Ringneck Love

Hossinn

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Hello,

I have a problem...my Indian Ringneck, "Neelo", loves me too much. I understand this is a common problem, but Neelo seems to be obesessed with me and could really care less about the other members of our family. He's fine (doesn't bite them, will go to their finger, will even whistle back, etc.) but he wouldn't mind if they all disappeared and it was just the two of us :)

Now, with the Pandemic, and me working from home, it's quite distracting because he wants to constantly sit on my computer mouse controlling hand, or stare/poke at my wedding band, but that's not necessarily a problem. I can even handle the regurgitation which I believe is him saying he REALLY loves me.

The problem I'm having is Neelo's squawking. If I'm ever home, and he can't see me (working in the garage, for example), or he hears me talking with a client on the phone, he will squawk incessantly. Even though I feel kinda bad doing so, I've been trying to "train" him by saying, "No Squawk", and putting him in his travel cage, in a dark room, for 10 minutes (I set a timer), in hopes he will associate being in this room (not enjoyable) with his squawking.

So far, it doesn't seem to be helping at all, so I'm looking for recommendations.

1. Is this training method appropriate?
2. Do you think this training method has the potential to work?
3. If yes, do I need to just keep it up?
4. If I'm doing it all wrong, any suggestions?

Also, prior to me putting him in the room, I say "No Squawk", each time he squawks. My concern, of course, is that he wants attention, so if I make a sound ("No Squawk") when he makes a sound, maybe he sees my sound as a reward (even though he ultimately ends up in the dark room)...

Thank you for any help you can offer.

Hossinn
 

Jottlebot

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I wonder whether putting him in the dark room until he is quiet rather for a set amount of time would be better. Then you are 'punishing' the unwanted behavior and rewarding the behavior you want. You'll probably need to practice plenty of times. When you just use the verbal que and he is quiet, even for a second, you need to reward him too.

Also, I think you need to discourage all the mate-related behavior. It sounds like you've identified that the noise is an escalation of the clingyness and regurgitation so all of it needs to be discouraged.

Look at the basics too, so diet, sleep, activity level. I think sometimes families will start the basic care being done by the non-favourite person/people just to weaken that bond a little bit.
 

noodles123

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I would never put a bird in the dark during daytime. That is like covering them and that is bad news---covering at bedtime is fine, but never during the day as a means of controlling behavior. NEVER put a hormonal bird in a dark space unless they are sleeping-- it will trigger more hormonal behavior. That is why snuggle huts, tents, boxes etc are bad news too.

Their light cycles regulate mood and behavior (as well as hormones and immune health), so doing that is like putting a bandaid on a gunshot wound. It will make things worse in the long run, even if it seems to help short-term.

How much sleep does he get nightly? This is huge... 10-12 hours is needed for immune and mood/hormone health.
Pet on the head and neck only and try to teach independence--- does your bird play with toys?

You need to work on planned ignoring of the squawking, but that will take some time and it has to be done gradually. You do not want to change the lighting for this...seriously..

This link may help-- I talk about planned ignoring of screaming some on here: http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/86786-need-help-bird-upsetting-whole-family.html

This is part of the post I wanted you to read in the link above:

"Again, when you leave their line of sight, talk to them BEFORE the screaming starts. You can often prevent it this way...Make sure you have no snuggle huts, hidey huts, dark spaces etc around the bird (as these often make behavior much worse) and make sure that NO ONE is petting the bird outside of the head/neck region. This is huge, along with sleep.

Once the attention screaming starts, if you are already in the room, you can leave or stay with your back turned (not sure why you would want to), but NO ONE else should enter. No one else should look at, talk to or talk about the bird..not even other animals!!! DO NOT YELL AT OR ABOUT THE BIRD (they definitely know when you are talking about them)...Do not look at the bird... Once that tantrum screaming starts (again, the attention screaming, not the truly scared toy screaming) you should cut off all eye contact, verbal responses, proximity etc. Start at 5 seconds if it is really bad...Mississippi seconds...1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi etc. Any scream between the time you re-start counting . When you get a solid 5 s of silence, return to the room and using a quiet voice, say, "thanks for getting quiet". You can start at 10 if 5 seems too easy. NO ONE can re-enter the room during a scream-fest under any circumstance, or the bird will feel that his calling achieved the goal...even if someone just came in to grab their phone.
Again, if you are already in the room, you can stay or leave, but no one must enter and no one must talk about or look at the bird."


