I decided it was time to buckle down and get serious about training Archimedes.
Mostly I have been letting him out of his cage and then enduring his rebukes when I catch him in a t-shirt and put him back in his cage.
This method was not helping our relationship. It was making him fearful of me and causing him to fly away and use his scolding call whenever I got close to him.
All I could think of was all the wild birds I had tamed in Monterey and the one factor that made our interactions possible: edible treats.
The nature and condition of the bird counts for a lot as well.
An injured Pine Siskin I once found hopped right up to my hand when I placed a bowl of seeds in his container. Pine Siskins are highly social and will build nests near each other.
Western Scrub Jays are highly intelligent and are in the Corvid family. I was able to train one to take Cracklin' Oat Bran pieces right out of my hand. It was fun to watch him hide them in his various caches around the yard.
When I fed the ground squirrels at Lover's Point, several Brewer's Blackbirds would take peanuts from my hand and the adult California Seagulls would actual use their juvenile begging gestures to get me to feed them. This was particularly fascinating to me because it is an example of a bird using its own communication methods in an interaction with another species.
The hummingbirds that came to my feeder in Tomales got so used to me that they would perch on the feeder before I had finished hanging it up.
One bird that was notoriously difficult to tame was the Crow. Crows are capable of facial recognition with humans and can learn to manipulate all manner of puzzles in order to gain a food reward. That said, I found getting close to the local Crow family impossible. They would come to my balcony or kitchen window but would always maintain their distance and only go for the food when they were sure I wasn't near. They would watch me through the large picture window in my living room and call to each other when the coast was clear.
My favorite bird of all and one that I am sure is the most intelligent, is the mountain parrot known as the Kea. Kea are the only Alpine parrots in the world and they are only found in the mountains of the South Island of New Zealand.
There is a large collection of them at Willowbank and I love nothing more than to sit down in their enclosure (which visitors can walk through) and watch them interact. They dedicate a lot of time to exploring their surroundings and playing. One of them has been taught to grab his beak with his claw when he wants a treat and he is my favorite bird out of the lot.
I discovered a training method on the YouTubes called "The Power Pause" where you stick out your finger like a perch and work on getting it closer and closer to the bird.
It worked very well and I was able to get my finger nearer to Archimedes without him scolding me.
Next I took a large broccoli floret and placed it close to him. He sidled right on over and nibbled on it.
Happy days!
I'm pleased with the progress we have made and hope to have Archimedes perching on my finger soon.
I may have to change out the edible treat though- the broccoli gives him wicked gas.
Mostly I have been letting him out of his cage and then enduring his rebukes when I catch him in a t-shirt and put him back in his cage.
This method was not helping our relationship. It was making him fearful of me and causing him to fly away and use his scolding call whenever I got close to him.
All I could think of was all the wild birds I had tamed in Monterey and the one factor that made our interactions possible: edible treats.
The nature and condition of the bird counts for a lot as well.
An injured Pine Siskin I once found hopped right up to my hand when I placed a bowl of seeds in his container. Pine Siskins are highly social and will build nests near each other.
Western Scrub Jays are highly intelligent and are in the Corvid family. I was able to train one to take Cracklin' Oat Bran pieces right out of my hand. It was fun to watch him hide them in his various caches around the yard.
When I fed the ground squirrels at Lover's Point, several Brewer's Blackbirds would take peanuts from my hand and the adult California Seagulls would actual use their juvenile begging gestures to get me to feed them. This was particularly fascinating to me because it is an example of a bird using its own communication methods in an interaction with another species.
The hummingbirds that came to my feeder in Tomales got so used to me that they would perch on the feeder before I had finished hanging it up.
One bird that was notoriously difficult to tame was the Crow. Crows are capable of facial recognition with humans and can learn to manipulate all manner of puzzles in order to gain a food reward. That said, I found getting close to the local Crow family impossible. They would come to my balcony or kitchen window but would always maintain their distance and only go for the food when they were sure I wasn't near. They would watch me through the large picture window in my living room and call to each other when the coast was clear.
My favorite bird of all and one that I am sure is the most intelligent, is the mountain parrot known as the Kea. Kea are the only Alpine parrots in the world and they are only found in the mountains of the South Island of New Zealand.
There is a large collection of them at Willowbank and I love nothing more than to sit down in their enclosure (which visitors can walk through) and watch them interact. They dedicate a lot of time to exploring their surroundings and playing. One of them has been taught to grab his beak with his claw when he wants a treat and he is my favorite bird out of the lot.
I discovered a training method on the YouTubes called "The Power Pause" where you stick out your finger like a perch and work on getting it closer and closer to the bird.
It worked very well and I was able to get my finger nearer to Archimedes without him scolding me.
Next I took a large broccoli floret and placed it close to him. He sidled right on over and nibbled on it.
Happy days!
I'm pleased with the progress we have made and hope to have Archimedes perching on my finger soon.
I may have to change out the edible treat though- the broccoli gives him wicked gas.
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