Screaming  - and what to do about it -

By Sonny Stollenmaier

 

 

Parrots vocalise for a number of reasons; these include, making contact with a mate, making contact with another flock member, fear, aggression, joy, morning and evening calls, boredom, attention seeking and patterned/habitual screaming, to name but a few.

Most parrots kept in captivity as pets can be very vocal, outright noisy and very loud, depending on the species.  Those living with a conure or a Caique, for example, will testify that size truly doesn't matter, as even small parrots can be incredibly loud.

Screaming, together with biting, is probably one of the most common and challenging problem behaviours faced by many pet parrot owners.  Noisy parrots have caused many problems amongst neighbours and have even caused rifts within relationships and families.  Sadly, however, more often than not, the noisy parrot is either rehomed or banished to a quiet room or garage and left on his own. There are other alternatives!

 

 

Screaming – a behaviour

 

One of the most important things to remember is that screaming is a behaviour just like eating, climbing or flying. Every behaviour is directly related to the consequence that follows.  

Behaviour science has demonstrated clearly that behaviour, including screaming behaviour, is not random or performed for no reason. Behaviours such as screaming are related to the outcomes produced by performing them.  Those behaviours that result in desirable consequences are repeated. 

Also important is what happens before the behaviour. Some events or conditions, called antecedents, set the stage for particular behaviours such as screaming.  Caregivers gain teaching power by understanding that behaviour is related to antecedents and consequences that come from the environment in which our parrots live.

 

We can modify and even eliminate behaviours by either changing what directly precedes the behaviour, the antecedents, or by changing what follows the behaviour, the consequence. A behaviour will either be maintained or increased as long as the consequence that follows is considered reinforcing (rewarding) by the parrot.  For example, if a parrot who likes human attention screams (the behaviour) and you immediately attend (the consequence), the behaviour has been reinforced (the parrot got his wish) and he has therefore learned to scream again in the future every time he wants your attention for as long as you reinforce the behaviour by attending. 

On the other hand, if you were never to attend again when your parrot screams for your attention, the bird would learn that screaming for your attention has become fruitless and the behaviour will therefore decrease.

 

Rewards/Reinforcers

 

When training parrots it is important to reward behaviours that we would like to see repeated or even increased in intensity.

The parrot decides what he considers most rewarding and therefore reinforcing. It is important to pay close attention to the individual bird in order to asses what he does and does not find rewarding. Many parrots love head rubs, some love cuddles and most enjoy special food treats. Nuts usually work well.  (In order not overfeed your parrot on nuts it is a good idea to crush nuts to break them into tiny pieces.)

 

 

 

Considering the basics

 

The environment

 

All too often parrots scream incessantly simply because they are incredibly bored.

Your parrot is a very intelligent creature, capable of many astounding things, from speech to counting to working out puzzles. Irene Pepperberg’s work with Alex the Grey Parrot undoubtedly proves that. Leaving a parrot in his cage with one toy for hours on end, restricting the bird to one and the same location, never having the opportunity to forage, as well as the lack of a variety of different play areas all contribute to a bored parrot.  Make sure you bird’s environment is set up properly, with various toys which you should rotate frequently and fresh branches for chewing. Provide a number of play areas away from the cage.

 

The diet

 

Birds on an inadequate diet may feel physically uncomfortable or unwell and are often prone to developing problem behaviours, including screaming.

Provide your bird with a variety of suitable foods which should include fresh fruit and vegetables, some cooked pulses, some pellets, a controlled amount of nuts and a small amount of seeds as treats.  If your bird is a seed junky speak to an experienced breeder or your veterinarian and get advice on how to adjust the diet.

 

Loneliness

 

Some parrots often scream when they are lonely.

Parrots should not be kept on their own for the majority of the day.  If you leave the house at eight o'clock in the morning and do not return until six o'clock in the evening and your parrot is left on his own for the entire period, you should arrange for someone to drop in and keep your bird company for some time halfway through the day. Alternatively, consider getting another bird to keep your parrot company. Even birds of different species that are housed in separate cages and never become friends can provide a valuable degree of companionship for each other.

 

 

Habitual screaming

 

Screaming can easily become a habit.  Many parrots love noise and drama and more often than not join in by vocalising wholeheartedly.  This could be caused by the family dog barking at every passer-by, the noisy water tap, the vacuum cleaner, or a particularly noisy spin drier to mention but a few.  If your bird is stimulated by any such noise and starts to vocalise it is possible that this type of vocalisation will increase screaming as any of the above-mentioned items will be routinely used in a household. The most straightforward way of breaking patterned screaming is to determine the initial trigger (the antecedent) and to eliminate it if possible.

