What's the First Thing I Should Train My Bird? 

"invite friends over for pizza" hey hey hey, im here for bird advice, my lack of friends isn't relevant here

U R a beautiful Soul! Ur attitude and values are truly admirable! When I was growing up, my folks used to visit a family with 4 kids and a parrot which had pulled all of it's feathers off. That always upset me so! But none of us knew or understood why that was happening. They just said it was a "silly and crazy" bird! OMG! It makes me want to crawl out of my skin to have been a party to that situation! The fact that both families were abusive to the kids, kind of explains why we didn't understand nor could we say anything about it! It's only after my mom died and we were all adults that I learned about all the abuse going on in that family too! I wish I knew Ur name! Well, I don't so I'll just say "WingsNpaws" U R the kind of enlightened person we need teaching and guiding American society!

Best how to videos I came across.... He really takes a birds pov so importantly.... Thats what I love most about this channel

This person definitely knows what he is talking about and is giving very good advice for all bird owners.

It's great to see what a wonderful relationship you & Smokey have. Her body language speaks volumes & it's always nice to watch such positive human-parrot interactions. Keep up the good work! =)

My grandparents had an unsocialized grey given to them, after a bunch of bites and learning his boundaries he's now super cuddly and those boundaries are now gone. Thank you for your videos! They taught me a lot and gave me hope for my bird!

This is a super good trained parrot !!

I just realized how adorable it is that every time she kind of puts her beak over you and makes that loud sound, it's like she's giving you a kiss.

this is very useful honestly.. and i was wondering why all parrots i ever had weren't okay with new surroundings and people

Hey man. I got an African Grey a month ago. He is 16 months old and dont have good social skills.(He loves only to come to my hand and to cuddle but he doesnt like other people) :/ Now, at this moment when im writing this its 4 am in Croatia and for last hour im watching your videos of your cute bird. I really wanted to help him but didnt know how and finally I found your channel. :) Now I will watch your videos and take your advice...I hope I will get some results with him. Thank you so much and keep doing this! Respect! :) P.S. I apologize for my english...im not good with grammar.

wow! "learned helplessness" must also apply to dogs! my rescued pomeranian dog froze whenever I picked him up or even reached out to pet him. he lived in a crate for his first 8+ years and was only in contact with others when he was to be mated. he didn't even know his name. it has taken me 2 years of patiently showing him there are good humans in the world too. his fear has abated with me... it is lovely to watch him frisk and play and even ask to be petted! my heart is joyful for his escape from fear.

I love everything you teach with parrots. You remind me of the horse whisperer!! I would buy your book.

Ps, Smokey is one of the loveliest grays I’ve seen on RU-vid! Glad to have y’all’s videos! They truly help! I can tell you care a lot about birds!

I'm really excited to get birds because I think they're gonna help me feel less depressed and feel less lonely.

the vacuum cleaner treat idea is fantastic

Thanks for teaching us the importance of a living thing, we sometimes forget that these birds have feelings just like humans. This is a fact.❤️

My bird is so phobic. He is a feather plucker too. We have had him for 17 years and he is quite attached to my ex-husband. However, he is with me because my Ex husband is gone from home a lot.He works out of town and he began plucking his feathers when left alone with his new girlfriend who did not really like him. He has been with me for three years now. He lets me pet his head and beak and his back a little. He also lets me feed him, of course. But he never stepped up for me. I watched a few of your videos and was able to get him to step on my hand multiple times. This is a FIRST! Thank you! I just held up my hand and kept talking to him until he was ready to come to me. How can I help his phobias? He does not like toys or new foods, or new perches or many things? I bought some toy parts thinking as they are smaller maybe he will get used to them. We just ordered them after watching your videos.. I don't know. Can you help. We have not done a great job with him in the past with socialization. We let him just be attached to my ex husband. But we are trying now... any ideas? I want him to be happy!

this is great! I agree with your philosophy of training birds. It's important to know how flocks socialize and positive reinforcement!

