Excessive Screaming in My Eclectus Parrot

[Amna]

Hello everyone,
I’m concerned about something with Rudi, my female Eclectus parrot, who is three months old. I’m not sure if this behavior is normal or not, so I wanted to ask for your advice. She flies freely, plays, eats on her own, and I also hand-feed her formula along with vegetables, fruits, pellets, and other foods.

The issue is that she screams a lot. By a lot, I mean she screams whether she’s in or out of her cage, hungry or not, even while eating or playing. She isn’t like this every day, but most days of the week, she screams excessively.

I can’t figure out what’s wrong. She’s not hungry, sleepy, or bored. She spends most of her time with us, flying and playing outside her cage. Even in her cage, she has a spacious environment with plenty of wooden toys that she enjoys destroying.

Why does she scream? Her health is fine, and her diet is balanced. Is this behavior normal? And is there a way to help her reduce the screaming?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I'd love to hear a recording. Ive never had an eclectus so I have no specific answers- just curious, but I suspect she's normal and screaming because that's what parrots do, even happy ones. You should probably ignore it and that's hard, so I'd get some ear plugs for when it gets to be too much.

 

[saxguy64]

I don't have experience with baby birds, but I'm thinking it's likely a developmental thing, and she's trying to get attention. Happy, sad, hungry, whatever. Attention is most likely the goal. Perhaps try your best to ignore the screaming, and praise/treat for being quiet or making appropriate pleasant sounds. In the meantime, I feel your pain. Of my three, my ekkie is by far the loudest when he screams. It's shrill and ear splitting, and in his case, ALWAYS about attention. I have to stop and acknowledge him every single time I walk by his cage. If I forget or I'm in a rush and don't stop, SCREAM! Without fail. I then have to wait it out and go see him once he's quiet. Can't reward the screaming or it gets worse. Has anyone mentioned about parrots being perpetual toddlers? The struggle is real!

 

[chris-md]

How long have you had her? at three months, I’d put money on it being weaning related, probably weaning regression. 11 weeks is the high end of weaning age, but some can take up to 6 months to fully wean.

Effectively, she’s screaming because she’s craving comfort formula feeding. She’ll eat regular food, but at her age it’s not a hunger thing, it’s a comfort thing, like a security blanket…it’s developmental, and how they build self confidence as chicks.

This is quite common! Get her checked out to be safe, but this is almost certainly some variation of she’s not 100% weaned yet.

 

[Amna]

How long have you had her? at three months, I’d put money on it being weaning related, probably weaning regression. 11 weeks is the high end of weaning age, but some can take up to 6 months to fully wean.

Effectively, she’s screaming because she’s craving comfort formula feeding. She’ll eat regular food, but at her age it’s not a hunger thing, it’s a comfort thing, like a security blanket…it’s developmental, and how they build self confidence as chicks.

This is quite common! Get her checked out to be safe, but this is almost certainly some variation of she’s not 100% weaned yet.

I got Rudi when she was about a month old, so I’ve had her for two months now. As for the formula, I give it to her twice a day—morning and evening—but she usually only eats her morning meal and refuses the evening one. She’ll take just a little, around 2–3 ml, so she’s not very interested in the formula at night. Your explanation makes a lot of sense, especially since she’s at the age where she’s growing and discovering new things every day. This sometimes makes her feel a bit nervous or unsure. Thank you so much for your reply—it really reassured me!

 

[Amna]

I don't have experience with baby birds, but I'm thinking it's likely a developmental thing, and she's trying to get attention. Happy, sad, hungry, whatever. Attention is most likely the goal. Perhaps try your best to ignore the screaming, and praise/treat for being quiet or making appropriate pleasant sounds. In the meantime, I feel your pain. Of my three, my ekkie is by far the loudest when he screams. It's shrill and ear splitting, and in his case, ALWAYS about attention. I have to stop and acknowledge him every single time I walk by his cage. If I forget or I'm in a rush and don't stop, SCREAM! Without fail. I then have to wait it out and go see him once he's quiet. Can't reward the screaming or it gets worse. Has anyone mentioned about parrots being perpetual toddlers? The struggle is real!

Thank you for sharing your experience! It does seem like attention-seeking behavior might be part of it, especially since she’s still young and at that developmental stage. I’ll definitely try to ignore the screaming and reward calm, pleasant sounds.

The challenge for me is that she screams even when she’s on my hand or playing with me—how much more attention could she possibly want? It’s definitely like having a perpetual toddler .

 

[Amna]

I'd love to hear a recording. Ive never had an eclectus so I have no specific answers- just curious, but I suspect she's normal and screaming because that's what parrots do, even happy ones. You should probably ignore it and that's hard, so I'd get some ear plugs for when it gets to be too much.

This video shows how she screams, watch your ear

 

[Macawdamia Nut]

View attachment 78986
This video shows how she screams, watch your ear

I just played the video. My husband jumped and screamed, “WTH is that? That’s abusive!”

I constantly remind him of how lucky we are to have a macaw that rarely makes a sound. Keep in mind that my ownership (“parrontage?”) of my bird pre-dates the arrival of my husband in my life by 25 years. He thinks all birds are quiet.

