Guest Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 So here is the deal, Gizmo has taken to this horrible ear piercing chirp lately, whenever I am not paying complete attention to him he begins this super loud chirp (it can be clearly heard with all the windows and doors closed across the street) he is driving me nuts! This chirping begins when the sun starts to come up and lasts all day. I spend about 2 hours a day with him just me and him one on one time and yet the chirp continues. He is driving me insane!!! Here is a short video of him chirping, usually his chirps are one after another for 30-40 seconds sometimes longer. Please help me!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTLuWRqlgY8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Thats not a bad chirp at all from my perspective. It is normal for them to chirp, whistle, call etc. if your around and they know it. It appears he is plucking also, which either indicates he is very frustrated or could be a health issue also that you may want to think about getting checked out by a vet. Two hours is not really much out of cage time. The best medicine is to ignore them, but I'm telling you that chirp is nothing abnormal to hear when your present and your bird wishes to be with you. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 He is in fact plucking, he stayed with my parents for a few months while I sorted things out, it was then the plucking started. When I got him back he continued. I will be taking him to be looked at very soon. Thanks for the advice I try and ignore the loud chirping and praise his other noises with attention but it seems he likes the loud chirp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 You really have to be kidding, right? You think thats loud? I guess you never heard a grey squawk. He's doing what just about every grey that exists does. Spending time with him has nothing to do with what he does naturally. The sun comes up===every wild bird outside sounds off. I have no answer for what he's doing. Covering him? Stopping what he is supposed to do? What if he whistled all day? Would you try to stop that? What if he grumbled all day? Would you try to stop that? I'm sorry but your grey is being a normal grey and you can't change their natural sounds. That's like teaching a male canary to stop singing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajP0wh92Rq0<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/07/22 23:03 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myafricanqueen Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I have to say that when I watched the video I was in shock at first as I was expecting a VERY LOUD noise and heard this little chirp instead. I think the fact that this chirp annoys you that bad and the fact that your poor birdie is plucking his little feathers out is a sign that maybe you should be asking yourself: Am I really cut out to be a bird owner. You should be on this wonderful forum asking for help about why does my grey pluck?? As it is not a good thing at all and shows you that something is lacking in the diet or he is suffering somehow mentally. I agree that your grey should get out of that cage more for longer periods and from the video angle the cage you have does not look very big at all....I could be wrong about the cage?? When I get home I am going to show you a video of My Grey Dalia and how she sounds... amongst all of my other fids... Maybe then you will appreciate the little chirp that your grey makes and will realize that, that is what bird do they sing, chirp, and learn new sounds all of the time. Sorry if this offends you or anyone but this post really upsets me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myafricanqueen Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Dave007 has beat me to adding a video.... I may still post one later tonite just so you can hear her and the sounds she makes too..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 The video does not do justice to the volume of the chirp, it literally makes my ear ring. My bird is very well taken care of and actually spends most of the day out of his cage. His cage is also extremely large. I understand there are certain noises he is going to make and I am not trying to mute him. I am trying to see if there is something I can do to get this one sound to a minimum. I love my bird dearly look at my other videos you will see a very happy talkative bird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Char Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Whisper has a couple of wild bird sounds she does that can be hard on the ears. When she is making that sound I just redirect her by talking to her and getting her onto something else. Along with the plucking I think your bird is distressed in some way. Whether mentally or physically. I noticed the ceiling fan....Whisper hates the fan or wind blowing on her. It could be something as simple as that. You are going to have to figure out the plucking issue. The first step is a visit to an avian vet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Maxxheadroom, my sweet Ana Grey makes sounds ten times louder than that when she wants my attention or even when she is just vocalizing after her bath. Have you tried leaving the TV or radio on for Gizmo? I believe he is just calling for you. When my grey calls out I just talk back to her so she knows I am around. When I leave the room both my fids call after me so before I leave I tell them "I'll be right back" and they are calm. If I am gone too long they call again and I call back. Just like with a small child they want to know where the family/flock are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I want to stress that I am not trying to silence Giz, this is a new sound and is kind of shocking. I love this bird so much and the thought of not having him around breaks my heart. He makes me laugh so much (and usually laughs with me when I do) he is a wonderful companion. The visit to the vet is going to happen very soon. Like I said Giz is well taken care of, maybe the fan is stressing him out I had not thought about that. I'll give shutting it down a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 """"" want to stress that I am not trying to silence Giz, this is a new sound and is kind of shocking"""" And