Can We Help This Anxious Macaw? | Luna The Macaw

[@everlyharris1322]

My day is always so much better when I start it with a new Birdtricks video! Thanks for your content and sharing! ❤️

[@BirdTricks]

Awe! Thanks 🥰

[@jennigthatonecrazydoglady8100]

These techniques are so similar to what we use with rescued dogs who are fearful. Some of them are so heartbreakingly shut down, the entire session is just us sitting in the same room ignoring them. (And trying to mentally convey that I have all the love on the planet for them regardless of where they are in their journey!) Given enough time, love, and patience, their distress turns to ignoring me back, then cautious curiosity, and then usually interest in interacting. Sometimes with rescues from animal testing labs or puppy mills we never get to that last stage. But that’s ok! I’m in it to give them a better life, not in it for what they give to me. All this is foundational before we can get to training. I think of it as healing their broken hearts.

[@thinriches]

I came to this channel via snake discovery. I work at Petco, working with the animals and getting them socialized is my #1 goal. Thanks to the videos here, after 5 days of work our green cheek conure is now stepping up and even had a 30 foot flight! (clipped, but maintained altitude for a good 20 feet!) I had a day off the other day and when i came back he was hollering at me, so i put my hand in and BAM he hopped right on. We walked around the store a bit, had that flight and then hung out while i cleaned. He even laid down in my palm and got scritches and a nice full body hold. Later that day we repeated our success! Can't wait to see him tomorrow

[@thinriches]

#1 behaviour goal. My #1 goal is getting all the cages up to a standard that as closely resembles proper care as i can achieve given my limitations. It's a fight, but one i'm willing to undertake.

[@Plqnes]

'Only a sith deals in absolutes'

[@hrhosmer]

Bubbalicious, my galah, came to me at 4 + years old. I’ve had him two years and the change in trust is ongoing. I thought I had “arrived” after two months of target trading and diet conversion had him stepping up and spin. I had his trust. But in hind sight I see he’s taken a lot of time to really know that I have no plans to hurt him. It’s fascinating to watch this little creature get comfortable. He’s finally destroying toys! Who knew that was a good thing. As you noted, I don’t know his prior experience, but it’s clear some of the training was traumatizing. Your teaching people how to respond positively to calm behavior is so significant. Not just with birds. Thanks for the videos and the training. 🤗

[@May_3005]

Unrelated note but bubbalicious is such an awesome name!!!!

[@1hawaii21]

Yes! One of my caiques says, “whatcha doin” as a prelude to trying to inflict a very painful bite. He also slightly raises his back feathers and wings. This is a rescue bird with deformed feet. . He’s 9+ years old. I was able to get some information from his former owner. He’s fully flighted but doesn’t fly. He has difficulty perching and we’ve constructed a cage with multi platforms and ramps. His cage door is opened all day so that he can access his special area on top of his cage. This bird came eating a good diet and getting 12 hours of sleep at night. We work on target training every day. It’s a real dance, two steps forward, three steps back. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and training skills.

[@xxgn]

It's very convenient when a bird to learn to vocally warn that it's unhappy.

[@thepresidentsdesk3739]

This is a really important video for every birdowner to see. From the loving owners who were sure of what Luna felt to the contrary cues Dave's experience picked up on and demonstrated to them. It was amazing! With Dave's help to and re-teaching and reconditioning the owners, Luna will succeed! Beautifully done!

[@stardoll1995]

Hi BirdTricks I've commented twice before about how incredible your help has been into creating a bond with my new cockatiel, I'm almost at 2 months of having her now, she was under 6 months when I got her but she should be right around that age now I would guess from what information I was given when she was handed to me and even though changing diets has been a bit of a complicated task I've gotten her to eat pelltes, peas, bell pepper and beatroot also even though she was not hand raised with consistent training and encouragement (using everything I've learned from here) I'm now at a point where she steps up and down from my hand, shoulder and head willingly, will fly to me on her own free will and allows scritches as frequently as I can/want to give them (I can also pretty easily target her most places with just my finger at this point) honestly couldn't have done it without you, sadly in my house rn I live with family and do not have a room that would be left alone all night where she can sleep so usually what I do is a the sun goes down I bring her into my room, use a cover on her cage so it's darker, use a night light and earphones and quietly relax in my room at night or take the living room if possible to relax to leave my bedroom alone. Also wanted to mention that without wing clipping as I had been advised before I found your channel to do she's now mostly a very confident flyer even though she lacks some motivation to actually fly and much prefers just being perched on my shoulder looking around while I go on about my day but is very bonded to me at this point since my parents lack time and motivation to train her and if out of her cage and not on me will fly around trying to find me.

[@juanluissaucedofigueredo7414]

I love how you explain things, they make them so much easier to understand and to realise what the bird's behaviours means. It is impossible not to learn and improve with your videos. Totally looking forward to see what happens in part 2. Thanks for the videos

[@Loveofpets]

Luna is so beautiful. I hope he succeeds.

