Bertie is an 11 year old Moluccan Cockatoo. When she joined our family six years ago she already engaged in feather destructive behavior. We did our best to find the cause. All the medical test results were negative. Several prophylactic courses of antibiotics made no difference. Haloperidol just made a zombie of our girl. We finally decided that enough was enough; Bertie seemed happy and healthy and we decided to ignore and live with the feather chewing. However, that has not stopped me from watching for and trying things that might work. Along the way, we increased the frequency of baths. We worked on enriching her cage environment with foraging opportunities and a toy box. We varied her diet and even tried some kind of herbal tea that seemed innocent enough.
One day, on the computer, I found myself at the Bird-Click home page. It sounded interesting so I joined. And for a couple of weeks I lurked, reading the various posts. On the one hand clicker training sounded too good to be true. On the other hand I knew that, if it worked, every minute Bertie spent on clicker training would be time she wasn't chewing on her feathers.
For some reason, I was really quite nervous about trying this. But I couldn't see how it might be harmful. Maybe I was more nervous about my abilities as a trainer than I was of Bertie's ability to learn. Planning, I thought, was the key. So I decided t hat during the two or three days that I was conditioning the clicker and teaching Bertie to target, I would decide on the next trick, read up on it and plan our steps. And I'd use hulled sunflower seeds as her training reward.
The chosen day arrived. I put Bertie on her T-stand and I conditioned the clicker; click & treat, click & treat, click & treat. By the fourth or fifth click & treat she had the idea and was reaching for her sunflower seed as soon as she heard the click. Although that was a little faster than I'd anticipated we moved right on to targeting. Within five minutes Bertie was touching that target stick to the right of her, to the left of her, above her, below her and taking several steps to target as well. I was in trouble. We had to stop then because I had no idea what to do next.
Melinda, her colleagues and the other Bird-Click members were terrific. They answered my questions and praised every step of our progress. They explained in detail, the "how-to". Although they did that for everyone, they left me feeling that Bertie and I were special and oh so talented. Talk about positive reinforcement!
Bertie and I learned together. As she learned to retrieve, I learned how to shape a behavior. And we were having the time of our lives. My pride in Bertie's accomplishments grew as did my confidence. And over the next year or so, Bertie learned to put rings on a peg, play basketball, put money in a piggy bank, load a wagon and pull it to me, put links in a small bucket, put the lid on and carry the bucket to me. and over that year as I started clicker training our 'tiels and Budgies, I learned that anything the "big" birds can do, the "little" birds can do too...each in his/her own way, each at his/her own speed, and each for what he/she decided was a reward. Today, most of our birds are clicker trained to one degree or another.
Now, I'd be remiss if I led you to think that we've not had setbacks. We have. When Bertie consistently tossed the skateboard into my lap instead of putting one foot on as she'd been doing, I realized that my clicker timing was "off". I'd muddied the communication between us with sloppy timing. We've put the skateboard away for a little while. Blue our fully flighted Blue-Crowned Conure was another challenge. Whenever training wasn't rewarding enough, he simply left to do something else. He loves grapes; I found grapes too messy. He loves yogurt; I prefer using grapes. A skritch wouldn't cut it. He loves sunflower seeds...only if Bertie gets a few first ( Bertie really likes that arrangement). We eventually reached an understanding. We clicker train when Blue wants to clicker train. We keep it short. And we vary the reinforcement from time to time. Now he targets and rings a bell. We're working on retrieve and recall now and I'm thrilled.
Then, one day, someone on the Bird-Click list mentioned an on-line course called Living and Learning with Parrots. Once I found it and read about it, I registered. Thirteen months later once again my life with parrots changed. For six weeks, I and 29 others, including a veterinarian, aerospace engineer, nurse, biologist and a teenager, grappled with the terminology, science and successes associated with applied behaviour analysis and operant conditioning. I learned that Bertie's sunflower seed is a primary reinforce...for her, and that giving her that sunflower seed for doing something is positive reinforcement. My clicker became a bridge and a secondary reinforcer. Shaping became successive approximations. And I became a better clicker trainer and behaviourist wannabe. I don't towel Bertie to clip and file her toenails anymore. She just lifts a foot and places it in my hand. I was able to teach Bertie to play with the toys in her cage. And although Bertie still chews her feathers, she's learning to wear a harness in anticipation of a day when she might be able to fly.
You don't need to know why and how clicker training works to be successful at clicker training. and what you accomplish will be fun and will make you proud of yourself and your bird. However, understanding why and how clicker training works can expand the possibilities for teaching and/or changing housekeeping and/or problem solving behaviours as well as those "parlor tricks". So, give it a try. If I can do it, so can you.
Published in Good Bird Magazine Winter 2005
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