Screaming with visitors (little long)

[mandymmr]

My Hanh's screams nonstop when people come over. It could be in-laws stopping by for a quick visit, a repairman, installation of some sort (3 hrs of her screaming I felt bad for those guys).
I have learned from her that she is letting us know DANGER! even when I show no signs of distress, I'm totally relaxed, telling her it's okay (she know this term means).
At first I thought she'd calm down after bit. When she didn't I covered her cage! That didn't work & they left. Next scenario: I knew repairman was coming so I covered her cage ahead of time... NOPE! as soon as she heard an unfamiliar voice her macaw alarm went off.
NEXT scenario: can't remember who was coming but either way I thought maybe cover most of her cage but let her see a little...NOPE!
Only thing i can think of doing now is just putting her in like a travel type cage and putting her in another room or large closet temporarily. Is it ok if I do this? Will she think she's being punished or something? I also know she'll contact call the entire time and if I dont back due to company here, what does that mean to her?

I've had her for 2 years fyi. I have a feeling that's 1 reason why she may have been moved from homes a lot. The lady I rescued her from was a shady situation. Said she got her from a pet store . Never believed a word out of her mouth from day 1. I think she was a flipper

 

[MommyBird]

I've had my Hahns since a baby for 14 years. In the wild they can travel in mixed flocks and their job is to be the sentinel.

When he was young Jimi would overreact to anything and everything. All I could think was that since he had never had parent birds to teach him what was good and bad that I had to do it. So, I would stand by the window with him and tell him how nice the little finches and bunnies were, and look this book is OK if it moved from here to there. Then when a deer/elk/hawk/fox etc showed up I would alarm call. Also big trucks like UPS and Plumber trucks. So I taught him to yell only at the things I decided were bad and I wanted to know when they were around for my own reasons.

I did not do food rewards for this but rewards were more praise and cuddles, and I still always thank him for alerts on things I find useful.

So, there is a little alarm calling at first when repairmen come because they park outside his window, but he settles down quickly, even though human visitors are very rare. And if he contact calls I will answer him. I don't give a rat's patootie what anything thinks of me doing that.

Now, he is on the main floor in a back room with several other birds. So he is not in direct contact with visitors and has a flock. But this is where he lives all the time. I think to put your Hahns into a travel cage in a large closet alone and then ignore her calls would really be stressful and cruel. and I don't think it would work either. Something would be wrong if you did that and she would let you know. Maybe someone has another method that worked for them, but this is how I got it more under control here. I know it's stressful but you can't stop something they evolved to do, just hope to modify it to something you can deal with. I think it isn't enough to jusy say 'it's OK' but you have to give them something that should be alerted for. I wish you much luck and hope maybe I've helped you think of new ideas.

I want to say it doesn't always work perfectly...be careful what you train as "bad". Once I had Jimi and my Goffin out in the aviary on the deck. I always sit inside the aviary with them because of so many predators around. But a deer showed up. Jimi started screaming, the goffin always looks for a reason to scream so he joined in. Neither of them would let me leave the aviary to chase the deer, nor would they go into the travel cages to go back inside. so the screaming went on and on and on. The crows heard them and soon there was a huge flock of crows around the deck joining in the alarm calls. We were having quite a raucous time here.
The deer is like and can't find what everyone is alarm calling for but finally decides the crows might be worth listening to and finally moves out of sight around the house and things got back to normal.

 

[AKahle6868]

My GCC screams every time a new person comes into the house for about an hour. I ignore her. The moment she is quiet I praise her and tell her how amazing she is and give her a little head scratch through the cage. I would maybe have an unknown family member come over and work this behavior out of her start by sitting with this person in the house and chat with them until she quiets down. Once she is quiet, praise her. It could take a few sessions but over time you should get results. She’s been through a lot of homes and new people to her might mean she is leaving or being taken away. The more people that come over and she stays put, the more she will stop associating new people with stress and fear.

 

[JLcribber]

My Hanh's screams nonstop when people come over. It could be in-laws stopping by for a quick visit, a repairman, installation of some sort (3 hrs of her screaming I felt bad for those guys).

Where is this bird when this happens? (I'm assuming in the cage). What happens when you bring her out to see the "danger" and talk her through it?

 

[mandymmr]

Where is this bird when this happens? (I'm assuming in the cage). What happens when you bring her out to see the "danger" and talk her through it?

Her cage is is our livingroom. She always has an open cage door.

 

[JLcribber]

Her cage is is our livingroom. She always has an open cage door.

And what do you do to disarm the situation? It's a pretty natural behaviour that isn't likely to stop. The long term solution is to engage her in the situation so its not a "dangerous/threatening" thing.

 

[Ripshod]

And what do you do to disarm the situation? It's a pretty natural behaviour that isn't likely to stop. The long term solution is to engage her in the situation so its not a "dangerous/threatening" thing.

Yes, I beleive this is your way. Find a way to include her, maybe introduce her to your visitor. Shaking hands if it's a stranger, or a hand on the shoulder for family or friends shows her they are not a threat. Obviously let the stranger know why you're shaking their hand. Encourage your visitor to say hello if it'll help. It's the little things that a bird will notice.

 

[msplantladi]

My Military Macaw used to do this and still does on occasion. I don't get a whole lot of visitors so my birds weren't used to strangers coming in which equals not being socialized. I tried ignoring the bad behavior at first or just telling her its ok and "stop" , then I tried a distraction-a colorful piece of wood for her to play with instead of focusing on the stranger danger, that works 85% of the time. Usually if I try to engage her with the stranger she won't even come to me, she will go to the highest point on her cage. She does understand "Stop" and I give her the reassurance all is ok. If I know someone is coming is I will put her on a stand in another room, once the visitor arrives I will bring her out and she is usually fine or I will already have her on my arm when the person arrives. Birds are still a mystery and since they can't speak our language its up to us to try and figure it out which can be frustrating.