Two weeks in our relationship, my jenday conure and I are doing very well, thanks to your tips and tricks! He does a few tricks, likes to cuddle a lot, flies on my hand on demand, doesnt bite anymore. He also lets me pet his wings and his little feet. The only thing is that he doesnt trust anybody but me, and nips other people. I ask friends and family to give him lots of treats when they visit, he even did some step ups on demand and was sitting on my sisters shoulder, all relaxed. Were getting there!

As someone who takes in rescue birds from people who don't understand what it takes i really appreciate your videos. hopefully you are helping bird owners everywhere be better to their birds

I'm getting a female baby CAG in a few weeks when she's weaned, and I'm so excited to bring her home and start training, desensitizing her, socializing her, and getting her very comfortable with the whole family and all different things and sounds. I can't wait to have her 😍

im having an african grey in two weeks and your videos are good! thank you for these amazing videos

I'm so happy for your videos. we have a Goffin and I follow your advice.

Thank you for emphasizing politeness and respect for friends to understand prior to meeting/socializing with grey

Dude you are such a great person when it comes to animals. Everything in this video can apply to other species like dogs, cats, ferrets, etc. I have never been concerned with teaching the animals I share my home with tricks. I just want them to be as happy as possible. I want them to be relaxed and well adjusted. Socialization is probably THE most important aspect of "training" an animal. Thank you for this video. This is excellent

Respect .. very articulate And loving ..

I always learn so much from you! We have a pair of Amazon Yellow Head 6 week olds and watching your video made us fall even more in love with them! Thank you for all the great info! You're such a wonderful teacher for all of us out here in the Tube, who truly want a healthy balanced relationship with our pets. Thank you!

Our vacuum cleaner is a central one so powerful it cannot be used anywhere near small species of birds: it will suck a budgie to the basement container in about 1.5 seconds! LOL! Seriously, though, this is a very thoughtful video for which you must be commended. On the subject of "training" as you perceive it, I agree that it is an excellent way to interact with your bird(s), but it is not the only way...

Smokes must be so lucky to have you as his owner

You’re an avian psychologist! I just realized that I heard all of this in my psych classes.

My plans are to purchase an African Gray in the next month, so I appreciate you sharing your knowledge. The bird rescues are full of unwanted birds of all species and I understand now that bird knowledge could have prevented their demise. Do you have DVD on your teachings? Again thank you.

wingsNpaws : I recently purchased a yellow sided green-cheeked conure that is just 7 weeks old. While I have spent a lot of time around "greys" but never owned one, or any other type of bird, & was always with the owner, who had bred & raised them since they were hatchlings. So after about 8yrs of being around her wonderful birds, coupled with my 4 yr old daughters obsession with birds of any kind I decided that I would start the process of choosing a bird that fit our capabilities & household in general. Enter, young Salvador our conure, he has a wonderful disposition & seems to acclimate quickly to situations and surroundings. He is affectionate , inquisitive, highly fond of new people, places and things. Truly an adventurous spirit. My 4 yr old, I believe because of her fondness for all animals & the fact that she has had a copious amount of exposure animals due to my profession as a horse trainer, riding instructor and active horse rescuer with emphasis on physical as well as emotional and behavioral rehabilitation and sustained well being, with an objective of successful reintroduction to life as a horse used for riding and/or companionship. So she has been taught to respect animals and apply "the 3 C's", if you will, 1. Confidence, in your ability & level of comfort when working with animals. 2. Consistency, in the way you ask an animal to learn and/or do something and be sure your clear with whatever you may be asking of them. 3. Compassion. always, always be aware of the animals body language or form of communication , i.e... level of discomfort, signs of distrust or distress, ect,ect,... & the utmost importance of positive renforcement. So, the "concern or issue " is while of course she is supervised during the time that she is handling him she will approach this play/hopefully learning time with a little too much gusto which in return makes Salvador seem to get uncomfortable and sometimes slightly agitated. When these situations arise I will ask him two step up onto my hand and talk very calmly to him and reward him with a nut or a seed, explain to my daughter why I think setting him n the play kitchen microwave & shutting the door might make him uncomfortable. My questions are as follows: 1. Am I handling this type of situation correctly, in regards to the approach in extracting Salvador from said situation? 2. In my intention to bring a long term animal friendship with the perks of growing up together, learning how to work together and seeing the rewards if executed properly & hopefully watching their friendship grow, did I inadvertently make a bad decision to have a young bird and a young child be companions? Please advise &/or suggest anything I can do to make sure that Salvador will remain resilient and maintain his beautiful personality rather than becoming a untrusting of people, aggressive and overall unhappy bird. I thank you in advance for your time & guidance on the aforementioned concerns. Sincerely, J

