Macaws:
Red Shouldered (Hahn's) Macaw
Severe Macaw
Blue And Gold Macaw
Blue Throated Macaw
Military Macaw
Red Fronted Macaw
Scarlet Macaw
Green Winged Macaw
Hyacinth Macaw
While I sit at the airport waiting to go home, I recall the experiences I had on my 2016 Europe Seminar series. I would like to share some of my thoughts and experiences about the events and how Europeans keep parrots as pets.
The first of two Seminars was in Germany. It was similar to the first one held last year. People arrived from all parts of Germany and even other countries for the talk. I am in contact with the German Flieger Club throughout the year as I teach several webinar courses to them. So the members of the club are all familiar with each other and parrots. However, many of them had not seen each other in person since the presentation the year before. The new annually held national conference is becoming as much a social tradition as an educational one.
Since Germany is a smaller country, the possibility of having a single national meeting is more possible. Although distant, even the furthest members can reach the meeting in one day's drive. Most of them bring their birds. It's really a lot of fun. The club is growing fast. So fast, that the seminar was at capacity and required simultaneous presentations to fit everyone.
The German approach to parrot keeping is somewhat different than what is typical in the United States. First of all, the parrot industry is much younger than in the US. Therefore finding parrots and good supplies is more difficult. The typical age of a pet parrot seems to be much younger as well. I can't be sure if this is only relevant to members of the club or of the situation nationwide. But, I can tell you that meeting so many parrot owners in the US, it would be inevitable to come across more older birds.
Wing clipping is illegal in Germany like some other European countries. Every parrot you come across is fully feathered. However, just because parrots are fully feathered does not mean they are fully flighted. Because some parrot owners are incapable of keeping flighted birds in their home, the birds end up cage bound and flightless just the same. So although it may appear that banning clipping might solve things, in reality it just changes the mechanism by which parrots are kept flightless. Educating parrot owners and ensuring that people buying birds realize the consequences of a flighted animal are the better solution to simply passing laws.
It seems like everything about parrot keeping is regulated in Germany. There are rules and laws about all sorts of aspects. Some of the laws are logical but many are not. They are clearly created by bureaucrats and not by people who are accustomed to living with pet parrots. The German Flight Club on the other hand is using education as a tool for teaching owners to take better care of their pets. Senior members serve as a model for newer members and provide help.
Parrot keeping seems like a couples activity in Germany. This is both in terms of the birds and the couples owning them. While in the US, it seems that parrots are mainly kept by single people or by one person out of a couple, in Germany it is predominantly a joint activity. Birds are usually kept with an opposite sex mate of the same species or of a similar species. Husband and wife will handle a bird each or trade turns holding both. Parrots are treated more like children and part of the family.
I came across many homemade cages of all sorts. Homemade outdoor aviaries are more common as well. The average cage size appears to be larger than in the US. But just because cages are better, does not mean that parrot keeping entirely is superior. In my opinion, the birds' diets in Europe are inferior to those in the US. Far fewer birds are fed pellets. Although variety of foods are offered, it is inevitable that the birds are mainly chowing down on seeds and not getting ideal nutrition. While parrot keepers' opposition to pellets as being “unnatural” is understandable, the seeds and alternative diets they offer are no more natural to these tropical birds. The problem is that owner-regulated diets are not guaranteed to offer balanced nutrition. Sprouting is much more prevalent in Germany. I was shown how they use a 3 day sprouter that ensures that new sprouts are coming out every single day.
My Seminar talks went well. Because most of the people have already been at it for 1-2 years, we were able to talk about more advanced topics than last year. It is nice to watch the progress and see people coming along. Even people who couldn't lay a finger on their birds a few years ago, were now bringing them to the seminar and able to put an Aviator Harness on them.
Like on my first visit to Germany, the second day was a nature walk with a massive number of owners and their pet parrots on Aviator Harnesses. Much was the same as last year except there were more participants and things went smoother.
I was greeted by a whole welcoming committee when I arrived to the Czech Republic. Unlike with the Germans, I really had very little idea what was going to happen. Not only have I done a seminar in the past with the German group, but the organizers speak English so we maintain direct contact. English is far less common in the Czech Republic and the little bit of communication I had with the organizers was through google-translated emails. The good news was that I had several extra days to spend with the organizers and get to know them.
