Upside down

Want to teach your bird how to hang upside down from your hand like a bat? The key element of this trick is one simple word - trust. Do not attempt to turn your bird upside down if it does not trust you, as this is a very vulnerable position for your bird to be in. It has to be totally comfortable in your presence and not feel threatened.

First your bird should be comfortable being touched and stroked on its back and wings by you. You should always talk to your bird, telling it what is going on, for example saying "touch" while you stroke the wings. Then, always saying the command (upside down) a few seconds before doing the action, hold your hand on the birds back and carefully "tip" the birds body backward, being careful to notice the bird's reaction. Continue doing this, a little bit more every time during short intervals (always stop the training session when it is going best, so that your bird gets a positive connection to training and only train for a few minutes each time). Finally your bird should be tipped over on its back, still resting in the palm of your hand. When it has been turned on its back and feels comfortable in this position the hand can be removed, your bird now "hanging in mid-air."

The final step, getting the bird to "stretch its body" toward the ground is something that Sarabi started doing by herself (it is a pose that Grey's often do by themselves, hanging upside down from the cage ceiling for instance) but you can try to make your bird "stretch out" by holding a favorite snack just beneath the bird, so that it has to stretch its body to reach the goodie.

Good luck and have fun with all the bat- and monkey-birds out there!