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My bird has been such a loudmouth for the past few months. I moved recently, and figured that he was just adjusting to the new enviornment... but we have been in my new apartment for 8 months, and things are not getting better...

I cannot leave the room without him screaming and crying for me... I have tried to answer him and call back to let him know I am ok, but that doesn't help. I don't know what I can do... I have read a lot, and I think there is a problem because he is so closely bonded with me... I hand fed him since he was just under a month old and he is 10 now.

It seems like he is only quiet when he is covered and sometimes not even then... sometimes I wonder if he is happier covered up... he will whilstle and talk, but as soon as I uncover him, he screams and screams... I won't keep him covered all day... I think that is mean, but he seems happier that way!?! He is generally fine when I take him out of the cage, he likes to be out... but he can't be out all of the time! He also has the tendency to scream for me when he is out of his cage and I walk just out of sight into the next room--he can hear me and he has his flight feathers, so he can fly to me if he wants... but he screams.

Oddly enough, he doesn't do this with anyone else... he never did this with my mom and dad, and he doesn't do it for my boyfriend... I have tried new toys (dozens of them!)... he doesn't play with any of them (except his shoelaces). I am purchasing a flight cage because I heard that a larger cage can make them happier and keep them busy-- they have room to fly around and play. If that doesn't work, I think I am going to invest in a new birdie friend for him--I think maybe if he has a friend to bond with and keep him busy that he will be happier... and of course it will be a boy... I don't want any chicks right now.

Any suggestions on any of this?
Anyone with similar experiences?

Thanks,

Jackie and Bubba

Hi Jackie & Bubba -

I feel your pain (in the ears!!). Casper gets worse and worse with each passing day. We have only had her for 3 months and she is not yet a year old, but she is screeching at me more and more. Before she used to squawk when I walked out of the room. Now, I just walk around the corner and she screeches for me. She has now started screeching right when I walk in the door from being out. She will do it until I open her cage.

Not sure why an older bird would do it now, but I know that it is because I spoil the heck out of her. She is always with us, never in her cage except to eat and sleep at night. But I do try to make her follow me on her own. I don't always run right in there now that I know that there is nothing seriously wrong. The first time I heard the screech, I thought she was caught or hurt.

I am not sure if another bird would help her, but I don't think I am ready for another one yet.

It will be interesting to see what other folks say on this subject.

My female will do that. She'll even start screaming in the morning when she hears me in the other room. I'm not really sure what to do about it, either; I try not to come into the living room right away, so she doesn't think her screaming was effective. I wait until she's quiet, and then I go and talk to her. It seems to help a little.

Oh those ear piercing screams! I'm sure we all have heard those from time to time. My bird is really not bad with it though. He does yell a bit when we leave the room, but I always answer him back and he doesn't get too carried away with it. About two months ago though, he went through about a two week period when he would scream out so loud and not stop. Two of the days during that time were the worst and we had to cover him for hours to calm him down. I would try to uncover every hour or so, but every time I did, he'd start up again.-----took about six hours before he finally stopped and calmed down. Whatever the problem was, it passed and went back to his old self---thank god! but I often wondered why? I hated taking away the little bit of sunshine we have this time of year, but yes, they do seem much happier when they act this way and you cover them up. I have no clue why my bird acted this way, since everything was exactly the same as always. I would love to know why and how I can keep him from doing this again, but something tells me I will never know and that it WILL happen again.

Hi Jackie,

It seems a lot of us have this problem....I don't have it as bad but one of my Cockatiels is bonded to me and sometimes hollers for me. Go to this link and scroll down to 44b. There is some great advice about what to do when your bird screams a lot.

Hope this helps some....please keep us updated!

http://www.cockatielcottage.net/quechart.html

thank you for all of the information... I will keep trying new things, and hopefully, eventually, he will calm down... I hope it will happen sometime soon... I think I may just need to get him a companion--they can give eachother attention all day long. I'm going to try the larger cage first... it is coming on the 3rd... I'll let you know how that works out... In the mean time, if anyone else has any more suggestions please share them

For anyone else that may be having this problem, I found some info a while ago, sorry no link, but I copied it to a word file a few months ago:

H&D BUDGERIGAR & CAGE BIRD SOCIETY INC.

