How I deal with a screaming bird

[Mizzely]

Jingo is a screamer. I can easily count on 2 hours of a waking day to be him non-stopping screaming. If you have never heard a quaker scream...it can be quite irritating!

Now, when this started, it was more like 5 hours a day, so 2 hours for me is a win, and its not always even that anymore People gave me a lot of advice like when to reward, what to reward, etc. Honestly, I found it extremely difficult and hard to really be consistent. Instead of working against the problem, I decided that it was far easier to work with him. I call it "tricking my bird to be quiet" Aside from ear plugs if I just seriously can't handle it anymore, here are some of the ways I've curbed his screaming. Hopefully it can help someone else someday! Please note: ALL birds scream and you will never be able to have a 100% quiet bird. That is not my intention. The idea is to reduce the amount to a more acceptable amount. "Zero" screaming is not a goal you should entertain.


Simply put: I follow the guideline that a busy bird is a quiet bird.

Find something your bird loves, and make them work/forage for it. My birds rarely, if ever, get seed for free. They have it in foraging toys, scattered in plastic boxes covered in paper, stuffed into coin rolls... Foraging is easily the most rewarding activity for them, and while they are working for it, Jingo is never screaming. He may be making other noises, but these are more desirable. He rewards himself by working for the food.

I also am a fan of withholding a certain treat except for things like this. So pumpkin seeds are only ever given in this house in a foraging situation. Plain and simple. Jingo absolutely adores pumpkin seeds, and will work hard to have them. He does not get them for tricks. He does not get them for being good. He gets them when he works for them.

I fill foragers in the morning before I leave for work (or the night before if I know I will be short on time) AND before "loud time" which is usually 7PM. The trick was to figure out when my bird is generally louder, and to be sure foraging opportunities are available before then. Then, when he gets bored, instead of screaming, he goes to get his "yum, yums".

It can be hard to find a balance between "challenging" and "difficult". It took a lot of trial and error! To help, I offer a few degrees of difficulty at one time so that he can choose how much he wants to work that day.


Eat healthy snacks. Jingo is quietest when I am eating! He waits patiently to see if he gets anything. So, when all hope is lost, I eat something. I've taken to eating smaller meals and having healthy snacks like pomegranate, etc, instead, so that we can share (and so I don't gain a million pounds). I drag out that snack time like no one's business - the longer I can make an apple last, the longer he is quiet for!


Try a different background music...or no music at all. I try to keep some noise on during the day for my birds, which I am sure many do. But, I have found great success with simply turning off the radio, TV, computer....everything. Sometimes the quiet just gives a nice reprieve for a bit so you can collect your thoughts. Otherwise, you can try to simply change the station. Jingo seems to enjoy The Offspring, so once in a while, I just turn off everything else in the house, and boot up Spotify or YouTube with a favorite.


Foot toys! Foot toys are a godsend. I keep a shoe-box sized sterilite on Jingo's cage at all times, and in it is a sprinkle of seed, crinkle paper, and foot toys and toy parts. It has easily won me more sanity than I can truly fathom. He spends hours in that thing, foraging, chewing, etc.


Let them destroy. Willow wreaths, phone books, paper towels....something. Jingo burns a lot of energy throwing himself into absolutely destroying something. It doesn't have to be hard. In fact, I find something that is absolutely easy to decimate and provide several of that item. Today it was tiny basla slabs. (1/2" by 2" by 1/8" thick - tiny!). He just thought it was the best thing ever! And so did I


Make them fly! Jingo has this need to follow us everywhere! Well, flying can be tiring! I will spend 10-15 minutes just walking around my apartment until he has burnt off some energy, and then he is content to hang out quietly for a bit


Get Creative! Today, I put a few drops of 100% juice in a soda bottle cap. It entertained Jingo for 45 minutes of the 2 hours he would normally scream, just licking it and playing with it. The other day, I discovered that Q-tips/cotton swabs are a lot of fun to him. Toothpicks, kleenex, straws....I get desperate and then I get creative! Essentially - put something in the beak, and it's harder to scream


Keep it interesting. Change stuff up, and often. Once you find a "trick", use it, but not so often that it loses its "magic." I don't ever use the same trick two days in a row (except foraging - but I do change the type of foraging!)


I am by no means an expert, but just wanted to share what I have found to be effective. I'm sure there are many more "tricks" that I have, but these are the ones I could think of now.

I would love to hear what others do too - I can always use a few more ideas up my sleeve!

 

[Danita]

Great post!
I wonder if others have something to add we can make it a sticky!

 

[millertammy7]

Great advice! Thanks for sharing!

 

[wonderb]

So glad you posted this. I agree that figuring out how to live with a vocal bird is both better and easier for everyone involved than attempting to eliminate a perfectly natural behavior. Great post, Shawna!

 

[itzmered]

Really good post it is interesting to read what works for others.

 

[Brooke]

I think that figuring out how to live with a very local bird takes a lot of stress off of others because we know we are not alone

 

[GlassOnion]

Apple was a serious screamer- screamed for hours everyday at the crows. One day, he just stopped. Only squawks a few times a day like a normal bird I think adding Bmo helped.

 

[Mizzely]

Apple was a serious screamer- screamed for hours everyday at the crows. One day, he just stopped. Only squawks a few times a day like a normal bird I think adding Bmo helped.

Adding Koopa did help some for sure! But now when HE gets going, she joins in so I have it in stereo

 

[singermanlynne]

Wonderful post!! My husband is sick and the normal happy sounds of my Amazon are often more than he an handle - so my little birdie has become my little buddy and goes with me in her carrier whenever I need to leave the house. She LOVES to ride in the car and makes the cutest happy sounds the whole time. If only I had a car that fit in the house

 

[JLcribber]

No one is an expert but one things for sure. You can't beat experience and the lessons it teaches us.

