My Birds Won't Stop Screeching *Problem Incoming!*

[Devin Corso]

Dear Forum, I need some advice, my green cheeked yellow sided conure (Yoshi), and my Congo African grey (Korra) are being extremely loud.

This being said I understand they are parrots and this is one major way they communicate, but I think they are going over the top and I am wondering how I can stop this behavior.

I can hear them 3 apartments down with all of the windows and doors closed

easily.

I don't want to anger neighbors, they wake my mom and I up, and it's hard to hear the tv or computer.

 

I know they are jealous of my computer so when I go on the computer I have Korra out with toys, and LOTS of things to forrage and chew, even some interesting food. She enjoyed a slice of room temp. toasted wheat bread yesterday, and a piece of turkey the day before! She loves paper towel rolls, and is very good at recycling paper (I give her sheets of paper, tissues, and paper towels; she

does not

ingest them, I have watched. I talk to her more than usual when she is out and she loves that!

(Yoshi doesn't like being out. I have tried toys and ribbon on top of her cage, and "flight time," but she goes right back into her cage).

 

Other ways I have tried to stop the high pitched very loud screeching:

-going up to the cage telling them everything is ok

-going up to the cage telling them I'm there

-going up to the cage telling them "No" with a firm voice and giving them angry eyes

-spraying them with a squirt or two of room temp. water and saying "No" in a firm voice

 

I really need some advice. I know parrots make a lot of noise, and I love that, but I feel like this is them either having an insecurity or a behavior problem. I want to help them my babies, and have my ears stop ringing. ☹

 

Thank you.

-Sincerely, Devin C.

[SRSeedBurners]

Firstly - are birds allowed at your residence? If so the neighbors will have to deal with it. Dogs bark incessantly and are worse in my opinion.

 

Secondly - my Greycie went through a phase of ear piercing shrill screams that nearly drove me nuts. It started to piss me off to the point that I was considering leaving her in her bird room non-stop until she quit. Eventually I started wearing ear plugs which I've used for other reasons (wife snores like a freight train - HAAHAAHHAAHHA) and that helped bring back some sanity. She eventually stopped doing it after about 6-8 months. I realized after that it was just another new sound to her and got a real rise out of me so it's probably why she kept at it. Probably would have ended sooner if I'd have ignored it. I went about 2-3 months until I started wearing the plugs. Every now and then she'll do it but not very often anymore.

 

Your profile says you're moving soon - how soon? Will you have your own residence? Finding a way to ignore it is the best approach I've found. It just goes away on it's own then.

[katana600]

I don't know about your house, but holidays at our house meant a lot of changes for our birds, at least from their point of view. Our little red bellied parrot Java has been making an obnoxious, abrasive, game show buzzer sound for about a week now. Gilbert has responded by making a very very loud version of a cockatiel sound. I agree with Sterling that the very best thing to do is to ignore it. I also have noticed Java is doing this in the early evening and I think it could be that our nights are growing longer and just because our clock says it is 6 pm, she is thinking sundown is the time to go to sleep. I have been turning the light off earlier and she is getting a lot more sleep than usual, so I wonder if that is part of it. She isn't just being quiet because I turned off the light, she stopped being so loud and abrasive, so I think getting more sleep is what she was asking for. They still have very strong biological clocks from the wild.

[judygram]

Ignoring it is just about the only way to stop it, when you give any kind of reaction to the noise it only reinforces the behavior, they continue with it because they like the response you give, put ear plugs in and go about your business and it will solve itself.

[Acappella]

Like the others said, the only way to extinguish the sound is to ignore it 100% of the time. Only go to them and praise them when they're quiet for a moment. If you go to them after an hour of screetching you've just taught them they need to screetch for an hour! I also recommend ear plugs to take the edge off while they're learning this is not the way to get your attention. Good luck. You can always come here to vent while they're learning.

