Noise Reduction Aratinga solstitialis (Sun Conure):

[Fortuna117]

Hello,

Purchased a Sun Conure last year.

This Sun Conure has bonded with the household.

Therefore, she contact calls my roommates when she is on my shoulder if my roommates are out of sight.

The Conure also screeches if a truck passes by the house which is problematic as I live in a developing estate.

These screeches from the conure have resulted in a temporary ruptured inner ear membrane and temporary tinnitus as confirmed by an ENT.

Because I want to avoid further damage to my ears are there any recommended precautions? For example a type of hearing protection?

I will appreciate any help provided on this matter.

 

[Jen5200]

I have a couple of suns myself - so my sympathy on the ear screech, those do hurt. My two generally don’t screech when on my shoulder (thankfully!). I can say that I do wear the soft foam earplugs when I am at the parrot rescue that I volunteer at and find them pretty comfortable to wear for a few hours at a time. Groups of cockatoos make my ears ring lol.

I’m sure that in the long run it would be preferable to teach your sun to contact call at a lower volume (not sure how to teach that myself, but perhaps someone else has some tips). But in the interim to protect your hearing it might be worth trying something like those.

 

[IndySE]

Oof, sun conures hurt ! That's why I went with their quieter cousin...

Have you tried teaching her a different contact call? Kermit, my GCC, has her standard green cheek screech but she also does different contact calls too (like "Kisses ! *smooch* *smooch* *smooch*" or a wolf whistle). These are a lot more pleasant. After she learned to mimic certain phrases, I would almost constantly answer her back if she does these contact calls vs her screaming ones. She still screams, but she mixes it up with some nicer ones.