Buffalo Parrot Squawk Forums

I saw this a while back but don't remember where. It was suggested that if you have a bird that is screaming, he/she may be getting sensory overload or too excited. Remove the bird from the room and put him/her in a dark, quiet room. For us, it is the main bathroom. It is interior with no windows so it is dark. I place the bird in the bath tub where they can not get hurt on anything and give them a "birdie timeout". Once the bird has calmed down and regained itself, it comes back out to join the rest of the flock. This actually works very well with almost all of my fids. Sunkist is the exception, but she IS an amazon. LOL!

Interesting!  I was always told to ignore this behavior, and then give the attention they desire when they are calm.  I also learned to talk to them in a lower voice than the one they are screaming at.  Well, none of this works with my female IRN.  When it is too much, or we have company, sometimes we will half cover her cage.  This works!  So I guess it is similar to what you do.  I am learning that Parrots scream for MANY different reasons.  Ya just gotta figure out why, then go about helping the situation.  I am learning on the go here ;)

The only real screamer I have is fawkes..it is the weirdest scream (well she has 2 but one is AWESOME and I encourage it because its a mimic not a parrot scream) but the one scream is terrible! She will do it when you have food, when she can't see you or just to do it. NOTHING works when she gets in these moods!

So the best I can do is to move her on her playstand to another room where she is alone,and that way nobody reacts to it when she sits and screams her grey head right off.

when my birds scream I just walk away, then I return when they are quiet with a treat.

Good reply Chance! ;)

Chico is the only parrot I have that screams for no apparent reason. He has done this every since I have had him, and it is an attention getter.  It is an awful scream, it sounds just like a little kid or woman screaming at the top of their lungs. The other birds will scream if they want out, or during normal yelling sessions, but my little Chico loves to scream- I think because he knows I don't like it. When he does that he gets time out, and is places in his Wingabago (with no toys) for five minutes. It works pretty well, because as soon as he comes out he is a behaved little green gentleman.

I have no choice but to remove them from the situation. Ignoring them does NOT work. Merlina, my 'too, is the worst. She screams for attention sometimes. The reason I have to move them into another room, such as the bathroom, is that I have a Great Romm. That is, my living room and kitchen are only divided by the counter top. Also, my dining room is on the other side of a wall that goes about 2 feet from the ceiling (they are 15 ft vaulted ceilings through the center of the house only). I have found that Merlina actually does much better with a night time cage in the dark bathroom. She goes in there aftger the lights are shut off for tv time or whatever in the evening.

Zimba has a very loud swak/peep noise she makes only for my husband. I have told him the ignore rule, reinforce the good yada yada yada he wont listen and he has no patience so I have to close the bedroom door until she stops. She just wants to see him and be close but he is scared to death of her and all birds(go figure!) She was almost a deal breaker when he asked me to move in with him. I simply said where ever I go the bird goes end of discussion, I won...always do.

Birdlover, I can so relate about your screaming cockatoo. If Wesley screams its because she either wants something or is scared of something. If you ignore her she gets louder or will change the volume/ cadence of her yell. A call that might start out "ack ack ack" for a few seconds will turn into "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK" for about a minute. I know better than to ignore her, she is usually pretty quiet and uses her 'inside voice' as I call it.

I can relate, too. My 13 month-old half sister screams like that ALL THE TIME when she wants something. If you ignore her it just gets worse. :o

The only way to make her quiet is to give her something to eat... no wonder she looks like a moose. :o

This is screaming of Parrots, not humans Mod Eric :o  Then again, it isn't all that different come to think ???

Oh I didn't know that....  ???

Are you?..playin? azn.gif

Thank God Zeno quiets down when I just walk out of the room when he's screaming. It's amazing how loud a quaker can be for just a little bird.  :D



What  are the deals on the side- (applaud  and smite), what are they for?  ::) newquakermama

Zeno quiets when you leave the room? Amazing! Mine are quiet little mice until I leave and go to the kitchen, then all squawk breaks loose until I return. I couldn't even get the dishwasher loaded after supper last night. My hubby asked me to stay in the living room with the fids and him because every time I got up, he couldn't hear the TV.
The Q's look so much alike, but are so different in every way. So cool........

This one is a little late,sorry to bump it but I wanted to add my WCP's screaming issue.
She only does it when I go into the shower w/o her, understandable yes, but not at 2am when my daughter is asleep!
I have a dark blue fleece blanket that I use to cover her cage with. I turn on the shower and if she starts it up I cover in then go back to the shower and she's quiet.
This is in the daytime too. I talk to her and tell her that I love her and will give her a shower soon. As soon as I get out she is quiet and I reward her then with boca nuts.
It's the only thing that worked for me, turning my back when not in the same room is a litle difficult!

I ignore the scream fest. Jade is the worst offender. When I don't respond, then she will quiet down and say "hiccup, medical emergency" as THEN I will say "oh do you have the hiccups, my poor girl" and she will start talking and stop screaming. Or sometimes she will crawl in her hut and put herself to bed.