How to stop a bird from screaming when you disappear

[crimson]

I've made very good progress with Willow, so much so she let me start scratching her head thru the bars.

I have been clicker training her the past few days and is responding very well, she is stubborn but so am I

now every time, and I mean every time I walk out of the eating area, and I am out of sight, she screams and screams loud! on and on and on, until I come back. when I leave to go out, as soon as I start putting on my shoes, or pick up the truck keys, she starts screaming.

I don't pay attention to this, but it is really starting to annoy my family, particularly my son Tyler who is autistic. He like Willow, but has difficulty dealing with her loud screams.

she is very smart, and I understand why she is screaming, but I cannot bring her with me, not with 4 cats roaming around and 2 dogs, it would just not be safe. Not only that, our relationship has not progressed to the point where she would trust me enough either, but we are building a trusting bond and is coming along nicely

my question is how do you prevent her from leading up to the screaming before it starts? I've given her treats, then I leave to say for example, go into the bedroom, once she has finished the treats, she starts screaming again.

she's got plenty of foraging toys,foot toys and things to keep her busy, I rotate them weekly.
help

 

[MenomaMinx]

Take the bird with you as you go around the house on a harness attached to a belt at your waist With enough lead for your bird to get to your arm or shoulder – but not the ground..It will keep the bird and the other pets separate It may seem like you're giving in, but you got to work with baby steps here.

When the bird screams, respond with a softer tone noise every time until the bird starts responding back in the same tone – reward that.

 

[crimson]

I cannot bring her with me, not with 4 cats roaming around and 2 dogs, it would just not be safe. Not only that, our relationship has not progressed to the point where she would trust me enough either.....

menomaminx - maybe you didn't see that in my post??
that is not an option, maybe down the road, long term, I've only had her a few months, and is highly temperamental, just as Poi's are.

I would LOVE nothing more than to bring her with me, harness or no harness but she's not ready for that yet, and I prefer my fingers just the way they are thank you

 

[MenomaMinx]

I guess I missed the part where you said that she bites because you didn't say that she bites.

New plan: how big cage and we talking about here?

Wheels?

Guess where I'm going with this ;-)

What kind of dogs? Size?

Do your four-legged animals bother your other birds?

Is your willow housed in the same room as the other birds?

You give the treats when the bird is not screaming upon your return – not before.

Otherwise you're reinforcing that screaming is the appropriate response to the end of the treats.

Although I like it well enough for dogs that I used to for extensive trick training for mine, I've never really liked clicker training for birds except in specific behaviors meant to keep the bird out of immediate danger that must be trained quickly. Their brains aren't really structured for it, as Dr. Irene Pepperburg's research discovered{by the way, something she discovered was that they learn much like the autistic brain does. I think that was when she was working over at MIT with her bird Wart(now called by his original name Arthur). It's something you might want to bring up to your son as common ground, or not, depending on what part of the spectrum he falls-- use your best judgment.}

Anyway, if the finances are there, check the ads for wheeled cages on the Canadian equivalent of craigslist..... Shame they don't have the birdie equivalent of hamster balls ;-)

You could also start the screaming first, by picking a "flockcall" to make the second you know you're leaving visual sight, and keep repeating the sound to the bird's every sound until you get back-- which is basically a variation of what I've already told you.

 

[Jewelz]

MenomaMinx!!!!

That is a great idea about the harness!!!!!!!!!!!! I am going to do that with Felix as soon as it arrives....it's a great solution to him hitting the ground hard when he tries to fly because he is clipped so short!!! Fabulous!!!!

 

[crimson]

I guess I missed the part where you said that she bites because you didn't say that she bites.

New plan: how big cage and we talking about here?

Wheels?

Guess where I'm going with this ;-)

What kind of dogs? Size?

Do your four-legged animals bother your other birds?

Is your willow housed in the same room as the other birds?

You give the treats when the bird is not screaming upon your return – not before.

Otherwise you're reinforcing that screaming is the appropriate response to the end of the treats.

Although I like it well enough for dogs that I used to for extensive trick training for mine, I've never really liked clicker training for birds except in specific behaviors meant to keep the bird out of immediate danger that must be trained quickly. Their brains aren't really structured for it, as Dr. Irene Pepperburg's research discovered{by the way, something she discovered was that they learn much like the autistic brain does. I think that was when she was working over at MIT with her bird Wart(now called by his original name Arthur). It's something you might want to bring up to your son as common ground, or not, depending on what part of the spectrum he falls-- use your best judgment.}

Anyway, if the finances are there, check the ads for wheeled cages on the Canadian equivalent of craigslist..... Shame they don't have the birdie equivalent of hamster balls ;-)

You could also start the screaming first, by picking a "flockcall" to make the second you know you're leaving visual sight, and keep repeating the sound to the bird's every sound until you get back-- which is basically a variation of what I've already told you.

....sorry if I seemed a bit short, I was quite a day. she has a large cage, on castors, the thing is taller than I am....but I'm not tall, ha ha
We have 2 dogs, 1 large, 1 small,
Willow is in our eating area. she's the only bird that is out here, due to our four cats. all my other birds are behind closed doors for safety reasons... the cats don't bother with her or her cage, but they are put away in a room should I have Willow out.
the dogs are also crated or put outside.
Willow is fully flighted.

I moved her cage to the other side of the eating area, so she can see me sitting in the living room, or while I am in the kitchen.

she was terrible this morning, every 10-15 seconds she would scream!! this went on for over 10 minutes, my husband who is recovering from surgery was furious this morning, shouting at me to sell her.
I laid into him with everything I had in me to defend her, after that he calmed down and understood.

