The Screaming Parrot

Screaming. It’s every parrot person’s worst nightmare. I don’t know a single person who is “good” with a screaming parrot. It wrecks your peace, can make it miserable to be around your bird, and if you have a husband or spouse like mine, the demands to “get rid of it” will start pouring in. Parrot screaming is one of the largest contributors (one of the big 4) for why parrots are rehomed or surrendered into rescues. The species most apt to develop this behavior are Cockatoos (Mollucan and Umbrella), Macaws, Amazons and a few of the Conure species.

Let’s start with the good news: Screaming doesn’t have to be forever. It is a learned behavior, and as such it can be trained out of your once adorable, monster of a bird. We’ll get into step-by-step directions momentarily, but first lets rule a few things out.

Rule out Scary Stuff

Is something scaring your bird? Does he or she focus on something with her eyes when she begins screaming? Rule out the scream being the bird’s communication method to tell you something is very scary, in their space that is probably going to eat and/or kill you too if you don’t get it out of there.

If there is something there that’s terrifying (you know, like a scarf, human, toy, etc.) remove the object to a safe distance and use small approximations to re-introduce that object or human.

Small approximation is fancy pants terminology for taking things very, very slow. For instance, if your bird is scared of new toys, start by bringing the toy just inside the room. If the bird relaxes or doesn’t display fearful body language, bring it a foot closer. If the bird doesn’t display fear, reward and bring it a foot closer, and so on and so forth until the toy is right next to the cage. When the bird seems at ease with the toy, try hanging it on the outside of the cage. And then finally, through small approximations, you should be able to hang the toy within the cage. If the bird at any point displays fear, simply go back one step and try again.

Is there something medically wrong with your bird?

Do you notice any lethargy with your bird? Is she acting differently than normal? Are there any blood feathers broken or bothering her? Do her feet look ok? All of these things are cause for your bird to be alarmed enough to let you know about it, and the only way they can do that is by screaming their pretty little heads off.

If you are certain there’s nothing medically pressing, move on to the next phase. But, if your bird is in medical distress, get her to your nearest avian vet, stat.

Is the screaming only happening when you leave the room?

If this is the case, this isn’t screaming, per se. This is flock call. Birds are flock animals, and therefore, separating from the flock is dangerous, scary and in their world, a big load of crap. The flock goes everywhere together and does everything together.

If this is the case, simply answer back. “I’m right here!” with the call, and that should give the parrot ease of mind that you’re going to be ok, and so are they. For flock calls, in my experience, the more you ignore, the more persistent and obnoxious it gets. This is the one instance that it’s ok to answer with a reassuring phrase, and I’d recommend using the same phrase every time.

With my flock at the Birds and Beaks rescue, I simply respond with a whistle. The same whistle every time. And, as a result, they started using it as flockcall instead of the obnoxious, ear-shattering shriek that they all used when they arrived.

For Actual Long Term, Non-Stop, “Oh that bird’s gotta go” Screaming:

First here’s what NOT to do. If you’re doing any of these things – stop now:

• Telling the bird to shut up

• Covering the cage

• Letting other people tell the bird to shut up

• Throwing things at the cage

• Striking the cage

• Showing any sign at all that the bird is making God-Awful racket

• Running to the cage to reassure your bird everything is ok\

If you’re doing anything in this above list, you’re teaching your bird that screaming evokes a reaction. Which is precisely what they would like from you. A reaction.

Instead, try this:

• Provide plenty for the bird to do. A busy parrot is a quiet parrot.

• When she’s quiet and playing on her own doing her own thing, reward her with her favorite treat.

• When she has 30 seconds or more of silence, click your clicker, give her a treat. Work up to longer increments of time.

• Do not look at her, talk to her or acknowledge her existence when she’s screaming. Don’t turn up the TV to drown it out. When this behavior begins, go into training mode, look for the CORRECT behavior and reward that.

For the bird that screams all day long while you’re gone:

For this scenario, you want to stand just outside of your bird’s line of site to you. They need to not see you, and you’ll want to be very quiet.

-Bird screams - do nothing.

-When you have 5 seconds of quiet, click, pop in and reward.

-Work up to 10 seconds,

The training principals of getting a screamer transitioned over to a non-screamer can take a few weeks. If you are persistent, consistent and able to carry through reliably on your end, your bird WILL stop screaming.

The hardest part is keeping that last hair of a nerve of sanity from snapping between the beginning of the training and the end.

If you need help, or have questions, you are always welcome to email us for help at Birds and Beaks. Visit www.birdandbeaks.com/contact and send us a message with as much detail about the problem you are experiencing and we’re happy to do what we can to assist.