Parrot Training: How to Tame Your Bird and Teach it to Talk

It's very simple to train a parrot. First, you must clip its wings. Also, you need a cage with a large door so you can easily take the parrot out of the cage. It's best to conduct a taming session when it's quiet and the lighting is dim. Speak to your parrot soothingly and calmly. Move slowly. If your parrot should fly and land on the floor, pick it up with your hands cupped and place it on your shoulder. All movements should be slow and gentle.

Only one person should work with the bird during initial taming sessions. Two people tend to distract one another and can make the bird nervous. The best trainers are those that truely have time to devote to the task. Parrots have individual personalities and some may take much longer to tame than others. Being impatient or inconsistent will result in your parrot possibly never being trained properly.

As you will see most parrots can communicate better than you would expect. Parrots prefer to get their affection in a physical fashion, words will not be enough to tame the bird. They respond especially well to touch. The training of a parrot is accomplished through both words and actions.

As your bird gets to trust you more, he will start to sit comfortably on your finger, shoulder or hand and may want to play with you. Now you can change the parts that you touch, from the head to the back of it's neck and towards the face. Then touch under the wings and over them. Repeating this touching and fondling builds up an attachment which then allows you to teach him tricks.

Parrots have a natural ability to imitate speech and sounds, and this can be enhanced by talking and singing to the young parrot. The more you talk to your parrot the more quickly it will learn to talk. During feed times, repeat it's name clearly. The short span of concentration of the young bird means that the talking lessons are only a few minutes long. Give him an easy name which has "ee" sounds separated by a hard consonant, like Peter.

The approach to teaching the young of both parrots and our own children are identical. Each learn by observing their parents and learning from both sounds and sights. When assuming ownership of a young bird you assume the role of parent. This young bird will learn to talk in a shorter time frame than one that is older.

Certain behaviors can demonstrate that your parrot is completely trained. When the cage door is opened, he will step out, then onto your hand so that you can transfer him to the stand. When nudged, the parrot will step from one of your hands to the other. He will perch on the stand without biting. Once these behaviors are consistent, other family members can begin to interact with your parrot.

-Lee J. Bergman