Non stop flock calling

[RachelIren]

Hi I have a 5 year old female cockatiel who just constantly screams and calls for me. I can't leave her by herself for even a second without her immediately screaming for me and acting very anxious. I know it's because she's very bonded to me but I want her to be able to hang out in her cage without being anxious and immediately screaming for me. Upon my research I know I've been encouraging the behavior by just immediately responding to her calls and letting her out when she gets loud so I'm trying to do better now. Does anyone have any advice on correcting this behavior? Currently I've just been ignoring her when she's being loud and going in to give her attention when she's been quiet for a little bit. Is this the best to do? If so how long should I wait to give her attention when she's quiet? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Finchbreed]

Flock loss anxiety can be relieved by being able to see but not reach.
So she can be in her cage within sight of you, but not able to actually sit on you.
This is a good form or compromise that teaches easing off of the anxiety.

 

[greys4u]

Maleficent is a rehome and when I brought her home she did quite a bit of calling if she didn't see me, I started playing soft music and it seems to work, I can get out of her site without the screams!!

 

[RachelIren]

Flock loss anxiety can be relieved by being able to see but not reach.
So she can be in her cage within sight of you, but not able to actually sit on you.
This is a good form or compromise that teaches easing off of the anxiety.

Thank your! I will start doing this as a compromise!

 

[RachelIren]

Maleficent is a rehome and when I brought her home she did quite a bit of calling if she didn't see me, I started playing soft music and it seems to work, I can get out of her site without the screams!!

Thank you! Do you find that a certain type of music helped most for your bird?

 

[Finchbreed]

Good point greys4u - putting a radio in the room with them is another way to soothe them that I had forgotten.

 

[SelvaVerde]

"Upon my research I know I've been encouraging the behavior by just immediately responding to her calls and letting her out when she gets loud so I'm trying to do better now."

I don't agree with that, and from what I've read, scientific reasoning does not either.

Rather than interpret what you are doing as encouraging the behavior, think of it as providing the social comfort that's being sought and alleviating the stress (and elevated stress hormone) of social deprivation. The latter is what's causing your bird to incessantly contact call. Think of it as building a relationship by providing your bird with reassurance that you are there for it. The idea that birds are social and want to be with us is innate and doesn't go away, nor should we want it to. It is our duty, in a sense, to provide it. It pretty much amounts to the same reason it is no longer considered a good practice to ignore a crying baby until they stop, letting them exhaust themselves (the extinction burst) and ultimately self-soothe. It teaches the baby that the parent will not provide the comfort being sought and puts the child out-of-synch biologically with the mother/parent. It is not a learned behavior that you created or reinforced. It is an instinctive (almost involuntary brain-triggered) response to an innate emotional need that's not being met. This would be the neurological perspective on what's happening.

 

[SelvaVerde]

" Currently I've just been ignoring her when she's being loud and going in to give her attention when she's been quiet for a little bit. Is this the best to do? "

For me, and in light of what I posted above (respectfully) this makes no sense at all (although the above quoted advice is commonly given). One cannot reward the absence of a behavior, even if one wishes to go down the reinforcement route and consider contact calling a learned behavior (which it isn't). As mentioned above, when they call is when they need something, are scared, etc. I understand that it can be frustrating to hear explanations without solutions. You should go to your bird just as you would respond in some way to any family member calling to you from another room. Think of your bird calling as you would a person calling 911, they are panicking. Their need for social closeness is greater than ours by nature therefore I think it more often than not a futile struggle to try to change their nature to match ours. That is, without causing adverse side effects such as elevated stress, even self-soothing behaviors (like plucking). I have always gone to my birds when they call (if I can at the time), and they've come to know that the family is there for them. I truly believe it has made them better at being alone or simply out and about, receiving only ambient attention from us. For the three different species I have, each had a very different and unique threshold for how much direct attention they need in a day. I wish you luck, and be careful of anything you read. Many sources out there give themselves fancy titles but their advice often amounts to the misguided popular opinions, not science.