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Has anyone has any experience with owning a single caique while living in an apartment? Of course, all birds can be expect to be noisy, but would it be possible to have one in an apartment setting? Even if you have not experienced apartment living with a caique firsthand, any feedback and predictions would be helpful. Thank you for your time!

I live with a caique and a senegal in an apartment. So far it has not been a problem but I do ALWAYS worry. Jamie can be quite vocal - even though is nothing like the bigger birds. The building where I am right now is concrete so it's a bit better. I am moving to a wooden apartment building at the end of the month so we will see. However, the walls of the bird room will not be directly connected to the neighbours and it is on the top floor. If the neighbours complain, I will have to somehow soundproof the bird room. It is possible but quite expensive...

You can always hear the birds in the apartment building hallways but other than that, my neighourbours have never complained. They sometimes say they hear them (I think from outside) but it's not louder than the wild birds (through the closed window). I do not leave the living room window open during the day because that would be too noisy for the neighbours.

I think it depends mostly on how well built the complex is, who your neighbours are and of course on the individual bird. One lady from this board had complaints from neighbours about a month ago due to the bird's excessive screming (you might want to look through the old posts. If you want to do a search, the lady's name is Laurel and her bird's name is Brady.)

One good thing is that the birds sleep 10 - 12 hours per night so they don't disturb neighbours during that time.


Kate

Thank you so much for the input! Feedback from someone with firsthand experience is the best kind! I'll have to browse through the old posts and do a search for Laural and Brady. I remember seeing her post about Brady several times. Yeah, it is nice that parrots sleep all night long, unlike other animals. If neighbors did complain, I'd move before ever getting rid of the bird, but I'd like to avoid that. Thanks again for taking the time to help!

We lived in an appartment when we got Sparky and didn't really have any problem. He was our only pet and our place was normally pretty quiet. We also made a concerted effort to teach him to whistle as a contact call instead of scream. It only took him a week or two to get the idea. We whistled to him whenever we left his sight and we'd praise him if he whistled back and of course whistle in answer but we'd ignore it if he screamed. When we brough Mika home, she was so young she didn't make much noise other than scream and since he was now getting encouragment, Sparky started screaming. We've been working on it with both of them but it is taking longer this time because they reinforce each other. They are down to screaming at the vacuume, running water, in the eveing when it starts getting dark, in the morning if I don't come downstairs right away and when they are really scared or excited. Mika is now starting to whistle a bit, so I'm hopeful that we can get them both whistling instead of screaming. Maybe by their hatch days in March. But with one bird you shouldn't have the problem of them reinforcing each other and you can shift their behavior. The big thing is to understand why they're making noise and teach them that there is a better way to do what they are trying. We used one long whistle as a contact call, the wolf whistle for baths, etc...

That makes me very glad that my grandfather taught me how to whistle. Caiques are such intelligent little ones.

Thank you for the input. I will only have one caique while living in an apartment, so it is nice to know that it probably will not be a problem.
It is also nice to know what to expect if another is added.

I love reading your posts about your fids, Sparky and Mika!