Most useful behaviors to train?

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I have to admit that I'm not really into training tricks for tricks sake. I'm more motivated to teach practical behaviors and I'm interested in working with vocalization training. I tried doing some trick training with Scooter, but he didn't seem to see much point in it, he'd rather goof off. And my goal is to have a happy bird at the end of the day, not to teach behaviors for the sake of doing so. But I do feel, especially with Scooter, that it would be good to have some interaction to supplement just hanging out, scritches and picking things up off the floor for him. So what behaviors have you trained beyond basic taming that you've found the most useful? IS there anything your bird seems to find inherently enjoyable? I'm working a little on "show me your wing" and we need to work on towel tolerance... he can already hang upside down, and he loves to plop on his back in my hand! He particularly likes to plop into my right hand so I have to pay attention to him and not do something else like work on the computer.

[captwest]

How about "ring the bell"or maybe some form of "fetch", our game of rolling on to her back is called "footsie" , give me the footsie , at which point she gives me a foot and rolls on to her back and we play with her feet and beakand tickle her belly. Ringing the bell started out as more an attention getting thing when she's in her cage but sometimes she'll do it on que now. Still i haven't real train her to do any real tricks just our daily interactions seem to be enough for both of us.

[Chicklet]

My sun conure loves doing tricks, I originally didn't see much point in teaching him tricks besides my fascination with parrot behaviour and their learning abilities but he LOVES learning anything and everything.

My senegal is a bit less hands on(I'm also her least favorite person :p) I taught her more useful "tricks" such as "go back to your cage" so I can allow her the same freedom as my sun conure.

[Michael]

The most useful behaviors will of course have to do with basic handling. It is not only important that the parrot know how to step up, but it should also tolerate being grabbed and touched anywhere necessary. You never know where they break a feather or get something caught. They must trust you to the point that you can take care of any such issues.

Next would come targeting because it can be used to show your parrot where to go (whether for stepping up, onto strangers hands, out of the way, or up for a pet sitter). Targeting isn't mandatory with a super tame parrot. However, targeting is a very useful tool for achieving one.

Flight recall is a crucial behavior to teach to flighted parrots in order to be able to call them back. It also serves as a method of encouraging them to exercise.

Toweling and taming to accept new objects is not mandatory but a good idea. Harness taming is also a practical application of training methods.

Even though you might not think that teaching "tricks" is useful, it really does serve a much greater role than you'd expect. With their tremendous intelligence capabilities, it seems that parrots thrive on learning. They need to have a lot of cause + effect in their lives which just the household environment (even more so for clipped) does not provide. Trick training substitutes for environmental challenges they would normally get to solve and deal with in the wild. Sure it doesn't have to be "cute tricks." That's just a way of keeping it fun for us too. If you're having a good time and the bird is having a good time, you'll be able to get the most out of your pet by developing a strong positive relationship.

[zazanomore]

The most useful trick you will ever train your bird - potty training (or at least train him to not do the do on you)

[Michael]

Oh yeah, just remembered some more. Petting request, petting offer, and petting etiquette. Naturally parrots can be very demanding about how they get it, when they get it, etc. Create a cue that you will use prior to petting.

Briefly, here's what I did with Truman (I'll have to blog/video about this eventually). I bend his head down and hold it between the fingers of the same hand he is perched on when I pet his neck. I learned on Kili that by holding the beak it reduces demanding behavior and makes it less scary for other people to try. So now when Truman wants to request petting, he sticks his beak into my fingers while bending his head down. Thus we have developed an offer, request, and confirm interaction between us. This may not seem like training because it is informal but yet it is very useful. It reduces biting due to undesired petting and makes it easier to allow a newcomer to have a chance to touch the parrot.