Do your birds do tricks or talk?

[Duck_feeder]

We're still trying to transition them from seeds to pellet and fresh foods so we haven't made any efforts into training other than learning the step up command. Once they are eating well I'll use seed as their treat for training tricks. No plans for talking other than socializing with them.

 

[chickenzoo]

I have a 12 year old Quaker Parrot, can't get him to hush up most days. He sings songs and then sings them wrong on purpose so he can laugh at himself. He talks to my mom on the phone"It's Grandma". He tells me his cage is a mess, that mommy needs to clean.

He spends hours trying to get hubby to stick out his tongue, put his wings or foot up or cough.... ( hubby has lung problems) hehe. He would tell me when the baby chicks were going to hatch by saying "it's the baby" about an hour before piping. He likes to scream help if I roll him outside.

or call here kitty kitty!
He loves to sing Old McDonald and do all the farm animal sounds and will tell you which one he wants you to do. I could go on and on. Such a smart bird for being so little.

 

[Terri O]

That is so cool! I had a Quaker for a very short time too. His name was Harry and I got him from an older lady. I do not know what happened to him. He was out in a double decker cage with my Senegal parrot and was missing one morning! I think someone may have stolen him.

My Senegal was there but Harry was gone! I looked and looked and called him but never found him. Disappeared without a trace. I hope whoever has him gave him a good home.
So nice to hear of a bird that talks like that...but only makes me miss my parrots more! (the Senegal passed away at 23 years of age) Terri O

 

[silkiechicken]

I wish... but my parakeets will only step up IF if there is a compelling reason to do so. Like if I have the camera out or if I have a chick or hamster in my hands. My blue bird is a little "butt picker" since she comes up and wants out, will step up, and go right after the hamsters tail to chew on it. The hamster just sits there like nothing is happening.

Only other caged bird I had trained was a silkie who knew how to pick at only a blue ball amongst colored balls to get treats. Conditioning training can be so funny. It just kept looking for the blue ball.

 

[Terri O]

I had no idea that a chicken could differentiate colors! I knew that they could see red but...hmmm, maybe I could teach mine to do something....Terri O

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Quote:
Most birds actually have very good eye sight! You can usually tell what colors an animal can see by the colors of their skin/fur/feathers.Many birds can actually see ultra violet as well as the normal colors of the spectrum.

I used to work at a parrot sanctuary and a lot of the birds there would talk, dance and sing. None of them really knew any tricks that were taught to them, but they would do things on their own. My favorite bird was a mollucan cockatoo that loved to hang upside down so I could swing him around my head. Another Blue and gold macaw would lay on her back in your arms like a baby.

Here's a picture of Big Bird being a ham for the camera. I love this bird to pieces!

 

[Duck_feeder]

Quote:
The US Coast Guard has experimented with using chickens to help find people lost at sea! Their eyesight is much better so they can spot a life raft or life jacket much further away than a person could.

They have 3 or 4 chickens in a pod facing different directions and the pod is attached to the bottom of an aircraft. The chickens are trained to peck a button whenever they see the color orange (they get a treat when they peck the button). Based on when chicken pecked a button, the pilot can figure out which direction to head and where the rest of the crew should try searching.

 

[texaschick-a-dee]

My quaker is a constant source of entertainment. He will call my name and say I love you, carries on conversations with himself. He will call the kids when I call them. In the morning he says get up, get up, get up, time to get dressed. He coughs and laughs. I could go on and on, I'm really amazed at what he can do. Only bad thing, I hand fed him so he doesn't tolerate anyone else.

 

[77horses]

Quote:

This picture is hilarious!

 

[flgardengirl]

duck_feeder: That is really cool about the Coast Guard using chickens for spotting lifeboats! I always heard the parrots knew when a hurricane was coming etc. I believe it because we were living in Erath, LA when Hurricane Katrina and then a month later Hurricane Rita hit. We were spared for Katrina but had some wind damage. We had to evacuate for Rita and the whole town ended up flooded. Our Yellow Nape Amazon actually knew both of those hurricanes were coming because he made a tent by draping a peice of newspaper over his perch and then hid in it about 4 days before both of those hurricanes were due to hit. He has never done that before or since! He and our other parrots all acted jittery before the hurricanes as well.