Getting Started: Clicker Training for Birds

It's great that clicker training has finally gone to the birds! Clicker training, indeed any training with positive reinforcement techniques, is rewarding for both you and your bird. This book is a great place to get started with training, and building a positive relationship with your bird. What many people realize after they start working with their bird is that training tricks/new behaviors offers up a whole new world of behavior for them. For you, it creates an entirely new way of interacting with and appreciating your feathered companion. You are also likely to experience a reduction in problem behavior frequency (biting, screaming, feather destruction, etc) when your bird learns new behaviors (like they can with clicker training). While this book of priceless information offers much more, a reduction in problem behaviors alone is WELL worth the investment. This book is a great guide for both beginners and experienced teacher/trainers alike.

The author explains everything very well. So well detailed, structured and so easy to read at the same time!! Chapter 4 (How Learning Takes Place), Chapter 7 (Clicker Training Basics), Chapter 8 (Prop Behaviors) and Chapter 9 (Non-prop Behaivors) are worth reading to all clicker trainers of any kind of animal. Among the "clicker books" i have bought (for dogs, cats, ....) I haven't found any so complete and well structured when describing how "clicker training" is placed among all Learning methods!! Plus Chapter 7 gives a very well description of how to prepare any "training plan" and its diary!! :) I got the book, coz when I was a kid I used to had parakeets and tried training them (unsuccessfully), and now that through cats I've discovered "clicker training" and Karen Prior, I wanted to see and "dream" what could be achieved with Birds. And I admit i have been DELIGHT by the mentioned chapters!! I have found them very usefull to create my cats' Training Plan Diary. "ESKERRIK ASKO / Thank you very much" to the author and to Karen Pryor for putting all the Clicker Training related things together.

Includes comprehensive general parrot care and behavior needed to click train a parrot to do tricks. Can't understand how to approach clicker training with your bird if you don't understand it's behavior. The book even has a small write-up on how to teach your pet bird to go potty in a designated area. Now I know reading how to do that in a book and actually managing to teach it to a parrot are two different things but I hope to success. Maybe I can makeup my how trick and teach those birds how to deposit their empty seed hulls in a waste bin! It's a lengthy book but nicely written and more handy than searching YouTube for the different topics it teaches.

This book is very good for learning how to build a trusting relationship with your bird--whether a parakeet or macaw. It contains a lot of information on bird behavior and how to solve some common bird problems, like screaming and plucking. I don't have any of these problems with my birds, lineolated parakeets, but wanted a few tips on how to train my birds using methods that increase trust from your birds--and this book delivers! While I had already read some books on clicker training animals, I bought this book for specifics on birds and was not disappointed. This is not really a book about teaching tricks to birds, although there are some tricks that are given as examples, but rather a foundation of the methods you can use to teach your bird anything! I would definitely recommend it to bird owners as a manual for living with birds.

After nearly 14 years with my 14-year-old sun conure, I feel I recognize good behavioral advice. I have always disliked advice that relies on dominance, punishment, or keeping a bird low (they don't have a "top bird" instinct, but feel safer up high). This book tells you how to communicate and develop a trusting relationship with your bird, and that is a priceless thing. I would have liked a few more specific trick ideas, but I bought an additional clicker training book and registered with Melinda's online forum. So far my bird seems to enjoy the training time, even though I have a lot of learning to do!

This book is mostly about behavior in parrots. There is a lot of good information on that subject but not enough on the clicker training which is the reason I bought the book. Still, there's enough to give you the idea of how and why it works to make it worthwhile reading. What I would rather have seen is a book that concentrated on just the clicker training aspect. I think for a new bird owner this would be a good book to read. If you've had birds for a long time, like I have, you've probably read or you've learned by trial and error most of the behavior stuff already. The clicker training part was new to me and I have enough information to get started but I still have a lot of questions. I wish I could recommend another book on the subject, but I'm still looking and reading reviews here to find one. There are a lot of books about clicker training for dogs and cats but not so many for parrots. While the basic idea may be the same, parrots have their own type of personality and just the fact that they have wings, only 2 feet and a beak make it different. This book left a lot of questions still unanswered for me on clicker training.

I have had birds in my life off and on for 40 years. They always bring me joy. But after reading this book, I can help to return the favor. The information here is clear and concise. And because of it, my bird has choices in his life and we are better partners. I have been using clicker training (and Melinda's book)for 3 years now. My African Grey parrot is happy, healthy and an integral part of my family. Yes, he does some adorable "parlor tricks". But beyond that, we understand each other on a level that I have never had with any of my previous pets. Get the book. Read it. Use it. You will be glad you did.

TLDR: An amazing resource, even 20 years after publication to bond with your bird, even if they are aggressive. This book is fairly old, over two decades now but most of it holds up phenomenally. The only thing that has aged is the book encourages wing clipping. Most of this information you could probably easily find online but, having it in one spot, refined, and put together chapter by chapter is an amazing asset. Most of the book goes over basic behavioral science, which was what I was missing in training my bird. Breaking down the steps on building a trick is also incredibly helpful. I followed the suggestion of reading the book cover to cover first, and it only took a couple hours. I have owned birds for a better part of a decade but have had no parrots for a while, so when I adopted a bitey, territorial 6 year old senegal I thought it would largely be adapting to her lifestyle. She went from lunging and trying to take your finger off as a trophy, to mastering stepping up and targeting in less than a week and a half. She also has bonded immensely to me because of this and will actively search for me in the house to hang out. My fingers and hands are thankful for this turnaround LOL. She's becoming much more relaxed as she processes and overcomes her fears and aggresion. She even actively seeks out training sessions by staring at her clicker and making the clicker noise until I get up. We still have a long way to go but if you have the time and dedication, clicker training is an amazing way to bond with your bird in ways you might not of thought possible.

Unfortunately, reading this book feels alot like a school teacher talking down to her pupils. Not very enjoyable to read and also not very practical. By chapter 3, it is mentioned at least 3 times that the whole book should be read before trying things out with a parrot. Not very practical when you already have the bird waiting. Takes alot of the fun out of the endeavour. Many chapters are long winded and need editing, plus the occasional grammatical and spelling check. Many other books are a much better read and can be used at the same time as working with the bird. The writer obviously has alot of knowledge and love for the subject, but for me unfortunately other sources fit better.

As bird keepers, it is imperative to educate our feathered friends.

I got this book to train my parent reared baby green cheek conure. When I first got him, he was totally terrified and wouldn't let me anywhere near him. Just by following the advice in the book, within a week he was stepping up and down onto my hand, would twirl around and now many months later we have moved on to lots of complicated tricks. It's great for me because he is now so well socialised but it was also great for him, as it really gives him a mental workout every day. I put it down to this book that I have a happy, well rounded little bird who is content and always excited to come out of his cage. He has no behavioral problems whatsoever (which is very common in parrots), nor does he self mutilate. We are both very happy!

Very usful