If I had a friend with this bird, my life would be complete.

Thank you so much for your time and sharing all these very useful tips. I'm looking into adopting(Cody) a 6 yr old male African Grey who needs a home, very sweet, very skittish and needs lots of attention. I just want what's best for Cody and prayers that with the correct knowledge one day Cody will have a fulfilled life

Great advice even for human behaviors. Also would think practicing this 'emotional awareness and intelligence' would greatly expand a birds lifespan; reduce long term health problems.

after I few minutes of listening to you and watching smokey, I thought I wondered where he is located and if he would work with my new African gray..lol...Then it dawned on me, I'm the one he needs to bond to.. Percy is 4 years old and I was told he was to getoutta the cage on his own.. I did and it took me forever to get him back.. now I will start listening and watching your tapes :)

Everyone who is planning to have African Grey should see your videos.

What you said is true of all pets.... Dogs, cats, birds, ferrets, ... If you are going to keep any animal out of its natural environment, you need to stimulate. For dogs and cats, Nina Ottoson games, birds need toys to chew on and for foraging, but also need challenges and routines. They need a JOB, which is learning new great stuff every day.

Love smokey.even the old videos .keep up the good work with her

Right on!

Thank you for this great video. I’ve always had parrots and greys are my favorites. All my birds over the years have been forever birds and training has always been a fun experience. I have a new grey, between 3-6 years old that was formerly neglected. Understandably he’s a fearful bird. We’ve successfully gotten him used to hands and taking treats from all of us. He no longer trembles and enjoys the odd scratch on the neck. He’s even exploring and says hi and by appropriately. However perching on the hand is slow in coming. Which of your videos do you recommend for this? I’m slowly watching them all. I know once we make this leap to stepping up we will make great progress. Greys are amazing, i love their personalities and the lengths they push us to get to know them!

I love your channel. I'm getting another bird this spring, and I can't wait to bring him home. These videos are very helpful. I want this baby to be my companion when I'm on the road (which is a lot) and so I want to take extra time with socialization and recall.

I think it's very interesting that desensitizing and training methods are very similar with other animals, like horses or dogs. Concerning introducing these animals to scary things, the "learned helplessness" is very common especially with horse training. Poor training methods can really hurt them later in life, and you definitely emphasized that with this video and how inexperienced bird owners will do this. Very good video, very informative :) Definitely subscribing!

my parrot passed away now my other parrot doesn't like me touching him since I took her partner away from him. it breaks my heart what can I do he only let me touch him when he outside cage not inside cage

its all about having positive energy when it comes to bonding with your bird,no good trying to train something that doesnt have complete trust in you,it takes time and alot of patience

the first thing people ask about my eclectus is often "is it real?" hahaha. I'm not kidding. I once had a worker at petco ask me "is that a parrot, is that what that is?" wow

This video was super helpful. Your birb is beautiful 😍

Thank you for this video!. My Grey is already enjoying the changes.

I so much like the grey parroy😍

You have a lot of pets. May I give a suggestion? “How to get your parrot acquainted to your dogs” or “How to keep your dogs and parrots from getting jealous of each other.” I think this is really important for pet owners who want many species of pets.

