How do you get a bird to trust you?

Answer 1

The only way i got my bird to trust me was if i was calm and no one was around me. Because you need total Silence around your bird.

The only person talking to him or her will be you. That's pretty much how I would suggest it

Answer 2

Just sit by his/her cage...eating, reading a book, watching T.V..etc. Once you do that he/she will learn to trust you, when putting water/food in move SLOWLY and talk to him/her and say its name softly he/she will learn to trust you once your cockatiel learns that you are no harm to it...if your cockatiel comes up to the cage and sits there watching you and you can go up to the cage withOUT he/she moving then you are gaining trust with him/her the longer you sit there...if you move your finger towards the cage SLOWLY but not so much that he/she will move hold your hand there until he/she looks comfortable, keep doing this but each time move your hand a little bit closer each time...spend 10-20 minutes doing this 3 times a day...

hope it works for you! :)

Answer 3

once you buy the budgie play with it a little try to talk to it. and in a couple of weeks you will be BFFS. and get only 1 so you can train it to talk and sing!

Answer 4

Understand that parakeets need to build friendships and trust over time. If you have purchased or adopted an adult parakeet for example, it will not be used to you. Either because it is used to a different human or because it hardly had any human contact.

It will take time to build up trust with your parakeet. The most important thing that you must remember is to never rush your bird. He or she will be ready when s/he is ready.


Food preparation
My first bit of advice is that when you prepare your parakeet's food, prepare it in front of the bird. That way the parakeet will see that you are the hand that feeds it and nourishes it. If you take the bowl into another room, it cannot see you preparing the food and does not assume that you are the one who provides it, it'll see you as the person who takes bowls back and forth.


Talking to the bird
To try and get the bird used to your presence, talk to the bird occasionally in a soft voice. It doesn't matter what you say, the truth is the bird doesn't understand you, but it does recognise familiar sounds. Say "morning" in a soft voice when you greet your bird in the morning. Say "food" or "yumyums" or "dinner" every time you feed the bird. Say "treat" every time you give a treat to the bird. And say "night night" every time you go to bed. These will be the most familiar sounds that the bird will recognise. As it begins to recognise these sounds, the bird will slowly begin to trust you, because he or she knows what you are doing and why you're randomly hanging around his/her safe haven, the cage.


Getting used to your hand
While you talk to the bird, place a hand on the cage on the outside relatively near the bird. Don't move your hand suddenly or you'll spook the bird. Just keep your hand held on the outside of the cage as you talk to the bird. This will help the bird get used to your hand being close to it, but not inside the cage where it isn't comfortable with it yet. You need to do this for about two weeks. Remember, do not rush the bird.


Feeding from your hand
After two weeks, when the bird hopefully is used to your hand being placed close to it outside the cage, it might now be ready to take the next step.
The next step is to try feeding the bird by hand. Hold a treat, like a fruit it likes, in your hand and slowly hold it up to the bird. The chances are that it will just stare at it for a minute or two, trying to figure out what's going on. Again, don't rush the bird. Don't nudge the bird with the treat and don't press the treat up to its beak. Just hold it in front of the bird while it ponders. Birds are thinkers.
Eventually, maybe after a few tries, the bird will take the treat from your hand. Remember to say "treat" or something similar in a soft tone, as stated above.


Touching
After two or so weeks of doing this, you might be able to lightly touch the bird. Start with one finger and just let the bird examine your finger, like it does to the treats. Then attempt to lightly stroke the bird's chest in a downwards motion. Talk softly while doing this.
Make sure your hands are washed and have no lingering fragrances of other animals or citric fruits like Oranges. Other animal smells on your hand may spook the bird and strong smells like citrus might be overwhelming for it.
If the bird moves away or backs off, do the same. It is important that you have a mutual understanding when the bird says "no" or "that's enough". It will take a few attempts to get the bird to trust your touch.

If the bird attempts to peck you, don't withdraw your hand quickly, withdraw it slowly and resume the other steps above. If you draw your hand out quickly you could spook the bird or knock things over. The peck won't hurt, it's a small bird, not an alligator. But again, learn to mutually respect its boundaries. If you break the parakeet's trust, it can take you back to square one and weeks to repair again.

After a couple of weeks of gently touching the bird's chest, it might trust you enough to stroke its back, where it cannot see your hand. Eventually the bird will be comfortable with being touched by you and might allow you to handle it. This allows you to safely take the bird out of the cage so it can occasionally spread its wings.


Being out the cage
Your bird may not be used to being out of the safety of the cage. So it will appear to be awkward or anti-social. Allow the bird to sit on top of the cage with a treat or its favourite toy occasionally. This will get the bird used to being outside. Eventually the bird will feel brave enough to venture further from the cage. And eventually after that may feel comfortable to approach you, the human, all by itself.
Always make sure the bird has a way of going back into the cage if it wants to. So keep the door open and place a bird ladder (or a stack of books in a makeshift staircase) so it can go back inside if it wants to.


These exercises will take weeks, probably even a couple of months. But with time and patience, your bird will grow to trust you.

Answer 5

You can't MAKE your parakeet trust you. Trust is something that comes from a mutually-satisfying relationship between you and your bird.

Answer 6

It has to get to know you, than it becomes to know you well.

Answer 7

You can become friends with a parrot by feeding them treats when they behave, rewarding it when it does something good and talking and stroking it's head. :D