“Squawked Out!”
Advice from Animal Expert Dr. Grey Stafford
David from Mesa needs help with his noisy birds.
Dear Dr. Grey,
I have 2 parakeets. In general, they are cheerful. But sometimes, they can squawk like crazy. I am not sure why they are doing it. Are they in need of anything? They have food, water, and attention. I am squawked out.
Dear David,
Parakeets are some of the smallest members from the order of birds known as psittacines. Like their larger cousins, parrots and macaws, these birds normally form large flocks in the wild. One of the ways these highly intelligent and social birds maintain contact with each other is through their ability to produce loud sounds or in your case, noise!
Noisy is normal
So the fact that your birds are squawking at times isn’t that unusual and to answer part of your question, it doesn’t necessarily mean they “need anything.” Having worked with all sorts of parrots, I know how annoying and loud such birds can be. In fact, I suspect that if you’ve tried to talk over their chatter, they simply got louder. After all, you and they are part of one big flock, and from their point of view, that’s what members of a flock do.
Reinforce quiet
Also, it's great that you are providing them with all that they need including attention. However, be certain you are only giving them attention (e.g. feeding, talking to them, perching on you, letting them out of the cage, petting, etc.) while they are silent. Do your best to ignore them once they’ve begun squawk time in order to prevent further reinforcement of this very natural behavior. You’ll also want to begin offering them food at times of the day when they are quieter. They may never be totally silent, especially as the bowl of seed approaches their cage. But you can look for opportunities when their volume is lower or the sounds are few and far between.
Timing is everything
Look for patterns in their behavior and try to figure out when they are noisy. Is it a particular time of day, when company drops by, when the TV is turned up, or when you are on the phone? These common events, including something as simple as sunset, may be triggering their noise. Once you understand the cues that are controlling the noisy behavior, you can then work to retrain the birds to respond more quietly. For example, if houseguests contribute to the noisy behavior, consider relocating the birds to another part of the home prior to friends arriving. Then reward the birds for calmly and quietly allowing the flock to grow! Since these animals are only active during the daylight, another solution may be to place a cover over their cage as evening approaches. This will allow them to settle in and go to sleep even as you turn on lights, watch TV, etc.
They may have just been trying to tell their flock it is time to go to bed!
Good luck!
Dr. Grey
Learn more about Dr. Grey Stafford
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