Just a terribly upsetting morning. she's very happy in her cage, and I have to say she amuses herself quite well in the cage.

As for clicker training, I am using this technique so she will learn to follow my directions when asked.
Members on here who know me, know I am not good @ training, I am a breeder, but I am trying to broaden my horizons

thanks for your input, I really appreciate it, I found it fascinating that birds learn similarly like an autistic brain does....WOW!

I wonder if she is PDD, (NOS) or Aspergers, ha ha

 

[Mayden]

Let me know if you find some miracle cure for this. I'm half tempted to wire Merlins beak shut with the way he goes on. Charlie is generally fine, but Merlin, dear god my poor ears. I also worry for the neighbours and stuff...

sigh.

Birds, can't live without them, can't hear with them....

 

[crimson]

I know Mayden, it can literally drive you NUTS!!

 

[Mayden]

I know Mayden, it can literally drive you NUTS!!

It reduces me to tears, makes me consider rehoming, etc. it's absolutely awful. He's my baby though and I want to work through it, it's just absolutely awful.

I ignore him, I do 'nice' flock calls, distract him with toys, playtime, treats, I cover him for a short while, uncover when well behaved, I've tried literally everything in the book, from 'hands off' to 'cruel' (not hurting him! I'm not that cruel!) and just non of it is working.

He's covered now because he was screaming and needed a nap, but wouldn't nap. After his nap he'll be good as gold until around 5-6pm, just as Andrew is on his way home. Then as soon as Andrew's home... good as gold, until he leaves the room.

His sleepy screams, I can cope with. It's the 'leaving the room, so my world is being destroyed' screams that I can't handle.

I leave the room and Charlie flock calls, then that's it. With Merlin, hell breaks loose.

Head, meet desk... I need answers/help!

 

[crimson]

If you remember I had to re-home Ninja, my gold cap conure. I miss him terribly but just could NOT take it anymore....and it went on for 3 months solid.
My nerves were shot, family was arguing blah, blah, blah....uggggg.

I don't want to re-home Willow, I just got her, why oh why are birds so incredibly complex???

 

[Mayden]

If you remember I had to re-home Ninja, my gold cap conure. I miss him terribly but just could NOT take it anymore....and it went on for 3 months solid.
My nerves were shot, family was arguing blah, blah, blah....uggggg.

I don't want to re-home Willow, I just got her, why oh why are birds so incredibly complex???

Merlin's been doing this for 1year+ I'm PRAYING, it's hormones. but it's probably not.

He got so used to me staying at home (prior to working) when he was a baby, that now he just can't handle people leaving the room. It's fine if I leave and Andrew is still with him, but if I leave him alone, or Andrew leaves the room (even if I'm there) he'll scream scream scream.

I've apologised countless times to my neighbours, but they seem to think he makes lovely noises, which makes me feel better about upsetting people, but he's still doing it.

Do you know how Ninja is doing?

I've seriously considered rehoming at times, but Andrew outright says no - but he's not the one who's here most of the time for the screaming. But he is right, we brought Merlin into our home with the idea of 30-40-however many years of commitment and this is surely just a bump in the long long road we have together.... it's just hard to see the light when you're constantly being screamed at.

 

[crimson]

a year!!!, oh my, you are a saint!!, what we put up with for our birds.

I want to stop this before it becomes a terrible ingrained habit.
she really is a sweet, super smart bird, and I do like her very much.

the strange thing is she doesn't scream when she OUT of the cage, only when she's in.

and she doesn't follow me either if I leave, she stays put...playing with what ever strikes her fancy at that moment, mostly chewing the back of our nice chairs!!!

 

[thekarens]

Now ya'll are scaring me.

I've only had Sammie, my sennie, about a month and she rarely makes any noise. Occasionally if I leave she'll make a very short and not loud whistle/contact call. I just assumed this was normal and that sennies were quiet. I have very little experience with poicephalus.

 

[crimson]

I've had Safari(my sennie) for almost a year now and not a peep out of him, other than the mimicking noises he makes, lol....so no complaints here.

mind you he is with 9 other birds, so he's kept pretty busy.

Now Willow is alone out here, so it would make sense that she gets lonely when we aren't around.

 

[SoCalWendy]

I usually just talk to Rio. Now when she can't see me she says "What are you doing?" And I answer back like we are having a conversation. Or I whistle or click at her. She is now trying to bark like my dog Mya, that is so darn cute.

 

[SoCalWendy]

Now ya'll are scaring me.

I've only had Sammie, my sennie, about a month and she rarely makes any noise. Occasionally if I leave she'll make a very short and not loud whistle/contact call. I just assumed this was normal and that sennies were quiet. I have very little experience with poicephalus.

Hahahaha sorry had to chuckle. Your Sammie is settling in, you wait. But you can teach her at this stage. Clicking whistling at her, teach her certain phrases. You'll see. Compared to some other species, they are quiet. And the fact they can be self entertaining. But yours will have her moments, and she will be loud.

I remember the day Rio let it go. Both my husband and I though, wow what was that all about. And when she is flapping and stretching her wings, oh she is so loud. But it's not like an all day, drive you crazy loud. She just has her moments. In the morning before I let her out she tries to wake me up, so she is all obnoxious, then when she sees I'm awake and I pay attention to her she gets all lovey with her peeps... I have to laugh when she does it.

Now my parrotlets is another story. Her incessant chatter drives me crazy, more so then anything my Sennie could belt out. We call the parrotlet (kiwi) our lil complainer. lol

 

[MikeyTN]

I guess I've been fortunate that my birds are rather quiet, except for the one I did re home, Java the U2, he screams like there's no tomorrow. As long as he knows I'm home he screams, but pretty quiet when I'm not home....