When your bird first gets to you it is usually a blank canvas when it comes to being trained.
This can mean that the bird will fly away and not come back if given the chance, but there is something you can do to combat this.
This article is a look into how you can train your cockatiel not to fly away.
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How to train a cockatiel not to fly away:
Birds love freedom and can take off at any time, but you can keep this from happening by training your bird. This is how to do this quickly and easily:
Train and recall:
You can help your bird learn how to fly but come back by using a method called train and recall.
This method uses the method of positive reinforcement with minimum negative reinforcement to help the bird learn how to fly back to you when called.
The positive reinforcement comes in the form of treats and kind words that you give the bird when it does the right thing.
How to do this:
Start off by having the bird stand somewhere close to you and offer a treat a few centimeters away from the bird.
Say a command as you do this, you can use the word “come here” This will make the bird associate “come here” with moving towards you.
When the bird moves towards you and eats the treat you can use words like “good” to reinforce that this is good behavior and the bird will associate the word “good” with getting treats.
Keep doing this until the bird marches confidently towards you when you use these commands.
You can then have the bird fly off from somewhere high in your house, like the top of your staircase, or in an enclosed public place, and do the above. This will further train the bird to come to you on command.
The bird will get the picture and will fly back when you call it to and will avoid flying away.
Added tips:
Train indoors:
You can start off with short sessions of training indoors to help the bird get the hang of things and to keep the bird from flying away.
Training indoors will enable the bird to fly relatively freely but will ensure that it can’t completely fly away.
The short sessions will keep from tiring the bird out. 15 -20 minutes sessions will be ok for the bird.
Use a harness:
If you think that the bird will fly away while you’re teaching it you can use a harness on the bird in case it starts to wander off.
Try not to tug at the harness too much when doing this, the bird will still want to feel as though it is in control, only control it when the bird seems as though it wants to fly away.
Make the bird come immediately:
If the bird doesn’t move towards you when you call it don’t wait for it and call it several times. Doing this will teach it that being slow with its responses is ok.
If the bird doesn’t immediately respond then turn your back or go to another room for a few seconds and come back and try again.
More exercises:
You can make the training more difficult for the bird to make sure that it comes when called.
To do this, hide in another room and call the bird, give the bird a treat when it successfully finds you.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Why Are My Conures Feathers Turning Black, Cockatiel Hit Head, Feather Bronzing Vs Stress Bars, Budgie Flying Back And Forth In Cage, My Budgie Won’t Come Out Of His Cage Anymore, How To Get A Bird Down From A High Place,