How do I get my birds from squaking?

I have 3 birds. A cockatoo, amazon, and a sun conor. They are all in the same room. Usally when one says something or squaks they all start going. But I have taken them out of the room a few times and then they get all sad and start biting there feathers. Any ideas on how to get them to stop?

Birds dont deal well with change. Even the smallest change. So you don't want to remove their friends. What you need to do is positively reinforce the good behaviors and distinguish when they are behaving badly and when they are scared. Birds will squak or scream loudly when scared (ex. a new sound or a stranger appears) and will try to warn the "flock" which is the other two birds in the room and you. When they are speaking in a soft tone which you deem appropriate then give them a small quickly edible treat. When they are screaming just to scream (not scared...no new sounds or people there) repeat over and over "bad bird bad bird bad bird" its something that will annoy them and will be a negative thing to a bad behavior. Also they should be foraging for food. There are lots of great books out there about how to get your birds to forage. If they are bored they might just start yellling and screaming for fun. If they are "working" to find food then they are too busy to scream for fun. Example of foraging toy is a peice of favorite food wrapped up in a white piece of paper for them to destroy and get into. They sell tons of toys for birds to forage from or you can make them. Whatever makes them think about how to get to the food. If that doesnt work it is always good to see a Avian Behaviorist ( the avian vet should be this person or know someone who will.) Goodluck!

Stop The Squawk
Discover the 11 Dos (and a few Don鈥檛s) of training parrots not to scream
By Elise Kaplan


Do: Expect a fair amount of noise on a regular basis. Certain species are definitely louder than others. Amazons, cockatoos and Aratinga conures, such as suns or jendays, are known to blast eardrums just to express the sheer joy of being alive. Budgies chatter and cockatiels whistle. Even my Pionus, Ariel, is capable of quite respectable volume.

Do: Make sure that your pet bird is safe and well. If you hear a call that sounds different 鈥?that sounds like an alarm call 鈥?it鈥檚 better to be safe than sorry and make sure your bird is OK. Of course, some birds have a way of making that alarm call if, for example, 鈥渟omebody鈥?has loaded their water dish with soggy pellets or eaten the last grape. By being observant and noting the types of calls your bird makes on different occasions, you will know when your bird really needs you.

Do: Make sure your bird knows how to play on its own. It seems odd, but many birds are not born knowing how to play with toys. They can learn on their own, in time, or by watching other birds play. You also can let your bird watch you enjoy a toy to give it an idea of how much fun it can be. If your pet has a variety of entertaining toys that you rotate frequently, it will have less time to fret about missing you.

Do: Greet your bird when you come home. Chances are, it has been waiting for you while you were out and is eager to see you. If you wander off to read your mail or start preparing dinner without taking a moment to say 鈥渉ello,鈥?your bird is likely to react with righteous indignation. Establish a routine of greeting your bird, even briefly, soon after you walk in the door.

Do: Take your bird with you when you can. It might not always be practical or safe to have your bird with you; for example, a kitchen with a lit stove isn鈥檛 the safest place for your bird to spend its time. On the other hand, you can avoid a lot of problem screaming by keeping a perch for your bird to use in other rooms, even if you are just folding laundry or reading a book. After all, isn鈥檛 it flattering that your bird demands your company so enthusiastically?

Do: Call to your bird frequently when you are around the house. If you can get in the habit of calling to your bird before it thinks to call you, you can nip in the bud a lot of problem screaming.

Do: Establish an acceptable contact call. If your bird talks, you can encourage it to call 鈥淗ello鈥?or 鈥淲hatcha doin鈥欌€?rather than shake the windows with a scream. Birds that aren鈥檛 big talkers also can be taught to use more acceptable sounds to communicate. For example, Ariel is fond of a certain lip-smacking kiss sound, and many birds can produce a good wolf whistle. Call to your bird frequently with the preferred contact call, and it is likely to start using it as well.

Do: Reward use of the contact call. Respond to the more acceptable contact call by returning the call, answering in your own words or poking your head briefly into the bird鈥檚 room if you can. Be consistent and generous in your response if you would like your bird to learn quickly that this contact call, rather than a scream, is going to produce the best results.

Do: Use a cue when you leave the room for a short time. If you are consistent about saying 鈥淏e right back!鈥?each time you briefly leave the room, your bird will quickly learn that you will reappear soon and not to worry. Use a different cue such as 鈥淏e a good bird today!鈥?when you head off to work.

Do: Expect a negative habit to take as much time to undo then it did to become established in the first place. If you have spent the last six months effectively teaching your bird that you will appear when it screams, your parrot will not immediately stop the screaming in response to your efforts. Unfortunately, your bird is likely to spend a period of time screaming louder and more often than before.

Don鈥檛s: Don鈥檛 yell or punish. Responding angrily, banging on the cage bars and other negative responses will not only fail to correct a screaming problem, they also will damage the trust your bird has in you and in other members of the human race.

Don鈥檛s: Don鈥檛 respond in a way your bird won鈥檛 understand. If you put your bird in a timeout or cover its cage, it won鈥檛 be likely to associate this action as a consequence to screaming, although it might actually be momentarily gratified each time you reappear to move it or cover it up.

Don鈥檛s: Don鈥檛 reward screams. Whenever you call or reappear in response to a scream, you are teaching your bird that screaming gets the results it wants.

Don鈥檛s: Don鈥檛 give up. If you think the screaming will get worse (and it will, for a period of time) and decide to go back to rewarding screaming as you did before, the screaming habit will be more firmly entrenched than ever. Stay focused on the goal in order to get through this difficult period, and ultimately both you and your pet bird will be happier for it.

I have a YN amazon and she doesn't like loud noises. Will start squaking or usually yelling (in words) really loudly. I treat her like the 2 year old she is. (she's about 20 years in real time) And I treat her when she's good and ignore her when she's bad. (though I will glare at her) and I try to distract her from screaming. That worked for me, but I only have her (and a simple 'tiel that only whistles) I hope this helps. Treat them like a 2 year old and be firm. I was surprised when I found out that my bird understood the word NO! Good Luck.

You can't make them stop. You have two of the loudest, noisiest birds it's possible to have, and the Amazon will just try to keep up with them.

You have your hands full..your so lucky. The cockatoo would be noisey even if he was alone..nothing will change it. The sun conure is the noisest of the conures and thats a fact. Now the amazon, alone they are usually fairly quiet. Have you ever heard birds in the wild and how noisey they are..they'er communicating with each other. And so are your birds. I find mine aren't as noisy if the TV is on or the radio is on { calming music not rap}

suffication, no just kidding. um.....i don't know, send them to bird obideince school?? maybe?? do they even have that??

How do you keep a human from talking? Did you forget that you have 3 BIRDS? Didn't you realize that they make calls to other birds as a form of communication? They need the interaction & it's unfair not to let them have it.
If it's too much noise, maybe you should place them in a home better prepared to care for them.

put blankets over the cage or let them out to play.

put a blanket over them and give them good treats

I would take a guess it started after the conure was in the room.The conure should not be in the same room with the large birds ,as it may be killed as a pest by one of the larger birds like a mosquito.The cockatoo no mater what kind needs -demands near constant attention .The amazon a lot depend on it's attitude and size but does need time alone with you or others the same is true with them all.To some it is noise to the ones that should have birds it is music.