[Muse]

Just one thing to add, it's best not to use a squirt of water as punishment. It may cause them to develop a fear of being sprayed. We have one in foster that bit the foster mom just from hearing the sound of water being sprayed in the kitchen. She's terrified of spray bottles. I have had the best luck with redirection, when the screeching starts. I say "inside voices, please" and begin to sing or talk in a soft voice and they naturally follow. Of course there are times they just need to cut loose. We put on loud music and all screech together for about an hour or so each night while I clean cages. (We live in the country so we don't have issues with neighbors). After that they are all ready to settle down.

[Devin Corso]

Fantastic! I will take all of these suggestions. My mom and I are ignoring them for bad sounds and praising them for good sounds. Korra just said "groovy!" And I said "Groovy groovy!" back to her! I will try to lay off the spray bottle too. Thank you all.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Muse said it best! Redirection! I can say " shhhh". and my birds settle down.I dont overuse my redirection, but when I say shhhh they stop.It is a very important form of communication, and they know shhhh means stop.nancy

[Devin Corso]

Do they get worse before they get better? Because they are being even louder than before. I mean much much louder. Are they testing us? We aren't paying any attention to them when they are making bad noises, but encouraging them they make good noises.

[Acappella]

Yep, it probably will get worse before it gets better. They are trying to figure out why what worked before isn't working now. Stay strong. You can come on here to vent while they're re-learning how to get your attention.

[neoow]

I went through this with Alfie. He has learned lots of loud noises that aren't easy on the ear and he would use them with gusto- ESPECIALLY if he got a reaction from one of us. Any form of reaction would be enough to encourage him to keep using the sound. So it was a case of educating ourselves that whenever he made a noise we weren't too fond of, we would NOT react. It was tough, as he would usually wait until you were walking past the cage before letting out an ear piercing squeak, so it was very difficult not to flinch or say "ow". But with perseverance from ALL household members we managed to get the noises down to a minimum. They were boring if nobody reacted!

We also made sure to react for the noises we did want to hear- any speech, any whistles, any other noises which didn't make you feel like your ear drums were going to burst!

 

It's the same whenever a new loud noise is learned- reward the "good" noises and ignore the "bad" noises. Alfie soon learns which ones work and which don't. But he still tests the water at times.

 

It's not just noises either. When I moved out of the family home, he learned that jumping across the cage at one of my housemates used to make them jump. So he would do it every time. The reaction wasn't a positive one (e.g the housemate would scream/jump and walk away) but it was a reaction nonetheless. Alfie only ever did that to that one housemate, not me or the second housemate. He's never done it since that housemate left either.

 

It's almost like the saying with publicity- bad publicity is still publicity. A bad reaction is a still a reaction (and some form of attention).

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Ignoring the behavior, won't work alone. (even just rewarding the good behavior). You need to establish communication, that you don't like this behavior, nor will tolerate it, and its not acceptable! Kids always make fun how I run our home like the military. I guess I do... but they all stop and listen! Nancy

[Elvenking]

Ahhh the unwanted sound. Now heed this well, and I am sure others have said it. The only way that noise is ever going to go away is by ignoring it. On top of that, all the things you are doing REINFORCE the unwanted behavior. Because they all start with "going up to the cage".....exactly what they are looking for. By now, it is a fun game that they will have to unlearn. However, if you suddenly start doing nothing when the noise happens, maybe they will lose interest sooner. Patience is the key. Yer gonna think it's a crazy idea to do nothing when it's happening, but I think it is the only thing that really works.

 

Firstly, are the birds where everyone else is? They want to be around people for sure. I also have the same bird combo, and my Conue has taught my Grey some of those screechy noises. Also, I will never for get when Isaac liked to do the smoke alarm for a while before he forgot about it. (deafening at close range) It may seem like forever that they will forget it...but trust....it gets better....so long as you do not respond to those noises. We have to ensure that those noises mean nothing changes.

 

Are they waking you up in the morning. I am able to black out the area they live in in order 'let morning in' when I get up. If they see the sun come up, they will start up. I know how it is, sometimes I forget to close the blinds at night.

 

Isaac has quieted down with me ignoring those noises. They aren't 100% gone...he'll try them from time to time. But if they don;t get a reaction...they usually move on to something else. So I go wild whenever he does something I like.

Edited January 20, 2016 by Elvenking