Expert: Chrys Meatyard - 12/8/2007

Question
Can you help me?  I have a 5 year old male cockatiel who has developed the screaming for hours on end if I am not in the room....I have done all the advised things/ignoring/paying attention/covering/everything in the world.  I have searched the Internet but I am at my wit's end... He is a big talker, does sentences, healthy, happy, nice room cage... but all he seems to want is my attention and even when I approach the cage, often times he doesn't want to come out.....then other times he is loving and cuddly and we kiss and play.. Do you have any ideas I haven't tried?  Thank you for your help


Answer
Hi, Nollie,

I picked your question up from the question pool.  Evidently, whomever you sent it to couldn't answer.

Birds don't usually scream for hours unless something is amiss in their environment.  Perhaps you need to relocate your bird to a place in your home where the bird is a part of the activity going on in your home.  What is the environment like within your home?  If there's always something going on, people/kids hollaring, the TV/radio blaring, etc., etc., a bird will think it's perfectly normal for s/he to "join the crowd."  Make sure your bird isn't wanting for something, such as is your bird on a proper diet, does your bird have toys it likes to keep s/he mentally stimulated, cage large enough, etc.  You may have to set up some type of routine where you spend X amount of time with your bird at the same time each day.  Your bird may be confused, too, so be sure you are not giving your bird mixed signals about what you expect from s/he.  When your bird is behaving badly, ignore the bird completely, then be sure to reward the bird when the bird behaves like you want s/he to behave.  There has to be clear signals to the bird about what you expect from it or the bird will be confused.

Chrys