As a group, the companion Poicephalus parrots are observant, cautious and appear to have a “panic” response when frightened. At five-months old, your Meyer’s is still learning what is safe and what needs to be escaped from or risk the possibly of being eaten. Even when he matures, his innate behaviors will on occasion cause him to flee a perceived danger.
It is unlikely that you can train Bumble not to fly to some places, but you can train him to come to you. As was suggested by Spangle, I’d work on recall training. Begin by sitting on the floor, place Bumble on the floor just out of your reach, and then call him to you while at floor height providing your finger as a perch. Hopefully he’ll come waddling over and perch on your finger. At a pace that’s comfortable for Bumble, continue this process, but from longer distances each day.
When Bumble flies, call his name and then just above your eye level, hold your hand out in front of you as a perching location for Bumble. Position your hand in line with the path of Bumble’s flight to you. Do not move your hand, but allow Bumble to adjust his flight and perch on your hand. This may take some time for him to learn to do well.
By doing the above I’ve trained Pepper to the point where after he takes to the air he will come directly to me about 80% of the time. He’ll fly to his cage most of the remaining times. If he’s in a major panic, he may fly to other places to escape his fear.
When Pepper flies, I never tell him, “No” or “Bad bird”. If he comes to me I praise him and tell him he’s a good bird, then I immediately return him to where he flew from (his play gym or top of his cage). I want Pepper to know that any time he flies to me he will be accepted in a friendly and positive manner. I do this in case Pepper ever escaped he knows he’ll be safe and welcomed when he comes to me . . . even if he’s flying.
I hope this is of some help to you.
