Contact calls - how much & for how long does your grey call?

[reggieroo]

Some of you will have seen my post about Murphy & his high pitched shrieking & my questions here are related to that issue still in some way. The shrieking has gotten less & been replaced a fair bit by a whistle.

 

What I want to do is too make sure I do the right thing for Murphy & his future patterning with regards to his confidence & independence. Before, the shrieking was while I was in view & even in the same room but now that & the whistles are 99% while out of sight so safe to say they are contact calls.

 

As soon as I go out of sight he does the whistle which I return with either a whistle or something along the lines of "I'm here, just down the hall won't be long" Now after a few whistles from him he then starts the shrieking almost in desperation & then maybe the whistle again followed by the shrieking & so on. He does this non stop until I'm back with the only exception being if he's eating something he really enjoys like corn on the cob & I don't hear a peep out of him.

 

Now the whistles are not a problem & the shrieking is a lot less & tolerable but my concern is Murphy's independence & confidence & how it may affect his personality in the future. I worry about him developing behaviour problems like plucking etc. I know that parrots contact call as part of a flock & it's normal but is it normal for them to constantly do this every time you go out of sight until you come back?

 

Do I contact call back constantly until I'm back, contact call once or twice after letting him know I'm not abandoning him & then ignore him? He's still only 22 weeks old & appears to be very needy & not to happy about being left to his own devices. Will he develop into an insecure parrot if I ignore his calls? He will eventually start playing with his toys & stop the calling if say I go outside & close the door but not while in the house.

 

I want him to be a secure, confident parrot with the independence to play alone etc & not worry that I've left him. The last thing I want is to go shopping one day & come back to a half plucked bird knowing if I had done something different he would be fine.

 

How often do your greys call you in the house & for how long until you come back in sight?

 

Sorry for the long post guys, it's just been on my mind & want to make sure I do the right thing for Murphy

[danmcq]

What you describe is normal, especially at a young age. They rely soley on their parents by instinct until around 2 years old. Even at 2 they are less dependent obiovusly but still keep their parents in eye shot at all times. They stay with their parents until 4 to 5 years of age when they reach sexual maturity and start finding a life long mate.

 

The contact calling still happens with Dayo at 3 years old if I leave the room. Most times Dayo will just fly and land on my shoulder. But when I leave and he is not paying attention, he will normally not just fly and will contact call instead, which I return. If I don't return them, he will continue for a while then stop normally.

 

When he was was at the age of Murphy, he would try his damnedest to follow and would make all types of whistles, screeches etc. almost in desperation due to the close dependence he had on us.

 

The dependence and contact calling will not start a plucking episode, as long as he has toys and things to keep him self entertained and a tv or stereo on for background sound will help as well. They know when your in the house, versus you have left and are acustomed to it. They will of course contact call and chirp while your leaving, but they will stop shortly knowing you are not in earshot.

[reggieroo]

Thanks Dan, that has helped put my mind at rest. I some times worry about doing the right or wrong thing as I know how sensitive this little guys are.

 

He does have lots of toys that he plays with & you can tell because everyone of them is chewed, just recently he has started beating them up & hanging upside down from the roof of his cage screaming with delight.

 

How should I respond with the contact calls? At the moment I call back a few times & then leave it.

[danmcq]

Your response is fine, if you don't wish to continue after a few, then stop. He will quickly learn your routine. Of course, he will still call.

 

If I know I will be back in the room with dayo in 30 seconds or a minute, I will just keeping returning his calls, whic he changes each time almost it seems to keep himself amused while still confirming I am in earshot.

 

If I know I am going to go take a shower for example, I will tell him what I am going to do. He will then call a few times and stop because he knows a shower takes a while and I will not return calls while in there.

[Brittany]

Pepper will make a lot of calls either whining noises, or "PEPPERRRRRRRRRrr" whenever one of us is out of sight. Well not everytime, but most times. Lol if he really gets fed up he'll just come crawling into whatever room we are in. He mostly whines when my boyfriend is say in the shower, but even though I'll be sitting right next to Pepper he wants my bf .

 

the whining will go on for up to id say 5 or 6 minutes. usually he'll calm down [ill give him food or something] or ill take him to my bf.

[reggieroo]

How old is Pepper Brittany?

[JillyBeanz]

Paul - I can hear Harvey from here to the bottom of the street when I leave him! He doesn't do it from his cage, ever, but if he is out and flying around and I say "back in two minutes" - say, if I'm nipping to our garage (which is at the bottom of our garden), then I can hear him (continuously) until I return. He shuts up when I return though, straight away. It doesn't matter who else is in the house at that time though - if I leave, he calls! I don't mind it - I'm not there to listen to it!!!

 

I see it as a sign of great affection and I don't try and stop him, merely reassure him I won't be long, or I'll be right back. He seems to accept this, but he's never left for anything more than a minute anyway - oooh, I shudder, Harvey in an empty house!!!!

[Brittany]

Pepper will be 2 in July.

[Jayd]

If I know I am going to go take a shower for example, I will tell him what I am going to do. He will then call a few times and stop because he knows a shower takes a while and I will not return calls while in there.

Everything everyone posted is really good, What Dan said [and he knows] is very important!!!! Always tell you baby what your doing, in time he'll relate to what you say.

Jayd

[reggieroo]

Everything everyone posted is really good, What Dan said [and he knows] is very important!!!! Always tell you baby what your doing, in time he'll relate to what you say.

Jayd

 

I have been doing just that, telling him "I'll be back in minute" I have probably been mixing it up on what I say as sometimes I can't remember what I say on different situations. For example I may go into the garden for a while to do a little gardening or just nip out to the garage to get something for a second. I may go into the nursery to change Ella-Rose. I may go to the kitchen to make a cup of tea or the bathroom for a shower. Then there's times when I go out shopping or take Zeus for a walk.

 

Should I have something different to say for each different scenario?

[Jayd]

Stick to the same reply each time. Yes, make them simple and to the point. Your doing Grey't, keep up the good parronting.... Jayd