New bird, please help!!!!

Hi,
My name is Elizabeth and I have had cockatiels most of my life - my last bird died 3 years ago at the age of 18 & it was very hard for me. My husband being the amazing man he is, saw this little sun conure in our local pet store that we had both fallen for - he is just so sweet, 7 months old and has a deformed left leg and just is so special. My husband surprised me with him last week, I burst into tears with excitement. Now, what we weren't prepared for is the level of screaming. Mind you, I know birds are noisy but a sun scream is deafening and we live in an apartment building! I have to say, it's not incessant and I think he's actually a mild screamer, but I really need tips on training and curbing the screams as it's a bit out of my comfort zone that I'm used to. Please please give me any and all advise possible! I should mention he's really hand friendly and a total lover. It's just about when we leave the room he goes crazy. We move him into the living room to be social, and the bedroom when we aren't home ( we have a bird friendly cat, but of course would never leave them unsupervised ) and for sleep time. I just want to get the conversation started here to learn everything I can to give this little guy ( or girl) the best life possible and not make us crazy! He's too amazing to give up on. Please help!! Xoxoxo

I will give you the usual advice though I doubt you will find it all that helpful: ignore the screaming. Birds are smart, and if you give him any attention for screaming, he will continue to scream to attract you. When he goes QUIET, pay major attention to him, give him treats, etc. When he starts to scream, give him NO attention at all, not even a single glance his way. Other than that, there is unfortunately not a lot you can do. Certainly nothing quick. Sadly suns are not great apartment birds for that very reason: their screams are crazy shrill. I wish you the best of luck and am sorry you're in this tough spot!

From what I have heard about sunny's is they are 'line of sight' kind of birds. If you're not within their line of sight they scream and cry for you. And sun's are usually the louder of the conures (from what I've experienced). I have a black capped who likes to call for me when I'm not in his line of sight. Anything that you feel is bad behavior or something you don't want them to learn, completely ignore it. Like puck said, don't even glance. Or acknowledge this kind of behavior. However, sun conures aren't necessarily the best for apartment dwellers as they are notoriously loud. So try to discourage had behavior and encourage good behavior. I wish you the best!

Hi and welcome. I do not have a conure, my cousins do and when I visit them I say hi to them and go to Buddy's cage an get him out, lol. He is loud so I understand the volume issue. I have a 25 yo Amazon who is non stop noise named Buddy of all names. With my Amazon, I don't reply to him when he starts calling. He gets it and gives up. I can only recommend exiting his site and not replying. He will learn and adjust.

Screaming protocols are posted in the training section.

http://www.parrotforums.com/training/48649-screaming-behavior-mods.html