by Maria » Wed Dec 19, 2012 4:47 pm
really interesting.
I got my parrot when he was about 4 months old, from the parrot shop. He'd been weened off formula, onto pellet food by then.
I never knew his background as to flying before I took him home. But the "Pretty Wings" trick and exercise I'd taught him developed into him flying around the house also, thereby learning and knowing that he could fly. Pretty wings became an interaction game for him. He thought it was a fun thing to do, as he was responding, seeing how happy and excited that made his mommy. LOL. It was the cutest thing.
First, I would flap my arms, while I would keep repeating, "Pretty Wings", "Pretty Wings!". This was either while he was on top of his cage, or on his parrot tree stand. He would look at me. Then at times I would have him on my arm, and raise my arm up gently, saying, "Pretty Wings" a few times. Then back on the stand, and repeating, with him watching me flap my arms (as if they were my wings). Eventually, when he was on his cage or his stand, and I would say pretty wings flapping my arms, he would respond with flapping his wings. When he got to THAT stage, I would clap, praise him, scream, "YAAAYYY!!! GOOD BABY! OOOHHH BOOOY!!". And by that, he knew I was excited and happy, with that response I gave when he responded by actually flapping his wings when I would say pretty wings. From there, when I would say pretty wings, and he would flap, and I'd do my excited, praising him response, he would then do that happy response, saying, "YAAAAYYYYY!!!!". At this point, he's responding to my excitement, and to my praising him, and also thinking it was fun - this kind of interaction. The graduation then was that he would actually take off, flying, circle around up in the air, around the room, then back down onto his cage or stand, instead of just doing it stationary on his cage or stand. Once he flew up and made the circle in the air, then landed back down, he would then turn around and look at me for the praising reponse, and I would go "YAAAAYYYY!" and clap and all that, and he would go "YAAAAYYYY!" Then I would say pretty wings and flap my arms again, and he would repeat, flying up into the air, circling once around the room, and landing back down, and "YYYAAAYYY!!!!". This is also how he seemed to grow into learning that he could fly, and get to me when ever he wanted. Even when I called him from another room, his name, and said, "come on, come on", he would come flying from one room to another to get to me.
Maria