Why are my green cheeks making this sound???

[AnyaLyssa]

The infamous "eee eee eee" "care alarm" rapid fire chip sound. What the heck does it mean, and how do I make it STOP????

I bought my BF two 9 month old green cheeks for Christmas. 1 has been sexed and is male. Loki (common coloration) is very calm and well-behaved. He's great with us and steps too well. Rocket (pineapple) is skittish, was clearly traumatized at some point, an doesn't trust hands too well. We had Loki for 2 weeks before adopting Rocket. I had wanted to get them both to begin with, but was told that they had been fighting. They were 8 months at the time. However when I went back to choose a newly hatched baby, Loki practically flew (they're clipped) to get over to Rocket, and they have been inseparable ever since.

Since then, Loki has picked up all sorts of "bad habits" from Rocket, including that sound!! I know Rocket is the one starting it and they always do it together in unison.

They will ALWAYS do it if you're in the same room and talking, but not looking at them. It starts as a jumble of other smaller sounds and then works up into the full call.

I sleep during the day. I literally work 7 nights a week. Our extremely rude neighbor runs an illegal car shop from his yard literally right under my bedroom window, and THAT doesn't wake me up. But the birds on the other side of the house through a closed door is waking me up constantly, and only in the last few days, after being here for over a month.

 

[Squeekmouse]

In general, there are two alarm calls most Green Cheek Conures will do. I'll describe them and how to deal with them to the best of my ability.

1. Rapid car alarm type "Eeee Eeee Eeee Eeee!"
- This is your conure saying "Hey everyone I see something and it's probably dangerous or important so everyone pay attention and check it out!!!!". This is your conure doing his job as a Watch-bird and trying to protect you and the rest of the flock. Isn't that great??? Lucky you!!!
Seriously though, your conure IS trying to protect you, so if you ignore him, yell at him, or punish him for this behavior, it's not really fair to him and he's not going to understand why you are so upset. If anything, he may think you are freaking out for the same reason HE is freaking out and therefore be encouraged to freak out some more. So what CAN you do? You can either prevent him from seeing something that would alarm him by covering the windows or limiting how many windows he has a line of sight to. Generally, it's good for the bird to have one wall near the cage and someplace in his cage that he can hide from window views, but it's very good for him to be able to see sunshine and interesting things to look at so don't just keep him in the dark. When he's calling the alarm and you ignore it, he'll just keep calling until he is sure that the threat is gone or the flock is safe. So when I hear Yoda give the alarm, whenever possible I will come running and look out to see what it is triggering his alarm. As I look, I will talk to him, asking what he sees and speaking in a soothing voice, with luck I will find what alarmed him and I'll show him that I see it and thank him for letting me know and he almost ALWAYS stops as soon as I do this. In fact, there have been many times where he spotted something that really mattered to me! Once he spotted some kids in our yard retrieving a lost frisbee (not a big deal, but what if they were vandals/theives/criminals?), another time he saw a racoon burrowing under our deck (which let me know I needed to call Pest Control to get it out). I love my conure alarm.

2. Slower but constant call "eeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEE?" ....... "eeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEE?" (etc).
- This is his contact call. He's pretty sure I am home, but he thinks I must be lost because he can't see me. Surely if I am not nearby then I must be lost or stuck in a closet because why ELSE would I not choose to be right there next to my flock watch-bird?? So what can I do about this? Well, I could get him a friend so he doesn't care if I am around and doesn't mind if I never hang out with him... clearly that's a sad thing to desire. I could ignore it and try to be super quiet and hope he decides that I'm not home and he can chill out and do his own thing. Or I could try to stay in sight of him so he knows I'm not lost, or come and let him know I'm ok every so often and I'm not stuck in a closet.

Hope this helps!!!

 

[T00tsyd]

In general, there are two alarm calls most Green Cheek Conures will do. I'll describe them and how to deal with them to the best of my ability.

1. Rapid car alarm type "Eeee Eeee Eeee Eeee!"
- This is your conure saying "Hey everyone I see something and it's probably dangerous or important so everyone pay attention and check it out!!!!". This is your conure doing his job as a Watch-bird and trying to protect you and the rest of the flock. Isn't that great??? Lucky you!!!
Seriously though, your conure IS trying to protect you, so if you ignore him, yell at him, or punish him for this behavior, it's not really fair to him and he's not going to understand why you are so upset. If anything, he may think you are freaking out for the same reason HE is freaking out and therefore be encouraged to freak out some more. So what CAN you do? You can either prevent him from seeing something that would alarm him by covering the windows or limiting how many windows he has a line of sight to. Generally, it's good for the bird to have one wall near the cage and someplace in his cage that he can hide from window views, but it's very good for him to be able to see sunshine and interesting things to look at so don't just keep him in the dark. When he's calling the alarm and you ignore it, he'll just keep calling until he is sure that the threat is gone or the flock is safe. So when I hear Yoda give the alarm, whenever possible I will come running and look out to see what it is triggering his alarm. As I look, I will talk to him, asking what he sees and speaking in a soothing voice, with luck I will find what alarmed him and I'll show him that I see it and thank him for letting me know and he almost ALWAYS stops as soon as I do this. In fact, there have been many times where he spotted something that really mattered to me! Once he spotted some kids in our yard retrieving a lost frisbee (not a big deal, but what if they were vandals/theives/criminals?), another time he saw a racoon burrowing under our deck (which let me know I needed to call Pest Control to get it out). I love my conure alarm.

