Frightened bird

Question
I've had this bird since Christmas. And no, I do not have any other birds besides for this one. Should I just rebuild the trust and start a different way?
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
Hello. I did what I now look at as a very ignorant thing. I followed someone else's advice on how to tame a budgie and I think I pushed it too hard. I toweled it to take it out of its cage and set out in the room with me. I covered its cage so that it wouldn't fly back and it seemed comfortable and was picking at a scrap of paper on the ground. However, when I tried to get it to go on my finger, it moved to the side. I tried a few more times and it did the same thing. I finally got it on there by being persistant (but not shoving my finger at it or anything). I did this a couple more times and all seemed fine but my parakeet got really scared of me and I noticed heavy breathing when I would walk next to its cage. I know I scared it but I don't know what to do next. Should I continue this and let it gradually calm down or should I try a different approach? I was informed not to work with it in its cage because of territorial reasons, but how can I get it to come out of its cage without toweling it? Before I brought it out myself I tried to entice it out for a number of weeks. It gradually moved from its top perch to the bottom perch(which was closer to me when I sit by it). But after that it just remained there. I'm just out of ideas of what to do. Any help or information would be appreciated. I don't want to scare it anymore. (sorry for such a long mail)
-----Answer-----
Hi, Jamie.  Thanks for posting!

Yes, you've scared your bird!  What's more important, you've lost any trust between you and your bird, which is what it takes to tame one down.

How old is this bird?  How long have you had s/he?  Do you have any other birds?  

Chrys

Answer
Hi again, Jamie.

You'll need to try and build trust as you work with your bird.

First, just open the cage door when you are home and give your bird the opportunity to come out of its cage when it wants.  Do not try to bring your bird out forceably, i.e., with a towel or anything else.  The inside of your bird's cage is the only place in the world that your bird has any privacy, security, where s/he feels safe, etc.  This is your bird's personal territory and you should not "invade" this.  Of course, you have to service the cage, feed, etc., but talk calmly with your bird when you do these things and don't try to scare your bird in the process.  

The process of taming your bird takes much time and patience on your part.  Your bird will definitely not want to come out on its own for some period of time.  I can't say how long this will take because it depends on the individual bird.  By not forcing your bird to come out starts the trust-building relationship.  Your bird will come out when s/he feels safe enough to come out.  Birds feel more vulnerable when they are outside of their cage, so your bird will need to feel unthreatened before s/he will do so.  Locate your bird's cage where s/he can be close to you say, for example, when you are watching TV, working on your computer, etc.  Just go about your business and hopefully eventually your bird will come out of its cage to become involved with what you are doing or to just be with you or just be curious enough to see what you are doing.  Do not force anything with your bird.  Talk with your bird calmly as you do things in/around s/he...basically, involve your bird as much as you can in your life without forcing s/he to come out of its cage.  

Start with the above and let me know how it goes.  Each bird is different so different methods can be used if one method doesn't work.  The fact that your bird eventually moved from its top perch to a bottom perch where s/he was closer to you means your bird was starting to come around a little.  You want to at least get this far once again with your bird.  Your bird's next step would probably have been to come out of its cage on its own.

Come back with any additional questions.

Chrys