"When ignoring a behavior, it often gets WORSE before it gets better, so DO NOT give in. This is called an extinction burst and it happens with humans and birds. When you ignore attention screaming, it WILL get worse before it gets better and the worst thing you can do is break at this time...If you give in, you become an attention slot machine, and there is a reason people are addicted to gambling (Jottlebot mentions this above) One misstep and you will make the behavior all the much harder to break.

Imagine you could push a button and get money. You push the button, and you eventually get money...One day, you start pushing the button and no money appears....You are going to slam and kick that button because, historically, you know what happens when you hit it enough times...

These earplugs work well and without them, you may find your will-power fading. NO ONE can break during this time...not even the kids. Heck, even the dogs could be reinforcing this behavior. You need to be certain that no living being enters the room or reacts when this is going on. You can also give a treat when you praise for getting quiet, but ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) dictates that the "reward" should match the purpose or function of the behavior, so if your bird is doing this for attention, attention should be the primary reward, although you can also give a treat at the same time. That having been said, a treat is a tangible. so you need to make sure attention is in the foreground."

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Hossinn

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Thank you so much for this response. It makes a lot of sense, and also feels like we have quite a challenge ahead of us, that will require real commitment and patience.

- Neelo is getting 10-12 hours of sleep each night.
- The dark room issues you mention make sense.
- My concern is that ignoring him won't work. Sometimes he'll squawk for many minutes at a time. It feels like he won't stop...which is when we've been practicing the dark room strategy.
- As an example, if I'm in the office working, he might be fine for 10 mins, 20 mins, 60 mins, then out of nowhere he will begin squawking for many minutes. What is the process at that point? Do I go into the room he's in and tell him something ("you can't make squawking sounds while I'm working"), or is this where we are to ignore him? If ignoring him at this point is the strategy, does the learning only occur because nobody is saying anything or looking at him?
- If I go in the room, only when he begins squawking, then he's obviously received the reward he was looking for.
- If the ignoring doesn't work, do we take him to another room, WITH THE LIGHTS ON (punishment)?
- Assuming I'm understanding all of the above, I would put him in the room for a very short amount of time, then praise him and bring him out. If he squawks again, I put him back in the room (for a longer period of time?)

OMG, I feel confused.
 
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noodles123

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The ignoring thing---no, it doesn't work right away. I would anticipate up to 4 hours of screaming a day if your bird is motivated. It takes time and consistency. You have to be more stubborn and do everything you can to prevent it ahead of time.

You may have a rocky few weeks-- and 4 hours is high..but you have to be religious with the count rule. No one can break, and you can't expect instant results-- always gets worse first (also).

You also need to still attend to them when not screaming etc-- so this is like a kid who needs a lot to stay sane (not the kid's fault) but also, has to have boundaries.

In the meantime, I would take calls outside, far away in the house, or prevent the screaming altogether..

Talking to him at all while he is screaming is responding with attention and rewarding attention-seeking behavior. That is why you want to prevent it and ignore it when it starts.
The exception would be fear screaming, which sounds different....and that shouldn't be ignored.
When he is quiet for the count that you determine is appropriate, then you can use your key-words to praise "good quiet at work" or whatever.
 
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Hossinn

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What if:

- The family is watching television in the living room and he is squawking at me from the living room (can see me in the office)? He's being ignored by them, but he's calling out to me. Is one of the potential solutions to simply bring him into the office with me? That will DEFINITELY quiet him down, but I feel it reinforces his only wanting to be around me.
- I walk downstairs to exercise in the garage, and he is calling out to me (because he knows/thinks I'm down there)? I guess I could take him down with me, in his travel cage, but my concern is same as above (I'm reinforcing his wanting to constantly be around me, by having him with me).

With regards to scratching only on head and neck, is it not appropriate to pet him all the way down his back to his tail feathers? What about scratching/rubbing his beak? These are things he likes/doesn't mind, but I don't want to be scratching wrong places.
 

noodles123

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No-- not if he is squawking. You can do it BEFORE the screaming starts, but after, you are out of luck (that's when you start the 1 Mississippi count to 10 or 15 seconds before returning, re-starting anytime you hear a scream). You have to know him will enough to either prevent it or have everyone wait it out. No attention should be give to attention-seeking screaming (no matter the reason)--which is why prevention and teaching are so important. You also will play a huge part in TEACHING independence (rewarding interest and proximity to toys etc unrelated to screaming)

It is VERY sexual to pet him anywhere other than the head and neck (for anyone, including you--unless it it VERY short for a vet exam or something)....touching elsewhere is like a make-out session (and then some). Beaks are still sexual for many birds, but it's hard to say without meeting yours--if it's like 2 seconds, fine..but no more.
You are his chosen one, so he lets you, but it sends the wrong message...he's sending signals that he has picked you as his mate.
If it is really short and sweet, for veterinary purposes etc, that is okay-- but just b/c he allows it, doesn't mean you should indulge it.

