow and very cautious when introducing new birds to each other. Lastly, keep in mind that there is a chance that two birds together could develop a strong bond that might influence the relationship you currently have with your bird. So, if you do decide to get another bird it will be important to keep your relationship with both birds as strong as possible. You can do this with lots of interactions with the individual birds and plenty of positive reinforcement.

I hope these suggestions have given you some ideas and maybe some strategies to try with your bird.

All my best,

Steve Martin