Why does my bird
scream?
Boy if we had THE
answer we’d be writing this from our yacht. But of course I have to weigh in
here. What got me thinking about the subject of “why birds scream,” is some
recent web surfing.
I spend my days
doing what many of you wish you could be doing, surfing the web for bird toys
and parrot cages. The magic of the internet enables us to shop the world. In
order for us to provide the best possible shopping experience. We look at lots
of sites and products. Pricing is important but not our priority. We feel good
information about parrots and general avian issues is the most important product
we can offer. And we offer that for free. We like to know who’s selling what. We
also like to see how well they’re selling it i.e. is the site easy to navigate.
Do they offer multiple payment choices and so forth?
But I digress – So
here I am on the of a national chains of pet supply products. They have an FAQ
for bird ownership. Something we always applaud. Well I’m reading the list and
one of the topics is Why is my bird screaming? No real explanation is
offered and at the end of the paragraph they recommend taking your parrot to a
vet if screaming persists.
Yikers!
Screaming parrots – vets – why?
Let’s look at
this logically folks, not that parrots are logical but they are creatures of
habit. One of the things we learned from Michelle Karras
www.thepoliteparrot.com is silence means danger! If you have a flock of wild
parrots in trees (in their natural environment) or even a flock of local wild
birds in your back yard. On any given sunny day a flock of birds will make a lot
of noise – it’s all about FLOCK. Chirp, chirp, scream, scream. What are they
communicating about? Same things we do. “Find any food lately? Yeah they had a
great sale on worms about a mile from here.”
SILENCE means
danger! If you’ve ever seen a hawk fly over a flock of wild birds, you swear you
can hear the sound of the hawk’s wings flapping. That’s one of the reasons
parrots come in so many colors. If they’re quiet and deep in a tree they are
difficult to spot. When that danger passes its chirp, chirp, scream, scream. So
again I ask, “is screaming a reason to run to the vet? I don’t think so.
Something we
hear a lot of is - people will have a screaming bird (usually newbie’s) and the
bird will scream for whatever reason. What does their human companion do?
Yell SHUT UP! And what does the parrot do? SCREAM SOME MORE!
Again I fall
back on my good friend logic. The bird screams, you scream back. Do you
think there may be a slight chance that when you scream back the bird might be
thinking “hey – this is great! Someone is finally squawking back at me “hey
SCREAM, SCREAM, please scream back some more, I’m lonely you’re my flock and I
need to talk to someone than you?”
Begin to see
where I’m going with this grasshopper? OK so now you know one of the
whys. Here’s a little tip form Michelle Karras
www.thepoliteparrot.com that may work for you:
Excessive screaming is a learned
behavior that we teach our birds. Covering your feathered companion with a
blanket, teaches him or her that you will cover the cage when scream gets out of
hand.
Yelling at a screaming parrot,
gives the parrot the attention it seeks. Ignoring a screaming parrot is not the
answer either. Ignoring bird’s screams could result in finding injuries too late
(or water had run out). Options are to make sure all your Psittacines needs are
satisfied. Large hygienic cage, clean water, fresh food, working toys. Twelve
hours of sleep (uninterrupted), soft wood and other materials to chew, and
plenty of exercise.
Start with a signal to stop loud
parrots. Ring a cowbell (or bang a pot) in the room next to the screaming bird.
They hear the bell (sound), they stop to listen, Show up from the other room
while they are quiet to praise and reward. Set them up to succeed. Use a time
when you know they are quite loud. Distract them with a new noise in the next
room. As soon as they stop to listen, appear and praise.
Lengthen the time between the
signal and your appearance each time. Try and take a whole day at first and
only work with the parrot and the screaming. Initial rewards should be
substantial, a known favorite treat. Use the same signal just before
feeding fresh food. Wait until the parrot is noisy; give the signal, praise,
and feed.
Not all parrots will quiet down
for the same signal so you may have to try several noises before finding the one
that works for you.
Note: Do not use your voice. They
may try to mimic you.
Scream time is a time during the
day that you allow your parrots to be noisy. This should be given somewhere
between 3p.m. and 7p.m. each day. Encourage your parrots by playing stimulating
music. Dance, sing or scream along with them. Scream time should last no less
than 15minutes and no more than 1/2 hour each day.
Some parrots enjoy screaming to
the vacuum, this is fine to encourage but play music as well. Find music that
your parrot gets excited over. Use that same song every day for scream time.
Change the music from time to time but be consistent overall. When Scream time
is over, lower the music volume Talk your parrot down. Lower the music
slowly, turn it off, and play their relaxation code music. Give them
afternoon snacks when “cool down” is over.
Birds will wait for their "Scream
Time” because they know they will be rewarded for their patience.
