How to Handle Noisy Parrots

Parrots are noisy birds and if you have made a decision to keep a parrot, you have to learn to adapt to the squeaky sounds that they make. Yes they can talk beautiful words and entertain you. They can also sing like Bing Crosby. But there is also the other side, where they scream and squeak until your eardrums fell out.

Even the quietest of parrots can scream loud enough and often enough to make you wish you had kept a cat instead. The incessant screams can lead to complaints from your neighbors so be prepared to handle that.

So how do you get your parrots to shut up? You can’t use a scotch tape to tie the bird’s beak. The answer to that is to understand how parrots communicate and why they make all those noises. It is normal for a parrot to squeak or squawk and you have to accept that there is no such thing as a quiet parrot. Parrots can squawk for hours just like humans talk and chat non-stop. Then at the right time when the parrot has had enough, it will be quiet.

As in humans, the more comfortable a parrot is with its surroundings the more it will squawk. That’s why when you first take your parrot home it will be fairly quiet as it begins to adapt to its new home and surroundings. Once that is settled, be prepared for parrot noises.

However, parrots don’t squawk all day long. They usually do so early in the morning and then quiet down. They will then start the process again around sunset. They will also get a little active vocally after a nap. This is normal behavior which you should not worry about. It is an indication that your parrot is happy with its environment. If you feel that your parrot is noisier than usual, then it is quite possible that you have chosen a species that is more vocal than others. A Macaw can scream at ear piercing decibels for up to ten minutes at a time as compared to an African Grey or a Cockatoo.

As a parrot owner, you need to learn to identify between happy chirping and upset squawks. This is not hard to do once you have lived with your parrot after sometime. Upset squawks have a tone of desperation and unhappiness about them.

Once you’ve determined the cause of the noise, you can make your parrot quiet by giving it something to do. Like a baby, bored parrots scream more. Give them different parrot toys to amuse themselves and play with. You will notice that the sound will become less noisy and less frequent once the toys are placed in their cages.

Another thing you can look into is your parrot’s diet. Make sure that the food is fresh and has not expired. A healthy parrot is not going to be as noisy as one that is being fed with a proper meal.

Also look at the cage and ensure that the parrot has enough space to move about. Parrots squeal more in smaller cages. Let it out of the cage often so that the bird can feel the open space.

As a parrot owner, you have to accept the fact that parrots are noisy. But your love for parrots and their companionship means more to you than little noise inconveniences. What you can do is to look out for factors that cause your parrots to scream more and address that so that the noise can be minimized.
Azmi Adnan is a writer and a parrot enthusiast. Subscribe to his newsletter for interesting articles on parrots at his website http://www.power-to-live.com/parrot.html