Contact Calling

[DaisyPeach]

Hey everyone!
I’ve had my bird Bloo for about a year now, and recently he has been loudly contact calling(I think that’s what it is) nonstop. He used to when we first got him, but he soon stopped and hasn’t really done it until the past month. He is very obsessed with a bell toy he has, and he only wants me to play with it with him, he will no longer hang out with me when I don’t. The bell is very slightly reflective, is that maybe why? I have been thinking about getting him another bird, since maybe they are lonely, but I am worried they will be very loud together because I live in an apartment. Normal loud bird noised are fine as there are several birds in the area that are just as loud, but things like this contact call are more of an issue. No one has complained, but I still worry. He does this whether I am with him or not, so I don’t think he’s calling me.

 

[Sparkles99]

That does sound perplexing. Are there any other birds in the home?

 

[DaisyPeach]

That does sound perplexing. Are there any other birds in the home?

No he is my only bird.

 

[Sparkles99]

I'm not sure what to say then. Maybe an experienced person will be.

 

[PunLover]

My budgies call out to the Rainbow Lorikeets when they're nearby, but they usually only come when there's certain flowers, so it's seasonal. They can hear them from extremely far away. Rainbow Lorikeets are their closest wild relative, from memory.

 

[flyzipper]

How old is Bloo?

With the lengthening days, it's hormone time of year in the northern hemisphere, so that may be at play.

• My littlest sits looking out the window, scrunches down, flutters her wings, and screams at nothing but the bright sunny day.
• My medium guy wants all the laundry, or up under my hoodie.
• My largest guy eats a little more than usual, so he can regurg' for the frayed knotted rope on one of his play stands.

In my case, it's all just a little springtime weirdness, and it will all pass.

I have been thinking about getting him another bird, since maybe they are lonely, but I am worried they will be very loud together

My experience is more birds = more everything**, so I'd expect more noise with more birds, not less.

** noise, mess/cleaning, food, toys, cages, perches, cost, space, time, vet visits... and love, of course, so it's not all downside.

 

[Miss_sj]

He may also be calling to birds outside.

I also live in an apartment, and was super worried about moving my 2 budgies in as they are.....but exactly very quiet. It’s all worked out in the end. They do drive us crazy if we want to watch a movie sometimes, but our neighbours report never hearing them and saying they wouldn’t have known we had birds if we hadn’t told them. We were like.... are you deaf? However, there’s lots of cockatoos nearby so they might think the budgies are cockatoos.

having a second bird didn’t feel like more work to me. I feel less worried about Flynn because I know he has a good friend. The cleaning honestly feels the same.Yes there’s more noise but I personally think it’s much of a muchness with budgies. It’s going to be noisy whether you have one budgie or two! I do find once my two get their morning screams of joy and excitement over with, it’s much more pleasant trilling and singing.

 

[Anna&Aruan]

Yeah, this behaviour sounds like hormonal to me, it can be "spring time weirdness" (hormonal because of the time of the year) like @flyzipper said, it also can be because of the toy (maybe overatachment, could be becaus3 of his reflection as well), just as well as it can be him calling to the wild birds he hear.
Anyways, i would recommend to try the regular hormonal control things, letting him have an 12h of uniterupted darknes would be a great starting point, if that doesnt help maybe consider rearanging his cage more frequently, and maybe even taking out the bell for a few days if this behaviour doesnt change and is really bothering you.

My cocktiel havent have any hormonal induced loudness, but he was really loud when it was breakfast time, he is still a juvenille and would do that horrible baby tiel dinossaur-cry even while he was already eating! Anyways, what did the trick for me was to uncover his cage a little earlier, before i would uncover him only when it was time to feed, now i uncover him and let him just vibe in his cage while i wake myself up, i also have started feeding him upstairs rather then downstairs, only this litle routine change did wonders, so maybe some routine changes could be good for your situation

Last but not least, i would recomend doing some kind of training, even if it is just target training, training is good for the mental health of the bird as it keeps their minds ocupied, training and flying can help lots with hormonal and behavior problems, it can also help with your bell problem, it will show your bird that there are other ways to bond with you besides the bell
Well... i'm by no means an expert and am pretty much just repeating lots of things i have heard from other people, but i hope it may help you a bit

 

[BirdWorld]

the same thing has been going on with my birds. In my case it is because spring is approaching and as the weather gets warmer we are hearing a lot more wild birds. My budgies do contact call to the outside birds. And make a huge racket in the process

 

[Lady Jane]

Consider this is Springtime, hormone times for birds. Since he is a lone bird you may see all kinds of behaviors. Maybe try playind bird sounds for him. He will pick out a toy to act out his urges.