Parrot Training: A Guide to Taming and Gentling Your Avian Companion

This book was a godsend for me. I was blessed with a beautiful 19 year old parrot that was given to me. Fortunately I found this book. It addressed all of our problems. I'd recommend this book to anyone looking for advice.

This was one of the first books I read about parrots, and it continues to be a valuable resource for me. It's full of little snipets like (paraphrased) "A relationship with a parrot is a Zen thing -- what it is today is not what it was yesterday nor what it will be tomorrow." When I do parrot behavior consultations this is one of the books I always recommend. It's easy to read and understand and has great illustrations.

I'm going to give this book 5 stars, because I really like it--BUT-- like everything else I've read, I think it really glosses over a problem that I have, and no doubt others have. My bird is just not warm. I mean he doesn't need any humans for anything, so training him is going to take me YEARS. He trys to bite my hands any time he sees them, even if I'm 2 feet away. This book just gives lip service to this problem (and advises not to buy from a pet store- not always an option). I just wish some of these experts would listen to their own advice (she admits over and over how individual each bird's personality is), and cover some of the worst personality problems. Having said that, I have no other complaints. It's a good read, reinforcing many of the little things you eventually find out as a bird "owner". I especially recommend this book for those who think they want a parrot. Please read this front to back first. It actually gets a lot of the impending headaches (and heartaches) out in the open. So when problems (other than mine) do come up, you will be well-armed. I learned how to towel a bird after 25 years, and the first time, my cockatiel turned into a little nursling. I would never have thought it would work, but it went great, and now I can at least grooom his feathers and nails when needed. So if your on your fist avian adventure, get this now. If your an old salt, you could find something useful, but I know you will like all the anecdotes, at the very least.

i'm a new parrot owner and i wanted to get as much fun and interaction with my parrot. i read this book several times to let the ideas sink in and then started training my conure to do certain tricks using the advice from this book. they have all worked so far which is pretty good given that i've owned my conure for about 2 months now.i've taught my conure to wait patiently on his perch if he wants to be taken out of the cage. in this way, he doesn't ruin his tail feathers. i have also taught him how to do the "eagle", where he spreads his wings when i say the word "eagle". he also has learned to fetch crumpled paper towels. i throw the paper ball a few feet away. he runs to get it and comes back to return it. my wife and i really crack up about that trick.anyway, my point is that i highly recommend this book.

This book is amazing, it talks about parrot behaviour, how to treat your bird, second hand pet parrot problems and how to fix them, gives you amazing training techniques to teach basics (like up command, potty training), how to train your bird to talk,(mimicry, cognitive speach and how to teach them to talk in contexte) It tell you how to train your pet bird to do tricks such as playing dead, shaking hand, noghting yes and no, kissing, and much more. I have a budgie and this book really is for parrots and parakeets of any size.