upatsix.com - Your Source For Pet Bird Information

Hi everyone:

I am new to the board, but I hope someone will have some advice for me. I have a 3 year-old male Budgie named Breezy. He has always been a sweet bird and very interactive. He has a large cage for a budgie with lots of toys. He likes to come out of his cage when I or my husband are in the room, but otherwise tends to stay inside his cage, even with the door open. His wings are not clipped, but he is only allowed to fly while supervised and pretty much only flies to people in the same room to visit. He pays attention to what is going on in the room and become really excited if anyone is eating (hoping he'll get a taste!). He also listens well and has an impressive vocabulary for a little budgie.

In the last year or so, he has begun to exhibit some behaviors that are making him difficult to live with. While sitting in his cage, he will begin to make loud and grating screeching sounds. My interpretation is that he makes these sounds when he feels he is not getting enough attention. It's pretty obvious he's unhappy about something from his physical behavior as well. He also gets really excited when someone walks towards his cage after exhibiting this calling behavior. I have had 5 parakeets in my life and I have never heard this kind of call before. The screeching seems to get worse after we have been away for vacation. We leave Breezy in the care of relatives (married couple and two children ages 10 and 14). He seems to love it there and I'm sure he gets a lot of attention. There are four of them and he is definitely a novelty in that house with no other pets. For the first couple of days after we take him home, he seems happy, but the screeching begins thereafter increases with each subsequent day. After awhile, it seems to calm to down, but doesn't go away.

I am not sure how to respond to this behavior in order to discourage it. I tried ignoring, but this did not seem to dissuade him. He will quiet if he's covered, but I don't think it's right to cover his cage when it's not bedtime. I have tried to make sure that he has plenty of attention and interaction, but I'm afraid that rewarding him with more attention will only teach him to scream more. It's odd because he will also scream when his cage is open and he's free to come out and visit. He has also started biting recently although he never breaks the skin. Prior to now, his bites were accidental. They were basically overly vigorous "kisses". However, now I think he is beginning to bite with the intent to communicate his displeasure with something I am doing. The bites hurt and he hangs on.

I'm not sure what to do. These behaviors are something I've never encountered in a budgie before. I want him to be happy, but I can't have him screeching and biting like he is. He is such a sweet bird otherwise. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Katie

Perhaps he's screeching because he was taught to screech??? If you don't ignore the behavior *EVERY* time, then the bird learns to screech for longer and longer periods of time waiting for that one time to be rewarded. And eventually, it works!

Can you provide us with a picture of his setup?


If you can figure out if he screeches at a particular time of day, try and take him out before he starts screeching and make sure he gets plenty of exercise. Or, perhaps give him a good soaking bath, however he may prefer them best. If you don't know how he likes to bathe then you'll have to experiment and find out how.

Hi Monica:

Thank you for your reply. We were trying to be very consistent about ignoring the screeching, until we came to the belief that it wasn't working. Then I started trying to distract and redirect like you would with a toddler. I don't respond to the screeching (other than to cover him occasionally). When he takes a break between screeching, I'll go over there and take him out or play with him. This seems to help somewhat. I try not to give him any positive reinforcement for the screeching itself.

He does not screech at a certain time of day. It could be anytime.

More background: Thinking back, I think the screeching first started shortly after my husband and I got married. Prior to that, Breezy and I lived in a one bedroom apartment. I had him in the living room, where I spent most of my time. When I got married, my husband and I moved into a small house. At first, I put Breezy in the dining room, which has a view of the living room. I put him there (during summer months) so he could look out the window. The screeching started shortly thereafter one day. It stopped for a long while when I moved him to the living room. My interpretation was that he wanted to be in the same room with his "flock". However, this wasn't a permanent fix and the screeching started again within a few months and has only increased since then.

I will post a picture of his cage tomorrow.

Katie

Katie, You answered your own question. He screeches because his flock is not with him. Thsi behavior changes/stops when he is in the same room with you. Problem solved. (If it were only that easy!)