He had also successfully applied this technique to improve a human relationship. The bird will also gradually abandon behaviors that do not bring at least occasional reinforcement. Training with verbal rewards may sound subtle, but the results can be spectacular. This is absolutely the easiest way to train a bird. It is often successfully employed even though humans may be unaware of what they are doing.
Food is more important to some birds than to others.
I like to spend the first half hour of the in-home evaluation watching what the bird and humans do while sharing pizza. Many socially bonded birds will begin either begging or eating before the pizza box is opened or placed on the table. This is expected behavior in established companion Amazons, macaws, and conures - birds with a reputation for being easily enticed and reinforced with food. But food rewards might not be in the bird's best interest. Several popular types of parrots have a tendency to become overweight and develop related health problems if food, especially high fat human junk food, is given often.