Training my finches

[Icearstorm]

I had a bit of spare time, so I decided to try training Tacocat and Macbeth. Yesterday I took Tacocat out and tried to get him used to my hands by slowly approaching him. Decent idea, I thought, but he pretty much flew away until he was too tired to fly any more. Clearly, that wasn't a great training method.

I also decided that if he landed on the deer antlers mounted on my wall, I would give him a break and lightly mist him. He sort of got it, though he didn't seem very happy and kept calling to Macbeth, who was in the flight cage.

Today, I first let Tacocat out for around half an hour until he perched on the antlers. Then I let Macbeth out, and I got her to fly to him. They calmed down within a couple of minutes, and Tacocat even started singing to Macbeth. For around the next five minutes, I approached the birds with a ruler whenever they flew somewhere else until they flew back to the antlers. Then I left them alone for maybe a minute or so. They learned to perch on the antlers pretty quickly after that. While they sat on the antlers, I moved my hands around underneath them, stopping whenever one of them looked like they wanted to fly away. They both flew away twice, but I was able to get them to go back within about three minutes. After around another fifteen minutes, neither of them were paying a huge amount of attention to my hands, provided that I didn't get closer than half a foot from them. They seemed pretty calm, preening, beak-crunching, and softly chirping.

I then pulled their nest box out from under my desk. I had removed it a few days ago, but both of the birds had been making nesting calls since then. Macbeth seemed extremely interested in the box, and watched me very closely while I held the box around a foot away from them with my arm extended. After around ten minutes of me being almost completely still, Macbeth flew to the nest box and got inside. She probably spent three minutes in it before flying back to the antlers. Then I moved several feet farther away, and Macbeth eventually flew back into the box I was holding. After several repetitions of this, Tacocat got brave enough to join her, although I had to bring the box closer to him. After an hour and a half or so after I first got them out, they were flying to the box over a distance of about five feet. I even got a video of them: Society Finches Fly to Me... They're usually afraid of my iPad!

Once they both got in, I placed the nest box in the flight and left the door open. Tacocat flew out of the flight cage and spent a few minutes confused, but he eventually flew back in; I closed the cage a few minutes later. I put the nest box in its normal place in the flight, but I guess they didn't notice, as they are now sleeping in the fake plants.

It's worth noting that the whole time they were flying to the nest box, I did not look directly at them, but instead watched them from my peripheral vision. I also blinked slowly, kept my mouth mostly closed, and mimicked the beak-crunching noises that calm birds make. I learned a good amount from the channel Leporello the Goldfinch - Birdtaming Tips & Tricks; check it out!

[wildbird]

That's amazing that the birds would fly into the nest box with you holding it! It shows a great amount of trust.

[Icearstorm]

wildbird

I'm surprised; they're usually terrified of me and slam into the sides of the flight and start screaming if I do as little as stick my hand into their cage. I suppose Macbeth must really like the nest box and Tacocat must have a very strong bond to her for them to even consider approaching me.

[Fraza]

Amazing !!!! Do they have favourite food like egg mix I eventually got two on my hand with the same method as u but using my egg mix not the best

[Icearstorm]

Fraza

Macbeth likes eggfood and both of them like veggies, but they don't seem used to me to the point where I could hand feed them. Maybe they'll come for food after a few more days.

[Icearstorm]

Day 3 update:

Took them out a bit after 6:00. They flew to the antlers, and Macbeth flew into the box once, but they were both rather jumpy and distractible. It seems that they weren't able to eat much before I got them out, so they were more focused on finding food than anything else. I didn't want them to be hungry, so I got them to fly back in their cage. I used a green ruler to get them back in the cage, rather than the blue one I used to get them on the antlers. Perhaps they will learn the difference. This session only took about 30 minutes.