[@dellieb6337]

Love listening to your explanations in understanding the parrots body language that could be misinterpreted. I am learning a lot.

[@littlemidwestrebornsdolls]

I always learn something new with each video I watch. Thank you. Gina Hetlage

[@jjgnva]

IDEA IDEA IDEA...I don't own a bird, I have 2 cats a doggie, and a snake and our house is full..I love birds and would love to attend a master class to watch. I know too many people would be distracting, but you guys should consider opening the master classes for a couple of bird lovers to just watch. We would pay to attend, or maybe when you are doing free flight training in the desert. I love watching and would honestly pay to get a chance to watch parrots fly!!

[@mariemcgrath8681]

Looking forward to Part 2. Great video of a very anxious Luna.

[@MrJdubz100]

My Catalina Macaw is like this around strangers despite the fact that I take her with me to a lot of places.

[@malinwaldestal1813]

When can we expect part 2

[@galeem713]

After losing everything in my fridge and freezer after a storm and 8 days without power, I am somewhat restricted. But I bought riced cauliflower, broccoli and carrot, add a bit of corn, some egg, some hemp seeds and diced apple. But my birds are all rescues from mostly bad situations, and they never had veggies or fruits. It took a while but except for carrots, which all seem to not like, but they are eating what I give them. Baby steps.

[@p.maryyayabear7078]

Luna seemed to be reacting to the breeze from the fan.

[@healthcubes]

I've had your seasonal feeding book for almost a year now but till this day I struggle with completely converting my birds diet from crappy pellets to the natural food. The tips in this video should help, thank you!

[@BirdTricks]

If you need additional support with diet conversion feel free to reach out to my customer service team at [e-mail] ❤️

[@healthcubes]

@@BirdTricks thank you so much! I will try this new tip, and if I couldn't get it to work, I'll definitely reach out to you guys! 🙏🙏🙏🌺🌺🌺

[@eclipsestar5]

I'm still struggling a bit with my cockatiel eating the freeze dried seasonal feeding system, but she's a bit more willing if I sprinkle it with the BirdTricks pellets (powder form). Hopefully will get to the point where sh eats them without. Yesterday she did eat all of the feeding system I left in her food dish so here's hoping!

[@bauerlikoloki]

I received my first order of the freeze dried seasonal feeding today! Yay! It came super quick-thank you. Hopefully it will help Loki so we can work on the target training & have better results.

[@B1rdLadee]

Wow, I so much see me and my fella here. He is so anxious, just like Luna (and me). So far the Power Pause and Capturing are the most effective training I can use. I’m hoping to switch him over to the freeze dried SFS, so I can start making real progress.

[@manoukirishanning]

This was very informative, thank you

[@barbarabeard6017]

Poor Luna. Wonder what caused her fear. Lots to look forward though as owners learn to help work her through it, and themselves.

[@jehdo144]

Can’t wait to bring my BG crackers to your masterclass someday when you’re closer to Michigan :)

[@morganking9633]

Oh hey they live near me!

[@kellymaisonet2039]

Am I the only one in awe here at the baby talk to Luna? It made me feel so uncomfortable, not sure why 🤔

[@taniatucker7698]

Any time your coming to Australa Qld look us up would love to host a master class 💖and meet you all.

[@GuyG.KTalesOfAnimals]

Do you have a video of the Indian Ringneck and the man with the fancy red tie 😯 so fancy

[@arjuns8271]

Can u plss make a vid about yellow sided green chick conure

[@OscarChicken]

Currently im working with a terrified cockatiel who i bought month ago. He scared of hands.

[@eclipsestar5]

Lolz my cockatiel is also named Luna. 😆😊💙

[@sammmenzies134]

Hi there @birdtricks. I'm not a bird owner, but wish I was - I don't believe that I am ready or that our home is quite "right" for a bird friend yet (we have dogs and not enough room to divide the household) - so I am loving learning from videos etc while I wait until the time is right. I have a couple of questions though. I am a very keen dog trainer and use the same reinforcement training that you use with your birds. I am very aware of thresholds when training my dogs - making sure that they are within a comfortable (for them) zone before asking them to do something, so I am curious to know if this applies to birds as well, and therefore, whether Luna's training might be more successful when they are in their "safe" place? Second question relates to the "head shake" - with my doggies, a shake is a sign of "shaking off" nervous energy or stress. Is this the same concept for birds? Thank you for such great content. I am learning so much from your videos. Cheers

[@Antoon55]

I would feel unhappy in that environment too

[@H.C.Q.]

I noticed a training clicker in the video. I just bought one at the pet shop and have been clicking it whenever my bird attempts to whistle a song or whenever she is behaving. Have you had much success using one of those? The trainer in the video said you have to start with "Step-up!" training, and my cockatiel doesn't follow directions. She steps up whenever SHE is ready to- sort of like Luna.

