Screaming Nanday Conure

dnaburns2011

New member
Jan 16, 2012
2
0
Van, WV.
Parrots
I have a female Cockatiel name Birdie Bird, And Nanday Conure female (i was told ) name Suzy Q
Any Advice on how to quite down my nanday conure i just got her from a previous owner for christmas. Her cage is covered at night, But from the time i uncover her cage in the morning till i cover it back up in the evening she screams at every thing. The only time she dont scream is if its just me and her in the living room and i sittin in my recliner watching tv. If get up and just walk to the kitchen and though im not out of sight she screams if i do leave the room Suzy Q get louder, if other people come in or i start talking to someone on the phone she screams. ive tired to leave the room and when she does quiten down i come back and give her a treat. but that is not working. The bad thing is that the person i got her from kept her covered all the time really did not spend no time with her. Ive only had her for about a month. I can get her out of the cage finnally and hold her but that only if i let her come out on her on, And i still never know when she going to latch down on my finger, ive had that done quite a bit, i can handle the bitting but the screaming im not sure about. Can any one out there help me. :confused: :(
 

Amber

New member
Jun 1, 2011
408
3
How old is Suzy Q? Sounds like she got into a bad habit at the previous house with her screaming. If she's been in that habit for a while it's going to take a bit longer to break. Keep persevering! try to make being quiet really worth her wile. Give her treats and all those good things when she is quiet. Encourage her to use her softer vocalisations rather then her full on conure scream. :) It's going to take a while to break the habit, but you seem to be off to a great start. I'm sure plenty of others here will have some good tips to help!

With my jenday to break his screaming habit (was very quiet until we visited the parents and mum reinforced it by coming running whenever he screamed) we did the same as you, ignored loud calls and praised quiet ones. We would leave the room if he was loud, and wouldn't enter if he was loud. He got the message in a bit under 2 weeks, but he had only been in the habit for a month. With your girl, it's probably going to take longer, but you will get there! :)
 

lene1949

New member
Sep 26, 2011
1,701
1
Brisbane, Australia
Parrots
Cory: Short billed Corella -
Echo: Galah -
Max: Alexandrine -
Skye: Yellow Sided conure -
Luka: Green Cheek Conure -
RIP Shrek: Quaker
Max will just fly with me to where ever I'm going... If he's in his cage, he's got lots of toys and foraging stuff...

If your bird is clipped, maybe you can just ask him to step up and go with you???
 

roxynoodle

New member
Dec 1, 2011
4,499
2
My Nanday also must contact call when I'm out of her eyesight. I taught her to say, "Hey hey!" instead and we call that back and forth to each other. She is also territorial about this entire room and screams about nearly everything I bring in her at first. I just say, "You're alright" to calm her. Really, I can walk through here with a screwdriver and she will yell about it. Taking them into other rooms with you will often quiet them down, because they are with you, and because it isn't their room that they feel is their territory. To this day she still hates all cleaning supplies and items and will scream at a broom or vacuum cleaner.
 

sabrecat666

New member
Jul 20, 2011
37
0
Parrots
Guido - Jenday Conure, Nunzio - GCC and Kiwi - IRN
My Nanday also must contact call when I'm out of her eyesight. I taught her to say, "Hey hey!" instead and we call that back and forth to each other. She is also territorial about this entire room and screams about nearly everything I bring in her at first. I just say, "You're alright" to calm her. Really, I can walk through here with a screwdriver and she will yell about it. Taking them into other rooms with you will often quiet them down, because they are with you, and because it isn't their room that they feel is their territory. To this day she still hates all cleaning supplies and items and will scream at a broom or vacuum cleaner.

How did you go about teaching your Nanday to change her contact call ? Ive tried with Guido but with no success. Admittedly he only gives the Jenday Shriek when he is calling out to me, or to the 'tiels, but I would still like to teach him a replacement call :)
 

roxynoodle

New member
Dec 1, 2011
4,499
2
Well, I heard her say "hey" one day so I knew it was easy for her to say. So whenever I left the room and she called, I answered "Hey hey!" and eventually she began saying it back. It was a matter of doing it consistently and eventually she began to say the same thing. Sometimes she says it when I'm right here as well to get my attention.
 

sabrecat666

New member
Jul 20, 2011
37
0
Parrots
Guido - Jenday Conure, Nunzio - GCC and Kiwi - IRN
Well, I heard her say "hey" one day so I knew it was easy for her to say. So whenever I left the room and she called, I answered "Hey hey!" and eventually she began saying it back. It was a matter of doing it consistently and eventually she began to say the same thing. Sometimes she says it when I'm right here as well to get my attention.

