Yelling

[Alehner529]

Okay, so i have a sun conure. For the most part, she is a dream. She is 2 years old and is potty trained, speaks a little, never bites, is super cuddly and affectionate. Sometimes she can be quite loud. Now, I know that to some extent that is just sun conures, they have a loud voice and can use it quite well. I know I never will get her to be completely quiet all the time, but I WOULD like to discourage the "tantrum yelling". She yells when she is upset, like for instance when I leave a room and she cant follow, or I am not paying attention to her. When she does this, is it best to just ignore it? Should I scold her and give a command? Should I put here in here cage? Not let her sit on my shoulder?

 

[ChristaNL]

Not easy (they do have some volume if they want to) but ignore, ignore, ignore...
Any sort of attention (positive or negative) is an encouragement.


So if your bird screams for attention... stonewall him/her.
It may take weeks, but if you are consistent... he will get it.

 

[LordTriggs]

for a bird any attention is good attention. When she's yelling to get you to come over, completely ignore it. She has to learn you're not at her beck and call.

Though when you leave she may not be having a tantrum and could instead be contact calling which is something they need to do psychologically, you just need to work on an acceptable call for her to make. in which case wait until she makes an 'acceptable' noise and respond to that. then when you go out the room and she makes the noise you dub her contact call you can respond back to her to let her know you're still alive and no leopards got you. I'd even do this with my guy whilst sat next to him if he got a bit loud and attention seeking, I'd just wait until he calmed and made a more pleasant noise and would then interact with him.

it does take a while to change but as long as you're stubborn as I'm sure you've found you need to be with some behaviors she will figure it out

 

[Sunnyclover]

Yeah so I have a Sun and a Nanday and if I'm in another room (and they can hear me walking/talking or breathing)they will scream my house to the ground. It's just part of the species trademark. My suggestion is to put your sun in the room you spend the most time in during the day so there is no reason to scream. Or perhaps let her go with you on your shoulder if you leave the room. I have 4 Conures of various types and I have a kitchen with a bar and an open floor plan to the living room so luckily for me unless I'm upstairs they can all see me. When I did have only 1 and 2 birds I just took them everywhere with me...now I will take one of them if I go upstairs and they take turns. Also...when a sun screams they just are calling you back and that is not a tantrum and is a natural part of being a flock animal and is hard to break because it's just instincts taking over. The fact they are calling you means they love you. Please just try to think of this particular scream as a way of her calling you home because she loves you so much... perhaps it will help you accept it better and find it joyful instead of annoying.

 

[EllenD]

Exactly what SunnyClover said...A lot of their "yelling" or "screaming" has to do with the fact that they are "Flock" Animals, and even if you're not paying direct attention to your bird, she still has an innate need to be "among her flock" like they are naturally. So making sure that #1) Her main-cage is located in the room of your home where you and others who live there spend most of their time when you/they are home, usually the living room, family room, etc., just doing this can help tremendously. Just being in the same room as you when you're home will make her feel comforted, secure, and much less stressed/anxious..So when you're watching TV, reading, eating meals, talking, having visitors over, playing games, etc., just having her cage located in that room (if it's not already) will not only stop the screaming (which starts out typically as "contact calling" you and then turns into screaming), but it will also encourage her to entertain herself inside of her cage...So if her cage is located in a spare bedroom or room other than the "main room" of your home, that's the first thing you need to do, relocate it to the main-room where people spend the most time, so she will no longer be hearing you/knowing that you're home but not able to see you/be with her "flock"...

And if her main-cage is already located in the "main room" of your home, then the other thing you can do is to buy/build a portable T-Stand/Play-Stand for her that you can move from room to room with you...Then whenever you go into another room away from her main cage, say you go into your office to get on the computer, you're cooking/eating in the kitchen, you're family is eating their meals in the dining room or wherever you eat meals (this is a big one, they want to eat with their flocks), if you go to another room to watch TV or do whatever, simply move the portable T-Stand/Play-Stand to the room you're going to and just take her into that room, put her on her stand, and then do what you do...It doesn't mean that you have to be paying her attention 24/7 whenever you're home, but parrots are flock-animals and they naturally desire/need to be among their flocks, and when they know their flock-mates are there but not with them or within their sight, this is the result...So just put her in the room on her portable T-Stand/Play-Stand and make sure she has a toy to chew on/play with attached to the stand, and she'll most-likely happily entertain herself without any screaming/contact-calling because she can see you...So you don't have to have her constantly on you or be interacting with her, but whenever you or another "flockmate" is in the home, just letting her be in the same room with you/within her sight will help tremendously with this issue"[B/]. Just keep reminding yourself that she's a "Flock" animal, and that her contact-calling/screaming to be with you when she knows you are at home is completely normal for her...

****NEVER yell at her, scold her, tap her on the beak, etc. Parrots are not at all like dogs or cats, they do NOT respond to negative-reinforcement at all...Your Sun Conure has the intelligence of a 3-4 year-old human child, she can understand logic and use reasoning...And if you "scold" her, yell at her, raise your voice in an aggressive/angry way, tap her on the beak or "spank" her in any way, the result you're going to end up with is going to be a bird who no longer trusts you and will not allow you to touch her any longer...You always want to use "Positive Reinforcement" when you're trying to teach your bird to do something or not do something, their favorite treat is usually the best way to do this (ONLY give her very favorite treat to her when you are teaching/training her, no other time, because it needs to be something that is extra-special to her and that she desires because she doesn't get it very often)...

 

[Alehner529]

Thanks for all the tips everyone. Her cage is in the main room, and she follows me most everywhere on my shoulder. I am fine with contact calling, I get she just wants to know where I am. Just the little fits she throws periodically. I will ignore these, and conti he to acknowledge the contact calls. Thanks!

 

[wrench13]

Such great info you are getting ! I suggest you create your own contact call , to answer back your sunnie when she calls you. A simple " I'm here, where are you? can re-assure her that you are OK and safe and near by. Salty responded really well when we started doing this -he can be pretty loud and persistent. Using a contact call ( different one for each family member) cut down on the number of repetitive screams he started to do. He is just looking for reassurance, like Ellen and Sunnnyclover are saying. As with any parrot training, be consistent and dont give up!

 

[Betrisher]

Does your bird make any other sounds that are a little more acceptable than the ear-splitting yell? Perhaps you could encourage those sounds in the hope they might replace the yelling?

My corella is a bellower and I've recently made some very good headway by teaching her to whistle on command. It took about ten minutes and after that, all I had to do was say 'sing, 'setta' and she would. Next step will be to say 'sing, 'setta' when she's in the middle of bellowing. Let's hope it works to teach her a quiet voice instead of a parade-ground bellow!

Just thought I'd share with you since I have high hopes it might work. Good luck!

Betrisher