2. Slower but constant call "eeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEE?" ....... "eeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEE?" (etc).
- This is his contact call. He's pretty sure I am home, but he thinks I must be lost because he can't see me. Surely if I am not nearby then I must be lost or stuck in a closet because why ELSE would I not choose to be right there next to my flock watch-bird?? So what can I do about this? Well, I could get him a friend so he doesn't care if I am around and doesn't mind if I never hang out with him... clearly that's a sad thing to desire. I could ignore it and try to be super quiet and hope he decides that I'm not home and he can chill out and do his own thing. Or I could try to stay in sight of him so he knows I'm not lost, or come and let him know I'm ok every so often and I'm not stuck in a closet.

Hope this helps!!!

You have my Syd down to a tee. If I respond to his danger danger call and take a good look then tell him it's ok, he's satisfied. The contact call to check where I am is stopped by me just telling I'm here and I'll be back in a minute.
How to cope when you are trying to sleep? I would possibly set up a routine. If Syd sees me doze he is silent as if he understands. So I would say where you are going when you retire and over time they will get used to it. Maybe add a special goodbye treat that tells them you are off for a while. I feel sure that if you were to start a definite routine, that they can learn to recognise, the screeching would stop. For a while wear earplugs.

 

[Squeekmouse]

It helps to laugh about it

 

[AnyaLyssa]

This only just started happening this week after a month. And we can't form a routine any further than what we have because my BF and I live on completely opposite schedules.

He's in landscaping and gone literally dawn to dusk 6 days a week. I'm a contractor working 7 nights, from 11pm-6am, sometimes late as 730, and 2-4 days a week I give walking tours that are 2 hours long, and start anywhere between 5pm and 8pm. There are days that we don't see each other at all, and on those days, the birds can't be taken out until he gets home, which might not be until 8pm, because I'm not awake until an hour before work, and that's time I need to get ready.

There's a reason I got two birds. I knew he wouldn't be able to give 1 bird enough attention. But it's the second bird that is causing the issue.

ANY time I go into their room if my boyfriend isn't home, the second bird starts making the distress call, at me. Being able to see my BF doesn't make any difference, he just has to be in the house and they don't do it unless we're in the room talking but not looking at them. But even when he gone If I go over to them and interact, she stops.

At night when they're trying to go sleep themselves, they make all kinds of sounds in their sleeping cages unless they can hear me while I'm on my games talking on the mic, that seems to calm them sleep. Loki stated getting night terrors after we brought Rocket home, and they will fight if he has one in the same cage, so we separate them at night.

And we keep the overhead light on for them during the day, even though there is enough light coming through the window; turning that light off didn't darken the room, but they don't do the calls when that light is off. So if they do wake me, that's my go to. Shutting off that light, and it's usually around the same time of day. 10am ish, I go to sleep around 8am and sleep until 4pm.

I cannot make any changes to the routine without severely impacting my own health. Getting out of bed will fully wake me up, and then it takes me 2-4 hours to wind back down. Further, even if I could go running to see what's upsetting them, they are on the other side of the house through 2 closed doors. I don't even understand how I'm hearing them! The time it would take me to get to them, they've already stopped making the call.

 

[AnyaLyssa]

Was sitting in my chair near them, and they started up. Looked over, and both of them are facing the window, pointedly looking out at something and screaming at it.

It was "Chip", the Chipping Sparrow we fostered and released last spring. So many thoughts are conjured by this, but it's funny! We'll be covering that window tomorrow, and uncovering the other one across the room. They won't be able to see as much from that one, just light.

Does anyone have any good recommendations for TV to leave running for them? And by TV I mean free online streaming, or Netflix.

 

[T00tsyd]

Was sitting in my chair near them, and they started up. Looked over, and both of them are facing the window, pointedly looking out at something and screaming at it.

It was "Chip", the Chipping Sparrow we fostered and released last spring. So many thoughts are conjured by this, but it's funny! We'll be covering that window tomorrow, and uncovering the other one across the room. They won't be able to see as much from that one, just light.

Does anyone have any good recommendations for TV to leave running for them? And by TV I mean free online streaming, or Netflix.

I have heard some say that cartoons or young children's programs go down well.

 

[Squeekmouse]

I find nature programs seem to make my boys happy.

I've seen this for sale at my local bird shop and I'm told it's popular and successful for many:
Bird Sitter

 

[clark_conure]

I was going to add to squeekmouse's reputation for her answers on this but i have to "spread it around more" um......Basically everything she said with a conure.....



T00tsyd has good advice too, a routine works well.