There are some great articles that talk about 'Empowering Parrots' that Susan Friedman has written;

The Writings of Susan Friedman, Ph

When I got Ruby at 8 months she was already taught to "step-up". In fact it was her favorite thing to say! It was the first thing she told me at the pet store. I think she has me trained to step up. I go get her whenever she looks at me and says "step-up" so I definitely think we have it backwards but it works for us! She also says STEP-UP!! to photos of birds she sees! LOL

This one is good reading IMO for the re-homed bird;

http://www.thegabrielfoundation.org/...s/shelters.pdf

Thanks Karen, yes that is a good one.

Below is copied from Joanie Doss of Amazing Amazons.com when I asked her the same question. It is obvious that there is a wide range of answers and we must respect other's answers and insights as well as our own.
To me...it has to with WHY you own any pet. I have always loved birds, but I have to say that taking Cleo and watching her work thru, painful at times, some of her phobias has been personally rewarding for me. Helping her. I enjoy the science of learning to "think bird". Sure the parlor trick, heck, they're just fun and make an owner proud. But today, I was able to get Cleo INTO THE SHOWER ON MY ARM!!! WOWWWWW. I mean a few months ago, she wouldn't cooperate to anything, let alone trust me enough to sit on my arm and get in running warm water. I've enjoyed how my trials and cracking the code have made her life better. Thus, it makes my life better.
The training is not for everyone, but I guess, I'm an out of the closet, wannabe, trainer now. Well, at least for this bird.
I have someone who wants me to take their B/B macaw and work with it, but ahem....I don't know if I'm that good yet.
Anyway, the following is an interesting read from an experience Amazon owner.
Mark

Amazon Parrots - Joanie Doss - Intro / Bio

Step up is a must in my house. I say step up, I make them do it. With a mostly blind human in the house, and people always in and out, I feel it is necessary.

That being said. I generally SAY step up only when I am going to need them to step up.... if I am offering to pick them up to come visit, I ask them if they want attention, or if they want to come sit with me, or go outside, or to the aviary, or to the mirror. I generally only SAY step up... (actually in my house, it is UP UP) when I expect them to obey it. They seem to realize this. If they don't want to come visit, and I haven't SAID upup... I don't make them.

Dana, you explained perfectly what I do also. I only say Step-Up when it's a must, which is seldom. Day to day life is choices and empowerment. I ask them if they'd like to come visit, if they don't want to it's fine. Like yours, mine know the difference and I've never had any problems.

This is an interesting question. I have thought about this myself because Lucy isn't really a 'stepper upper'. Both Harley and Echo know the step up command and will usually get up on my hand without a command. However, Lucy really seems to have no idea what to do. Only recently had she really started getting up without chomping. In my house, I feel that stepping up is something theat my bird have to know. But, I can't always rely on it. In a fire situation, I don't know if they would step up or not. They could be so scared I would have to do like Karen said.

Dana really hit the nail on the head as far as how I feel. I learned early on that if I say 'step up', I make them do it. I don't ever take them out unless they want to, so if I say the command, it isn't in the instance where they don't want to come out.

I have to say that over all I believe the more effectively you can communicate your desires & have the pet understand them the better. It is most rewarding for both parties. This requires training & time. Training is a great pastime & bonding experience that can also include socialization time - working with more that just one person. Training is fun & rewarding for the animal or should be.

I have to admit, I am not the best trainer. I start out well intended & I follow the 'rules'. But I often let the pet have their way, later on - not to disobey but to accept that they can have some leeway. Step-up is one of those times. Laker will pat my hand when he doesn't want to step-up. Sometimes I make him step-up to check that he will obey, but mostly i let him off the hook & try a bit later.

I agree about unpredictability in an emergency - I'd probably 'trick' them into Laker's cage with a bread or millet treat & leave. Laker step-ups about 90% of the time but Rio is still a long way away from that. He will step up when frightened tho - the other day he got out into the kitchen & was really frightened. He happily hopped on for a ride back to his flight area.

Yes, this is a hard question and there is no ONE answer. For us, it has been a must. She has become a new, happier bird now that she steps up. An example is getting her into th shower like today. She did great on my hand for the first time. When I tried a hand perch, she'd fly off. But, she apparantly feels safe on my hand and trusts me to have a safe shower.
The stepups in this case were a result of trust AND served to INCREASE the trust. But, that's just her.
One other thing I've stopped doing is aggressive stepups. I don't pursue her with my hand. I have begun sort of putting my hand down and asking her to come to me to step up rather than pursue her. I've been treating when I do that. It seems to be working well. If she doesn't stepup, I play hard to get and walk away. I start talking in another room. Even to Dood to make her jealous. Soon, she'll start calling me. I walk back in the room and she's leaning up on one foot to stepup. If she bites, I walk away. If she stepsup, we make a BIG deal out of it. And she screams too. hahaha, she knows she did good.
I have even been able to get her in the carrier pretty easily now. Helps to have pnuts in there. She has started banking on that. LOL.
Dood steps up MOST of the time, but he's not ever a problem.
There is simply not one answer; it's whatever works best for your world with your bird. To say anything other than that could be judgemental and nobody know's the other person's or the bird's lives.