The ignoring WILL work--just maybe not as well as you hope as soon as you hope. They will always be flock animals, and you will always be fighting nature, but you NEVER want to enter the room when a bird screaming for attention is screaming for attention---not to move them, not to get something, not to shut off the lights (NEVER to shut off the lights, but never to the rest as well lol)
 
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noodles123

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They DO need a lot of attention and handling--- so I am not saying to ignore them at all. Ring-necks need to be handled or they get cranky fast...
I am just saying, do all of that BEFORE the screaming starts and make sure diet, sleep etc are appropriate.
 
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Hossinn

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To be clear, if/when we are in the same space (generally the same room) with Neelo, the squawking is minimal. For this reason, it's difficult to do the "Turn and Ignore", because when he's squawking we're generally already turned and ignoring. The biggest change, from your teaching, is that we will not be rewarding his squawk with an audible of our own ("no squawk")...we will simply ignore his squawks, and hope that's enough...and give him more positive attention when he's not squawking.

The sexual piece is so interesting (and strange). Now that you've provided additional feedback, I understand why he constantly wants to be near my hand (while I'm typing or using the mouse). He will want to press his beak against my hand and/or regurgitate on my hand. In very rare cases, because it's absolutely not allowed, he will push the front of his body (genital region?) against my hand. I'm assuming my immediately moving him from the desk to the back of a chair (perch) is the correct action...? Should there be a related word/command ("no")?

If he gets near my hand and "clucks", is that sexual?
If he leans over, then stands up tall when he's around me, is that sexual?

Sheesh!
 

noodles123

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In terms of the beak, hard to say with each bird what is sexual and what is not, but most parrots are programmed to find 1 mate (for the most part), so when you are getting hints that you are his mate, it's a lovely thing/huge compliment, and you have to be kind (not his fault) but you also have to be cautious.

It's natural...it's normal...just don't encourage it...Don't feed-in. Don't lead your bird on.

My bird is obsessed with me--but she has never tried to lay an egg, or regurgitate or anything. SO FAR (EEEEK!!!)

That having been said, we still have boundaries. If she starts getting weird, I playfully and loudly change the subject and try to put her down without seeming like I am doing it in a mad way.

You can be a sexual object without feeding into the sexual behavior...LOL...if that makes sense...
Like, just because he is interested, doesn't mean you have to make him think you are.. that can be huge.

They still need a lot of attention and contact and love and all of that, but you have to try and give him that without crossing a weird line. HE will try to cross it, and you can't blame him for instinct, so at that point, just re-direct to a game or something silly without mean harsh. You have to be planning when and where and how to give that attention etc--- reward desired behaviors with attention...ignore those you do not like (clearly your bird is after your attention, so it's like a hundred-dollar bill).

You will never stop him from being a parrot/screaming sometimes/ being a flock animal...but if you attend to it properly, you can adjust the level to some extent and you can reward independence etc (with attention, if that is his thing). To be clear, screaming and all of this stuff is natural...our homes are not...so this is a matter of trying to shape a desired behavior---so please remember to be patient, as this is not your bird's fault.

You still have to be his everything....without being his sex partner...and that is tricky...so ignoring all affection is not okay, as they need that...it's a tricky "dance"...you know how there is a difference between how you show affection to family, vs a significant other? You have to figure out what that looks like in parrot terms lol.
 
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Hossinn

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I feel like I'm monopolizing your time. I promise I won't keep going on forever.

With regards to the squawking, we generally have Neelo's cage open all day, after he wakes. In addition to the strategies you've already shared, is it ever appropriate/helpful to give him a friendly timeout, in his main cage? Can that help, or is he likely to continue squawking from there?
 

noodles123

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You are fine- I am procrastinating things I do not want to do by spending time on the forum lol! I am sure there are people out there who won't agree with me, but I am fairly confident in what I am saying.

