Article by Chris Biro, all rights reserved.
Hello Paul,
> I have seen this term used many times. I looked on the pirate web
site and did not find anything about it. I saw one training video about
how to train parrots. I would be interested to know what others do.
For me, I just start going inside and they usually come in and if they don't, I leave the door open and check on them every once in a while.
There are multiple approaches to training Recall and of course every person will
do things a bit differently. Falconers have a widely different approach than I
use. Much will depend on your intended level of response also. I have a fairly
loose recall established with my birds - not that I would not mind a more
reliable and instantaneous response, I just have not made the effort to develop
this type of response.
My personal opinion of the best approach is through operant
conditioning/clicker training methods. When it comes to recall, there can be
zero aversives applied in relation to the act of coming when called. The birds
must know that they can come to you with no hazardous repercussions. Reinforcing
every time they come to you at first will cause them to come to you all the time
(frequently). Training some other behaviors to complete reliability to on cue -
behavior only happens immediately when cued and at NO other time or cue - will
help them understand why at some point you start only reinforcing them when they
come when cued and not other times. Thus you use a minor behavior to
establish the rules of the training game so that when the serious issues like
recall are being worked on, you don't confuse them and leave them wondering if
they can still trust you - you don't always give them a reinforcement like you
used to and they have no reason to understand why not without you first making
the rules clear through training other behaviors.
I start out when they are young - could be taught at any age though - and begin
indoors and at short distances. Can be started with non flighted bird since the
main issue is to come to you by any method or route. Can be trained on the back
of the couch, on a table, on the floor, or of course in the air. Start by
reinforcing any efforts to come in your direction. Then begin reinforcing only
those times the bird comes farther in your direction. Continue this pattern
until the bird is actually coming to you. Next begin adding a specific cue to
signal that it is time to come to you - what the signal is does not matter, this
can be changed later. Once the bird is coming to you when signaled, next begin
only reinforcing when the bird comes to you more quickly, only changing/upping
the criteria in tiny increments. Finally only reinforce those times the bird
comes to you when cued and do not reinforce those time it comes when not cued.
Continue to strengthen the speed and timing of response and someday the bird
will always come when called and do so as quickly as is possible. This is
the theory anyway and I know it will work, I just have not taken it this far
myself yet.
I highly encourage reading up on operant conditioning or joining a clicker list
for a while - the Bird Click site has such a list and is listed on my website
under links of interest. If anyone is interested, I do have a few "Don't
Shoot The Dog" books by Karen Pryor. Your local library may be able to get
it in for you also. But if you want one of mine, send $15 to the NCE at PO Box
782, Morton Washington 98356 and I'll send you one book and one clicker. I have
these for fair season when people want to know how I train my birds, I send them
home with this book and a clicker.
Parrots: More Than Pets, Friends For Life
Chris Biro