Took them out again at around 17:30, and kept them out for maybe an hour. They were much more responsive, and Macbeth flew to the nest box within 5-10 minutes of me presenting it. She flew back out and to the antlers, and I spent about 15 minutes cleaning their cage. Tacocat flew to the cage once, but he flew back to the antlers after I picked up the blue ruler. I didn't even have to get it very close to him. I held the nest box to them a couple more times, and Tacocat eventually flew to it. Macbeth joined him after about half a minute, and I put the nest box in the flight cage. Both of them flew out and I fixed the box to the cage wall (back of box has two holes in it that fit into screws sticking out of the cage back, allowing me to lock the box in place). Both of the birds are now sleeping in the box. I also put some riced veggies in the cage, but neither of the birds came out of the box since then, so they probably didn't notice.

No video today since the result was pretty much the same as yesterday, just faster.

[Icearstorm]

Day 4:
Behaved about the same as day 3 afternoon, but sat for about an hour and let me take photos. Below are the ones I fixed up (mostly distracting background removal). They got kind of impatient toward the end, but I was still able to get them to fly to thenest box.

Day 5:
I didn't have to chase them out of the cage; they flew into the nest box shortly after I opened the cage door. This time Tacocat started flying to the nest box before Macbeth was in it, although I had to hold it closer to him. Macbeth flew to the nest box and once got on it to eat the millet and eggfood I put on top. Once I got them back in the cage and put the nest box in, I stayed about a foot away with the cage door open; Macbeth went in pretty soon, but Tacocat was hesitant and only joined Macbeth after she squeaked at him for ten minutes or so.

[wildbird]

Pretty birds!

[Babs _Owner]

Icearstorm

Perhaps, if you put the antlers and the nestbox right above you on the wall your desk is at, then got busy on the computer.....they would naturally gravitate your way.

Gosh, they are gorgeous societies. How are the gouldians and the Javas?

[Icearstorm]

Babs

Maybe; I'd have to put a couple screws in the wall first. Technically I'm not supposed to put anything in the wall of this apartment, but we could see where the previous people had drilled holes and whatnot, so it's probably fine.

I sold all but my five societies around four months ago to prepare for the move. The person I sold them to isn't new to birds and has several aviaries, so the birds should be doing well.

[Babs _Owner]

Icearstorm

Glad to hear you found a great home for them. I've missed you all so much since I've been away.. I have a lot of catching up to do.

[Icearstorm]

Babs

Missed you, too! It seems that several long-term members disappeared off the forum for a while, but I guess life just kind of happens sometimes.

[Sheather]

I hand-trained my societies this summer with a clicker and some millet. They will now fly to my hand when called. If you would like tame birds it's a more reliable method than using a nest box.

[Icearstorm]

Sheather

Cool! Mine are still very nervous around my hands, so I'm trying to get them to calm down a bit first. I plan to use food one they stop flipping out as much.

[Icearstorm]

Thursday was a late day, so no training.

Day 6
I don't quite remember, but it seemed mostly uneventful. They are getting fairly used to me moving the box around while they're inside of it, though. Maybe they would also take to show cage training where the cage is moved unexpectedly.

Day 7
I made the mistake of taking the nest box out immediately before getting the birds out, rather than removing it several hours earlier in the morning. The birds were nervous and hesitant, and probably considered this day's training more negative since it started with me taking away the nest box, rather than offering it to them. I'll try not to do this again.
I officially became a crazy bird person by gathering some seeding grass the day before. I first put the longest piece on the antlers and Tacocat tried to do the grass-dance with it. He failed every time by either opening his beak while singing and dropping the grass, or simply giving up midway through the dance.
I was able to get Tacocat to stay most of the time while I tapped him with the grass. He chewed on it a bit, but it seemed to be annoyance-related; I'm not sure if he knew it was edible. Eventually they both got in the nest box, and I tried to put it back in position while they were still inside. This didn't quite work, and they flew out, acting alarmed. Macbeth stayed in the cage, but Tacocat flew out and didn't figure out how to get back in despite my efforts. He flew around for a few minutes until he gave up and stayed on my hand; I nudged him into the nest box, and Macbeth joined him shortly after.

Day 8
Bought some spray millet today, and eventually got the birds to eat it while I held it. (@Sheather: it seems they're less afraid of me than I thought.) They still seemed quite nervous and flew away quite a lot, though. Once the both got in the nest box for the second time, I put it in the normal position in the cage, and they didn't fly out this time. I tried to keep this session shorter than yesterday's.