Fireworks.

[Stitchthestitch]

How do you guys prepare your birds for them? how do your birds react to them? How do you make it easier for them to cope with?


Our firework season in the uk starts late October right through to early January (guy fawkes, Christmas, just for kicks, new years). Albie joined us in March and with reading posts of face book about people s birds and fire works, it made me realise.... I don't actually know what to do to help albie with this period, and I don't know how he's gonna react.

I was very very fortunate with my dog Oliver, fireworks never phased him, not in the slightest (well, I was 17 when I got him and we were still at home with my 3 other teen age sisters, loud unexpected bangs and crashes were the norm) but I realise he was the exception and not the norm.

Is it the same with dogs close curtains, put TV /radio on to cover the noise, extra special treat to distract? What about dealing with anxious behaviours? Again do you ignore it like you do with a dog so as not to reinforce it or, or can you comfort them?

 

[SailBoat]

Fireworks are difficult as until they are experienced, one really does not know how ones Parrot will react.

This year IMHO was very different (at least in our area) as the large town or city displays had been cancelled and as a result, far more individuals had purchased their own Fireworks. This resulted in what I will call an extended evening /night of near to continuous booms, booms and more booms, some very larger and very loud.

Our DYH Amazon tends not to be bothered by loud noises like aircraft overhead, lighting storms, large trucks, and historical levels of Fireworks. This year, we saw two evenings /nights of Fireworks with Saturday (4th of July) being very intense with near continuous noise for two hours.

That bothered our DYH Amazon. What I found worked, for him, was to simply have him with us. As the volume slowed, in general, his comfort increased and sleep quickly followed. Today, he is napping...

 

[noodles123]

Thankfully, Noodles LIKES the sound of thunder, so she doesn't seem to mind fireworks at all! The more chaotic, the better! ha

I guess you could maybe get some firework sounds off Yotube during the day and then then turn up the volume really loud and act excited and treat them whenever the noise happened (as in "Oh yay! Fireworks!!!"+ seed)

If you did this enough, they might recognize the sound if they heard something similar at night and be less freaked out out maybe..?

 

[birbsRcool]

we had stampede ground fireworks about 2 days ago and pikachu was fine actually they weren't too close to us but they were big so we could see from a big distance

 

[noodles123]

This was my first 4th of July in this neighborhood and I don't know if people were just super enthusiastic about blowing things up due to lockdown etc, or whether they are always so enthusiastic here, but there were thousands of dollars of fireworks all over the place last night (big ones..not bottle rockets )..PEOPLE WERE INTO IT!
It's funny, because it's totally illegal except the really low ones, like snakes and smoke bombs and tiny fountains, but that didn't stop anyone. I imagine the police just gave up because there were big ones everywhere I looked! Pretty impressive.

I LOVE.shooting them off, but not a fan of burning money.. The pyro in my loves backyard displays.
Yes...yes...I know fireworks are dangerous and harmful to birds and that they cause fires and pollution and lost dogs.....BUT, I can't help it if the child in me appreciates them.

I hardly did anything--I did find 2 old parachute men fireworks that I had saved and some snakes/"blooming flower" spinner things and smoke bombs...so that was the extent of my display LOL--basically like something a 3rd-grader could purchase and manage lol

 

[birbsRcool]

last year our canada day fireworks were very disappointing, someone came from oregon just to watch super low things

 

[fiddlejen]

Fireworks are difficult as until they are experienced, one really does not know how ones Parrot will react.

This year IMHO was very different (at least in our area) as the large town or city displays had been cancelled and as a result, far more individuals had purchased their own Fireworks. This resulted in what I will call an extended evening /night of near to continuous booms, booms and more booms, some very larger and very loud.

Our DYH Amazon tends not to be bothered by loud noises like aircraft overhead, lighting storms, large trucks, and historical levels of Fireworks. This year, we saw two evenings /nights of Fireworks with Saturday (4th of July) being very intense with near continuous noise for two hours.