COCKATIEL SCREAMING
(Behavioral Problem)
If your cockatiel is normal and healthy, it will preen and groom by cleaning its feathers, Roosters crow when the sun rises or sets and Robins usually sing in the early morning and late evening. Many cockatiels scream to greet the day and to wish everyone a good night. The cockatiel yell or scream can also be a greeting or an expression of discontent. A cockatiel that screams all day or all night is a stressed cockatiel. Stress can contribute to illness.
If your cockatiel screams when you return home, go directly to the cockatiel and provide attention and perhaps a favorite toy that was withheld during the day. Moving the cockatiel to a new location or isolating it from the family's activities may cause screaming. Try to perch the cockatiel so that it feels included in the family life. If you want to move the bird to a new location after it had been used to one place, do this gradually by playing with it and giving it a little more attention for the first few hours.
Some things to ask yourself if your bird has "suddenly" become a screamer:
1. Did you spend every second of your day with him?
2. Did you spoil him?
3. Did you come running every time he'd call?
4. Did you give him treats or take him out when he was noisy to "quiet him"? (spoiled)
Answering yes to #1 and/or #2 means he is probably spoiled and that is why it is screaming for your attention. It doesn't understand why you don't always spend time with it, and doesn't understand that your life may have changed and you CAN'T spend the time that you used to. It probably also doesn't know how to keep itself entertained if its always had you for entertainment. All it knows is that for its life up to this point, he/she was the center of attention, and now its not, and that's upsetting and confusing.
Answering yes to #3 and/or #4, means you have taught it to scream for attention. This habit is tough to break. Un-spoiling a spoiled bird is a pretty big task. Curing a spoiled bird will also take a lot of patience and tolerance to screams and yelling. One instance a bird might scream is when you've left the room. This is really common in cockatiels. The bird is actually calling to you and looking out for you. In the wild they are a prey animal, meaning if they're not careful they become dinner while looking for dinner. When one bird cannot actually see another, in an effort to assure themselves everyone is ok, they will shout back and forth. When you leave the room your bird cannot see you, and instinctively becomes "concerned for your safety". To make sure you're all right it calls to you, and it fully expects you to answer. If you don't, well obviously the little guy is going to become more and more anxious. One thing you can do is to answer with a soft whistle or sound. If after you have been out of the room for awhile, you hear your bird whistle to you, just whistle back to let it know everything is just fine by him/her.
Another time birds will usually yell is when it senses you are busy doing something else and it has loss your attention. Once again consider them in the wild- birds are a flock animal and do just about everything together. They do not go off on their own and do things by themselves, in their minds it's just plain rude. You'll usually find just before your bird starts screaming, it will go through its cute routines to get your attention. If that doesn't work then it will move on to screaming. Basically all it is doing is disciplining you for breaking the rules of proper flock etiquette.
Some ways to prevent spoiling:
Be sure he has a wide variety of toys that are different colors, sizes, and textures...try some of those toys that you can hide treats in him to try to get his interest. Do NOT give him attention while he's screaming, even yelling at him to be quiet is attention, and will only strengthen the bad habit. If you notice he's being quiet, go into the room and just talk to it for a few seconds or just whistle for a bit to let it know you are OK. if you see it may have been sleeping you can skip any kind of sound contact with it for a while.
Whatever you do, however, don't respond to screams with treats or by taking him out of his cage. If you let him out or give him a treat to quiet him down, you're teaching him that whenever he wants to come out or have a treat, all he has to do is scream. Keep in mind that it's normal for a cockatiel to be loud sometimes. It's not a "screaming problem" when your bird is doing it in the morning, evening, or when you first come home. That's just his way of greeting the day, greeting you, and saying goodnight. Remember, just because a bird's vocalizations may annoy you doesn't mean they're excessive. Keep in mind birds are NOT quiet pets, and happy, healthy birds will vocalize frequently throughout the day.
Sometimes a screaming problem starts because of boredom, loneliness, or frustrated mating desires, it is very common that screaming develops because an owner has inadvertently reinforced the behavior by rewarding screaming with attention. The problem doesn't develop overnight and there are no magic cures but good discipline and careful alteration of the owner's behavior patterns can often solve it over time.
You should always try and establish your dominant position as flock leader. Status is everything in bird to bird interaction -- the phrase "pecking order" comes from the world of bird behavior. If the bird is boss in your house you will probably have behavior problems at some point.
You should establish a routine for your bird care and for your interaction with the bird by doing this within the same time frame each day whether it is once a day or several times a day. You should not do it at exactly the same time every day so as to prevent it from being spoiled in that it knows exactly when you are going to give it attention and expects it. Birds are creatures of habit and they like their lives predictable.
Screaming can sometimes be stopped by placing a towel or small blanket over the cage to make the bird think it is nighttime. If you try this it should be done with a minimum of fuss and the cover should be removed again as soon as the bird is quiet. If you leave it in place longer than necessary it will cease to be useful because the bird will not associate its own behavior with the presence or absence of the cover. If the cover does not quiet the bird within 5 minutes this technique will probably not be very useful to you since the cover did not affect the bird's behavior and placing it will act as an attention reward.
If the bird is screaming ignore it. If the bird is quiet stop a moment and tell it what a good bird it is or whistle to it for a while or play with one its its toys such as a ladder or swing to encourage it to join in. Then move on and don't turn it into an unplanned play time until the screaming problem is stopped or lessened.
Some bird noise is very loud but is not screaming -- its just the natural sounds of bird life. They are very vocal creatures and you can expect them to greet dawn and sunset with enthusiasm. They may get rowdy just before mealtimes and especially, if you work and the house is empty all day, when you arrive home. A sunny day may send a male into an hour of song just because it is happy.
Some cases of screaming are helped by getting a companion bird, especially when the screaming is caused by boredom, or by a single bird choosing a human mate who cannot spend all his/her time with the bird. Birds bonding with humans is why they make such good pets but unless you are home all day it is unlikely that you can fill your end of what the bird expects of a mate.

