"I'm tired now..."

[Tanya]

For the past few nights we've been working on some big house/garden projects so we've been a few minutes late with putting Rhubarb to bed. When it gets past bedtime, she goes to the perch where it's easiest for us to get her out of her big cage, fluffs up her feathers and grinds her beak. All while staring intently at us. She grinds louder and louder if we don't respond immediately! So cute! She knows exactly what she wants and lets us know it too.

Do your bird(s) tell you that they want to go to bed? How do they let you know?

 

[jeme3]

Oh yes, they let me know. Bed time is 7:00. after 6:30 or so they don't want to be handled or out any more. They get pretty cranky, so I usually put them in for the night around 6:15. They have a last bite to eat, maybe check out a toy or two one last time, then they start settling down for the night, preening and fluffing. If I cover them by 7:00, they usually just go right to sleep.

If I'm late they let me know by getting really squawky and agitated, climbing all around. The when I cover them it takes a few minutes for them to completely settle back down.

 

[Mr Peepers]

SPX tells me when its bed time physically with body language usually he will sit beside his swing and when I come into the room to shut everything down he will jump up on his swing and wait for the cover over his cage. We have a few minutes of chit chat to make him comfortable before its lights out. Its a nice little routine between us.

Peepers just sits in the corner of his cage beside his favorite bead toy where he sleeps every night. Sometimes he will glare evil like at me and sometimes stink eye Peepers will peep in a sad annoying way to tell me its dark and he can see this beyond the blinds at the window, its his way to tell me its night time and he must sleep.
.

 

[Hankmacaw]

Jasper's bedtime is 7pm and when I'm not there AT 7pm to put her in her sleep crate, she goes over and stands by the open door. She won't go in on her own - I have to put her in even when she's ready to go to bed.

 

[SueA555]

Joey flies over to his cage, gets on his sleeping perch, and waits for me to close the door and turn off the light.

 

[Tanya]

Rhubarb has a 7 PM bedtime as well (or the best we can manage between 7 and 7:30 PM, unless she lets us know earlier that she wants sleep). Seems like a popular birdy bedtime!

 

[msplantladi]

Oh yes, they let me know. Bed time is 7:00. after 6:30 or so they don't want to be handled or out any more. They get pretty cranky, so I usually put them in for the night around 6:15. They have a last bite to eat, maybe check out a toy or two one last time, then they start settling down for the night, preening and fluffing. If I cover them by 7:00, they usually just go right to sleep.

If I'm late they let me know by getting really squawky and agitated, climbing all around. The when I cover them it takes a few minutes for them to completely settle back down.

yep pretty much the same here

 

[Stitchy]

Stitchy gets sleepy and winds down around 7ish also. Now that it is light out at that time, I feel so bad covering him, but I have to remind myself he wants his sleep. He grinds his beak and peeks at us around his preening toy or from under his fleecy that I have hanging in there. He is just so darn cute!

 

[scoobdoo63]

Stormy sqwaks very loudly! Bob's the head a lot and his bed time is usually 6:30 - 7:00. I cover half his cage. When I told the pet store lady I did that she said oh you turned him into one of those.. I think he was like that cause from the start he settled down better , he would chirp alot if he could see a lot of motion or light from the t..v. Then I started I think from the 2 day covering him and I wouldn't hear anything from him

 

[Alikale]

My birds will run themselves ragged until the lights go off (if I let them). If I still have them out when the sun goes down, one by one they amble their way to me and start finding places to hide - in my hair, my clothes, the crooks of my arms. They would stay like this all night if I let them. Instead, one by one, I have to lift them like babies into their cages where they scramble to their beds/triangles/nests and let out one last kissy sound before closing their eyes. XD

 

[sunnysmom]

Sunny comes and sits on my lap for night night scritches. But as the scritches go on he'll start to do the scratch my head- no don't- scratch- stop it- thing which means it's bed time. He'll usually do a few wings flaps in there too. If I don't get the hint and take him to his cage for night, night (he won't go himself), he'll jump off of my lap and climb into the shelf that he's claimed as his. That's his way of saying it is now way past my bedtime and if you don't take me to bed I'll sleep here.