Everyday I'm learning more. My grey is eating pellets fairly well it seems and other healthier foods. Now it's just the veg haha. She loved carrots now she won't touch them (I clearly have a fussy bird!!) I just really want to learn how to get my Bella to be in my hand like smokie is. That's amazing. Thanks for so many helpful videos

one of the best topics to cover tnx alot

My reason for getting a bird: 1.) I have depression and being around animals seems to really help with that and birds are very intelligent creatures that need stimulants like humans. So it’s kinda like having a friend to keep you entertained and occupied on other things. Getting my Sun Conure and interacting with it daily and training it has improved my depression for sure! Plus I know Ichigo enjoys it! ^^ So that also makes me feel good knowing he’s happy! 2.) Im 19 and I don’t want kids yet personally, birds are like kids but less hectic in some ways. So for those young people that have baby fever, I’d suggest waiting till your stable enough, birds are the next best thing! Cheaper too! They are also hilarious creatures! Never get a bird for its beauty though! It’s not fair to get an animal you don’t know how to or want to care for!

Your videos are so great! Thanks for sharing tips and your experiences with Smokey!

Thanks a lot! Really helped. Our grey has become used to me ,he accepts treats from my hand but does not want to be touched.

excellent video - again. Really educational and helpful. Makes me more confident to seriously consider taking a bird at some point. Thanks!

nice video, makes me feel better about having a bird that loves being out around me and my partner when we are around, not sure how i'll manage getting him to learn anything in the future but it's always a nice feeling when your bird will run to you from wherever he is when out the cage. i thought the comment on talking was funny though, i was saying the other week i'd be happy with my quaker exactly how he is even if he never talks and now he's started learning to imitate us haha

Your grey parrot is the best

"Learned helplessness" hmm that makes a LOT of sense to me actually! I've inherited 2 lorikeets, former owner I believe got one as a baby & the other as an adult. The one he got as an adult arrived cage territorial, biting like mad & very hormonal, still won't leave her cage, but biting has almost always stopped in just a couple of weeks (still bites if hormonal/bad mood & I'm not paying enough attention, but otherwise doesn't). The one he got as a baby arrived feather plucking & rocking back & forward from stress/anxiety/fear, but never biting, only nibbling, would sit on my shoulder, come out of the cage, come close to me & interact in general, so seemingly much "tamer" BUT as I've tried training with her, there's some major resistance to stuff like "step up" onto my hand, will now lift 1 foot onto it, but with other foot locked solid on the cage wire & will NOT budge & when I accidentally moved my hand slightly while her foot was on it, she bit like mad & she regularly bites me actually, despite never doing that when I got her 3 weeks ago, always in predictable settings, ones where a nervous bird would be scared or threatened, so the learned helplessness idea makes PERFECT sense! One he got as an adult never fully went into that, while the one he got as a baby did & now as I undo that, & teach him it's ok to be himself, he doesn't have to fear me, his real emotions & fears are starting to show. Thanks for that :) Gonna be a LONG path ahead for me I think! We'll get there though :)

Keep Going Bro!!! Great Work! You Deserve the love & respect👌💪

I have a 19 yr old CAG that I recently became the proud owner of. He came from a one owner home who took good care of him but I think neglected him somewhat in terms of talking and bonding. She was afraid of him and yanked her hand back a lot and they never bonded. Right when my mom brought Rocky home (he was suppose to be her bird) he instantly bonded with me and started twitterpating around me and just totally was drawn to me instead of my mom so I am now his owner and take him to work w me every day. We have a good bond beginning it’s working out well. However His whole life she had his wings clipped and he has never learned to fly. His wings are starting to grow back and it’s coming time to clip them again and I feel awful doing so. I feel like he is so excited that his ability to fly is coming back. He stands on the door of his cage and holds on with his feet and flaps like he’s exercising his wings and practicing. But I’m also terrified of him flying away from me and getting lost. I know I need to skip his wings but how do you feel about these birds wearing harnesses ? Have you had any experience with this? That way he can practice flying safely connected to me.

You are great! I've found out a lot of new things from your video. Thank you.