One thing I didn't see mentioned to an extent, was routine. I've found that even the slightest changes in routine, environment, and such will cause the kids to react in funny ways. I'm a creature of habit myself, and when MY routine is disrupted, it makes for a difficult day. If you modify your routine any little bit, they will notice. Even moving something on the wall, like a picture or wall hanging will draw attention, even tho you might not notice their reaction. Fortunately, I don't have any "screamers", but Gizmo, Smokey & Chibi, all males, will whistle, jabber, and carry on mornings and evenings, and sometimes during the day. When we go out of the room, they will holler, but we answer back, and all is usually well. The thing that really needs attention, is when they pace back and forth on the perch, or bottom of the cage. They are not asking for attention, they are *begging* for attention. If you can, give them your time. If you just can't give attention, you might be regarded as being "mean" (by them) to your kids. So many variables in screaming. Try to think like a bird, and what your babies might be thinking. In the past two years, I've never had to cover my kids for noise. Of course, it helps that I'm mostly deaf in one ear, and can't hear out of the other

edit:

Bubbabird85 -- is there any significant change in the location of your cage in the new house vs. the old, like in front of a window, or on a wall with or without an outside view? Just happened to think about the view.. it can make a *huge* difference.

Sam

You might be right about the routine part. I'm not much of a routine person, so my birds are used to me doing all kinds of things at any time, but on the weekend, they always start screaming at 6:30 or 7 am until I wake up; they don't understand the concept of sleeping in on days off. They acted the same way for the first three or four days of winter break, but now they're used to me sleeping in. They'll be surprised then I have to get up at 5:30 again next week...

my routine is different most days of the week... I am a college student, so I have different class schedules each day, so I leave the house at different times. I generally get up around the same time though... There is not much I can do about the class schedule... I don't think "sorry, but class is upseting my cockatiel" would fly very well with my professors (even though I might like it to ) Other than that, I will come home, eat lunch, try to get some work done, go back to class, come home, make dinner, try to work some more (note the operative word is try here... homework is difficult when you have a screaming bird) make dinner... try to get more work done and watch some tv at night... Most of my days are the same... with the occasional I can't handle him going crazy and I need to get to the library to get something accomplished, or the occasional coffee break with friends.

There is not much different about his cage location... he is in a pseudo corner (at my house he was in a corner) in view of, but not next to a window and a couch in the family room.

My birds actually scream at me when it's past their bedtime! During the week, that's about 11 p.m., and when I'm on vacation, they manage to stay up until about 1 a.m., but then they start making a lot of noise. Luckily, my neighbor likes birds. I've tried covering them, but they just don't like the idea that I'm still up, so I usually give in and go to bed. My mom would be happy!

I've been thinking about your situation for a couple of days, and thought maybe the room color is different then your last place. Or the furniture is arranged differently and so on.

Did you change your "look" at the time of the move? Maybe cut or colored your hair very different then it was?

It could also be the new view. I think it was on this board about a month or so ago I read someone was having a similar problem - all of a suddan the screams started. Well after doing some detective work he/she found the problem right outside the window - I think they were hawks that took up residence on the roof of the building! The problem ws solved by putting up a curtain so the bird couldn't see the predator.

Keep us posted.

The room color is different... but nothing really drastic. The walls at home are mauve, here they are white and beige. At home, the floors are wood, here they are beige... I don't think this is too drastic of a change, though it may be... I don't know...

My appearance has not changed at all... my hair is the same color, and even about the same length.

The room is arranged differently, but after eight months, I would think that he would be use to it... when he is out of his cage, he roams around the room, as happy as can be... if he was disturbed because of that, would he be afraid to come out of his cage. He is happy when he is out of the cage, but outside or in, I cannot leave the room. He even screams sometimes when I am in the room trying to do homework--in that case, I think it is bacause I can't give him the attention he wants. But I have no clue why he screams when I leave his eyesight for a second. Even if I answer him to let him know I am ok, he continues on and on.

Thanks