Of course I'm not suggesting that you find a new home for your dog, however, you could teach your dog to remain quiet by positively reinforcing him for being quiet when people pass the house. 

You could construct yourself a little portable, collapsible T-stand (I made one using a cheap camera tripod to which I fixed a small perch at the top) which will allow you to take your parrot into another room, away from the noise source, such as spin driers or other noisy household apparatus.

Of course you can't move your parrot to another room every time you run the kitchen tap or use the coffee grinder, however, in order not to set the occasion for habitual screaming to develop you can ensure that your parrot has something to do that he considers more reinforcing than screaming itself and therefore isn’t inclined to start screaming along. Whenever I need to run a sink full of water or use the vacuum cleaner in the presence of my pet macaw I give her a nut in the shell or a “new” little foot toy, such as a plastic bottle top, a wine bottle cork or a large piece of Lego, to capture her imagination, get her excited and for her to therefore show a greater interest in playing than in screaming.

 

 

A replacement behaviour

 

One way of dealing with a behaviour that may become patterned, such as screaming, is to teach a replacement behaviour. A form of vocalisation that is easier to bear, or even pleasurable to listen to for example, could replace the screaming. Fortunately, this is fairly easily done.

 

There are two ways of teaching such a vocal sound.  You can either pay attention to your parrot and choose a sound that he makes that you enjoy, or you could teach a brand-new sound.

 

Reinforcing a sound the parrot already makes:

 

The instant you hear your parrot make a sound that you like, praise him immediately, saying “Good bird” and straightaway follow the praise with a favourite treat. 

The faster you deliver the praise and treat after your parrot has made the sound you wish to reinforce, the quicker he will produce this sound more often.

 

Teaching a new sound

 

Teaching a new sound is time consuming and it is by far easier to teach your parrot to replace screaming with a sound that he is already able to reproduce than with a sound that needs to be learned from scratch. However, if you do wish to teach a new sound here’s how to do it.

Teaching a new sound doesn't differ from reinforcing a sound your parrot already makes.  The only difference is that this time you come up with a sound yourself.  For example, you might choose to teach your parrot how to whistle a little tune.  Start by whistling a tune and as soon as your parrot begins to whistle along, even if he is not completely copying your tune just yet, immediately reinforce his efforts with a treat.  Over time, provided you carry on whistling the same tune (this could be as short as two notes), your parrot will step-by-step improve his whistling skills and the tune you are teaching will become clearer and clearer until eventually he can copy your tune like for like. 

Be sure to treat your parrot every time he whistles and don't wait to treat your bird's efforts until the tune is perfect.  Learning a new behaviour such as whistling a tune, does take time and every single step taken by your parrot must be reinforced in order to maintain his interest in learning and performing the new behaviour (e.g. whistling a tune). 

The more you reinforce a new behaviour the more your parrot is likely to exhibit that behaviour.  Do make sure that whatever sound you choose to teach your bird is a sound that you can happily live with for a long time and doesn't become too annoying when it is repeated over and over again.

 

 

Typical scenarios

 

 

• Screaming for attention

 

It is easy to teach a parrot not to scream for attention from the outset, that is, from the moment the bird first enters the household. However, once a parrot has learned to scream for attention and his demands have been repeatedly met it can be very difficult, or should I say time-consuming, to change the behaviour.

Most parrots naturally remain reasonably quiet for the first few weeks in a new household, even when left in their cage for some time.  This is partly to do with the bird being a little nervous and unsure of its new surroundings.  As time goes on the bird will become braver and gain more confidence in his surroundings. Now he may come to demand to be let out of his cage, for example, as he might have already learned that being out of the cage is a pleasurable and therefore reinforcing experience.  He may also start to vocally demand to be played with or to be cuddled. 

It goes without saying, that every pet bird requires and should receive a certain amount of direct attention every day.  It is unreasonable to expect a parrot to sit quietly and play patiently by himself all day, every day.  If, however, you are paying your parrot plenty of attention and he comes to demand more and more by screaming, you need to set some strict guidelines for yourself, before your behaviour (the way you respond to your bird’s behaviour) results in the bird developing bad habits.

 

What to do

 

If, for example, you have paid your parrot some attention and put him back on his playstand or in his cage and he immediately screams for more, I would again advise to absolutely ignore the screaming.  Some parrots do give in easily, however, others do have considerably more staying power; be sure to absolutely ignore the screaming.  It is natural for the screaming to intensify before your parrot eventually gives up. 