I had a African grey parrot his name was also Smokey he has been with us for 3 and a half years but unfortunately he died 2 days ago 😭💔

Excellent vid. She’s lucky to have you.

I just got 2 parakeets and they r my first bird. they are sacred of me coming to close but if I go slow enough I can pet their chest but they put their beak around my fanger. they don't hurt me or applies much pressure. what r they doing?

I have had Gala's before and cockateles but not parrots. I bought one a few days ago 5 months old. She is a Indian ring neck. So different to the others...I'm watching ur vids to learn lol

I just love your videos; your methods of working with your birds :) Thanks so much for helping teach people how to make the lives of their pet birds the best lives possible...I've got a little conure, a Ruppells parrot, & now also a young African Grey, like Smoky. She's sweet, but when I got her, she already had begun picking her feathers :( I'm hoping that she will grow out of it, now that she's in a good home, with a more interesting, full life than before she came to me. Her wings were clipped, & im wondering if I let them grow out again, if maybe she would leave her feathers alone...She might be stressed, not being able to fly? I'm watching as many of your videos as I can find.. (imo they're the best on u tube :) thanks again :)

First things to do it train the boid not to bite, not to crap on the furniture, and be quiet during people's sleep time. Socializing a wild bird takes much patience and understanding.

Does your grey also struggle with the word desensitization?

Excellent advice, thx

Very helpful. Thank you for this! ❤️

Everyday people are respected of birds

Excellent instructional video. You hit the key points. I have had caiques for about 20 years. My little guy Kiki died at age 8 - waiting for post-mortem results. I have been in touch with several CAG breeders, one of them seemed very promising. He is a hobby breeder and hoping to have a clutch in the spring. My question: I'll be taking my bird home in his travelling cage. Should I leave this with the breeder, so that he can de-sensitive my new baby to the traveller? Or, being the primary "flock-leader" should I visit often and show my new baby that the travel cage is safe?

Love your videos. With regards to wing clipping what do you think. My parrot always wants his own way and flys all the time

300th comment, even though nobody cares. Anyway, Smokey really seems to enjoy her time with you :) I would like to see more Smokey, or just a video of Smokey, being Smokey.

simply, thank you for these videos!

nice vid i learned a few things, as i got my blue amazone for a week now, hes 15 years old, after 5 days we gained trust so did my wife and he loves to be tikkeld. also what you said i let my father and brother try to give him a treat and he is ok with that so im trying to socialize him with strangers. i did this after a few days wen he got used to us. he got used to me and my wfe really quik. ill let everyone f my fam or friends try to give him a treat or tikkle him in the neck and he really likes that. but this vid wil really help us with futher training, hes only been a week here but we really like him. and the funny thing is, the parrot grow up with cats in the house, and i have 4 cats, he dont care and so my cats dont care about him its all good, so i am really happy with that. alll the animals are living happy with eachoter here. thx for the vid!!!

I have THE same bird thanks for the help.😁

Great video john!

I eventually want to own a parrot but I'm concerned about being away from home 3-4 days a week for 12 hour work shifts. Is this too long to leave a parrot home alone? Should I wait until I no longer have to put in long days? Granted, I would be home 3-4 days a week all day.

I love your series of videos with Smokey, she is brilliant and your videos help me with my Casper, 15 yr old female African Gray who is also very smart and loving, like your Smokey. My Casper is priceless to me, as I imagine your Smokey is to you, In my case, she was my parents' bird and i inherited her along with a Sun Conure and a Quaker Parrot, all of whom are buddies. The Quaker is her favorite, but she is quite old, and I am concerned that when the inevitable time comes, how will Casper deal with her grief when she loses her life long friend? How can I help her before and after that time comes? The Quaker is 25 yrs old and still in good health, but I know she is already past her average life expectancy, so I want to begin to learn what could happen to Casper if she loses a friend. BTW, she did grieve for my dad, but my mother is still very much alive and healthy, just decided to let me have the birds now, instead of at a time when it would be hard on everyone, including them. Thank you for your series and much love to Smokey!

