Research and monitoringMacaw training
Free Flight Training: First Steps
While it prepares for life in the wild, a bird in rehabilitation lives in an aviary: a large enclosure where it can fly. Free flight training teaches it to fly, to return to that aviary on cue, and to find the feeders waiting for it outside.
This animation shows the first steps, in three phases: inside the aviary, with the doors open and, finally, outside. The same four-step cycle repeats in all three: cue, wait, mark, reward.
Developed in collaboration with Chris Biro (Liberty Wings), based on his free flight training method.
Teaching aid. This animation is a teaching aid. Its use must be supervised by veterinarians, biologists and specialized caretakers, and adapted to the needs of the animal and of the rehabilitation center or rehabilitator.
Phase 1 · PreparationBefore training, the bird goes a few hours without food: that way it arrives hungry and motivated.
Goals of this training
- FlightThe bird learns to fly.
- A safe placeIt recognizes the aviary and its surroundings as a safe place.
- Finding the feederIt knows where the outside feeder is, the spot where it will keep finding food, so it can return to it once released.
- Exploring more and moreIt gradually learns to explore its surroundings, with bigger challenges each time: flying in different wind levels, getting used to unfamiliar things without fear (desensitization), and getting to know the surrounding trees.
Final goal: strong navigation skills —finding its way and moving around the territory— and the certainty that it can always return to the feeder, its safe place.
Before you start
This is what must be ready before the first session.
Controlled fasting before training
- The reward in this training is food. For the bird to be motivated, it must arrive hungry: without having eaten in the previous 8 to 16 hours, depending on the intensity of the program.
- Two examples: last meal at 4 PM and training at 8 AM (16 hours), or last meal at 8 AM and training at 4 PM (8 hours).
- Water is always available.
- After training, plenty of food.
- Fasting is always supervised by the veterinarian and experienced people.
- A reward the bird lovesUse a food the bird loves; for example, baby macaw formula mixed with mango. It is given with a syringe, one small bite at a time.
- Minimal, functional contactIn rehabilitation for release, contact with the bird is kept to the minimum necessary: only what it takes to deliver the food. Handling is kind and respectful but purely functional: no petting or cuddling, no rough handling or mistreatment, and the bird is not allowed to climb onto the caretaker.
- A calm environmentThe place must always be calm.
- Short sessionsRepeat the exercise several times and stop before the bird gets tired.
The cycle, always the same
Every repetition, in any of the three phases, follows the same four steps.
- 1CueShow the bird where to go with the reward syringe. A target (a small stick that points to the spot) or a sound also works. Which one to use is the trainer’s call.
- 2WaitLet the bird come on its own.
- 3MarkThe instant it touches the syringe, tell it that it got it right: with a clicker (a device that makes a “click”) or by saying “Good!”.
- 4RewardGive it a small bite right away.
The three phases
Tap a step to watch it in the animation.
Phase 1V training, inside the aviary
It takes its name from the two perches set in a V. The bird starts at one tip and, following the cue, walks to the other. Then the perches are moved apart, so that it first steps across, then jumps, and finally flies. It all happens inside the aviary, and it is only the first step of the training.
Phase 2Doors open
The aviary doors open. The two perches are now placed apart: one stays inside and the other goes outside. The bird flies out to the outside perch and back to the inside one.
Most important: that the bird returns to its aviary on cue.
Phase 3Outside
The whole exercise moves outside, and the flight has a new destination: the feeding stations, which are the feeders outside the aviary.
Most important of all: directing the bird to the feeders.
Published results
This method was applied with excellent results in this study: Successful release of confiscated Amazona parrots using free-flight training (Brightsmith, Rigatuso, Biro and Geiszler, Bird Conservation International, 2026).
A collaboration with Chris Biro
This animation was developed in collaboration with Chris Biro of Liberty Wings and presents the first steps of his free flight training method. Chris is the mentor of Alejandro Rigatuso, director of Fundación Loros, and publishes his own version of this material: Free Flight Training: First Steps (libertywings.com).
Fundación Loros recommends Chris Biro's free flight method.
This animation ends here. In the following stages of the method, the bird explores more and more. Read the five stages of the method