Stepping Up on New Things

I find this a very important skill to always keep teaching your bird. Stepping up onto anything helps the bird improve confidence in themselves and in us. By asking the bird to step up onto something we know is stable and safe for them, and them following suit, shows the bird that we wouldn’t ask it something unless we knew it was okay for them, building trust. It’s also nice to have your bird not be as fearful of new things because you will be consistently introducing it to new things. Birds need a lot of change in their environment. Following natural behaviors, a bird never lands on the same branch twice. So, varying up the perching introduces change utilizing something that is natural (varied perching) for decrease in fear and increase in confidence.

Varied perching shouldn’t be just outside the cage, inside it can be just as valuable. Changing perches and their placement weekly is ideal for good foot health for your bird as well.

Munchkin was slightly hesitant on stepping up at first. He is very cautious because of his underdeveloped eye affecting his vision and depth of perception. I ended up using my target stick, and he stepped right up with it! I now sell target sticks and have a target training online class that outlines the training to teach it by a professional trainer.