Reinforcers

Rosie, my pineapple cinnamon green cheek conure, trying new foods post training session. She really only works for safflower seeds (primary reinforcer) or attention (secondary reinforcer). Today, we tried using pine nuts to hopefully get them to have value to her.

You would think pine nuts is every bird’s favorite reinforcer since every bird seems to love them. But every birds reinforcer are different because of the birds preferences. If you’re stuck trying to find a primary reinforcer for your parrot, here are some of the most commonly desired ones:

Almonds (whole, slices, slivers)
Pine nuts
Walnuts (no shell)
Pecans
Pistachios
Cashews
Sunflower seeds
Safflower seeds
Animal crackers
Pumpkin seeds
Macadamia nuts
Fruits