How to Train Your Parrot to Step Up

It's not as difficult to get started with parrot training as you might think. Whether you just brought your parrot home or have had it for a while, there's no reason to wait before beginning its training. Many parrot behaviorists agree that one of the most important behaviors you can teach your parrot is the step-up command. In other words, you tell the bird to "step up" and it should immediately step onto your hand.

You may be wondering why this is the first thing you should train your parrot to do. It makes it easier to take your bird from its cage, for one thing. Another is that parrots sometimes climb up on shoulders whether you want them to or not, so step-up makes it easier to get them off of a shoulder. Parrots sometimes will bite when you try to get them off of your shoulder. A bird that has been trained to step up will be easier to deal with in this situation. And if you ever find your bird in a dangerous situation, the step-up command could literally be a life saver. It's important that your bird learn to cooperate with you, and teaching step up is an excellent way to do that. So all in all, the step-up command is a great place to start when first beginning to train your parrot.

Teach Your Parrot to Step-up

Let's now take a look at the steps used to teach your bird to step onto your hand. The first thing to do is to move your hand so that it is in front of the bird's feet or slightly higher and tell your bird to "step up." Some parrots will step up automatically when your finger is in front of it. With others, you may need to press your finger gently into its lower abdomen area to put it off balance just a tiny bit. In most cases, the parrot will step onto your finger as you give this gentle push. Once the bird steps up, you should heap on lots of praise saying "good bird" or the word good followed by your bird's name. Continue to work with your bird by asking it to "step up" from one hand to the other several times.

What If My Bird Doesn't Step Up?

There are a few particularly stubborn parrots that clamp down on the perch with their talons and hang on for dear life. Who knows what is going on inside their heads, but this is how you handle this situation. Keep your finger in front of the feet as described above, but take your other hand and move it around behind the bird like you are going to scoop it up from behind. Most parrots don't like to be picked up this way, and this action gives the bird a choice of either that or stepping up to your hand. Most of the time, the parrot will choose to willingly step up to your hand when presented with this choice. Again, wildly praise your pet for being smart enough to know that stepping up is the better choice.

Regular Practice

Keep practicing step-up with your bird on a regular basis. Practice daily at first, and then do semi-regular practice sessions throughout the bird's life to reinforce this behavior. If more parrot owners did this, they would find that their birds would be much more cooperative with them, and even the "terrible twos" are easier on a bird and owner who have learned the step-up command together. Best of luck to you and your bird as you explore further parrot training topics.