I can guarantee you that when he gets it out of his system, it'll be replaced by something else or nothing at all. And then periodically you'll hear it now and then just like all the other sounds the bird makes. Think about a bird that first learns a new word/ sentence. This is the way it goes for days at a time with nothing else said DAY AFTER DAY I'M A GOOD BOY-- I'M A GOOD BOY- I'M A GOOD BOY- I'M A GOOD BOY- I'M A GOOD BOY I'M A GOOD BOY I'M A GOOD BOY I'M A GOOD BOY over and over and over until it becomes part of his vocabulary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherStrella Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I tried to listen to the chirp in relation to how loud the TV was. The chirp certainly was louder than the TV. AnnaBella has an ear piercing chirp too. She doesn't do it very often tho. When your bird isn't with you, do you have a radio or TV with him? Like I said, I could hear the TV but wasn't sure if it was in the same room...it didn't sound like it was. Maybe you could try having a TV or radio going in the same room as him..if you don't already. I've heard of people who have TV going in another room...then put it in the same room with the bird and it makes all the difference. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I didn't think it was all that loud either and like Dave said, birds chirp and squawk thats what they do and if that bothers you then you shouldn't have a grey or any bird for that matter. I also think the ceiling fan might be bothering him as Josey, my grey hates any kind of wind on her so try turning that off and see if it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Char Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 You know Judy sometimes I think your Josie and my Whisper must have been chipped out of the same stone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeatherStrella Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Wow, I didn't notice the fan at first. That would really bother my Grey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Char wrote: You know Judy sometimes I think your Josie and my Whisper must have been chipped out of the same stone. They certainly must have about the same type of personality, we are so lucky don't you think! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tycos_mom Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 Dave I just love That video made me laugh I agree with you those ittybitty chirps are the sounds every Grey make Adaya makes the very same sound and if I ignore her and don't take her out of her cage at that point she will cicken scratch in her food dishes until the are totally empty that bird wastes so much food it crazy I was just thinking about this post and decided to add this. I was thinking that this noise he's making may be a contact call because Adaya makes the same noise when she's trying to get my attention. I taught her how to cluck you know that noise you can make with you tongue on the roof of your mouth so now every time she does her peep peep I go cluck cluck and so does she and its been about 2 weeks now and she does more clucks than she doews peeps why don't you try teach him something that won't drive you crazy like a whistle of some sort.<br><br>Post edited by: Tycos_mom, at: 2009/07/23 05:38 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titch Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 In response to the original question.. Positively reinforce the sounds you like.. So if Gizmo makes a nice chirpy noise, then go to him, give him a seed or what ever you treat with and make a big fuss. try to ignore the bad chirps. It will take patience, but eventually Gizmo will get bored of making sounds which get no reaction and concentrate on the sounds which do get a reaction. You have to be consistent with this though and it's not a quick fix that will work over a short time. I don't live in the US so I don't have a ceiling fan, but Echo hates going any where near the airfilter as it blows upwards, so not sure if that's causing him any worries or not.. Maybe you could cover half the cage, as I noticed it was against the window.. That way Giz will feel a bit less open to the world, but can still have his window view "if he chooses". Greys do so much better if they have choice over what's going on. Try and eliminate any peanuts or sunflower seeds.. Foods high in fat are not good for our captive friends, and a pal on another forum found that eliminating peanuts really helped when his bird started to pluck her feathers. Good luck. Or.. just buy some ear plugs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiwiandSally Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 I didn't think that the noise was bad and if you think that is bad don't ever get a conure parrot. My grey is now imatating the Nanday conure scream and if you have heard it, it is about awful. I also have noticed that if I make a big deal out the the noises I don't like the more my grey does it. My grey also imatates my 4 year old screaming too. Many will make those noises because they like the noise and it is entertaining to them. Just a suggestion turn off that fan, my grey screams when the fan is on she doesn't like it at all. I am new to having a grey but these pro's on here have been dead on, on everything they have told me. Take their advice greys are not quiet and depending on the greys mood can be quite loud. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleysMom Posted July 23, 2009 Share Posted July 23, 2009 My Harley does a really bad ear piercing chirp. LOL It's modeled after the smoke detector, but louder. When he first would do it, it was only when my husband was right next to him. My husbands ear would hurt and ring. He despises my husband, if he could chase him out of the house, he would. Now he does it if he wants something. It doesn't really bother me. I don't like the sound, but it's part of his repertoire. To try to distract him from it, I'll whistle or make another sound as a "callback." He likes to make the "fart" noise a lot more, so I'll blow a raspberry at him. :laugh: Today, he was sooo cute. My husband walked in the door and Harley said," Hey, baby!" LOL That's what I say to my husband. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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