Great post.

 

[tozie12]

great methods of distraction! My Scarlet macaw came to me a screamer. He was neglected and would scream for 2 to 4 hours straight at top macaw volume. I patiently endured him, giving him things to do like you. we played games, his favorite toy in the world is an empty 2 liter soda bottle with a handful of wooden bead in it tied to the top of his cage. If all else fails when he gets screamy, i will see if he wants a bath or a change of scenery. He's much better now (almost 4 years later) but does still get screamy. sometimes we have a scream-fest together. I use a lower tone and he follows my lead so his screams arent that high pitched, glass breaking sound that just makes you want to jab an ice pick in your ears!

 

[Bokkapooh]

Quakers tend to scream about everything. A toy moving, another bird's toy moving, food, etc. Well this is my experience with quakers. If they aren't talking English most likely they're screaming. Its not a 24/7 deal but it happens a lot.

 

[Mizzely]

Quakers tend to scream about everything. A toy moving, another bird's toy moving, food, etc. Well this is my experience with quakers. If they aren't talking English most likely they're screaming. Its not a 24/7 deal but it happens a lot.

Jingo isn't screaming about that stuff. He's actually pretty brave with most things and he makes an entirely different sound for things he finds scary. Mostly he screams because my husband isn't there. Josh is his favorite, and sometimes I'm just not enough. So, we deal

 

[Bokkapooh]

Oh my mom's Tiki isn't scared of anything he just voices his opinion about almost everything.

Luckily when my bf and I were over yesterday setting up my mom's cockatoos new cage Tiki only talked for the most part

 

[Toadstinytails]

Woody is my screamer, and as long as we are still living with my parents, distraction has proven to be the best thing. He never took to the "toy box" ideas (like the dishes of foot toys, sterilite tubs, etc). However, his favorite thing is a cardboard egg carton, the kind with a top and bottom that latch together. I stuff these full of nuts, seeds, toys, toy parts, shreddable stuffs, etc. and then put it on the bottom of his cage with a nut or toy sticking out of the holes, or some Polly Rope tied around it....it can keep him busy for up to 6 hours or more! Some people use this or ice cube trays and wrap them in newspaper...but none of mine are fond of that. Another thing is to add a new conure-sized toy in his cage when he starts getting wound up. He's not terribly destructive, and this size of toy doesn't seem to intimidate him as much as typical Amazon-sized...so for the first 30 mins or so after I put it in, he's quiet while he sits across from the cage and observes it. Then he will spend the hour or two or more playing with it. It's a great way to use the toys that Loki doesn't play with, and saves everyone from being stressed by the noise.

Great post and great topic!

 

[Mizzely]

Woody is my screamer, and as long as we are still living with my parents, distraction has proven to be the best thing. He never took to the "toy box" ideas (like the dishes of foot toys, sterilite tubs, etc). However, his favorite thing is a cardboard egg carton, the kind with a top and bottom that latch together. I stuff these full of nuts, seeds, toys, toy parts, shreddable stuffs, etc. and then put it on the bottom of his cage with a nut or toy sticking out of the holes, or some Polly Rope tied around it....it can keep him busy for up to 6 hours or more! Some people use this or ice cube trays and wrap them in newspaper...but none of mine are fond of that. Another thing is to add a new conure-sized toy in his cage when he starts getting wound up. He's not terribly destructive, and this size of toy doesn't seem to intimidate him as much as typical Amazon-sized...so for the first 30 mins or so after I put it in, he's quiet while he sits across from the cage and observes it. Then he will spend the hour or two or more playing with it. It's a great way to use the toys that Loki doesn't play with, and saves everyone from being stressed by the noise.

Great post and great topic!

Awesome! I love the egg carton idea, and I will try that out. Glad to hear I'm not the only one who plays this game

 

[Ribbit21]

Oh boy Jasper is a screamer. Ear plugs are my best friend while I'm trying to work.

Other than the stuff already mentioned, I also do a few things to redirect him...

1. Let him have a bath in the sink. Afterwards he's usually very content to sit quietly on his swing for a long time.
2. I have a second cage that I put him in. His main cage is in the living room and I have a spare flight cage in the bird room. This is not a punishment at all, as I think he enjoys the change in scenery. The spare cage is packed with toys and foraging activities. However, I can no longer put him into his spare cage as I have recently discovered that he can bite through the zip ties holding the cage doors shut. I'm working on finding a Jasper proof alternative. He's a bit of an escape artist!
3. Redirect him onto a more pleasing sound. This actually works the best. I will start singing a song that he knows and he usually switches from the screaming to the song. That typically gives me 30 plus minutes of peace.
4. Give him a basket of building materials. Popsicle sticks, paper, etc. He will spend hours attempting to build a nest.
5. Turning off all noises (tv, radio) and leaving the room for 10 minutes.

 

[Brigidt36]

Shawna, great ideas!!! The only thing I can add is that sometimes, if you can't distract them, join in, lol. When things get crazy loud around here, I join in with singing.

 

[Love My Zons]

Great ideas for providing things that our birds naturally will do that can create the happy silence many of us know and like.

I only have one screamer at times, and it is Kazoo. He will do this if he wants out of the cage like if we are eating dinner He thinks when we eat it's food for him. Most times when he is back in Hoosiers cage it is because he just starts going crazy flying around and just doing bad Kazoo stuff. It is for time out purposes only and it doesn't last long because a new shredder toy usually takes care of that or something yummy to eat. The key is I have found with an overactive bird, giving them very busy things to do such as foraging, shredding a toy and finding things they love to do will make life happier all around for everyone.

Great post!!

 

[webchirp]

Great post Shawna!