Dealing With an Obnoxiously Loud Parrot

Whether you own a small parakeet or a large Macaw, all parrots are highly social animals that enjoy singing, talking and dancing. In fact, this is one of the reasons why so many people choose to own them.

With a little bit of work, you can train a parrot to say basic words and phrases. However, some parrots may take their vocal abilities to another level by constantly screaming in their high-pitched tone. As you can expect, behavior such as this can be quite annoying for you and anyone else living inside the home.

In this post, we're going to cover some ways to make a parrot stop screaming.

Is Your Parrot Getting Enough Attention?

Parrots may scream for a number of different reasons, one of the most common is because they are not getting enough attention. It’s said that full-grown parrots have the mentality of a 2-3 year old child, which is pretty amazing.

As a result, they’re able to learn words, sing, dance and perform trained actions. This also means parrots crave the attention of their owners. If you don’t talk and play with them each day, they will start screaming to try and get you to come over and acknowledge them.

So, how are you supposed to stop your parrot from screaming when they want attention? While some owners will fall for their parrot’s screaming trap, it’s recommended that you actually ignore them.

Playing or even talking to your parrot when they screaming will only reward them for their bad behavior, which is exactly what you don’t want to do.Instead, continue walking by your parrot as if they aren’t screaming at all.

Hopefully, they will get the message that what they are doing is not working; therefore, they won’t waste their time trying to scream at you anymore.

In addition to ignoring their screams, some owners take it a step further by spraying their parrot with a water bottle. This doesn’t hurt or harm the parrot in anyway, but it does let them know that what they are doing is unacceptable.

Try to ignore your parrot’s screams at first and if that doesn’t work, then you can keep a spray bottle filled with water next to their cage for any outbreaks.

Does Your Parrot Need Food or Water?

Another reason why some parrots scream is simply because they need food or water. When you’re busy working, taking care of the kids, fixing dinner and doing your everyday chores, it’s easy to overlook feeding and watering your parrot.

However, they need food and water just like we do, and they’ll oftentimes let you know this by screaming. Be sure you are on top of your parrot healthcare.

Watch Your Voice!

It's no secret that parrots love to mimic their owners. If you are naturally a loud person who's constantly screaming at a sports game on television, then your parrot may pick up on this behavior and try to mimic you.

Be aware of your voice levels and try to your voice low when you are around them. This alone will be a huge step in training your parrot to stop screaming.

Dealing With Screaming

So, what should you do when your parrot starts a screaming episode? Some owners may try to punish them with a water bottle, feather duster, etc.

Nine out of ten times, though, this has little-to-no effect on their behavior. You have to realize that most parrots scream because they desire attention. By spraying your parrot with a water bottle of performing them some other disciplinary action, you are essentially giving them attention.

A better option is to ignore your parrot completely when they are screaming. I know it's hard for some owners to completely block out the sound of a high-pitched screeching parrot, but it's necessary to encourage them to stop. Don't talk, pet or even walk over to your parrot while they are screaming. Let them get it out of their system and hopefully they will stop.

Avoid Treats

Unless you want to reward your parrot for their bad behavior, you should avoid giving them treats until they've completely stopped screaming. Parrots love an occasional grape, apple slide or cracker as a treat.

In a previous post, we discussed homemade snack treats for your pet parrot. Withholding them from your parrot will teach them that screaming is unacceptable. Parrots are smarter than most people give them credit for, and it won't take long before they associate their screaming behavior with a lack of treats.

From small parakeets to large African Greys, all parrots -- big and small -- are going to make noise. This is how they communicate in the wild, so it's only natural for them to exhibit this behavior in captivity.

Learn 5 surprising facts about parrots in our previous post. Sometimes they may only do it on occasion, while other times they will do anytime you walk by their cage. If your parrot is exceptionally loud, however, you may want to train them to be just a little quieter.