A time out from squawking will not necessarily help if it means that you PHYSICALLY move him or attend to him in the process of getting him to his main cage (assuming it's attention seeking).

He is playing an instinctual slot machine that tells him, if I do X, then my favorite bird/human/whatever will appear.

If he is fear screaming, again, that is different, and you SHOULD show up..but this seems like attention screaming.

You can give "time-outs" if the goal is removal from reinforcement (but it depends on what is reinforcing him), and you do not want him to see his cage as a punishment. If the behavior is based on attention, you do not want to have to GIVE attention to get him to the time-out space (unless you run out of options). Even with humans, although it is misused, the intention behind time-out is removal from whatever is making the behavior go (reinforcement). People erroneously use it as punishment, but that wasn't the intention when doctors popularized it originally.

People started using time-outs for kids because doctors said it was smart- but the whole idea is that attention (or something in the environment) is stimulating the bad behavior and it is what they want- so you remove them from that, and they will be good to go back to those people/that environment. Again, people misuse it, but that was the purpose.

You also want to REWARD (witth attention) any sounds that are nice/pleasant/talking etc (when used as an alternative to screaming)
 
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noodles123

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Here's a link on stuff about ABA (applied behavior analysis). It's what I do for a living, but it works with parrots. Look into it if you want to see where my logic is coming from.
http://theautismhelper.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ABA-101-Handouts-The-Autism-Helper.pdf

Here is an example of how I use it with parrots (I posted this for a member in a different situation)

From there, I would recommend Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Start by making what they call an ABC chart (antecedent= what happens right before the bird's behavior, behavior=what the bird does, c= consequence =what happens right after the behavior (good or bad---consequence is just the RESULT and it doesn't mean consequence in the same way that we sometimes think of a consequence).

In the scenario you gave above:

Antecedent= Son laughed while you were playing with him and bird was on you.
behavior= bird flew off and bit son on lip.....You didn't say what happened next, but that would be the consequence.
consequence= WHATEVER YOU AND YOUR SON DID=== did he cry? Did you yell? Did your son leave the room? Did you put the bird back on the cage? Did you stop playing Monopoly? All of these things are really important because all behaviors serves a purpose. People and animals only do things because we are rewarded in some conscious or subconscious way by the results of the behavior. This is called the "function" of a behavior (the reason we do it). A behavior can have more than one function, but all behaviors fall into 1 of 4 categories:

1. Escape (to get out of a location, get away from a person, avoid a task/activity etc)
2. Attention (to get attention from humans or animals which may include eye contact, yelling, laughter, increased proximity, scolding etc)
3.Tangibles- to obtain a physical item---e.g., a kid throwing a fit to get candy at the grocery store or hitting another kid to take their toy. Heck---working for a paycheck also falls into this realm.
4. Sensory= eating when hungry (to stop the hunger), taking a pill for a headache, scratching your skin because it itches, crying as a response to legitimate pain.

I would say that this behavior, while rooted in a sudden change in hormones/ drive, can be shaped if you start to understand how everyone's reactions are likely feeding into it.

By charting ABC's of a behavior, you start to see a pattern. When you look at the "c" column (consequences) you will find a general pattern. Without knowing more about this pattern of behavior and consequences (e.g., charting it) I cannot say with certainty what the function/reason is, but just based on what you said and based on my experiences, I am going to guess that after you do the charting, you will probably notice that the majority of the "consequences" will be linked to the theme/"function" of attention ---but when you look at the chart, you will want to ask yourself, is this consequence creating an opportunity for attention, escape, tangibles or sensory. You may have a combination, but you are looking for the once you see most frequently across the board in relation to this behavior.

This is how you determine the function (reason for doing) a behavior. When you know the function, you can then manipulate the behavior by A) NOT gratifying/rewarding the behavior with consequences that serve the function and B) providing more appropriate ways for the function of that behavior to be met without doing it in an inappropriate way. These are socially acceptable alternatives to the undesirable location--- they allow the same function to be met/gratified, but in a more appropriate way.

