Vocal - This can be a bad thing, too... mostly for boys. They do not stop making noise! They are chattering, whistling, talking, and singing nearly all day. It's a pleasant noise, to me, but when they've been whistling nothing but "if you're happy and you know it" for the past 4 hours straight... it can start to wear you down. And good luck having a phone or Skype call if they're in the same room - their piercing tweets will drive almost everyone nuts.
Haha, I toally agree with this !
To start with, I got my boy 8 months ago and he is a very smart, naughty little tiel who is extremely caustious of his surroundings. He was around 1yo when I got him from his previous owner who had to give him away due to his behaviour - Did not let the guy sleep by loud screeches during the day time and bit the female who was brought as his pair so eventually the two had to be given away.
He is Extremely Noisy! Enough to wake my whole apartment up and his screeches can be heard even at the ends of my road! Starts screeching the moment I or someone disappears from my room before him which by luck might turn into one of his whistles or songs.
We call him Oz, although he does not respond to that name at all.
He bites, Real hard and Everyone. I was being hissed at and bitten the first few weeks. He refused to come out of the cage for the first few days, didn't let any of us touch him. Much as I love birds I was at a point, terrified to touch him and was worried about how to get him like me and others. The fact that I was out the most day for work did not help much - even my work timings weren't fixed.
Anyway, I used to leave my phone on his cage with some whistling tracks looping forever whenever I was out of my room in the hall so he kinda picked the tunes pretty faster than I expected so now I have him Wolf whistle in two different ways (earlier he used to whistle upon my command "Whistle") sing "If you're happy and you know it" and the first part of a tune I've been teaching him along with a short call that I used to use to call him to fly onto my hands. Of course, everything started with the classic Step-up technique that I struggled real hard to teach him.
For a short while I taught him "Fly" (come to me) and "Go back" (perch away on cage or window grills) but apparently he's forgotten them now since he doesn't obey to it.
Oh yes. he is CRAZY about millets and sunflower seeds. So when I fill his tray and say "Come here" he comes to any part of the cage I'm pointing at (while still being inside the cage). The same was used to indicate him during the first few days for the sunflower seed treat.
I am worried since he refused to eat anything except millets, sunflower seeds and hard boiled egg bits along with a fruit/ nut smacker since I know that a healthy bird should be fed not just seeds but veggies and fruits too. He was only crazy for a day over the fruit pellets but now goes on a hunger strike if he finds them in his tray. The dust andis too much to give anyone non-stop sneezes and poop, it is something he thinks he can decorate with Anywhere! So I have newspapers below my window grills to avoid daily cleaning.
Recently he started letting me give him scritches - The technique is to try scritch him
the right way when he is preening and continue only if he doesnt jump to rip your finger off. But I think this is serious improvement in someone who was doing nothing but hissing and biting you real hard to an extent of blood oozing between your finger and its nail. He even lets anyone extract him from his cage and does not protest if he is placed on any new guest's shoulders.
Yes, he is scared of new things, toys, his own reflection in the mirror for that matter. Loves biting an chewing the papers. Is very much annoyed at the cute little bell hanging above his swing. Loves to perch on topmost places so there you have my window grills, curtain rods, shelves and the boxes over the shelves and even my ceiling fain occupied. He is a stubborn little spoilt brat (I spoilt him) who does not fear loud noises and even scares the poor new kitten in the house with his hisses and stretches to bite. Very difficult to extract him from the high spots 'cause he would have found some box to perch and chew upon.
I do not deny the fact that I have thought about giving him away several times but I love my non-snoozable alarm clock more than anything and am happy how he is warming up to us slowly. So basically I belive in the fact that they are Not starter birds but with love and attention, they can be your best buddies with building of trust and bond.
Sorry this got too lengthy, I just couldn't contain myself from sharing my experience of 200 and odd days in a paragraph about my baby boy. Any advice or suggestions are welcome !
Love to all in this forum from myself and Oz