 

[rheashard2]

She looks calm, comfortable. It suggests a behavioral thing. Honestly she looks like a queen dictating to her subjects. She is on a balcony (arm) and wants to ensure everyone of her subjects can hear here. Sadly I have been ruined by a CAG. I do not think it's that loud. No, no hearing problems (yet). When my CAG gets into a loud noise session, I ignore her. I reward silence.

 

[saxguy64]

Looks to me like she's just exploring how to communicate. She's a baby, and that's likely one of the few sounds she knows how to make thus far. Agreed with above, reward the quiet, AND the sounds you like from her. No rewards or attention for screaming. Just my humble opinion. She's adorable, BTW!

 

[Amna]

I just played the video. My husband jumped and screamed, “WTH is that? That’s abusive!”

I constantly remind him of how lucky we are to have a macaw that rarely makes a sound. Keep in mind that my ownership (“parrontage?”) of my bird pre-dates the arrival of my husband in my life by 25 years. He thinks all birds are quiet.

25 years of peaceful bird ownership? Your husband has been living a lie! Rudi just gave him a much-needed reality check—Eclectus style: loud, proud, and slightly traumatizing!

 

[Amna]

She looks calm, comfortable. It suggests a behavioral thing. Honestly she looks like a queen dictating to her subjects. She is on a balcony (arm) and wants to ensure everyone of her subjects can hear here. Sadly I have been ruined by a CAG. I do not think it's that loud. No, no hearing problems (yet). When my CAG gets into a loud noise session, I ignore her. I reward silence.

Exactly! She’s not just screaming—she’s addressing her kingdom. Some birds chirp, some whistle… Rudi prefers public speeches. At max volume. With no intermission

 

[Amna]

Looks to me like she's just exploring how to communicate. She's a baby, and that's likely one of the few sounds she knows how to make thus far. Agreed with above, reward the quiet, AND the sounds you like from her. No rewards or attention for screaming. Just my humble opinion. She's adorable, BTW!

You’re absolutely right, she’s just figuring out how to communicate! I’ll definitely focus on rewarding the quiet and the sweet sounds. The screaming? We’re working on that one. But yes, she’s too adorable to stay mad at for long! And thank you so much for the kind words

 

[Thechoplady]

That is a typical ekkie food begging call. They take a very long time to wean. Even if shes eating her chop, she is not feeling satisfied. Give her more formula or you can try giving seed to up her fat intake to help her feel more satisfied. Some of them dont fully wean till almost a year.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

View attachment 78986
This video shows how she screams, watch your ear

Holy Cr*p! You aren't kidding! Earplugs for sure!

 

[rheashard2]

She's still cute.

 

[Amna]

That is a typical ekkie food begging call. They take a very long time to wean. Even if shes eating her chop, she is not feeling satisfied. Give her more formula or you can try giving seed to up her fat intake to help her feel more satisfied. Some of them dont fully wean till almost a year.

I already give her a good amount of formula twice a day. I’ll try offering her some seeds and see if she feels better. Thank you!

 

[Thechoplady]

I already give her a good amount of formula twice a day. I’ll try offering her some seeds and see if she feels better. Thank you!

no problem! My girl stopped doing that call at about 9 months. They take a very long time to wean and can be demanding lol. The food begging call is usually reserved for the primary caretaker. Make sure the seed you try is free of artificial dyes and artificial vitamins. I use Volkmans Eclectus seed. Although now that my girl is a adult she only gets seeds for training treats (or foraging treats if we are not training that day.)

 

[Talaya]

Yep I got my boy at just over 3 months, he would sit on me everyday at about 2pm and make this noise until he was fed.. for about 6 weeks or so.. He just wanted his crop full, the feeling of love and being cared for as only he knew how.
Ekkies in the wild sometimes don’t wean until a year old. Usually it’s about 4-6 months in captivity, as we speed them along.
He is now 3 and a half, and if he’s hungry rather than search for food in his bowls.. he still comes to sit on my knee and though doesn’t food call anymore he does a similar crow noise and shows me an open beak.
And boy can they scream.. I mean real scream ! It’s ear high pitch piercing whistle noise, ok not very often.. but you’ll be wishing for the raspy food call back Lol

 

[Thechoplady]

Yep I got my boy at just over 3 months, he would sit on me everyday at about 2pm and make this noise until he was fed.. for about 6 weeks or so.. He just wanted his crop full, the feeling of love and being cared for as only he knew how.
Ekkies in the wild sometimes don’t wean until a year old. Usually it’s about 4-6 months in captivity, as we speed them along.
He is now 3 and a half, and if he’s hungry rather than search for food in his bowls.. he still comes to sit on my knee and though doesn’t food call anymore he does a similar crow noise and shows me an open beak.
And boy can they scream.. I mean real scream ! It’s ear high pitch piercing whistle noise, ok not very often.. but you’ll be wishing for the raspy food call back Lol

lol Talaya, i had to laugh when you said "you'll be wishing for the raspy food call back". Truer words were never spoken! rofl. . I absolutely cringe when my girl does it...its truely blood curdling.