From the sounds of it, your bird is likely motivated by 1. primarily attention from you and 2. Escape/avoidance of your son (because he is an attention-blocker/associated with lack of attention from you).--I AM JUST GUESSING--- IF I AM WRONG ABOUT ATTENTION BEING THE FUNCTION THEN YOU WILL NEED TO DO A DIFFERENT INTERVENTION---

I can't say for sure without knowing how you react when this stuff happens, but if he is like most 7 year-olds, here's what I imagine:

Playing game with you (attention is on game and kid) , Kid laughs, bird bites.
Kid screams, you stop paying attention to the game , you yell/scold/react while looking at bird-- if this happens, so far, the bird has learned that biting gets attention from you and your kid (if what happens is anything like what I just described)--if your kid leaves, then your bird no longer sees you giving him that attention and all is right in the world again (the "threat" has been removed). He wants your attention because he is a flock creature, but also because he is reaching sexual maturity and likely views you as a mate and in the wild, conures do not share mates. Your kid is a potential threat as long as you are a sexual object. This doesn't mean withdrawing all attention from your bird, but it does mean that you will have to be EXTRA mindful about how you interact with him in order to set the bird up for success (before the behavior occurs and in situations where the behavior is likely to occur).

In an attention seeking behavior, the bigger your reaction, the more you are rewarding the bird. In this case, 2 people reacting with urgency could be quite gratifying!
Assuming the bird really wants attention from you, instead of making a big thing of it, my suggestion would be to firmly say No (NOT loudly, one time) and use something like a time-out cage to isolate the bird immediately following the bite. If you are the object of the bird's attention seeking then you need to accomplish this as quickly as possible with as little eye-contact/reaction as possible. This will only work if you are absolutely certain that your bird is biting for attention--- by doing a short time-out away from you and your son, his attention seeking behavior cannot be reinforced.

At the same time, after a short time-out, you need to show him positive ways that he can get attention from you while your son is around WITHOUT biting. This is that socially acceptable equivalent I discussed earlier-- if he bites for attention, maybe you teach him to ring a bell for attention, say a word word for attention, take a treat for attention etc. Something that gets him the same type of reward without upsetting the household.

Because this involves a kid, it IS more complicated though because it's going to be really hard for your son to control his reactions. If he cannot control his reactions, then you need to consider avoiding situations in which things like this can occur, because if you are trying to stick with the "ignoring" program, but he keeps reacting, then you will likely make the behavior even worse...so it's important to be as consistent as possible once you start an intervention.

I would definitely try to pair your son with positives for the bird. It is likely that you pay attention to your child more than the bird when he is around, and that is no fun for the bird. Try to make a conscious effort of giving your bird MORE attention (for positives) when your son is around and pair him with as many positives as possible. In an attention seeker, attention will always be the most important reward, but you can tack on other incentives too (like a favorite treat whenever he is with you and your son). The thing is, the treat MUST be secondary to the main reward (attention ). While it can help strengthen positive associations, an attention-seeker's behavior is never going to be impacted by food alone (unless getting that food is accompanied by the attention it desires)."
 
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Hossinn

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We're lucky to have your expertise on this forum. Thank you. Everything you say is very helpful and makes good sense. To re-state my particular situation (after I've read through all of your comments), we don't have a bird who will squawk in our face. If that were the case, the turn/ignore for 5 seconds strategy seems more applicable.

Our problem is that our bird squawks when I'm not in his eyesight (he's watching me from the living room, as I walk to the kitchen where he can't see me), or I'm in his eyesight but not with him (he sees me through the living room window, pulling weeds out in the front yard). I don't think it makes sense to walk up to him, then turn and ignore, right?

It might help to put him in his travel cage, and take him wherever I go (out front while I weed, on the porch while I drink a coffee, in the garage while I exercise), but then we will not have addressed the problem (squawking when I'm not with him).

Currently, we're ignoring his squawking (while watching tv for example) and trying to give him positive reinforcement when he makes pleasant sounds. Problem is if I give him a treat or positive reinforcement for being quiet or making pleasant sounds, that's all great. If my wife, however, says "good boy, nice sounds", while she's in the living room folding laundry, for example, he will often respond with a squawk (non-desired behavior).

Like the bird biting the child on the lip, does it make sense to do a quick cage time-out, with an associated audible (no squawk)? I think this is similar to my initial question. The only difference would be that the time out is not in a dark room...
 

noodles123

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If he is squawking while he can see you because you aren't near him, just keep doing what you were doing and don't look at him or anything..don't react (act like you cannot hear it)

You are going to have to wait it out. TRY to prevent it by talking as you leave---and pop back in quickly BEFORE the screaming starts...so, in addition to ignoring the screaming, you can walk away for like 5 seconds, and if he is quiet, go back and say good job...increase that time over time. Use words and phrases, like "be right back" , "going to the bathroom" etc etc. It seems silly, but they learn to associate times with your routines etc and labeling them BEFORE the screaming starts, can reduce these issues when done in conjunction with the ignoring.

