TRILL : Bird Breeds

Training your bird is a relatively simple and fun way to bond with your feathered friends. Here are some simple steps to put you and your bird on the right path towards successful training.

Gaining their trust
As with most animals, the key to successful training is to first gain their confidence and trust. It is never too early to start training your bird but it is important to remember that successful training takes a lot of patience and practice from both of you! If you have recently brought your bird home for the first time, allow a couple of days for it to settle down, then approach the cage quietly, repeating a two-word phrase such as 'pretty boy'. This helps your bird become familiar with you and it will soon feel comfortable in your company. Once your bird accepts these approaches, you can move onto something more advanced such as finger training.

Finger training
Once you have gained your bird's confidence, try extending your index finger alongside a perch, raising it under the bird's breast until it hops on. Remember to keep your movements slow and even to avoid startling your bird.

Once your bird is happy to sit on your finger, move your hand slowly around the cage, transferring your pet from perch to perch while speaking to it in a soft, soothing tone. After a day or two of practice, you should be able to withdraw your hand from the cage with your bird perched on your finger.

Speaking
One of the keys to successfully training your bird to talk is repetition. If you continue to repeat the same two-word phrase as often as possible, your patience will be rewarded and soon enough, your pet will have said its first words. Once it has those words down, add another phrase and repeat it until your bird picks that up too. You can continue with this strategy until your bird has built up an extensive vocabulary. With a little patience, many birds (budgerigars in particular) can be taught to repeat their first words within about six weeks, and you can build up their vocabulary to over 100 words. But remember, any bird that has not talked during the first nine months of its life is unlikely to ever do so, although it is not necessarily impossible.

Socialising
Under normal circumstances, if you pay a lot of attention to your bird, it will be content even if alone in the cage. However, if you or your family are out a lot and your bird gets left alone for long periods, it is only fair to provide another companion. If your decide to introduce another bird, it is worth noting that birds, like humans, need time to get to know one another, and there may be some squabbling amongst them at first. If this persists, you should separate the birds for a few days and then reintroduce them to each other. Sometimes a talking bird will stop talking when they are joined in the cage by a friend, although occasionally one bird will mimic the other, effectively teaching it how to speak.