This together with the "Teaching the Recall" chapter is perhaps the most important chapter if you do or want to fly your bird outdoors free! The general idea of this training is somewhat universal, but I disagree with some points many trainers choose to follow. As I mentioned before most free flying parrots have been trained since their fledgling time, lets say around 2 - 3 months of age, depending on the species. This time in birds life is the easiest time to teach a bird to recall, because he is programmed by nature to come to you for its safety as he would to his parents in the wild. I do see some problems that could arouse from this theory. Even tho I agree with the fact that hand feeding your own parrot and teaching him recalls since his very first baby flights is the best way, I also see many people purchasing a baby bird only to find out later on that it didnt last very long and bird stopped coming. Both of our Macaws are rescue birds who didnt know how to fly at all before we got them. I think if you train your bird properly then it doesn't matter if you start with baby or older bird, just their flying style might be different. The very important part is that you must learn how to train animal recalls, this doesn't go only for parrots, it is basically the same with cats, dogs and so on. I always recommend trying to teach your cat to come when you call it once, if you cant teach your cat or a dog to recall what makes you think you can do it with a bird? See? Right there many people think they can do it because they got a baby Macaw, just like all the other people who fly their birds, but they forgot to most important thing, learn how to train animals. Sure it is not a rocket science, but still how many people do you know that have dogs and how many of them can take their dogs out for a walk without a leash? Well now imagine it would be birds.
There are few important things when it comes to training. Probably the most important is to be consistent, even if your technique is not the best, but you are consistent, you will get results, maybe the final picture will not be as good as it can be, but the bird will know what happens next. So learn and plan first and start when you are ready, otherwise it is not fair for your bird.
I suggest you use clicker, I do not say it is a must, I have accomplished very much without it with dogs and horses, but it is simpler to at least start with a clicker when you teach a bird to recall.
Learn how to reward a bird properly and how to avoid him if he doesnt comply. If you stand there for 20 minutes repeating "Polly come" then even tho you are consistent, you are not getting anywhere.
Learn how to "read" your bird, that means learn how to tell if he has had enough, if he wants to come to you or not, if he wants to fly this way or that way, if he likes this treat or the other one etc, basically just pay attention to the little things. All this is of course that much more important if you plan on flying outdoors.
Other issue I try to point out is to never stop working on your recalls, even if it is few times a day or every second day in your living room. Make this training exercise a routine that is part of your interaction with your bird, keep it fun and try to focus on the right time to praise and reward. Very often people stop working on this exercise as their bird progresses outdoors and the recall it self slowly deteriorates and bird is exploring further and further from you till its not comfortable and possibly will put a stop to your flying adventures.
One more thing before I bore you any further. I would like to tell you that if you decide to fly outdoors, you will most likely climb some trees at some point and you will always face the chance that you might lose your bird. I think the benefits of having a Free Flying parrot are far greater then the chances of him getting hurt or lost if you do everything right. My videos are realistic, you will not see me wearing expensive clothes or having tons of edit in them. The reason why I dont wear my Sunday jacket and brand new kickers is simply because I never know when I have to run thru mud or climb a Spruce tree if needed be.
If it's still a Go Ahead for you, then you might want to go to the "Recall Training"