Eclectus is very quiet

[Eric7747]

So I have a 3 year old female Eclectus that has been with me for just under two weeks. She’s already come a long way. She’s eating well and is very comfortable around me but I’m surprised to see how quiet she is. Now, when I leave her sight I get two loud screams. 🤣🤣. What I don’t hear are ANY OTHER SOUNDS. No. I’m not looking for an instant talking parrot. I’m talking about whistles, singing, anything. I’m assuming it’s the newness and I know Eclectus aren’t the most chatty but I’ve certainly seen others that make some sort of noises.

 

[SailBoat]

I'm not an Eclectus expert by any means. But it could be a couple of things.
- The reality of this is my new home is setting in...
- Your not returning her contact call(s)...
- Your not communicating with her while you are in different rooms, which are out of her sight.

Parrots in general, like to keep in communication with other members of the flock even when they are not insight of each other.

She may not call back at first, but after a bit (days, weeks), she will.

There are other possibilities, but since you are getting a contact call when you are leaving the room. They are less likely at this point. Welcome to the need to be a crazy bird person! So, talk, whistles, singing, or anything to let her know you are around.

Enjoy!

 

[Eric7747]

I do all that. My wife thinks I’m nuts. Lol.

 

[chris-md]

Eclectus are generally known as one of the quieter species, relatively speaking. They are often called the daydreamers or the stoners of the parrot world. They love to sit there and stare off into the distance for hours on end. Especially the females who spend all the to time in their nesting spot in the wild.

No surprises here!

 

[Emberamazing]

Ember dropped off her talking at about three as well.
I don't think there's anything to really worry about. I think they become sexually mature at that age. (Please correct me if I'm wrong) Which I suspect contributes to this. Remember that in the wild, a noisy nester is dead. Most birds I've had experience with have less chatty females. I could be wrong about that though. I will say. Three year old birds can be a bit nippy.

 

[chris-md]

Ember dropped off her talking at about three as well.
I don't think there's anything to really worry about. I think they become sexually mature at that age. (Please correct me if I'm wrong)

1 year for the smaller subspecies. 1.5-2 for larger subspecies. At three it’s Out of puberty and fully mature.

 

[Emberamazing]

Ember dropped off her talking at about three as well.
I don't think there's anything to really worry about. I think they become sexually mature at that age. (Please correct me if I'm wrong)

1 year for the smaller subspecies. 1.5-2 for larger subspecies. At three it’s Out of puberty and fully mature.

Oh! Thanks for clearing that up.

 

[Jayson_Black]

I'm not an Eclectus expert by any means. But it could be a couple of things.
- The reality of this is my new home is setting in...
- Your not returning her contact call(s)...
- Your not communicating with her while you are in different rooms, which are out of her sight.

Parrots in general, like to keep in communication with other members of the flock even when they are not insight of each other.

She may not call back at first, but after a bit (days, weeks), she will.

There are other possibilities, but since you are getting a contact call when you are leaving the room. They are less likely at this point. Welcome to the need to be a crazy bird person! So, talk, whistles, singing, or anything to let her know you are around.

Enjoy!

I want to second this comment above.



We adopted a bonded pair of Eclectus a few years back. We wanted to teach them to talk. Instead they have taught me/us to speak Eclectus.



It's crazy, I have literally learned to speak their language, and boy do they have a language. It's a bit hard to put their noises into human text, but they absolutely love to communicate with everyone they live with. From Us Humans, to the other birds, the dogs and also the wild birds outside. So now that we are hand rearing a baby Eclectus, we have stopped trying to teach the parent birds to talk human, but have instead doubled down on learning their language. I think it could possibly be as much fun as teaching them.


As my experience with Eclectus grows, I am starting to form the opinion that Eclectus are a kind of teaching bird. By that I mean that they will teach you things, correct you, growl at you when you get it wrong. They will keep repeating it till you get it right. Some sounds I can not make, they are are just waaaay too high pitched, or sometimes too complicated. I think they get amusement from producing sounds that I can not, then watching me try anyway. they are so funny. It gives us hours of enjoyment (all of us).


I think Someday I will make a video of their language.



Some examples are: They Call my Wife and I "Wah Wah" and "Wow Wow" lol. One really common one they do is a bit like a test of how you are feeling and are kind of asking if you want to talk or play. They make a sound that goes something like "Doo doo doo Dit" It's high pitched, the first 3 syllables are the same pitch, and the last is at least a few notes higher, a bit like an upwards inflection. I love it. I wish I could have had a career or job that allowed me to study their calls in the wild. There are so many more, and they are largely too difficult to reproduce with text, but someday I will make a video of their (Our Pair) language.

 

[throwingcopper33]

My 6 month old female eclectus is also very quiet. The only times she makes noises is when she is outside in my screened patio where she can hear or see other birds, when she hears other birds on YouTube videos, or when she is letting me know to turn off the TV at night so that she can sleep.

I think she is training me more than I am training her.

 

[vsk101]

I agree with Sail boat- it sounds like a contact call. Try to replace it with something else if it irritates you. My guy does "hello." You are right to keep calling for her even if your wife thinks you are crazy, haha. She doesn't want to be out your sight because they are always with their flock. If you can get her to use a replacement call/word or if she is quiet outside your presence for a bit, go back in and give her a treat until she learns the new behavior well. also when you enter the room, always announce yourself because predators don't announce themselves.