Should you weaken and give in because you feel the screaming has become too loud and return and attend to your parrot at this point, you will have taught your bird that screaming louder is what is required to get your attention.  From now on your parrot will remember to always scream loudly.  Be persistent – don’t give in!

However, you do want to teach your bird that being quiet and playing by himself is a positive thing. As soon as your bird has settled down and is quiet approach him, give him a little stroke on the head, or even treat him, and tell him what a good bird he is.  You have now reinforced his being quiet. Your feathered friend has learned that screaming got him nowhere, yet being quiet got him something nice.

 

A parrot should be allowed to request some attention if he hasn't recently been attended to.  And again, I would suggest that you teach your bird a mutually agreeable sound as described earlier - that is a sound he can easily reproduce and you find easy to bear.  My Blue and Gold macaw for example, made a little, subtle grunting noise when I first got her.  It was clear that she wanted my attention and I wasn't going to let the opportunity slip to teach her to request my attention in this manner in the future.  I immediately attended to and praised her and did so every time she made this noise.  Since then she has not once screamed for my attention.

 

But what if your parrot has already been taught to scream for human attention?

In this case you will need to take two steps. Firstly, teach your bird the call sign of your choice: a whistle, a word, a grunt etc (over time, I have taught many parrots to vocalise in different ways. Not all of them wanted to, chose to, or were able to whistle or speak. Settle for sounds that are easy for your bird to reproduce. Don’t put too much emphasis on a particular type of sound.).  Again, remember to respond to the call sign when your bird first makes it and reinforce every attempt.

Secondly, ignore the screaming and from now on only respond to the call sign (or attempts of the call sign) you are teaching. 

I cannot emphasise enough that you must not, under any circumstances, give in and return and respond to the screaming, even if your bird is capable of screaming for long periods - you will reap the rewards in the end. 

 

While you are teaching your bird not to scream for attention an effective response to decrease the screaming is the withdrawal of your presence.  Most parrots love nothing more than being in company and if you leave the room and return as soon as he is quiet to praise him (in the case of real persistent screamers this may only be a few seconds) he will quickly learn that being quiet is considerably more rewarding than being noisy.

 

 

• Contact calls

 

Many parrot species live in large flocks and most parrot species form strong pair bonds between two individuals.  This means that a parrot is never really on his own.  As a prey animal a parrot must constantly be on his guard, ever vigilant in order not to fall prey to the next predator.  This would be almost impossible for an individual and living in flocks or pairs therefore is about more than just company.

More often than not, we are unable to spend all day of every day with our pet birds.  Although parrots can learn to spend a considerable amount of time on their own, entertaining themselves these periods should not last too long and ideally should be of varying intervals.  During these periods parrots often sound a call to make audible contact with their flock (the family) or their chosen mate. These types of calls are important as the response to this call will put the parrot at ease, telling him that he is not on his own and that you are nearby. 

You can simply respond by calling “I’m here” from wherever you are or, again, you could whistle.  Many owners have developed a fun little game with their parrots in this way - each party whistles a little tune which is then repeated or extended by the other.

Be careful to differentiate between a simple contact call, meaning “where are you?”, and screaming for your attention.  If your parrot is not content having heard you reply and carries on screaming, he more likely than not is screaming for your attention.  In this case wait until he is quiet before you attend to him.

 

 

• Fear

 

Fear screaming is often more easily dealt with than a form of habitual screaming.  This is because fear screaming is usually instantly eliminated by removing the cause.

Most hand reared pet parrots rarely scream routinely out of fear.  If they do, however, you must examine the environment they live in, as well as discuss the issue with all the people that are in the bird’s vicinity or in fact handle the bird. It is essential to find what caused the parrot to scream out of fear. This could be a new object in the environment, an environment that continually changes, or a person that may have caused the bird harm.

Parrots often become extremely fearful of a seemingly harmless object, such as a new picture, vase, a new toy or new item of clothing.  Placing the object far away from the parrot often remedies the problem. 

Parrot toys can be introduced by leaving the toy several yards in visual distance from the cage and gradually moved closer and closer over a period of days. Watch your bird's behaviour and his body language carefully as the toy is edged closer to the cage.  If he doesn't show any signs of distress you can eventually hang the toy on the outside of the cage.  As soon as he shows an interest in playing with the toy through the bars you can hang the toy on the inside of the cage.

Parrots are often fearful of strangers and any stranger should therefore approach with caution and not get too close to the bird initially.  The more frequently a parrot is introduced to strangers without being handled badly, the more he will lose his fear of strangers.  If a particular person seems to repeatedly trigger fear in a particular bird yet this person has never handled the bird in an inappropriate manner, it may be that the parrot is simply afraid of an object on the person.  This could be any item of clothing, spectacles, make-up, nail varnish, or a hat.  Again, simply removing the object often solves the problem. 

