Slow progress

The budgies are coming around. We've had them for nine months now and lately they have both started climbing onto our hands when we feed them millet. Manx is the braver of the two when it comes to fingers. Tonight he stood with both feet on my finger while he ate his millet and then after he'd had enough he stood with one foot on my finger for so long that I had to move my hand so I could put them to bed.

They are a long way from stepping up on command the way Bailey does, but they are also a long way from flying everywhere in a panic whenever we put our hands into the cage.

There is another change too. If a bird is frightened it won't close its eyes while you're looking at it. One of the first games we started to play with them is what we call 'Blink.' Richard or I will look at the bird and then close our eyes briefly and then look the bird in the eye again. When the bird closes his eyes even briefly we tell him what a good bird he is. Now either of the budgies will initiate the game and they keep their eyes closed for longer and longer periods. Manx had his eyes closed for so long tonight that I wondered if he was going to go to sleep with his foot on my finger.

Sometimes it's hard to be patient because I want very much to be able to have them out of the cage and sitting on my shoulder. They can't be rushed. Because they are small and their main defense it to flee when they're scared we just have to take it slowly and keep building up their trust. We haven't gone about the taming process in exactly the way the experts suggest. Maybe once they are comfortable out of the cage we can start doing some other training with them. As the old proverb says, "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." We're definitely on the taming journey.