Excessive Noise (vocalization) PT1

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Excessive Noise (vocalization) PT1
Topic Started: Nov 20 2008, 02:34 AM (1,069 Views)
theexbrit	Nov 20 2008, 02:34 AM Post #1
Co Admin Posts: 4,144 Group: Co Admin Member #74 Joined: March 20, 2007 How many Parrotlets do you have 3 What types Pacifics What colours Green, pied Other Birds ? 2 Conures - Crimson Bellied & Green Cheeked I live in So. California My name is Andy	This article is for parrots in general, but it may help with a noisy parrotlet too. Wilson, Liz. (2006). Excessive Vocalizations in Companion Parrots. Animal Behavior Consulting: Theory and Practice. Fall issue, pp. 37-40 A prior version of this paper was first published in the online proceedings for the North American Veterinary Conference, Orlando, Florida, 2005. Excessive noise is a common complaint heard from parrot owners, and it highlights how a caretaker’s unrealistic expectations can cause problems for companion parrots. People often ask how to teach their parrots to be quiet, as if this were just a matter of training. On the contrary! Nature did not give psittacines their impressive voices and then expect them to be unused. Parrots are loud animals and they cannot be taught to be otherwise. Unfortunately, lay bird magazines still print articles that publicize particular species as being “quiet,” without explaining that that this does not mean they are silent. Instead, some species are considered “quiet” (i.e., budgerigars, cockatiels, pionus) when compared to those species that are considered extremely loud (i.e., cockatoos and macaws). Normal vs. Abnormal “Normal” noise levels vary from species to species, as well as between individuals. Generally speaking, psittacines vocalize (often loudly) throughout the day. Macaws, Amazons, and cockatoos normally produce 15- to 20-minute bursts of ear-shattering, gut-wrenching screams several times a day, especially in the morning and evening. This is perfectly normal for these species, but frequently unacceptable for humans. Parrot behavior consultants are frequently asked to adjust the noise level of a parrot who is not vocalizing excessively. The author uses videotapes with phone consults, and is constantly amazed at how quiet people expect their parrots to be. On the other hand, a parrot who screams for hours on end definitely has a problem, and so do the humans with whom it lives. Unintentional Rewards The basic rule is this: A parrot who screams excessively has been rewarded for screaming. The first step in changing a behavior is to examine its purpose, so questions must be asked about the owner’s response to a screaming episode. In a valiant effort to reduce the racket, some people inadvertently reinforce the behavior with drama and attention. When questioned regarding their response to the racket, owners often admit such things as giving the parrot a treat to quiet it. Others make the classic mistake of ignoring a parrot when it is quiet and noticing it only when it screams. Obviously, attention is a reward. The classic human response of hollering at a shrieking bird simply exacerbates the problem, because now the opiate of High Drama has been added to the mix.1 The “Time Out” Adopted from child psychology, the “time out” technique also provides an unintentional reward for a parrot. The bird screams and the human responds by picking it up and taking it into another room where it is left by itself. Since parrots appear to connect a behavior with what happens immediately afterward, they seem to make the connection that they scream and they get picked up. However, a variation of the “time-out” can be effective, and this will be discussed later in this article.



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