How sensitive are greys' hearing?

[numufu]

Something else I was curious about, as lots of resources and references say that greys need around 12 hours of "uninterrupted" sleep a night. I first wanted to know if the uninterrupted part was true. I've heard from one book that they can take naps to make up for sleep lost, and from another book that their day naps don't make up for the sleep lost. I realize all greys are different, but I'm just curious about what the majority of forum posters have to say about this. 12 hours a night is no problem for me since I tend to sleep that long anyways (due to medication). However, if the part about it being uninterrupted was true, I had one more question regarding it, which leads to the thread topic:

 

How sensitive are their hearing? I know that they are prey animals and so they probably pick up on slight movements and noises better than we can. But since they once lived in the treetops of the African basin/rainforest, you'd think they'd be used to background noise? Basically, I'm just wondering if things like late night TV (volume low), air conditioning turning on and off, people moving around downstairs, things like this would bother them at night.

[danmcq]

They have very sensitive hearing.

 

We are very quite at night and in early mornings. I can get up at 3am and walk in the kitchen not making the slightest sound and my grey will flutter his wings letting me know he as aware I am present. The only other explanation would be ESP. :-)

 

There is no doubt that little noises through out the night would alert them.

 

They do nap at different times of the day as you say.

 

I don't think my grey or my conure have ever slept for 12 hours without waking momentarily. As you state, in the wild the noises would definitely alert them as their very lives are at stake.

[Greywings]

I will second your answer, my entire flock will respond if they hear the dogs or my elderly Mother moving around at night. Pookie my CAG has the quietest response-the wing flutter. The Too's are much louder. They do need that 10-12 hours of dark time to avoid the grumpies but it is my observation that they do sleep lightly more of the time and heavier a smaller portion of that. Maybe they vary a bit form bird to bird on their individual needs..

[Joolesgreyuk]

What an interesting thread! I would agree with Dan that their hearing is excellent, they don't seem to mind if I have to come down the stairs in the middle of the night (though I try not to) but I'm sure they are aware of it. Sometimes if I'm up early in the morning and it is still dark one of them will give me a little birdy twitter to let me know they are aware. Evenings they get covered around 8 o'clock and for a while you can hear them but after 10 minutes or so they are quiet and that is the end of it until morning.

 

Sometimes I wonder if they have heard a slight sound and you can tell by their response that they have. Gotta love 'em

[pearllyn]

Alfie can be at the other end of the house and if I try to sneak into the cookie jar she's there! She never seems to react if we're up at night though.

[she]

My birds dont get 12 hours un interupted sleep.They are very aware if I get up during the night,sometimes they have a little flutter,other times the grey will say hello.The tiel will just give a little squeek. They seem to know when I just get up for a few mins or when I am up for the day.When I get up for the day the response is a lot more vocal.

[Summerc25]

This is a very interesting thread. Shaka zulu does flutter his wings a bit or make a very soft whistle if I move around at all while he is asleep. He never gets 12 hrs though, more like 8-10 and he is very rarely grumpy. Because I have read a lot of horror stories about peoples birds dying from different things that you would never expect to kill them, I am super paranoid when it comes to my bird. Once in a while I will just softly open the door and peak in on him in the middle of the night and he will say very softly 'soooo' because he says 'so jao'(not sure of spelling) meaning good night. His original owners were from Pakistan so he does speak some of their language. When I get him up in the morning, if he is still tired he will tell me so jao over and over lol Usually I will cut the lights back out and let him rest a little longer when he does that. He definitely knows what he is saying. I can tell it is like a kid who does not want to get up for school lol I think they get used to normal household sounds like the heat or air running. My bird does not seem to pay the slightest attention to that when he is sleeping.<br><br>Post edited by: Summerc25, at: 2010/01/08 16:25

[Mistyparrot]

As I live alone with Misty he is pretty well accustomed to my sleep routine. I tend to be a bit of a night owl so to speak so I go to bed late and get up late. Misty sleeps in our living room on his tree perch so he is the one to decide when it's bed time. When he has had enough of my company he tells me it's bed time and persists until I have left the room and put out all but a night light. In the morning when he hears the slightest sign tht I am getting up he starts up his contact whistle and it is very clear that he expects me to respond which I do by calling back.

He gets maybe 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep and will have the odd doze at other times times and he is perfectly happy with that and in good condition.

 

If I leave him in the living room and go to the kitchen he seems able to tell what I am doing from the noise I make because he will make the appropriate comment.

 

They seem to know every little thing that is going on around them. They clearly have very finely tuned senses.

 

 

Steve n Misty

[katana600]

Since in the wild they are prey, I think whether it is from hearing, feeling vibrations or other methods of detection, they seem to be on red-alert most of the time, even when sleeping. I softly announce my presence when I come in the room where Java is sleeping. It was my understanding that the 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness was for the purpose of convincing especially females that it is not the season to lay eggs or mate. It does help Java maintain a good attitude and she even asks to go to bed and be covered. It may just be the predictablity that she craves, but it works well for us.<br><br>Post edited by: katana600, at: 2010/01/09 13:41

[JillyBeanz]

I'm really aware that Harvey isn't getting his "quota" at the moment. Usually he is in the hall, and he is covered at night - but with this cold weather I'm not happy with him in there and we have brought him into the living room - he's still awake under the cover as he can hear the TV and I know it's not until we go to bed that he does too.

 

Harvey NEVER naps during the day when we are here - I have never once seen him asleep.

 

Now - the sensitivity comes into play when he's sitting on the landing and hears one of the kids open a packet of crisps in the living room - it doesn't take him long to arrive (and this is no joke)!!!!

[Luvparrots]

My birds have their own room. My birds go to bed at 7:00 pm. My Ekkie insists on it or he will shriek until the lights go out and the door is closed. Ana Grey wakes early in the morning, early for me is before 8:00 am and she talks up a storm. My Ekkie is very quiet. Their cage doors are open all day long until bed time, if I am at home.

[Toni]

Alcazar is in a noisey room.Hes in a room full of daycare kiddos.They make lots of noise,He loves it!! Things dont bother Alcazar at night, neither does the air conditioner.He loves lous music.He bops to it

[Lambert58]

Ours go to bed just after sundown and are up at the crack of dawn. Our greys are in a large indoor aviary (7 ft tall x 5 ft diameter) so covering the whole cage isn't feasible but we do put a blanket over it to cover the top portion and keep the heat in. We have a very large great room and it would be impossible to block all the light. Pics below.

 

Grey's cage:

 

Everyone else (and the Petco box is a temporary fix to keep Cleo from playing in the light fixture! lol):

 

[danmcq]

Wow, nice setup.

 

Thanks for sharing the photos. :-)

[Tigerlily]

tigerlily sleeps in the living room and i have only ever inturupted her before she's woken in the morning once but i do wonder if the cat going in and out the cat flap or me going 2 the toilet wakes her.

 

she has only ever fallen asleep with me in the room once and it was sooooo cute.

 

it was late for us 11 or 12 the lights were out and i was listening to a book on a cd, tigerlily was on her perch.

 

i looked over at her and she had her head tucked under her wing looking adorable.

 

back then she slept in her cage so i needed to wake her to put her back but i didn't want to scare her.

 

i quietly walked over to her and wispered her name, she didn't wake so i wispered it again and she woke up and gave me the sweetest look, once again i was in love.

 

so on one hand she can sleep with a lot even me calling her but im still worried she wakes up at night. shes alone for about 11hrs but dont know how much of that shes sleeping for but she seems happy.