Training baby senegal

Question
Thank you so much for your reply. One more question. What is the best way for me to deal with a flighty bird? I know I need patience but it's hard to beleive she will ever seek out my attention if she just flies away all the time. What to do? Thank you again!
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Followup To

Question -
Hi, I am going to pick up my baby Senegal tomarrow. I know that it was recently weaned (hand fed). It's about a month after weaning. Her age, I think they said about 5 months. I work at home and can spend a lot of time training her although I know to let her settle in and not overwhelm her at first. I figure by the time she adjusts to her new environment that's going to be about another 3-4 weeks, (they said just take her out for about 30 minutes a day for the first month until she adjusts) so she'll be about 6 months old before I can really bonding and spending a lot of time out of the cage, is she going to be too old to potty train? and form a good bond? I know this sounds silly but I really hope she can be a good companion bird. The people who raised her worked with her in the beginning but they've been busy the past few weaks and say she's a little flighty when you try to pick her up. But she's also been cuddly too they said. Just curious about some feed back. Also what is the difference in temperment of the males and females? Thanks a lot! Jana

Answer -
Hi, Jana.  Thanks for posting!  Congrats on your new baby!

In my opinion, and since this baby was handfed, you should show this baby as much attention as you can provide, even from the beginning.  This is what will make s/he a tame, nice, companion pet bird.  Yes, it's true that s/he might need some time to adjust, but this depends on the individual bird's personality.  Young birds like this usually adjust rapidly.  If s/he wants your attention from the beginning, give it to s/he!  The more time you two spend together, the better bond you will have.  S/he will not be too old to potty train.  

Temperament is an individual personality trait.  Therefore, I can't say there's any difference between the sexes.  It just depends on the individual bird and the experiences the bird has had up to this point in it's life.  Also, if you raise this bird to have a good temperament, it will have a good temperament (and vice versa).  You have to know what you're doing, too!  

My website has lots of general information on birds if you'd like to visit:  http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

Come back with any questions.

Chrys

Answer
Hi again, Jana.

Young birds would rather fly than eat!  This is just the way they are.  Flying is natural for them and they love to do it!  I recommend you keep your Senegal's wing flight feathers clipped if they aren't.  S/he will still be able to fly, but s/he won't be able to gain altitude.  This discourages most birds from trying to fly away from their humans when their humans are trying to work with them.  This will also mean your Senegal has to rely on you for most of it's mobility, unless it learns to climb down and walk across the floor in order to get from point A to point B.

You need to be aware that parrot's attention spans are very short, especially young birds.  Sometimes, you might not even be able to hold your bird's attention.  In this case, you stop the training session and begin again later.  This is the time and patience I was referring to!  A bird will not always want to do what you want it to do when you want it to!

Chrys