Parrot Musings

Tonight, the bird rescue where I volunteer has been invited to speak at a local bird club meeting. I will be doing a short presentation on clicker training, and Max and Beeps will be two of my demonstrators. I have been telling them about this for a few days, but I don't think they understand. I'll also take along a macaw from the rescue to show people what it's like to start training with a bird that has no idea what you're trying to do.

In attendance will be the family that rescued Beeps from his previous home and surrendered him to us. They haven't seen him in over a year and I can't wait for them to see his transformation! It will be interesting to see his reaction.

Here is Max in mid-flip on her rope figure-8. I have been implementing a strategy of "Nothing In Life Is Free" with her lately. This is a dog-training strategy that I actually don't know much about, other than the name. I have decided, in the interest of keeping Max challenged and engaged, that she must work for her food. She doesn't have a food dish and must find her pellets daily (I've hidden them around her cage). And when I give the birds a little treat, she must perform a trick. Doing a flip through the rope figure-8 is one of her more challenging tricks, so it's what I make her do for cheese. It's gotten to the point where when I take cheese out of the fridge, she runs to her figure-8 and does a flip, even though she doesn't get credit for that -- only when I ask!

Be back tomorrow with a report on the clicker training demonstration!