KatherinesBirds and Tyrion, thank you for offering more advice and suggestions! I can certainly use them. I read that eclectus, if taught to talk early on, usually do not develop the annoying habit of screaming and screeching all the time. With his former owner, our bird was housed in a "bird room" with a blue & gold macaw and a couple of other large birds, and I do wonder if that's where he picked up this habit of screaming. We do not really have the option of putting his cage in a separate room when he screams, as the downstairs of our house has an open floor plan, with kitchen, dining and living room all open to one another. Our eclectus is housed in the middle of the family area, so he is always with us when we are home. I think it would be too difficult to move his large cage upstairs during each evening screaming session. And Tyrion, you are correct that he screams whether people are in the room or not. He is at his absolute worst when I am cooking dinner each evening, which makes it difficult to train him at the same time; however, I agree that distracting him during his peak screaming times is likely our best option for changing his behavior. I might need to save his treat kabobs and other special treats for distracting him during the late afternoon and evening hours.