I was originally contacted by Lukas Ruky nearly a year ago. He contacted me requesting me to do a freeflight course in the Czech Republic. It wasn't practical for me to travel to the one country alone. But when my second seminar in Germany was confirmed, it was a superb opportunity to combine two seminars. Because the initial contact was about flight training and I had little contact with the organizers since, I really was not sure of what I would be presenting at the Seminar. It sounded like an expert group looking for advanced advice.
But as I got to know the people and their parrots, I discovered that in fact parrot training is at it's absolute infancy in the Czech Republic. The organizers took me to 3 different parrot owner's homes so I could get to know them and their birds. Instead of coming across parrot experts, I encountered ordinary parrot keepers that wanted to learn the simple things every owner wants to learn. How to teach the parrot to step up? Not to Bite? Wear a harness to go outside? These are all the topics I am best in and it was no trouble at all coming up with topics for the seminar.
At first I was confused. The translator would tell me the organizers will have me visiting this breeder and that breeder. Then we arrive to their homes and it was just a cage and some usual pet birds. It wasn't until later that it was explained to me that in Czech, they don't have a separate word for breeder and pet owner. Instead it's a universal term similar to “bird raiser.” They use the term breeder both for breeders and the people who eventually keep them as pets.
I was taken to visit the Prague Zoo. The organizers were well connected both with the zoo trainer and the parrot zoologist. We had the opportunity to see parrots and training behind the scenes. I met Franta Susta, the head and only professional zoo trainer in all of the Czech Republic. He shared with me insights about how new the concept of training, and particularly positive reinforcement based training, is in the Czech Republic. Franta, in his 6ft some stature comes off as hulking. But it plays no role in his animal training as he prioritizes the animals' comfort and participation over using his strength to force them. Although an expert trainer, Franta was interested in learning and comparing ideas.
In addition to visiting the zoo, the organizers took me for a tour of Prague. It is a beautiful European city and quickly becoming one of the tourism jewels of Europe.
I would like to mention that I have found the Czech people to be the most hospitable and kind hosts I have ever met. They paraded me in food and gifts throughout my entire stay. The food was outstanding and excessively abundant. It was not possible to give a Czech a single gift without receiving ten in return! They are extremely generous people and a similarity can be seen in the way they keep their pets.
One of the homes I visited was a single room studio. The couple keeps a pair of African Grey parrots in the biggest stainless steel cage available. The cage takes up one tenth of the confined single room space. The cage was spotless, rich in food, and full of toys. Since there are few opportunities to buy good food/supplies in Europe, the owners pay double the normal retail price to get supplies shipped from the United States. So although there was barely any room for two people in the small studio, the birds had everything you could imagine. I found this to be the theme repeatedly. Perhaps these are only the people the organizers chose to show me and not the norm. But even the very existence of people who take such great care already helps raise the standards. I saw as many stainless steel cages in Czech as I had seen in all of the US.
I could feel that the hospitality offered to me extends to their parrots the same! During the Seminar, my challenge would not be to convince people to take better care. It would not be not to clip birds and let them fly. Instead it would be to not spoil them so much and give the parrots opportunities to earn their rewards. I thought that people who are used to raining their parrots and visitors and gifts would be resistant to the idea, however, the methods I shared were very well accepted. It was exciting not just to share my methodology but to see people who are eager to accept and apply it as well!
Smoking is much more prevalent in Europe and especially the Czech Republic. Smoking is terrible for the people's health but even more detrimental to the birds. I worry about the birds' health when people smoke around them whether at home or outside. Birds have very powerful respiratory systems to be able to breath effectively for flight. This makes them more prone to poisoning through the air than other animals. The thing I would hope to so improve the most is for people to abandon smoking for their birds' health and their own.
All kinds of members of the parrot community came to the seminar. From absolute beginner pet bird owners to breeders, trainers, and local experts. It was a diverse and eager crowd. And although translation hindered the pace, it was exciting to present information that people were being introduced to for the very first time. On the other hand, there were several participants who had independently purchased and applied my book prior. It was wonderful to hear that the techniques were already working for them.
During the Seminar talk, I predominantly relied on demonstrating with a toy parrot. I could not bring my own parrots overseas; most of the participants birds were too shy and insufficiently trained to be able to make clear demonstrations. There was no point for me, as a stranger, to scare their novice birds. However, on the second day for the workshop, we had some bolder birds. It was an opportunity to show the previously talked about concepts in action. We demonstrated the effective use of target training to teach a parrot to step up, learn the turn around trick, allow touch, grab, and petting, and learn to wear a harness.