That bothered our DYH Amazon. What I found worked, for him, was to simply have him with us. As the volume slowed, in general, his comfort increased and sleep quickly followed. Today, he is napping...

Same here. Our city display is located far away enough to be heard Distantly by birds - last year was my first with birdies so I skipped attending just-in-case, and though they were audible they were not loud and the birds did not care.

This year has been Entirely Different. City displays cancelled, and we are near the NH border so anyone can get whatever fireworks they want, even very Large ones. So we had full-size fireworks going off randomly all around us all night last night. (Friday night there were somewhat-more-than-normal pre-holiday of the small-to-moderately-large fireworks.) Last night included Many of the flash-LOUDBANG types as well.

I had tried to keep Sunny up because I didn't want her startled in her dark-cage by noises. However she insisted on going to sleep around 7 pm.

Around 6 or 7, I observed the budgies both in their cage and closed it to keep them there. (To avoid a repeat of Jefferson's self-scalping-ceiling-panic that occurred a few months ago.) I normally lay a cloth across the top, so if Im awakle they can choose to not have light in their eyes, but Jefferson if nervous will perch well-below the cover. Friday night with the pre-holiday soundworks, they had both perched below. So last night I was gonna leave-off the top cover. Well... Calliope Never talks to me. Never. If she's not happy she tells Jefferson to tell me. But last night she did. (This was Before the fireworks started.) "CHIRP. CHIRP. .. CHIPR. CHIRP. CHIPR." When I looked up, she was even Looking!! right at me. Apparently although JEfferson doesn't like that cover, she does!

Anyway as it got dark the sounds began. Frustratingly -- I LOVE fireworks. Really love them. And we're up on a hill so you'd think they'd be visible. But tall houses and tall trees mean Very Limited visibility. So - across the street, and two houses over, and I still cannot SEE anything. Can hear it though!

I ran the airconditioner and the air filter, and put on a British detective show. Sunny in her dark cage must've been sleeping soundly -- no peep from her until after the worst; nearly 11 pm before she awoke. Those across-the-street two-houses-over neighbors were having one of their typical Loud-Music picnics, only even louder and much later for the holiday. I think their loud music may have helped the birds stay calm. The budgies Did respond to some of the louder bangs, but when I went to them with my usual "it's okaayy, it's ookaaayy, everything is allriighht... they were just fine.

I actually left for a little while, drove around to get a better view of these hyper-local fireworks. They were everywhere. The biggest, professional-sized ones were mostly a couple streets over, being set off in the Middle of that street. There were cop cars everywhere. Basically ignoring the fireworks (which are technically illegal in this state and specifically in this town) -- I think they were simply being "ready" in case of trouble & also keeping fireworks off Main thoroughfares.

When I returned I got the strong impression from the Budgies that they thought I had left to fix the situation. Even though the sound had Not diminished at that point, they seemed to have concluded that I was in-control (ha-ha to that!) and so it was O-KAY.

Sunny was also still asleep at that point. However, as the explosion-frequency dropped, she was awoken by a boom, and started ringing her bell frantically. When I brought her out, I expected her to make herself comfy on my shoulder, as typical in the evenings. Instead she insisted on tucking herself Under my Chin and gripping my fingers with her claws. Seeming not-scared, thataway, but definitely not-really-happy about all the noise.

My across-the-street neighbors didn't end their LOud music until past 12:30ish. I sat up maybe another 2 hours with Sunny. Every time I looked up, the budgies appeared awake from the noise also. Eventually I was too sleepy & put her back to bed despite continuing occasional "Boom!'s." She complained - but did go on to sleep (or at least, sat quietly).

Surprisingly, the Budgies and Sunny all wanted to wake up at my normal time in the morning. UN-surprisingly, Sunny has been much more grumpy than usual today, asking to come out of cage and then wanting to go right back in - not wanting me to leave the room - acts like she wants scritches or wants to step-up, but then turns away. Right now she is contentedly sleeping on my shoulder while I type--instead of trying to help remove keys as she normally would.

