Dear Parrot Lover,

Parrots are amazingly spectacular creatures. With their bright colors and equally bright minds, they are the envy of all other creatures. People understand this and the pet parrot population has increased exponentially over the last few years because of this growing belief.

Unfortunately parrot ownership does not necessarily equate to a happy parrot ownership. That beautiful bird has a loud voice and she is not afraid to use it! She has somehow turned from being sweet and lovable to becoming an angry and volatile being. This transition has taken place over a few weeks, if not months, but because the changes have been so subtle you most likely did not even realize it. Then all of sudden it dawns on you that your sweet parrot is now a mean little thing.

Your first line of defense here should be to rule out any medical conditions. When was the last time you took your parrot to see the vet for a check up? It is recommended that parrots receive at least one check up yearly with an Avian Certified Veterinarian. So if your parrot has not had her check up this year, take her in as soon as you can.

Once you have ruled out any medical issues then consider your parrot’s age. She may be in or approaching or teenage years. This age in parrots is similar to the terrible twos in toddlers. They’ll act out whenever they can, scream as loud as they can, and literally throw their toys out of their cage just because they can.

Try to see if you can figure out a pattern regarding your parrot’s behavior. The best way to do this is by keeping a diary – a parrot behavior diary. Write down the time of day, location of your parrot, who was in the room with your parrot, who wasn’t in the room with your parrot, did your parrot just eat?, was your parrot inside or outside her cage? Use these questions to identify the conditions surrounding your parrot’s actions. If you can figure out a pattern then use that and try to avoid or encourage the correct behavior by controlling your parrot’s stimuli.

If your parrot’s actions are simply due to hormonal changes then there isn’t much that you can really do. Just practice plenty of patience. Don’t handle your parrot unnecessarily and give her as much space as you can. Don’t feel discouraged or hurt when she no longer wants to play with you.

Instead, use this time for some constructive training. But do not be too strict with this type of exclusive parrot training. Your parrot is very impressionable at this time of her life.

Bird Learning 101

Parrot Learning Skills

Click here to see easy ways to train your parrot

Have you ever wondered how smart your parrot actually is or why he learns the way he learns?

Parrots are actually quite smart little critters. A Cornell Study from 2011 helped show a few fun facts about parrots that can help you with training your own bird. First, parrots have relatively large brains for the size of their heads, indicating a higher intelligence. Second, the study found that baby parrots have their own individual name (signature call) that is directly learned from their parents. The baby learns it by mimicry rather than being born with a distinct call. These calls help to identify the bird by gender, mate, and bird grouping (http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2011/07/parrots-learn-their-names-their-parents)

The takeaway from this study for bird owners is that training is key to bird ownership. Parrots crave that interaction with their family. In the absence of other birds, you are that family. This is also why they seek to vocally interact with you and mimic you.

Click here to read more parrot learning

Training Your Bird

Because he does have a larger brain than many other birds or animals, it also means that he needs that mental stimulation. It is harder to achieve the right balance in captivity than it is in the wild.

There are many components to creating the right balance, but training ranks highly on the list. It works his mind and also gives him the interaction with you, which as we discussed already, he craves and needs.

In the absence of training and balance, human perceived bad behaviors can form such as biting, screaming, feather plucking, and other potentially harmful behaviors.

Click here to learn more training your parrot

Learning How to Train Your Bird

The Bird Tricks training system is one easy way to learn all about bird training. It is a system created by bird professionals, and it works to help you better understand your bird. Not only will your bird build a better bond with you and trust you, but you’ll learn to better understand him too. Plus, the training will help relieve bad behaviors and create new (and even fun ones).

Bird Tricks can put you on the right training path!

Learn more about the Bird Tricks training system

Regards,
Nathalie Roberts

Dear Parrot Lover,

Everyone who owns a parrot knows how noisy they can be, but none more so than those owners of parrots who continually scream for attention.

These screams can be shrill and ear piercing or they can be just plain loud and annoying.

The trick is to properly identify your parrot’s screams to rule out any other probable causes for him screaming. Parrots do scream for a variety of reasons; health issues being one of them. If your parrot screams every time you touch him or every time he eats, drinks or goes to the bathroom, you should make an appointment to see your board certified Avian veterinarian immediately.

If you are unsure why your parrot is screaming, then consider keeping a diary. Make a note of the time, date, and any factors that are evident whenever your parrot starts screaming. If, after some time, you notice a pattern emerging whereby your parrot is only screaming when you walk out of the room
or when you just come home, then your parrot is definitely screaming for your attention.

This type of screaming is truly unwarranted behavior and should be stopped as quickly as possible. Understand though, that parrot screaming cannot be completely eliminated; only truly diminished. A parrot will still scream as it is part of his wild flock mentality. Therefore parrots are usually the most vocal and loud during dawn and dusk. You should allow this screaming to occur as it feeds a natural instinct.

Become very aware of how you interact with your parrot, especially when he is screaming. Make sure that you are not inadvertently rewarding his screaming by rushing over to him as soon as he starts up screaming. Always try hard to actually ignore your parrot’s excessive screaming and try not to acknowledge him when he is screaming. Furthermore, do not look or talk to your parrot either when he is having one of his parrot screaming tantrums. In fact, it would be better for both of you if you simple walk out of the room and do your absolute best to ignore the screaming.

However, as soon as your parrot stops screaming for a few minutes you must quickly reward him with lots of praise and maybe even a treat or two. Then slowly increase the time before you praise or treat your parrot. Eventually your parrot will stop his screaming because he has learnt that he
gets a better reward when his is quiet than when he is screaming.

Seeing is Believing

Learning the Best Way

Join The Elite Parrots Club NOW!

Every person learns differently just like every bird does. Finding the right training for both the bird and the person is the key to success. You probably know exactly how you learn best, but in general, most people learn best in one of three ways (or a combination of methods):

1. Visual: It’s easier to process information that you can see.

2. Auditory: It’s easier to process information that is given aloud.

3. Touch: It’s easier to fully learn the information when the process is hands-on.

In order to succeed in training your parrot you need a system that satisfies every opportunity for learning, including how YOU learn best.

Click here to learn about the Elite Parrots Club

Expert Videos Guide the Way

The Elite Parrots Club is an online membership forum that gives you the opportunity to learn how to train and work with your bird in the most efficient way for you. It doesn’t matter which way you learn best because there are materials suited for everyone.

The Elite Parrots Club is an expert led site that offers a multitude of resources:

Over 33 online videos to be watched at any time and at your convenience.
These videos can be watched multiple times to make sure you fully understand each and every pieces of expert information being conveyed.

Over 70 expert written articles to be read at your leisure. Articles
are written for the everyday bird owner so that they are easy to understand.

One-on-one access via email to the club’s birding expert so that you can be coached to fully process what you’re learning and be able to ask questions for your specific needs.

Forum access to other bird owners

Click here to read more about the Elite Parrots Club

It All Comes Together

The Elite Parrots training system works to offer you the best learning environment to learn the skills necessary to train your bird. Access to videos, articles, one-on-one coaching, and other bird owners rounds out the learning experience. You won’t find a better option for training your bird. It certainly beats just a book!

Join the many others who have already found out about the Elite Parrots Club

Regards,
Nathalie Roberts