Ah... Ok. That wont work with Guido sadly. Oddly enough he has shown no desire to mimic anything, much less say any words :(
 

roxynoodle

New member
Dec 1, 2011
4,499
2
Well, I heard her say "hey" one day so I knew it was easy for her to say. So whenever I left the room and she called, I answered "Hey hey!" and eventually she began saying it back. It was a matter of doing it consistently and eventually she began to say the same thing. Sometimes she says it when I'm right here as well to get my attention.

Ah... Ok. That wont work with Guido sadly. Oddly enough he has shown no desire to mimic anything, much less say any words :(

I'd try it anyway. Choose something easy to say and keep at it, and maybe you will be surprised. "Hey" and "What" are easy for them to learn. And if you double it up, it sounds kind of sing song rather than one long, harsh yell. "Hey hey!" sounds better than "HEY!" or "What what" can sound better than "WHAT!" Or try a whistle. Or even a coo provided the bird can hear you make it.

I think since a contact call is important to them, using a word might be what motivates him to learn it. They are motivated to learn words that are important to them and that they understand the meaning of. He will understand the meaning of a contact call.
 

Amber

New member
Jun 1, 2011
408
3
dna, it might also be a good idea to PM/ask some of the cockatoo guys about this as well. They deal with high emotion birds in bad screaming habits pretty often when they do rescues. Sounds like Suzie has had, well perhaps not a 'bad home' before you, but she's been shoved in the dark because of noise and not really trained or nurtured. They would probably have some good tips not only for the screaming but for all round bonding :)

Some screaming is normal, but excessive screaming 24/7 isn't. When you leave the room she will probably call to you every now and then, that's normal, but it shouldn't be constant. It sounds like she really likes you and doesn't want you to leave! :)

Sabre, if you ever have any luck teaching Guido to mimic let me know! I'm in the same boat as you there, though we have Alex saying something that we THINK is hello (its more two grunts EHH-EHHO) and Alex (ALLLLEHHH) we're not really sure... And we definitely haven't taught him how to use either as a contact call, lol! :) Ah well, he's not overly loud as far as jendays and suns go I guess.
 

sabrecat666

New member
Jul 20, 2011
37
0
Parrots
Guido - Jenday Conure, Nunzio - GCC and Kiwi - IRN
Well, I heard her say "hey" one day so I knew it was easy for her to say. So whenever I left the room and she called, I answered "Hey hey!" and eventually she began saying it back. It was a matter of doing it consistently and eventually she began to say the same thing. Sometimes she says it when I'm right here as well to get my attention.

Ah... Ok. That wont work with Guido sadly. Oddly enough he has shown no desire to mimic anything, much less say any words :(

I'd try it anyway. Choose something easy to say and keep at it, and maybe you will be surprised. "Hey" and "What" are easy for them to learn. And if you double it up, it sounds kind of sing song rather than one long, harsh yell. "Hey hey!" sounds better than "HEY!" or "What what" can sound better than "WHAT!" Or try a whistle. Or even a coo provided the bird can hear you make it.

I think since a contact call is important to them, using a word might be what motivates him to learn it. They are motivated to learn words that are important to them and that they understand the meaning of. He will understand the meaning of a contact call.

Thank you for the advice and words of encouragement :) Im going to try that with a simple whistle and see if he responds at all :)
 

roxynoodle

New member
Dec 1, 2011
4,499
2
My birds have never learned words they don't understand or don't like. None of them say "Bye bye". They don't like bye bye, lol! "Pretty bird" took a long time for them to understand. And though they won't say bye bye, they will say, "Be right back", lol! They don't want me to go bye bye, but if I do, they want me right back!
 

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