|
|
|
After getting this Eclectus out of its cage,
as in this photo, Ken gets it to the proper perching place on his hand
for the first time. To take "pressure" off the bird Ken tucks his left hand
behind his back, raises the bird above his head and averts his eyes. This
takes pressure off the bird and reinforces that Ken’s hand is a safe place to be and allows the bird to
relax.
As you can see in this photo, the Eclectus, within moments of being handled, is already starting to be comfortable
and is
preening himself.
In my approach, the Pressure on - Pressure
off concept is one of the most important elements of the taming process.
You need to use birds' innate drive to always seek safety, or their
comfort zone and away from danger, stress and "pressure." I
quickly bounce back and forth between applying pressure and
removing pressure as a series of positive & negative
reinforcements. This helps a bird rapidly learn how to remove
pressure by being in the right place. By doing this, you can
expose the bird to the behaviors it is avoiding a help it get used to them.
Soon they become comfortable with them.
|
|
|
