I'm a HUGE believer in NLP, which is a form of self hypnosis used to help people quit smoking, achieve more success, get a better job, do better in athletics, etc.

So to help you understand how I've been recently using hypnosis to instantly change the mood of my cockatiel Magoo, here's a brief glimpse into how my brain worked up this CRAZY theory...

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How Self Hypnosis Could Work In Parrots

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First let me say that Hypnosis is VERY real! I first saw a hypnotist act while I was still going to high school in Spokane, WA. And my brother, who's now a professional magician, was a fanatic at making sure we went to see every new entertainment act he could... so he drug me, his reluctant brother, to see this hypnotist in action. And WOW did he make a BELIEVER out of me!

The hypnotist took volunteers from the audience, put them into a trance and literally programmed these people to do weird and funny behaviors whenever the hypnotist would say a certain word. He programmed one guy, who was the toughest looking
over-weight trucker in the audience to stand up and scream at the top of his lungs..

"I LOVE wearing women's underwear!" every time the hypnotist said the guys name. It was HILARIOUS!

But hypnosis is more than just a funny side show that makes you laugh, it can also be a powerful tool for self improvement.

One type of self hypnosis that has become VERY respected for the results it's achieving is NLP.


NLP, otherwise known as Neuro Linguistic Programming, trains you to take something that you're really scared of; like spiders... and replace that 'scared' feeling with a feeling of extreme calmness or peace.

Then shows you how to trigger that feeling of peace every time you think of spiders, until you no longer feel afraid.

So as I was reading up on this NLP stuff, I got to thinking... I wonder if this would work on parrots too?

Could it be possible to replace the feelings of aggression in my parrot with the feelings of joy or happiness by "hypnotizing" him?

I know it sounds like a long shot, but I think it actually works! Here's how I tested it on my cockatiel...

As you know, I recently released a course that teaches parrots how to talk on cue which is now available at: http://www.birdtricks.com/how-to-talk


As I was producing that course, I realized that our Cockatiel was VERY willing to step up and be petted while he was in the act of singing or talking.

Something about how he felt while talking made him a LOT happier.

This allowed me to know exactly when our bird was in a GREAT mood... which was when he was singing his favorite song... Winnie the pooh.

So if my bird feels happy while singing or saying a certain word, would making him say that word also put him in a better mood? Could these two actions be connected?

For my bird, they WERE!

After lots of training to teach Magoo to sing Winnie The Pooh on cue, I can now simply whistle Winnie the Pooh whenever my bird is in a bad mood and refusing to behave, and his bad mood vanishes INSTANTLY!

It's AMAZING!

It's like I'm the pied piper taking control with my flute... errr, I mean whistle. All though this is a far cry from lulling my bird into a trance with a golden medallion and getting him to yell " I LOVE wearing women's underwear!" like the trucker at the fair...

.... I think it's using the same hypnosis principals. It's taking a feeling of happiness and pairing it with an action. In this case, singing Winnie The Pooh. The bird is then trained to not just sing the song when he's happy, but actually be HAPPY while singing
the song. I can then sing the song myself, and this seems to trigger my bird to actually feel happy. Sure sound like hypnosis to me.

Or at the very least... a cue to be happy.

I know this theory sounds like it's an episode on some late night Sci-Fi channel, but I think it's worth exploring... and I'd love to hear back from you if you've had similar experiences with your birds.


So Until Next Time... Happy Training!

Chet Womach