Anyway. Sorry for the long post. I think it's a Very Good thing I was able to be here, in the room with them last night. The sounds definitely awakened and bothered them -- and, Might've well terrified them, had I not been there to reassure them. I definitely would recommend staying nearby for yours when your fireworks-times occur also.

 

[noodles123]

Until you really know that your bird is okay with them I agree that it is safer to be home (in the event that they get scared and panic). I did for years if neighbors were shooting them off nearby etc, but now I am pretty confident that Noodles cares more about missing the party than the sound of the fireworks *knock on wood*..She doesn't mind loud stuff UNLESS it involves something moving and making the sound (like falling objects, or certain vacuums).

In terms of seeing them, I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM!!! The huge trees + houses made it so I could see them, but not totally and it was irritating because they were right there...like a block over, or down the street, or in my back yard etc..They were SO close, and all around, but it was buggy and I didn't want to walk alone in the dark and start creeping around someone's display lol.

Noodles has been very tired acting today too (same wake-up, but quieter)... I think that may also have to do with her FOMO problem and the fact that my parents' dog was over and she LOVES her....like....in an obsessive way... She was very put-out when I made her go to bed (1.5 hour later than normal)...Then add the booms all night on top of that, plus me cackling about the crazy dog and I doubt she slept well (poor gal)

 

[Ira7]

Fireworks are difficult as until they are experienced, one really does not know how ones Parrot will react.

This year IMHO was very different (at least in our area) as the large town or city displays had been cancelled and as a result, far more individuals had purchased their own Fireworks. This resulted in what I will call an extended evening /night of near to continuous booms, booms and more booms, some very larger and very loud.

Our DYH Amazon tends not to be bothered by loud noises like aircraft overhead, lighting storms, large trucks, and historical levels of Fireworks. This year, we saw two evenings /nights of Fireworks with Saturday (4th of July) being very intense with near continuous noise for two hours.

That bothered our DYH Amazon. What I found worked, for him, was to simply have him with us. As the volume slowed, in general, his comfort increased and sleep quickly followed. Today, he is napping...

Oh, truer words were never spoken. People went CRAZY in my neighborhood, including me. Spent a few hundred bucks on mortars.

Archie’s first time, and he was just kind of subdued by the whole thing.

 

[fiddlejen]

Turns out, being kept up all night by fireworks, and then getting up at the hooman's regular wake-up time, is a great way to induce separation anxiety in an already-velcro birb.

(I'm really hoping that a full night of sleep last night will have cured this new problem...)

 

[wrench13]

Major upswing in fireworks on Long Island. They start on Mayday and dont stop until mid july. The 4th was way way more people firing large ones. Salty usualy isnt phased by them, but this year he was jumpy and nervous, so we cancelled our training session early. Our dog however is a slobbering shaking mess at any loud noise, and so she was inconsolable this July 4th. Not much we can do - we've tried a blanket, doggie downers, everything. Give her access to the bathroom ( quietest place in our house), and just tell her this too shall pass. Poor dog.

 

[Ira7]

Major upswing in fireworks on Long Island. They start on Mayday and dont stop until mid july. The 4th was way way more people firing large ones. Salty usualy isnt phased by them, but this year he was jumpy and nervous, so we cancelled our training session early. Our dog however is a slobbering shaking mess at any loud noise, and so she was inconsolable this July 4th. Not much we can do - we've tried a blanket, doggie downers, everything. Give her access to the bathroom ( quietest place in our house), and just tell her this too shall pass. Poor dog.

When I was a kid growing up in Canarsie, the entire tri-state area was madness with fireworks all summer. We used to buy the good stuff in back rooms in Chinatown.

This year, people went bat-s**t crazy with them all over the country, because of Covid and the political “situations.”

 

[Shoegoo]

Have had no problems with my GCC and fireworks. More problems with the doorbell and flash lights.

 

[Scott]

Agree with general consensus of fireworks uptick this year! I've heard them past week or so. Thankfully my birds are just mildly bothered so I shut the windows and they soon ignore. My dogs are more affected, and I've called the non-emergency local police phone twice thus far.