So as my 2016 Europe Seminar series comes to a close, I head home knowing that the presentations made a difference. It certainly wasn't enough time to share everything I know. But it was enough time to educate and inspire many people to understand the kind of relationship they could have with their parrot and the initial steps to head in that direction. I am glad to be able to help exchange ideas and methods between continents so that the best methods can proliferate borders. We are beginning to form an international cooperation and community of caring pet parrot keepers.
I am available for seminars in 2017. Contact your local bird club, store, or breeder that is capable of hosting an event to consider inviting me for some talks.
I have owned parrots since 2008. Now, 7 years later I have 4 parrots, 30,000 subscribers on youtube, over 17 million views, and selling thousands of copies of my book. I would like to thank all of my subscribers, followers, readers, and fans for being a part of the whole Parrot Wizard experience. I am really happy to be sharing this with you and helping you achieve a great relationship with your bird as well.
Most of all I would like to thank my parrots for putting up with all the lights and cameras so that I could share them with you and the world. I have compiled a short sizzle reel to highlight some of the really cool stuff these magnificent performing parrots can do:
Kili knows over 30 tricks and I have actually lost count. The coolest thing is that she just knows how to work with me so I can come up with cool new videos like (Kili Swift Shake it Off) without specifically having to train anything new. We use commands that she is familiar with or she learns her new cues on the spot with a clicker. She is just a star actress.
Truman is a total monkey bird. He is always making a mess or getting into some kind of trouble. Still, he's the most lovable bird in the family and impossible to get mad at. He's very cuddly and hand tame. He is my go to bird for letting people hold. He has literally never bit anyone ever.
Santina is the rescue bird and still working on her skills to get along with other people. She was featured on my Harness Training DVD about how she learned to wear a harness in just a week!
I am working full time being a Parrot Wizard. When I'm not doing shows, consultations, or seminars, I am busy developing new tricks and products to sell. In my Parrot Wizard online store you will find a collection of products I have hand selected or invented to make parrot keeping more enjoyable. Trick training toys, perches, books, DVDs, and Parrot Training Perches can be purchased on that site. My book, The Parrot Wizard's Guide to Well-Behaved Parrots contains my complete approach to parrot training. It is exactly the system I have used on all of my parrots and the system that I recommend to other parrot owners. It is a lot of information so it took an entire book to contain it.
I am available for parrot shows for TV, general audience, or parrot clubs. Please contact me if you are a producer or organizer. I travel a lot, so there are occasionally opportunities to come and see one of my seminars in the US or around the world. I live in New York City and am especially available for events in the area.
Kili & Truman and I are heading out around the country to give talks and sign books. The birds love to travel and meet people so it's going to be a lot of fun. Get your copy of The Parrot Wizard's Guide to Well-Behaved Parrotsonline or on location and come by to have your copy personally signed by the Parrot Wizard. Meet the world famous trained parrot duo and see some presentations about applying taming and training for your parrots.
NU Perches, trick training props, and other Parrot Wizard supplies will be available for purchase.
Scheduled Appearances
San Marcos, TX - Saturday October 5, 11AM
Vintage Mooney Group Redbird Skyport San Marcos Airport - KHYI 2080 Airport Dr San Marcos, TX 78666
Tempe, AZ - Sunday, October 6, 2PM
AZ Exotic Bird Rescue 1290 N. Scottsdale Rd Suite 104 Tempe, AZ 85281
Dallas, TX - Saturday October 12, 1PM
Tree Top Bird Center Pavilion North Shopping Center 7615 Campbell Rd, Suite 112 Dallas TX 75248
Fort Worth, TX - Sunday October 13, 2PM
Fort Worth Bird Club Fort Worth Botanic Garden 3220 Botanic Garden Blvd. Fort Worth, TX 76107
Hartford, CT - Saturday November 9, 10AM-4PM
The Parrot Club Veterans Memorial Clubhouse 100 Sunset Ridge Drive East Hartford, CT.
