How to Train a Quaker Parakeet

The Quaker parakeets, also known as Quaker parrots or the monk parakeets, are small-to-medium parrots with green bodies and grey bellies and faces. Some have blue feathers instead of green. Adults grow to be about 12 inches long including the tail. Native to South America, Quaker parrots are among the few parrots that have spread, at least partially through escaped pets, to North America. They are the only parrot or parakeet to be able to survive in such cold climates as the Chicago area and New York City. Considered a threat to crops, although this is disputed, they are illegal in several states. Quakers are intelligent birds and can be loud, but can be trained and can learn to be excellent vocal mimics.

Things You'll Need

  • Treats
  • Training Clicker
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Instructions

  1. Training Your Quaker parakeet

    • 1

      Use positive reinforcement to train your Quaker. When your parrot behaves in the way your want, reward it with a treat. A small bit of favorite food works well. It is also useful to use a training clicker as well as verbal praise to reward the Quaker, so that it will want to repeat the action. Do not use negative reinforcement, i.e. punishing the bird for doing the wrong thing. The bird will not fully understand what is going on, and will simply become fearful and agitated.

    • 2

      Training your bird to talk is one of the fun things about owning a Quaker parrot. Natural mimics, Quaker parrots are known for talking early, and your bird will probably pick up some words just from spending time around you and your family. These words can form the basis of other words or phrases that you can teach your bird. Begin with words the bird already says, or words that have similar sounds, since it already knows how to make those. Reward the parrot until it makes familiar noises or words on command, and then proceed to get the bird to make other sounds.

    • 3

      Train your Quaker to do some common tasks that will make handling it much easier. The most basic trick for a parrot is to teach it to step up. At the command "step up" the bird should step onto your outstretched hand or arm. This will make it much easier to take your Quaker in and out of its cage. "Come here" is another useful trick. Teach the bird that when you tell it to come here, it will be rewarded when it does so. Again, this will make it easier to take care of the bird. A Quaker can learn more complicated tricks based on easy tasks like these; teach the parrot a few easy tricks, and then use positive reinforcement to chain them together into a complicated action. This training will be interesting and stimulating for your Quaker parrot, and keep them from getting bored, improving both your lives.