What kind of wood perch is that behind you???

nice videos :) keep it up man, your video are very useful and encouraging :D

I have my parrots on .y shoulder while watching this

Very good video. it provided me with a lot of information. Thanks

Beautiful ❤️❤️❤️

thank you very match for your answer.👍

great video, thanks for the information.

I like your approach

Thanks bro it is good for my Rio

Smokes is so CUTE

3:40 when he is explaining she thought he called her.

This is only one way to have birds, but there are other philosophies. It really isn't necessary to socialize birds with humans. I've always prefered to have at least 2 of the same species. Birds like parrots in particular have their own type of socialization that is very different from human. This is not to say his method is wrong, but as he stated, you have to apply a lot of time with the bird. They spend all day interacting in the wild especially grooming each other, that is their type of socialization. By teaching a bird to socialize with a human there are a lot of risks. He saw his two week vacation as a long period, but what happens if you're in the hospital for many weeks or months? The bird will be traumatized, possibly permanently from a real long term absence. When he mentioned about nasty people being around the bird, he didn't really stress that enough. I had a beautiful India Hill Mynah that was so sweet. He built a really impressive vocabulary and he stuck to me like glue most of the time (for some reason he just loved watching me do dishes) when I let him out of the cage every day. They were too expensive to get two, but I had 5 other birds and 2 cats he liked to play with. My roommate had a friend he brought over frequently who had a boa and he kept saying he would feed Oscar to it. After repeating this I got fed up and put him in his place. After that he would only come over when I wasn't there and he teased Oscar. The Mynah can easily become very aggressive when they are mistreated and Oscar was getting aggressive and learning a lot of cuss words. The bird was impossible to overcome the aggression and I tried everything I knew for several months. I was so heartbroken that I had to sell him, but I was honest and very specific about telling the new owner about him. I was so angry at the guy that looked for him to beat the crap out of him. He moved to California. So, I would suggest you watch people like a hawk, parrots can also become very aggressive and unpredictable from abuse. It's just my personal opinion, but I think it very important for birds to socialize like a bird and not a human. Even if you have 2 parrots they'll still bond to you but they won't be dependant. Like he said, they tend to bond to one person. I think the smaller parrots are better because they love people and will play a lot even with having 2 or more of the species. Thomas

hello! :) I can't stop watching your videos...they are most helpful...the best and most informative on RU-vid...and i love smokey ...i am thinking about getting a cockatoo probably in a few weeks or so....my aunt's friend is trying to find a good home for her 2 year old cockatoo cuz she has alot of pets and can't give it the attention it needs....I was thinking of taking it from her...would you be able to tell me the average cost of owning a bird like smokey or a cockatoo? like give me an estimate on how much money I'd be putting out every month?

great tips thanks

what i am scared of my african grey is that she will choose another person in the family as her favourite one and not me her owner. Is this possible?

I have a African grey but I have been training him for a year but he still bite me but now I'm training him harder he's getting better but he never let me hold him

Do you have a video of your sleeping method for your grey? I just got a 4month old baby and am having a hard time night training. Also do you steam or cook her veggies?

thanks for your video and information, I have a further personal question wanna ask for your help. I have an African Grey called dic dic, he was abandoned and I adopted him when he was five years old, and that was two years ago, but he is still not very friendly.. seems to me he has a very weird temper , he doesn't show any warning when he bites.... the last seconds, he can be standing on my fingers, combing his own hair comfortably, the next second he would bite my finger he was standing on very hard (see blood most of the time), I wasn't moving at all, not even a tiny movement, I am sure nothing popped up to threatened him nor any movement of anything in the environment... I just don't get that... this behavior starting to make me fear of him... it's been two years, this behavior still doesn't stop.... we get along pretty well except this sudden biting problem... I am very frustrated, my fear made me feel insecure to hold him or pet him for too long... can you give me some tips on how to change this? Thank you.

thanks for the helpful tips bro.👌🙏