Durham, NC - Saturday November 16, 12PM-5PM
Avian Veterinary Services Clinic / The Birdie Boutique Hope Valley Elementary School Auditorium 3005 Dixon Rd Durham, NC 27707
More dates and locations coming soon. Be sure to follow this page and the Trained Parrot Facebook page for updates. Talk to your local parrot club, bird store, rescue, or avian vet office to schedule a Parrot Wizard Book Signing and Show in your area. Have them contact me to make arrangements.
Lastly, I will be offering private in person parrot training consultations in and near the cities I will be visiting. If you've always wanted one and I will happen to be in your area, be sure to reserve a consultation soon.
The Parrot WizardPocket Perch has been a hit with owners of small parrots. Unfortunately it isn't so good for the bigger end of small parrots because they can easily tip it or jump off. So I set off to come up with a universal tabletop perch for most small to medium parrots and here it is, the Deluxe Tabletop NU Perch from Parrot Wizard.
It's a 10" wide, 3/4" diameter, 8" high T-Perch on a 12x12 base. It is suitable for all small to medium sized parrots including budgies, all parakeets, lovebirds, parrotlets, cockatiels, conures, caiques, poicephalus parrots, quakers, amazons, african greys, eclectus, mini-macaws, and small cockatoos.
The deluxe in the name refers to the fact that it is skillfully grafted and very well made. It comes in a retail box and assembly is nothing more than twisting the T-Perch into the base. The base is durable and very easy to wipe down.
Since this is a "table" top perch, it was very important to make sure that it would look good amidst your living room furniture. There are no nails or hardware sticking out. And the wooden border is smooth and aesthetic. These tabletop perches are so dependable they come with a 1 year warranty. It does not cover any chewing but if the (unchewed) perch broke as the parrot walked across it or something like that, you'd be eligible for a replacement.
I have a full line of parrot trees still in the works and I may be releasing a bigger version of the tabletop for large parrots as well. Stay tuned.
Finally, to encourage more people to give the Deluxe Tabletop NU Perch a shot, I'm offering free shipping for the first 3 days only. Get yours before the end of the day Wednesday, August 7th and save $9.99 on shipping.
I'm excited to announce two new parrot toys that I designed for St. Patrick's day: the Shamrock Parrot Toy and the Shamrock Junior. These two toys are bound to be a hit with parrots of all sizes.
The Shamrock Parrot Toy features a large 7" clover and not one, but two strands of smaller clovers below. This toy is meant for medium and larger parrots such as Cockatoos, Amazons, African Greys, and Macaws. On the other hand, the Shamrock Junior is built with the little guys in mind. Colorful paper strings, pacifiers, and wooden stars adorn the single 3" clover. This toy is best for Cockatiels, Conures, Senegal Parrots, Quakers, Lovebirds and Parakeets.
Kili and Truman fell in love with the Shamrock Junior Parrot Toy at first sight. Check out the video below to see their first ever interaction with the toy. Usually Truman is a tad cautious but playful with new toys whereas Kili doesn't care too much about toys at all. Perhaps after a few weeks in her cage, she will privately chew a toy down, but catching a glimpse of her playing is rare. Well when Kili saw the new shamrock toy, she got really excited and did her little excited bird dance.
If I didn't give Truman a bite at the toy immediately after, he would have probably pushed Kili off the perch to get to it. Two parrots that are normally adversaries eagerly shared the toy as they both preferred to put their differences aside and focus on the toy. I know these two aren't the most playful parrots out there, so if my birds like the toys so much, I'm sure if you order one, yours will too! I honestly believe these two are the best toys I've come up with so far and hope everyone gets a chance to try them out with their parrots. So go ahead and bring some spring time fun to your parrots and order one or both of these exciting toys at the Parrot Wizard store, www.ParrotWizard.com.
Trained Parrot is a blog about how to train tricks to all parrots and parakeets. Read about how I teach tricks to Truman the Brown Necked Cape Parrot including flight recall, shake, wave, nod, turn around, fetch, wings, and play dead. Learn how you can train tricks to your Parrot, Parrotlet, Parakeet, Lovebird, Cockatiel, Conure, African Grey, Amazon, Cockatoo or Macaw. This blog is better than books or DVDs because the information is real, live, and completely free of charge. If you want to know how to teach your parrot tricks then you will enjoy this free parrot training tutorial.
Trained Parrot site content Copyright 2010-2020 Michael Sazhin. Reproduction of text, images, or videos without prior permission prohibited. All rights reserved.
Older Articles 
Newer Articles