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Excessive contact calling

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Jacob

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I want to hear how you respond to excessive contact calling. Do you reply to every contact call your bird makes? Jacob does allot of contact calling, even if we are both there and he can see us. He sometimes sits on his swing in the living room and calls and calls even though we are sat in the sofa right next to him. Often if I move and he can't see me he starts calling but he's not happy with me replying. He doesn't stop until he sees me again.

This morning consisted of about 20 min of constant contact calling, I had him on my shoulder and he called out. He sat on top of his cage and called. He flew on top of the kitchen cabinets and called. Me replying doesn't do anything, I go up to the cage to talk to him and he looks at me and calls.

I don't know how I should approach this. I know vocalizations in the morning are normal but constant contact calling for 20 min? And other times during the day when he starts. Reply once and then ignore?
 

Anne & Gang

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reply a couple of times and then ignore...however the fact that he does it in the a.m. when you are sitting right next to him tells me it isn't really contact calling but a hi how are ya? I'm happy kind of thing...just happy to be alive and I am letting everyone know it.
 

Greycloud

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I honestly don't think that all the calling Jacob is doing is contact calling. There are many different types of screams or calls. Being able to tell the difference is the trick. I am hoping John (JLcribber) will be along soon. He has some great links for understandng our birds calls. Until you are able to distinguish the difference between the different calls you can't really make any behavioral changes.
 

Jacob

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no it's the typical contact call. Not just the average screaming. I've read the articles John usually posts about different vocalizations.
 

JLcribber

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What do "you" do when he calls like that. Have you tried changing his focus by going for a 2 minute adventure say to the bathroom to see himself in the mirror for 30 seconds and then returning to a different area? If he is calling all the time like that it's not just a contact call but he obviously wants something.
 

Jacob

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What do "you" do when he calls like that. Have you tried changing his focus by going for a 2 minute adventure say to the bathroom to see himself in the mirror for 30 seconds and then returning to a different area? If he is calling all the time like that it's not just a contact call but he obviously wants something.
He's not like this all the time he takes these sessions. I've tried different things... Answering back and last night when he was on the swing I stood up to see if he wanted to come but he didn't. While I was preparing food for cooking he was walking around on the kitchen cabinet calling and looking down at what I was doing. He flew up there from his stand. I tried talking to him with little result. I know he wants something, and he probably doesn't want the same thing each time. I'm just having a hard time finding out what it is he want's.

But when you are out of sight and your parrot starts calling, do you answer every single contact call until they can see you again?
 

JLcribber

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But when you are out of sight and your parrot starts calling, do you answer every single contact call until they can see you again?
The truth is I handle things differently so I do not see this. The time that I am known to be home they are with me and I give them attention. They get their special time in the mornings and evenings. During the rest of the day they think I am not around whether I am or not and if they "know" I am not there they don't waste a lot of energy screaming for no reason. They're not dumb.

If your bird knows you are around but can't see you he is going to use a lot if not all his energy trying to get your attention.

So basically I eliminated that part of it with my routine and their environment.
 

Jacob

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Do you take them with you when you go to the bathroom? If I don't take Jacob with me he will call and call until I get back. Usually he will think that he missed out on something so I will have to take him into the bathroom and stay there for a few minutes. But I understand the contact calling when he can't see me it's the calling when he can see both of us that I don't know how to handle. It's the same call. Maybe he's calling out to his friends in the mirrors... who knows... :confused:
 

Bokkapooh

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The truth is I handle things differently so I do not see this. The time that I am known to be home they are with me and I give them attention. They get their special time in the mornings and evenings. During the rest of the day they think I am not around whether I am or not and if they "know" I am not there they don't waste a lot of energy screaming for no reason. They're not dumb.

If your bird knows you are around but can't see you he is going to use a lot if not all his energy trying to get your attention.

So basically I eliminated that part of it with my routine and their environment.
This is why routine is best, as John has mentioned. Although you can have cmplications, if you have a strict routine.

My birds know Im home mornings and nights, and anytime in the day if Im home by chance, Bokka is the only one who will scream for me...the terd. But back a few years ago when I first got him, honestly, I reinforced that behavior, so thats typical in a bird who knows he'll get me if he calls ;) Opa my 2y.o tried doing "the bokka" on me, and it doesnt work. And Moby, only being here 2 months, is learning that not all contact calling will be answered, so he only does it for MAYBE 5 mins in the morning and about 30minutes at night, with normal vocalization in between.

Establishing a routine, allowing good screams a couple times a day, reinforce them, and then for me, I ignore all other sounds, unless I want to go to them :) but I do when they are quiet and playing with toys.

This is also the reaosn why its very important to have LARGE aviaries or cages for your birds and PLENTY of toys, especially wood and especially foraging toys of many many types.
 

Bokkapooh

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Do you take them with you when you go to the bathroom? If I don't take Jacob with me he will call and call until I get back. Usually he will think that he missed out on something so I will have to take him into the bathroom and stay there for a few minutes. But I understand the contact calling when he can't see me it's the calling when he can see both of us that I don't know how to handle. It's the same call. Maybe he's calling out to his friends in the mirrors... who knows... :confused:
Thats how I did it with Bokka, he'd call and call, and acted very upset that I went into the "unknown room" without him. Thats why my Bokka baby is such a needy velcro bird, when Im home. Sometimes I may take Opa into the bathroom with me, and the other fids, but not too often, and I do it so when we take a shower, its not a "new" thing for them, so they instead end up enjoying it, than being afraid.

If you dont want to take him with you, do not do it. Establish a routine. Let him learn that you WILL come back from that unknown room.
 

