What do I do if my bird is afraid of the harness?

It all comes down to the way we approach our birds with the new item. There is no difference between a new toy and a new toy that looks like a harness. If we tried to wrap a toy around our birds neck without taking the time to slowly let him know what we are doing he would likely be scared.

There is a temptation to use the harness right away, however it is important to watch and read the directions.

We need to remember we understand the benefits of using the harness, however most pet birds have no idea what is going on. Every bird needs to be slowly educated about all of the new things it will experience like having a collar put over its head and past its eyes, having its wings raised while the harness is put on, and having the collar end up around his neck. 

There are extensive instructions in the package that your harness came in to help acclimate your bird to their new harness.

Read the inserts, watch the instructional video and slowly go through all the necessary exercises. Professional trainers always take more time than necessary to make sure their students fully understand what is going to happen each step of the way. For a very docile bird that loves to investigate new things a professional trainer will take at least 3 days to introduce the harness. They will take at least a week with the average pet bird.

Once you learn about the training techniques required to educate a bird to wear a harness you will know most of the training techniques necessary to raise your friend to understand all the other things it needs to know to grow into a great lifelong pet.