It is not practical to take him with you everywhere, which is why he needs to learn. Don't put a bandaid on a wound that will eventually need 100 stitches. I am not saying that you cannot do that sometimes, but he has to learn that he can be okay without you in the room sometimes, and if you just ignore that and bring him with you 100% of the time, he learns 0% independence and could have a serious melt-down if you ever had to travel or get surgery or work away from home.

That having been said, many people have a few play-stands etc in their homes that they let their birds hang out on-- but it shouldn't be because he can't be alone without screaming...

He wants your physical attention, so if she says "good boy" but doesn't appear, she isn't actually fully rewarding the behavior (plus, at this point, screaming IS his communication, so if she talks to him from afar, he's going to scream naturally, in response)---she needs to walk over to him and praise at this point (once he gets better at this, that could change some). It is good to pair physical with verbal praise, but until he has this down better, she needs to quickly pause her activity when he is quiet for 15 s and go reward him. At that point, if you had a playstand in the room your were in, you might also consider moving him to it (along with physical and verbal praise). That way, he gets a dose of training, but you don't have to deal with another back-to-back scream-off.

The bird was biting the child to get the mom's attention OR to drive the child away...but that is very different.
In your case, as it is screaming, any response to the screaming is going to be a form of attention (assuming he is in fact screaming for attention). In the bite scenario, she had no choice--she couldn't ignore it because her child was getting attacked and was too young to deal with it himself...Leaving the bird there was not an option, neither was continuing to hold it. The cage was the safest place to put the bird away from what he wanted (her) and the "no bite" was just to label the behavior.

Here's the other thing--- the mom was what the bird wanted, so he got the time-out when he lost the privilege of being with people. When he was good though, he got to be with them (not all the time, but when she was holding him, as long as he was good, he could stay).
Even when yours is good, he is not getting to be with you (so he starts screaming to get you)...so you see what I mean? Do you see how that is different?
Yours is screaming BECAUSE he is not with people, so you wouldn't be taking anything away if you gave him a time-out (he's already on the bird-version of time-out in his mind)...he's already without the thing he wants.

You can't take a toy away from a child who has no toys...you can't take money from a kid with no savings...your bird is already away from you when he screams (BECAUSE he wants you), so if you move him you are 1. giving him some attention when you do move him, and then moving away again...which will just re-trigger the cycle.

Your situation is different because you don't HAVE to do anything---if you do anything, you are reacting to the screaming, which reinforces screaming for attention. If you put him in a room without you, you are just going to make him scream louder (plus, you would have to GIVE attention in order to move him)...You not being with him is making him scream, so you going up to him and moving him farther away teaches him nothing (it actually kind of rewards the screaming for a second)...He will just continue to scream in that other room and you will have to ignore it from there...

By physically and verbally ignoring his screams (without moving him), you ARE giving him a time-out. That is the whole point of ignoring it...Time-out means removal from reinforcement. The location is arbitrary.

Why does he scream? Attention
What are some forms of attention? Eye contact, verbal, proximity, touch, tonal reactions etc.
What should you do when he screams for attention? Ignore it and time it until he is quiet for x seconds (15 mississipi, 10..whatever you decide).
What should you do when he is quiet for a solid 10 or 15 seconds? Run in there, praise and say, "thanks for getting quiet" in a quiet voice.
Why shouldn't you take him to another room when he screams? Because he is screaming for you and if you go in there to move him, he gets a little reward and doesn't learn a replacement behavior...cycle continues and he learns that screaming gets him a little time with you, which is better than nothing...
What can you do to prevent it some? Try using key phrases, walking out of sight for much shorter periods and reappearing w/praise BEFORE he has time to scream, teach the words "wait", "be right back", "hold one, I'm coming" etc etc (start with one lol).
What can you do about his communication form? If he makes a sound you prefer, even if you are already in the room with him, make a big show of it, praise and treat him.

Noodles now says "I love you big bird" and a strand of other silly sweet things before screaming.
She also says "COME HERE!" repeatedly, which is annoying, but FAR better than screaming...so when she says come here, I do try to listen most of the time (although she knows, "hold on")---I don't run in right away for that one, but I try not to totally ignore it.
 
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