Jacob

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Thats how I did it with Bokka, he'd call and call, and acted very upset that I went into the "unknown room" without him. Thats why my Bokka baby is such a needy velcro bird, when Im home. Sometimes I may take Opa into the bathroom with me, and the other fids, but not too often, and I do it so when we take a shower, its not a "new" thing for them, so they instead end up enjoying it, than being afraid.

If you dont want to take him with you, do not do it. Establish a routine. Let him learn that you WILL come back from that unknown room.
yes I often wonder if I'm just enabling him and reinforcing unwanted behavior. That's why I'm wondering how other people deal with contact calls
 

Thugluvgrl187

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Squeeky does the contact call sometimes if he is in my room in the cage and my Mom and I are in a different part of the house.
 

ForTheBirds

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This is the exact thing I "lost" Finden for, & am now dealing with again upon his return. He has a hugemongous cage, not too many toys yet, (placing an order next week!) but in the past I have found him not to be interested in toys. He's mutilated maybe 2 out of the hundreds I rotated through.

He has a sleep cage at night in another room, & is in his giant cage during the day, where I am home in his direct view, like you said of Jacob. He'll flock call & I ignore it, only saying "good boy" when he's chirping or babbling nicely. :huh:

What can I actively be doing besides ignoring the unwanted behavior? My husband won't tolerate the noise, & it's Fin's one way ticket out of the paradise I supply him if I can't get it under control this time! :(

I'm sure Jacob is 3x a loud as Finden! What else are you doing to alleviate the noise? Finden is my first "bigger" bird, so all this is trial & error for me.
 

JLcribber

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Yes I do take him to the bathroom. As I said before, when we are known to be home they are with us all the time and not locked up.

If we ignore screaming 99 times and give in on the 100 th time. What the bird has learned that it takes 100 times to get you to give in. We have made the problem worse. Ignoring must be 100% consistent or it won't work. If they are in view and screaming. All you have to do is make eye contact and you have rewarded the bird. When my birds scream when they are not supposed to I do not acknowledge it in any way. In my mind they are not screaming and I continue with what I am doing. Not even a glance.
 

ForTheBirds

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Excellent advice, John.
I can train the heck out of a dog, but this new bird psychology is so different because it's all voice & body movements, no hands kind of stuff. I'll have to keep reading & reading, & be more patient to see my results. I wish I had a video camera to show you all what he does.

Herdis-
Can you get any kind of video of Jacob doing his calls?
 

Jacob

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I'm sure Jacob is 3x a loud as Finden! What else are you doing to alleviate the noise? Finden is my first "bigger" bird, so all this is trial & error for me.
Well that's the thing. I haven't come up with a active game plan. I used to answer his calls but I'm starting to wonder if I should just answer once and then ignore? He is pretty loud otherwise if he's happy and having fun it's happy and loud screaming and if he's irritated it's angry and loud screaming :rolleyes: I can handle happy and loud.

Herdis-
Can you get any kind of video of Jacob doing his calls?
I will try if he gets going later :)

But I have noticed that if Jacob is hungry and doesn't like the food I have put into his cage he will fly onto the kitchen cabinets and call out. So I guess I have found out one of the reason for the contact calls. Now if I could only figure out what he want's when he's on the swing...
 
M

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Maybe he wants a bigger faster swing? hahahahah
Sorry I know its not a joke..contact calls can make us insane. It comes with the territory. Usually I just ignore them after seeing the bird is ok. I just go about my buisness. The fids can see me throughout the day, so they know I am here, or they are out hanging on a play stand.
I know Alex (CAG) would FREAK RIGHT OUT if he didnt have his swing. Its like his life support!
 

Jacob

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Maybe he wants a bigger faster swing? hahahahah
Sorry I know its not a joke..contact calls can make us insane. It comes with the territory. Usually I just ignore them after seeing the bird is ok. I just go about my buisness. The fids can see me throughout the day, so they know I am here, or they are out hanging on a play stand.
I know Alex (CAG) would FREAK RIGHT OUT if he didnt have his swing. Its like his life support!
:hehe: well I'm in the process of making a play area for him so he wont just have that one swing :) I just need to find stainless steel hooks and other ss hardware.

but yes the ever existing contact calls, people get really startled when they hear Jacob call out for the first time and ask me how I can live with this noise. I give them a frozen smile and say "you get used to it" :D
 

thejoie

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you know.. this is something I had a hard time with when I went back to work full time. THE SECOND I would walk through the door my birds would be going off their rocker screaming for me. I was shocked because they are fairly quiet. I would let them know that I'm home and I love them but I have to sleep or things won't go well. And then I ignored their screams. When I went to go spend time with them, it was after their screams have quieted down. I did this for about 3 months now and holy cow at times I thought I was going to lose it. Hearing them yell for me like that was so sad!

I also added a radio to the bird room. I swear that helped. They don't call as much anymore. They will do their contact call in the morning for a little bit of time and I tell them the same thing "Mommy has worked all night long and now she needs to sleep... " and then I go to my room and after a few more goodbye calls they quiet down!

We're finally getting into a routine :)
 

sl8tr

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This is my situation.

When I walk in door in the evenings Slater immediately starts with the perpetual chirp that he has picked up from my tiel (annoying). I know I have reinforced this in him and need to break him of this habit.

I have moved my tiel in another room so Slater does not hear her and I try my hardest to ignore Slater's chirp as annoying as it is. Would this be considered a contact call or I'm happy to see you, come get me thing? I think I was told to answer back with a call that is not annoying and pleasant? I've tried this and Slater will call back with the same annoying chirp. Do I just keep repeating the pleasant call back that I want him to make each and every time he chirps and hope that eventually he will get the message?

Thanks
 
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