Screeching

My 45 yr old cockatoo has become noisy beyond belief. He screams constantly for hours on end. He is driving me mad.


I have had him since he was 6 months old and never in all these years has he been so noisy. He is will looked after and in lovely condition. He is given plenty of attention.


Sometimes I feel like opening the window and let him fly away!


Any advice will be welcomed.

Hi and welcome. If he has been a good bird for 44-1/2 years and is now suddenly changed so radically, I suggest that there is a medical issue that is the root of the issue. Unless there have been some big change in the household ( and that could be almost anything, because to a parrot even small things can seem big), I would have a really thorough medical check up done. Hopefully he has had wellness checkups before, so your vet can compare the current results with results from prior visits.

Please don't open the window and let him fly away ( even though I suspect you would never do that).

I think the obvious question is... what changed? Your routine? Living arrangements? Suitable conditions/toys?

If nothing has changed, I'd seek out an Avian Vet ASAP.

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Greetings Corky,

Good advice by Wrench13 and ToMang07. In the event the change has not been triggered by a medical condition your sulfur might be trying to trigger you into providing more of your attention.

Agree with all of the above!

Veterinary check seems high priority. Can you perform some simple diagnostic checks.... Any change in droppings or weight? The latter requires a sensitive scale calibrated in grams. If you don't have recent results, initial reading can be compared with normal range of 700g to 900g. Barring that, feel his breastbone (keelbone) for approximate stature: http://www.scottemcdonald.com/pdfs/Average Weights.pdf

It could be something that you would never think of. A couple of years ago I bought balloons for a birthday celebration and Rocky went completely ballistic and screamed without ceasing. It took HOURS for me to figure out it was the balloons. I moved them out of his sight and he was fine. Is there anything at all within sight that could be scaring your bird? No matter how harmless YOU might think it is, it might be a terrifying monster to him.

I would definitely get a blood panel run because, while a sudden change can be behavioral, you should always rule out medical first when it happens after so long.

I got new glasses and for weeks afterward my galah *hated* me (even more than usual) and would lunge and screech at me. Eventually, I worked out it was the new shiny frames.

My corella is very screechy. She flock calls every morning and evening for about half-an-hour at a time and yells at the wild flocks when they fly over.

Sometimes, she'll just begin bellowing for no apparent reason. I've found that giving it five minutes and then going out to have a training session helps a lot with this. I make a point of whispering to her and within seconds she's listening hard to hear what I'm saying. After a training session (which always ends with about ten minutes of flying), she's more than happy to settle down in her cage for an arvo siesta.

It helps if your bird can talk: just teach him a new phrase or song. As soon as screeching begins, rush to the cage and say the phrase or song, encouraging birdie to join you. That sometimes deflects the need to bellow. Sometimes...

Betrisher said:

My corella is very screechy. She flock calls every morning and evening for about half-an-hour at a time and yells at the wild flocks when they fly over. Sometimes, she'll just begin bellowing for no apparent reason.

It helps if your bird can talk: just teach him a new phrase or song. As soon as screeching begins, rush to the cage and say the phrase or song, encouraging birdie to join you. That sometimes deflects the need to bellow. Sometimes...

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I foresee severe hearing loss in your future.

Well that's a cool approach.