Screaming Cockatiel

nstrachan28

New member
Feb 4, 2013
7
0
Toronto
Parrots
Yellow Sided Conure (Suzuki), Cockatiel (Raffi)
Hello everyone,

I have a huge problem and I am not too sure what to do. When I moved away to university 5 years ago my mother called me one day about a cockatiel she had found in the dumpster when she was throwing away garbage one night. The bird looked like it was dying and was very small and grey. I came home that weekend and after feeding it and giving it a bath, we saw a dramatic change. It's plumage was actually light yellow and the bird soon became very energetic.

We gave it a separate cage from our conure because he wasn't reacting well to the new addition to the family. We soon found out it was a female and she was extremely social, very loving and friendly.

I went back to school but would return every other weekend or so. Anyways after a year or so she turned into a completely different bird. She is very antisocial and only wants to be with my mother, which I understand due to the fact that she spends the most time with her and she rescued her from a very frightening situation. However my conure is still extremely friendly with me, so not seeing me every day has not altered his view of me.

Raffi (the cockatiel) hisses at me and lunges at me when attempt to change her food. I, for the most part leave her alone and let her do her own thing. Yet now she has developed another behaviour: constantly screaming. She screams from about 7 am till 6pm when my mother arrives home from work. At that moment she stops and is very quiet. I am home right now for my spring break and it's getting out of hand. I've had several birds in the past and none have screamed this much. She shrieks at the top of her lungs for the whole day. She doesn't do it in intervals, it is simply non stop. I have tried everything from taking her out of her cage and giving her treats, to putting her in a darker lit room, to trying to give her new toys, but nothing works. I did notice that she likes to hang out in the kitchen with me when I cook, yet she still screams haha. She seems happy yet unsatisfied at the same time. She'll even come sit on my shoulder yet when I want to pet her she hisses and lunges again. She wants to sit on me yet at the same time wants nothing to do with me.

I do not know what to do, the screaming is giving me a headache and I can't focus on my school work. Additionally, we live in a condominium, so I'm sure the neighbours are annoyed as well although surprisingly non have complained so far. I understand she just wants to be with my mother, but how do I keep her satisfied until she gets home from work?
 

Birdlover11

New member
Aug 23, 2012
1,242
5
Long island
Parrots
Pepsi and sprite, both are American male budgies
Does she scream more than your conure ? It is natural for a bird to scream but not without any breaks. To try and stop her from screaming she will have to be used to you. Sit beside her cage and read a book out loud, making soft or moderate noises means that you are not a threat and that you are friendly. Walk near her cage often so she gets more used to you . Know this sounds crazy , but leave something that has your scent on it near the cage before you go back to school so she gets used to you even at school. Birds can have favorites so she just might naturally dislike you. Buy her a boing and tell your mom while she is out to put her on the boing so she could get all of that energy put by bouncing. Also tell your mom to let her have a free flight around a room to get all of that excess energy out. You might see a difference
 

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