Join this great online list and find out how to clicker [0] train your parrot or other bird. Here's a message from Melinda Johnson, the author of our book on clicking birds, Clicker Training for Birds [0]. Yes! Clicker training [0] works for birds too. Birds were among the first animals ever to be trained by B.F. Skinner and his assistants.

Until recently, clicker training was a well-guarded secret passed from one professional bird trainer to the next. Pet bird trainers were left to rely on observation and guesswork, a hit-or-miss proposition. Karen Pryor's, Don't Shoot the Dog book brought operant conditioning [0] out in the open for the benefit of all pets and the humans that love them. Now, thanks to the internet, members of the BirdCLICK group and e-mail list are discovering creative ways to apply the principles of positive reinforcement [0] to improve communication with their pet birds. Clicker trainers are strengthening the bond of friendship and trust while solving behavior [0] problems like screaming and biting. Instead of dominance-based or long, slow taming processes, wild birds are clicker trained into hopping on your hand happily and willingly. Pet birds are learning to offer their toes calmly for nail filing, extend and hold their wings for feather trimming, wear a harness for safe outdoor expeditions, cooperate with medical procedures and more.

Some of our list members even teach their birds to fly freely outdoors and return to their owner's call. If you have clicker trained a dog, cat, llama or horse your experience will give you a great head start with birds. The basic rules of Operant Conditioning apply equally well to our avian friends. Because birds have a unique way of looking at life that may present some unexpected challenges to the novice, it's advisable to enlist some guidance. You are cordially invited to join BirdCLICK where you can make friends as you embark on the remarkable adventure of clicker training your bird. We discuss any type of bird from Cockatiels to Macaws, Amazons to Emus and chickens to Hawks. You'll meet clicker trainers experienced in everything from rescue bird rehabilitation to professional shows.

Won't you join us?

Melinda Johnson
Wendy Jefferies
Lynn Hollander
Administrators of BirdCLICK

BirdCLICK - a Yahoo Group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bird-Click/ [1]

To Learn More:
http://www.geocities.com/birdtrain/ [2]

To Subscribe:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Bird-Click/join [3]
or
Bird-Click-subscribe@yahoogroups.com [4]