[@Drummerchef13]

They use clickers to "snapshot" the moment of correct trick/behavior by getting the bird to associate the click with a treat

[@jameeladaniels2082]

I have a b&g 8 months old. He also won't step up or come out of the cage. I tried leaving the cage gate open for him to come out by himself which he did, but was flapping crazy and flew into wall etc . He hasn't flown before.. He has no control on direction or landing on a perch. Advice would be greatly appreciated

[@BOB-Route66Parrots]

I call it prisoner syndrome. The bird is not comfortable or confident outside of it's known environment. I take in many birds just like this and have to put them through a halfway house so to speak. I make them ready to live in a open environment with no closed cages and room to explore. Most rewarding thing I've ever done but it's definitely a lot of work.

[@birdiiii]

How do you do it? I tried to get my rescue cockatiel out of her cage but she would have none of it!

[@BOB-Route66Parrots]

@@birdiiii I think everyone has a different method but when I get a new bird in, I will spend time making it feel safe. Then I offer treats through to bars until it seems good with that. I will then open the cage and try to get the bird to take a treat from the opening but not put my hand in it's space. Slowly it will happen and you can progress from there. That's my method, Oh and keep the door to the room closed so if the bird spook's it doesn't have enough space to hurt itself in the event that it tries to fly off.

[@birdiiii]

@@BOB-Route66Parrots Thanks for replying! She will take treats and let me pat her! I offer a step up and she either bites or wants more pats.

[@BOB-Route66Parrots]

@@birdiiii Sounds like your doing great, just be patient and consistent and she will come around.

[@birdiiii]

@@BOB-Route66Parrots Thanks! I hope so too 😊

[@AnnaMishel]

I don’t even take that much care for my own food.

[@crazycurax5406]

only a sith speaks in absolut ! ;-)

[@Taneth]

Today.

[@michelemorris2366]

BeeBee will only eat BirdTricks pellets, she's not a fan of chop at all. Unless it's a apple, which she only gets a piece once every two weeks.

[@moontheclouded]

Why is my cockatiel cage bigger than that cage (unless it’s a traveller cage)

[@BirdTricks]

Yes, everyone brings their birds to our masterclass locations in travel carriers.

[@moontheclouded]

@@BirdTricks oh, okay. thank you.

[@catzkeet4860]

Why would someone travel to a class using their birds main cage?

[@ACockatielsSong]

There were so many ads during this video I almost gave up watching it.

[@KakashiHatake-gh8zi]

Zzz the background noise

[@treasuretrovel3816]

Okay, Halt. JamieLeigh said that Lun'a parents were feeding too much variety and that they should "simplify the diet". But, let's just be totally honest and clear here, that is in direct conflict with your "Seasonal Feeding' scheme that is all about variety. So, to be clear, if they are feeding Top's brand pellets and bird bread that is "good" but any other brands are "bad"? Sorry, I love this channel but have to point out the discrepancies when I see it.

[@treasuretrovel3816]

And, in full disclosure, the thawed, mushy, homogenized chop is not that delicious to JamiLeigh's parrots. If it was, then she would not have to mix it with Hanna golden, cooked sweet potatoes to make it palatable for them. Right?

[@catzkeet4860]

Wow, do you think you might have a bit of an axe to grind? You’re taking her comments very literally. The way I understood it was that some owners feed EVERYthing. Like several different pellets, lots of fruits and veges many of which aren’t chosen for nutritional value but more palatability so that there is very little clarity on what your bird actually eats, and what out of what it eats has nutritional benefit. What she’s saying is bring it back so you can see what you’re dealing with. I’m really not sure what you feel you’re proving with that second comment but to me, many foods are “good for you” even great, but might not be the tastiest things around. It makes sense to add a little of a liked flavour to a healthy mix to encourage feeding.

[@treasuretrovel3816]

@@catzkeet4860 No, I don't think I have an "axe to grind". Using various brands of pellets is a superior strategy than feeding just Top's Pellets. Study the ingredients in Tops and compare to Harrisons (they have several formulations). These two pellets are very different. Top's has no track record. Let me repeat, Tops has NO track record. Just feeding Tops as opposed to feeding both Harrisons and Tops is a very risky gamble with a parrots health. I'm very passionate about captive parrot diet and that's why I am very vocal about pointing out that Tops is a trend. Don't fall for the "cold pressed" marketing strategy. Yes, it is true that cold pressed is better in a lot of ways than high heat extrusion, however, that does not magically give the pellets a good formula. Don't get me wrong, I think that BirdTricks is the very best parrot education companies in the world and it is a labor of love for them combined with superior knowledge about training and husbandry. Their parrots are the luckiest captive birds in the world. One thing that Dave and Jamieleigh emphasize is that owners should pick a single training program and stick with it rather than mixing and matching techniques from different schools of thought and confusing their parrot. I agree with that. In this video, Jamieleigh is extrapolating that fundamental thought and applying it to diet. And, in my opinion, that is very wrong. It may be that this particular couple has created nutritional problems for their macaw because they are failing to provide consistent, basic nutrition. However, using a variety of pellets is not evidence of that.