I think my parrot afraid of the dark?

[Ilovebirds2much]

I am starting to think my double yellow head amazon is afraid of the dark every time i put Theyre cover they start running to the only spot where theyres light does this mean they are scared of the dark or just dont want to sleep?

 

[wrench13]

Its not uncommon for parrots to not like total darkness. For one thing , they have poor night vision! I leave 3-4" of space at the bottom of my Amazons cage to let in minor ambient light.

 

[SailBoat]

Parrots have excellent daylight based sight, but poor to no sight in the darkness.

As stated above, my good friend, provides minimal ambient light. We do not cover our DYHA at night.

 

[Bby-GrL]

MAYBE, they are afraid of the cover. My Goffins, most of the time, wants nightlight left on, lol. When she was a baby and cage next to my bed(she slept in bed w/me for awhile)i had to train her to sleep in her cage, she would throw a FIT!! I tried a sheet but she chewed through it to scream at me to let her back in the bed, so no cover-EVER, lol. My new baby BFA is on her own schedule sun-up-sun-down. Both grls cages are in front of large windows with curtains. At bedtime, curtains are pulled-to and lights are off.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

Fear of the dark is fairly common amongst parrots— Rico doesn’t like complete darkness, and he’s rarely had his cage covered (there have been times where I have, but under certain circumstances). I have found that he is more likely to have a night fright when he’s in total darkness.

Birds don’t NEED to be covered, and they actually do better without it! Lookie lookie:

Should You Cover Your Bird’s Cage at Night?

Are we supposed to cover our bird’s cage at night? We get asked this on consultations ALL. THE. TIME. I can usually assume you’re using a cage cover if you say… “My bird is super territorial of his/her cage and tries to bite anytime we come near, or even try to change out the food or water...

birdtricksstore.com

 

[Botsari]

I always got the strong impression that the cover idea originally came from the need to protect the bird not from light per se, but from OUR continued activities. Parrots typically can not settle down if they can sense their person is doing anything at all, even if it is pretty quiet. As a flock dynamic if something is going on over there they feel they should know about it. I don’t think a bird needs, or even likes pitch black to sleep in. It NEEDS for its flock mates to stop sending mixed messages, and the cover is just a bandaid on that.

That said mine have their own room and it is quiet when I put them to bed. They have no cover, but it is very dark where I live. No streetlights and unless the moon is out you almost can’t see your hand in front of you face outside. I have a night light in the next room that has just enough power so they can see where things like perches are if they get spooked. In the night. But I make sure what little light reaches them is all reflected light from the tiny one in the next room. But I get why people with more chaotic living arrangements find a cover a big help.