Parrot Screaming is a common behavior issue that can be challenging for owners. While readily available resources and established methods exist to address this problem, many owners struggle to implement them effectively. This difficulty often stems from underlying psychological factors and ingrained habits rather than a lack of information. Understanding these internal barriers is crucial for achieving a quieter, happier coexistence with your feathered companion.
The Misconception of an “Easy” Problem
Many resources, including webinars and blog posts, suggest that solving parrot screaming is straightforward. The general approach involves ignoring the problematic noise (screaming) and reinforcing desirable behaviors like pleasant vocalizations or engagement with enrichment activities. While the information for solving screaming is accessible, the application proves difficult due to human psychology and emotional responses. My blog post from 2018 offers a refresher on these basic principles.
The Real Obstacles: Our Own “Stinking Thinking”
The persistent challenge of parrot screaming often arises because it forces us to confront uncomfortable aspects of ourselves and our interactions with our pets. Our own “stinking thinking”—our beliefs, assumptions, and emotional reactions—frequently obstructs the path to a solution.
1. Believing Our Own Stories About Our Parrots
A significant barrier is our tendency to anthropomorphize and tell ourselves stories about our parrots’ motivations and emotions. We interpret their screams as specific demands, such as wanting to be let out of their cage or needing immediate food. While it’s natural to want to meet our parrots’ needs, acting on these assumptions often inadvertently rewards the screaming behavior, reinforcing it for the future. For instance, opening the cage door or providing food in response to a scream will teach the parrot that screaming is an effective way to get what it wants.
This narrative can also lead us to take the screaming personally, believing the parrot is intentionally trying to upset us. Such a victim mentality prevents us from objectively analyzing the environmental triggers and consequences that maintain the screaming. A dispassionate approach, focusing on antecedents and consequences, is essential for effective behavior modification, rather than trying to “read the parrot’s mind.” A classic example involves an African Grey that learned to mimic a car alarm. The owners, believing it was a new problem, sought help again. The underlying solution, however, remained the same: reinforcing alternative behaviors and ignoring the unwanted noise.
2. The Influence of Our Own Behavior
The environment we create significantly impacts our parrots’ behavior. A household with consistently high noise levels can inadvertently encourage a parrot to be loud. Owners who are animated or loud when they speak may find their parrot mirroring this behavior. Evaluating whether your home environment supports quiet or noisy tendencies is crucial. Sometimes, the humans in the household need to adopt a calmer demeanor to encourage a quieter parrot.
3. Recognizing and Addressing Anxiety
Anxious parrots are often loud parrots. Owners may focus solely on the noise while overlooking accompanying body language that signals distress. Signs of anxiety include parrots that don’t settle, pace excessively, have tightly slicked-down feathers, stand tall, and vocalize shrilly. If a parrot is anxious, behavior modification alone will be insufficient. Addressing the root cause of the anxiety by modifying the environment—perhaps by moving the cage away from high-traffic areas, drawing blinds, or adding visual barriers like houseplants—is necessary to help the parrot relax. A more comfortable parrot is generally a quieter parrot.
4. Emotional Resilience and Self-Care
A screaming parrot can expose our own emotional vulnerabilities and stress levels. For some, the persistent noise can be overwhelming, pushing them to the brink. It’s important to examine personal stress levels and self-care routines. When faced with screaming, as in the case of the Moluccan cockatoo, Cyrano, who reacts intensely to free-flying cockatoos outside, resorting to an attitude of acceptance can be more effective than desperate attempts to immediately stop the noise. If the situation becomes too much, temporarily removing oneself from the vicinity, rather than taking an action that rewards the screaming, is a healthier coping mechanism. Developing emotional centeredness can help manage the unpleasantness without resorting to ineffective interventions.
5. Relationship Dynamics and Shared Responsibility
A screaming parrot can also highlight or exacerbate fractures in household relationships. When one person is significantly more attached to the bird than others, it can create a dynamic where the burden of managing the noise falls disproportionately on one individual. This can lead to anxiety, anger, and ultimatums, ultimately jeopardizing the parrot’s home. For instance, a client chose not to jeopardize her marriage for the sake of her parrot, leading to the bird’s rehoming. Effectively solving a screaming problem requires that everyone in the household is on the same page, committed to the solution, and supportive of each other in implementing the necessary steps.
The Inconvenient Truth
Ultimately, we are often the architects of our parrots’ screaming problems. Suboptimal environmental conditions and incorrect responses to the behavior we witness contribute significantly. To change our parrots’ behavior, we must first be willing to change our own. This requires self-awareness, emotional regulation, and a commitment to understanding the underlying causes of the behavior, rather than just focusing on the immediate noise.
Pamela Clark is an IAABC Certified Parrot Behavior Consultant and licensed veterinary technician passionate about helping people with parrots. You can find more free resources and subscribe to her newsletter at http://www.pamelaclarkonline.com.
