Teaching Your Bird The "Up" Command

A good manners command is to teach your pet bird the "up" command so that it will step on your hand, finger or arm easily when necessary. It is not difficult to teach to any bird that is reasonably tame and not afraid of people. Even if the bird is still biting and isn't fully tame, the training can be started but it is very important that the bird not be fearful and frightened.

There are two ways to teach your pet bird the up command. The first one should be used on parrots that are only partially tamed. This training will work best if you work with a bird that has clipped wings and is outside its cage but it can be performed inside the cage as long as there is sufficient space.

To train the bird, take a spare perch that is the right size for your parrot. Place the perch just above the parrot's toes and below its breast. Say the word "up" or whatever word you want to use to tell your bird what you desire it to do.

Speak clearly in a normal tone of voice as you move the perch toward the bird. Don't bang into the bird or cause it lose balance; simply move it slowly toward the bird. Instinct will make the bird naturally step up onto the perch. Once it steps on the perch the first time, even if the bird immediately gets off the perch, praise the bird, making a really big deal of the success.

Give the bird a treat if it will take food from your hand. Let the bird know how proud you are. If the bird refuses to step up, don't yell at it or try to punish it. Simply start over and continue for at least 10 minutes. Two sessions per day are most effective, one in the morning and one in the late afternoon right before dinnertime.

A tame bird of any age can be trained using the same basic methods but using an arm or finger instead of a perch. Just say "up" or whatever word you have chosen and move your finger or arm, which you have positioned above the feet and below the breast, slowly and gently toward the bird until it steps up. After success, lavish praise on your pet and never, ever punish a bird that fails.

You can teach your bird the up command in as little as a week or so, but sometimes it may take longer. If working with a young, hand-fed baby bird, you can expect to have success quickly.

You'll be glad you took the time to train your bird the up command because whenever you need to pick up the bird, simply saying the word will result in the parrot happily stepping onto your finger, hand or arm. After teaching this command, you can work on other, more complex commands to train your pet bird.