# Training to fly to the hand



## Amber (Nov 17, 2002)

My homers arent racers, i use them in a theater production. For the christmas show i am going to train them to fly to the hand of the angel (person) suspended from the ceiling. I have started working on it. I was wondering if anyone had any experience, tips, or new of any websites that might help me out. Thanks!

Amber


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Snacks are usually used as the incentive for training. Teach them to fly to the hand by rewarding them with their favorite snack. Put the snack in your hand or whoever the birds must train to go to, eventually they will fly to the hand without a snack, but they still should be rewarded, immediately after. I trained my birds to come sit on my hand after they flew by putting seed in my hand, they hadn't eaten before I let them out to fly. Treesa


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## WhiteWingsCa (Mar 1, 2002)

I know someone who trains homers to fly inside for productions.

The key, he says, is that you train them IN the building that you want them to 'perform' in. 

Training to fly to your hand is relatively easy. Ours fly to us for peanuts (raw Spanish, NEVER dry roasted). The trick is getting them to do it inside an area that they don't live in.

Then there is the "how do we catch them again" issue. They will also have to be trained to either fly to you, and allow themselves to be caught (not necessarily and easy thing), OR to fly to a crate and go inside. Again, this has to be done IN the place where it is going to happen. Otherwise, the 'newness' and hustle and bustle of the people around will frighten them, and chances are, they will just fly up to the rafters and sit there.


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## Amber (Nov 17, 2002)

The pigeons perform in front of 1200-4000 people in an indoor 35,000 sq ft arena every night, so i dont think the noise will be a problem, they fly to a lighted box. I picked out 4 pigeons that fly to my hands in the house, and i thought i could substitute myself for the box. Have me by the box, when they fly to it..etc, until i can have them fly to me. As the angel, both my hands will come together and they will release the pigeon which ideally will fly to my hands, how do you suggest i catch it. work with them letting me hold them/cradle them. I need to hold onto him long enough to be pulled back into the ceiling. Then i can put him back in the box. Any suggestions?


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## WhiteWingsCa (Mar 1, 2002)

Amber

I commend you on the time and care it must have taken to train your pigeons to return to the box! I have heard it is not an easy thing to do, and requires a lot of time and patience.

As for catching the bird once it flies to you, THAT I think is going to be the trickiest part. Sounds like you've already got the 'fly to hand' part worked out (and it sounds like a great idea). Our birds fly to our hands, and shoulders, and laps, and heads







for peanuts, that is. Some will even take a peanut from between our lips. However, once you try to 'catch' them, they fly off. There is no genteel, calm way to do it. But, perhaps with a lot of practice, you can pull it off! Otherwise, is it possible to just train the bird to fly to you, and let them eat something from your hands, while you are being pulled back into the ceiling? Even if you only get partway there, and the bird sees the box and returns to it, would that work?


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## Amber (Nov 17, 2002)

Thank you Terry. It dos take alot of time when training these guys. I am a little stressed because te show starts in about 2 mo. But the people who choreograph the show would like to see this done in about a month. The angel will sit lower than what their box does. So i have accomplished getting them to fly to a lower box, and trust me not as easy as it sounds. I have another question. I am training 4 pigeons to do this. But only 1 will fly in the show, that way if one gets sick etc etc. The box they are trained to fly to is really big. Should I use their normal box, then substitute myself in place of the box (I am using a huge lift) or should i use their normal box, a smaller box like their carrying container that they are trained to come to also, and then me. I believe in baby steps, but i know that too many steps will be confusing. I think that maybe the pigeon flying to me while i am being lifted out is a great idea. Last night when we were working with them we thought about how i would maybe be moving upward when they fly to me but we saw that as maybe a complication for them being willing to fly to me, but i can see the benefit too. Thanks for the positive spin on it. im still trying to find peanuts. Kinda funny, now that i have started working them like this, they dont wanna come to me so much anymore... Thanks for your help!
Amber


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## Amber (Nov 17, 2002)

Also, I have brought them home with me, they are staring at me now...lol, to hold them and hand feed them, so that they arent scared. Do you think it will be confusing for them since it a diff enviroment. I figured the more exposure the better.


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## mickeyblue (Feb 19, 2002)

hey, 
i also rented my birds (not any more) for a play in downtown Toronto and found that racing pigeons were to strong on there wings so i got a pair of baby ring neck doves and found that they would just flutter up in the air and land on the stage and one of the actors would just pick it up at the end of the sceen. then i found that the ringnecks didn't fly high enough so then i bought a pair of white indian fantails because they were a bit bigger and still light on the wings and still easy to pick up and they worked great! hope this helps tell us how it goes!


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