As it turned out, he gave up on the pellets he had in there all together. I noticed that there was a significant decrease in the frquency of droppings. The sound he was making was because he was hungry. Even though he was getting his daily veggie mix he was not taking in enough. I actually brought him into the bird specialty store where I got him and let him try different pellets to see which he would eat. He didn't eat any of them until I got to the Zeigler. He ate thos right up and has been on them since. He is now back to his Happy self.