 

[Odin]

Odin gets cranky too, he's not a biter, but he will nibble my ear when he's tired. Sherbert gets noisy, extra squeeky. Around 730 8 I put them to bed if they are out, cover them up and say night night.

 

[Nikomania]

None of mine have a set bed time. They're oftentimes out of their cages until 8:30 or 9:00, at which time they're tucked in and covered up for the night.

 

[Wolf]

My birds don't exactly have a set bedtime either. They currently go in their cages around 6 pm and eat dinner, then they all join in for a sing along or for a talk and squawk and by dark are all happily asleep.

 

[JAM]

Wish I had birds like that! All of them will try to stay up as late as possible, little brats!

I spent the past hour wearing Red out as he preferred to fly from cupboard to curtain rail a few times before relenting me and allowing me to put him to bed. Then he was talking back at me but I finally got a kiss goodnight from him once inside his cage!!!!

The only way to encourage them is lights off otherwise they will stay up all night like naughty teenagers lol.

 

[CStone]

When Coco gets on my finger, he always uses his beak first, then his foot. At night he uses his beak and gets in a quick nip before stepping up for going in the cage. Athena flies away and makes it a game of follow the birdie and usually by the time I get her into the cage, Coco will have come out again and I'll get another nip from him putting him back into the cage.

 

[scoobdoo63]

I think I have a ritual now, rocking him then say bed time? For 2 days now he has chirped and his crest has gone up and of course head Bob's.. I always says yes, yes when he does this and its s good thing and head Bob back. Put him the cage and again no sound a few little chirps if someone is loud but he settles. Kyle's bird ( my son ) has no schedule except at 7 a.m. he gets very loud and wakes him up and those apartment walls are thin so I know the people downstairs have to hear him! If he doesn't get up he just gets louder!!!

 

[Wolf]

My birds all came to me from abusive humans and were all adults with varying degrees and types of problems ranging from near insanity to feather plucking and self mutilation to just being scared. I gave them all the attention that I can and placed them on a birds schedule and not a human one. This means that with all of the house lights off they get the first light from the coming dawn as the sky goes from full dark to sunrise at which time they all wake up and greet the day, each other and myself with chirps and flock calls and various vocal displays from sweet and quiet to loud and obnoxious sounding. Then there is fresh produce, fruit and leafy greens to eat, while I change water and get coffee for me. Then I give them their cooked food of grain, veggies and legumes while I enjoy my coffee and singing and calling back and forth to say good morning and then the cages are opened and they climb out and start doing bird things. They normally go back in for a snooze somewhere between 11 and noon. Skip to evening and about an hour or two before dark I give them their evening meal and close cages behind them while they go in to eat. The lights are turned off and they enjoy the transition through dusk and have a sing along with the birds or a scream fest whichever they are in the mood for and then they begin to quieten down and are fast asleep by dark. This happens every day and they know the routine and sometimes they go in and are waiting for their dinner by the time I am ready to put it in their cage for them. They are creatures of habit and don't do well with changes, they like to know what to expect as well as when to expect it to happen, it seems to give them an added sense of security.

 

[Irishj9]

The 3 babies in the bedroom ( who get their flying exercise there) will all fly to the highest curtain rail and settle in. Then the GTC's will step up for me and be carried to their cage. Boo-boo will object to being moved and pretend bite me. ( one of these days it wont be pretend)

The aviary gang are all quiet at bedtime ( and will often wander off like homeless vagrants to the nearest nestbox).

The lovebirds will have their ritual LOUD BICKERING FIGHT, which is the real bedtime alarm for papa.

 

[all4stvoyager]

My male ekkie will go back in his cage and start saying "goodnight" over and over until I turn the lights off, lol