In some cases, parrots appear to be frightened of a person without there being any apparent reason.  Such a person can still conquer the parrot's trust with a little patience and training. A good “ice-breaker” is for that person to approach the cage slowly and calmly with their head lowered and their arms behind their back, holding a favourite treat. Reducing eye contact with the bird at this point may reduce the fear response. Drop the treat into a food bowl and retreat immediately. Over time the parrot will probably look forward to the person approaching rather than fear it.

 

 

• Early morning/evening calls

 

Most birds vocalise in the morning and again late afternoon.  This also applies to parrots whether they live in a flock or as an individual in the household.  Although we are able to modify and change almost any behaviour with appropriate training techniques, I do consider it  important to allow our pet parrots to act out what comes naturally to a degree. I never respond directly to my pet bird when she vocalises during these periods in order not to unnecessarily reinforce the behaviour but at the same time I have never made any attempts to stop her.  Morning and early evening call sessions usually are reasonably short lived and many parrots that have learned to speak a few words often feverishly repeat those words over and over again in place of screaming.  If, however, your parrot is of a species able to produce a lot of noise, such as macaws or cockatoos, an early morning screaming session may well unsettle your neighbours.  In such cases it might be best to divert the parrot’s attention away from the thought of screaming altogether. 

A friend once told me that she creates little treasure boxes (small cardboard boxes will do) filled with toys and little titbits which are placed in the bottom of the cage for her birds to investigate.  Rummaging through these boxes is probably somewhat similar to foraging behaviour.  By placing interesting little foot toys and very importantly some food items in these boxes the parrot’s interest can be maintained for considerable periods of time.  It is of course necessary to change the contents of these little treasure boxes every morning in order for them to uphold their appeal.

 

 

• Noise stimulation/Drama rewards

 

Many parrots are stimulated to vocalise when sufficient amounts of noise are audible in their environments.  This can be any type of household apparatus (as already described above), a TV set or radio that is played too loudly, or people chatting loudly and laughing. 

If you enjoy listening to loud music but are unable to do so because of your parrot’s participation I would suggest that, as mentioned above, you engage your parrot in an activity that he considers more fun than screaming along to music. A behaviour that is incompatible with screaming would be ideal. Chewing would be one such behaviour. A whole nut, for example, can keep a parrot busy for quite some time. My macaw is very quick at working her way through a whole walnut so I tend to put the walnut into a treatcage or a leather-treat-bag (available from good parrot accessories shops) or into a little cardboard box to prolong the activity. Chewable toys that include wood and latex are also useful.

The key as always is to find an activity that your parrot enjoys, not one that we think they should enjoy.

It is important to be realistic in what we can expect of our birds. If your parrot delights in joining in with the music you’re playing it is unlikely that he will keep quite for the entire duration of Beethoven’s 9^th, even if he has been given a favourite toy to play with.  If you keep “noise sessions” to a reasonable limit and greatly praise and reward your bird for having played quietly while you played music or used the vacuum cleaner, it is possible that he will learn to remain quiet for longer periods.

 

One of the biggest mistakes people make is to yell and scream at their bird whenever the bird misbehaves or is being vocal.  Screaming and shouting is reinforcing to many parrots. The moment you begin to be noisy your parrot is more than likely going to delight in joining in.  Screaming sessions will therefore be on the increase rather than subside.

 

 

Conclusion

 

When attempting to train and modify a parrot’s behaviour it is important to remember that we are dealing with wild animals that have their own characteristics and exhibit behaviours that are naturally part of their being.  To categorically deny them such behaviours would be to rob them of their identity.  We need to be realistic in what we expect our parrots to learn and how we would like them to behave.  Certain species, such as a Sun Conure for example, tend to always be more vocal than a Senegal Parrot, for example. 

All parrots should be allowed to indulge in a few vocal sessions here and there (after all, it is a parrot thing) and by following some of the suggestions mentioned above you empower your parrot to choose not to scream, not force him.

When training parrots you must be patient and not expect too much too quickly.  Breaking a behaviour such as habitual screaming takes time but with the right attitude and a little effort your patience will certainly be rewarded.

 

 

Acknowledgements:

This article is in part based on the basic principles of ‘Applied Behaviour Analysis’ as taught by Susan Friedman, Ph.D.  of Utah State University.

I would like to thank Susan for keeping a sharp eye on the scientific validity and accuracy of this article’s content.

 

 

Copyright © 2004 Sonny Stollenmaier