Behavior Rewards

You might wonder why this photo of Moki, my dog, is posted on a parrot blog. Well, one time long ago when I was in a good mood and had time to play, I was making my bed. I always lay a fleece throw on top of my bed since there are frequent visitors that like to nap there. I was flapping it to position it and Moki jumped up to play underneath as I flapped. She loved playing peek-a-boo! We had some fun. However, now I am expected to play this game each morning! It wouldn't be fair to her to deny this activity.
The same thing happened when I had extra time and allowed Lucy my scarlet macaw to climb out of her cage and up to the top. This isn't the easiest place to control a scarlet macaw. I played with her for quite some time by tossing a ropey toy to the top and catching it when she would toss it off. It was a fun activity and she got lots of exercise flapping her wings and romping about on top of the cage. However, now she skedaddles quickly out of the cage at every opportunity. Same problem...sometimes I have the time to play and sometimes I don't. But she does not know the difference!
If we create a behavior, we have to understand that the behavior will continue. The worst example that I have is the first time that my cockatoo Josey Wales jumped down and chased, Cali, my son's pit bull out of the room. I laughed. Big mistake but imagine a fluffy white cockatoo commanding the pit bull! But that one laugh was rewarding enough to create this behavior every time Cali and Josey were in the same room. Cali, to this day, quietly leaves the room whenever a parrot is put out to play. Sorry Cali!
Keep in mind that bad behaviors can be inadvertently rewarded and reinforce their being repeated. Biting, Screaming, Plucking...if the parrot has an investment in doing one of these, for a reaction from you, it will continue. It's very difficult to not react or take a personal sense of guilt with our parrots, but that emotion will not help.