Is it mean of me to not let my amazon be noisy?

[KarenRei]

I have a 10-year-old yellow-headed amazon (probably the most famous parrot in Iceland, as I take him out (on a feather tether) to festivals in the summer when it's warm enough ). He's in general amazingly well behaved for an amazon, especially when he's out, letting all the little kids put their grubby hands all over him without ever biting. I've done a lot to try to get him to be well-tempered and well-adjusted.

When it comes to noise though sometimes I wonder if I'm too hard on him. He has one noise that he sometimes likes to do, mainly at night, a trill somewhat like (but not exactly like) a phone ringing - which if left to his own devices he'd do over and over again, as well as a couple other annoying sounds which sometimes he'll do repetitively. But I rarely have to listen to them repetitively because as soon as he starts doing them I give him warnings and an evil eye. That's usually enough to stop him, but if he keeps going I have a transparent "timeout box" on the floor for him (which he doesn't like to be in.. he doesn't like the floor) that I put him in for several minutes. He rarely starts up again.

It's really nice not having to listen to the (very) annoying, (very) repetitive noises. But sometimes I worry that I'm being too hard on him. About six months ago he started doing this repeated raspy breath sound and I was worried that he had a lung infection, so I took him to the vet. She didn't hear much with the stethoscope but gave him antibiotics anyway... I kept following up, and with time I realized that it wasn't a sickness, he was just using it as a way to have "noisy" time without making noise that would get him scolded. Like he's "whispering" them.

I don't know, am I being mean by not letting him be noisy? In general I think he's a very happy bird... eats with me, likes getting scratched (it took a long time to write this post because he kept saying "I want scratch" in a really cute voice, and who could say no to that? ), comes down to "watch over me while I'm sleeping" if I nap on the couch, etc. But should I be letting him do the noises too, even though I find it really annoying? Sometimes I think "well maybe I should let him do it a bit", but then I think "No, that would be like letting him get away with going potty on me or biting someone 'a little bit', it needs to be all or nothing if he is to learn".

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

This is just my opinion, but birds are noisy, it's what they do. If you go out and see a flock of birds in the wild they aren't being quiet, they are chattering and in the morning and evenings they have "flock" call time. It's in their nature, it's how they know everyone is there and accounted for and safe.

I would never expect my girl to not make noise. She has so much fun making her sounds (and yes the trilling phone one is loud and can be very annoying) but it's in her nature to make it, and it seems to be one she makes when she is super happy, so I let her (I even join her in the noise making every evening.)

She is generally quiet, or at least on the quiet side, with just a bunch of lower level chattering throughout the day, but in the evenings after I close my office for the day I change my clothes into "bird" shirt and PJ pants and we have our time to make some loud noise for about 20 minutes and then she is back to her normal lower sounds for the night.

Just my 2 cents, but I wouldn't take something that makes her so happy away from her and punish her for it. I won't allow her to scream for the sake of screaming all day long, but I won't take her noise making away. It's just part of having a bird.

You wouldn't have a dog and expect it to never bark would you?

 

[MosaicMadness]

What you could try is when she makes the noise you don't like, try singing or whispering or getting her to make a different sound/word/phrase. That's what we do/have done with our pionus and red fronted macaw and it has definitely helped. Good luck, some sounds are just head-ache inducing.

 

[Flboy]

Harsh, yes. IMHO!! With JoJo, I mimic her sounds, even the annoying ones. It becomes a game with us and seems to divert her 'moment'.

 

[Allee]

It sounds like you have a very intelligent bird! It also sounds like he tries very hard to please you.

I fully agree with Amanda_Bennett and Flboy, a certain amount of noise is to be expected when you share your home with a parrot. Noise is a great way to communicate with a parrot.

 

[Peppo]

I save the evil eye for really aggregious acts because I think if it was over used for something not important it would not have any effect on the big things, like biting. I use it so infrequently that Paco really knows I mean it if he sees it. The box time out kinda scares me, does seem a little too much. Just think about how much you would miss that annoying noise if he were gone? Maybe try to get him to replace that noise with something you like more by responding with the new noise when he makes the annoying one and not responding to the one you don't like at all, either positively or negatively. That should work as all he wants from you is communication and typically will adjust himself to fill that need. Personally, I love every noise, mumble, word and song and would miss each one terribly. As long as he doesn't scream excessively, I would let him be a parrot and be noisy

 

[KarenRei]

Thanks everyone - I'll try talking with him instead and see how that goes. I don't mind his random babbling.

 

[henpecked]

Could it be,, you react to that noise. Inadvertently you've taught him to "call" you. Try responding to a sound you like better and try to ignore the "bad". I.also use then"good guy, bad.guy" training. Have a less favorite respond to the. Bad calling and you, the favorite, only respond when he calls the way you want. Ihave a pair of OWAs who love to do the wild OWA jungle sream, so i taught them to gobble like a turkey. Pretty funny really, better than the jungle scream.