Hello everyone, I am new

I am new in the forum and I am looking for help with my female eclectus, she has been whistling very loud. my husband is tired of the situation and practically wants me to get rid of my eclectus 😢
I would like to try everything to stop this behavior before. Please help me. This usually happens my husband is around.

Welcome to you!
Oh boy, they can be a real stinker!

Belleeckie said:

I am new in the forum and I am looking for help with my female eclectus, she has been whistling very loud. my husband is tired of the situation and practically wants me to get rid of my eclectus 😢
I would like to try everything to stop this behavior before. Please help me. This usually happens my husband is around.

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Hello Belleeckie and welcome to the forum. I personally don't own an Electus, But I know Ellie will be shortly, and I know she has an Electus, along with some others and I'm sure you will get plenty of good ideas of how to handle this. Usually a bird hollers and screams for attention if they are Hungry, Bored or Tired. If they holler and scream and you react, Then they put 2 and 2 together pretty swiftly and know how to get your attention. Boredom may just be in need of activities and toys to keep them busy, and keep their curiosity stirred up, and Hungry, well you realize that an empty food dish is something they generally don't tolerate all that well, and that alone gets them pretty stirred up, and the last one being tired, generally means simply they are not getting enough rest, They usually require 10-12 hours of sleep, covered cage, no noise, low light, just rest without distractions. If all three of those problems aren't an issue, Then you may need to wait for an owner with an elects to chime in and give you a better idea. In just my opinion and may not be shared by anyone else, I find the screaming, loud unruly noises usually related to one of the 3 issues I've listed, plus them learning that they turn the noise up, and they get attention. Hope this helps.... Ellie777 will be by here shortly, she's in Australia and 15 hours ahead of us here, so she works the night shift, and I know she's has a gorgeous Electus that you can see pictures of in the Photo of the month forum. I'm sure though theres a logical and relatively simple solution to the loud screaming that can be investigated and solved without getting rid of a member of your beloved family though, thats just incomprehensible to me.

Thank you for your response. It can be definitely bored, but she is not interest in the cage toys. If she is outside the cage she likes to be in the floor ( like my dogs ) but sometimes we can’t watch her because she can be very curious and I am afraid she bites cables or something like that.
I really love her, she says to me “hi baby” but unfortunately when my husband is around she starts to whistle specially when he is talking on the phone 😬

Welcome Belleeckie,


I have a cheeky little girl named Ellie as Casper223 described. She loves to sing and whistle. It seems that you have viewed Casper's response regarding the top 3 reasons for noise making and 'boredom' appears to be the problem as she doesn't play with toys ???? Also, she is whistling when hubby is on the phone??? I'm sure that he must find that very annoying . My baby will up the volume as required when need be! Please confirm aforementioned and we will resume our chat..


Cheers for now,
Debbie

Hi again Belleeckie, it appears that you logged out just before I posted my previous response. Where are you located time zone wise?



Wherever you are, you will find a few of us Eclectus owners to help work this through. My baby is currently dancing on the laptop keys and just pulled of the delete so I guess I'd better not make any further typos...lol


On a positive note, behaviours are manageable. We just have to get to the root of this one. Ellie is louder at night just before bedtime. She goes through her entire repertoire - we usually join in. If she increases her bolume (see, no delete key to fix to volume lol) during the day it is usually boredom.



More later, Ellie is out of control lol and wants to play a game with mommy,


Debbie

You should tell your husband that birds have feelings and souls too you dont just get rid of them cause you cannot handle some situatians, i sadly dont have experience with these type of birds but i hope other members on the forum with more experience could help you out.

Belleeckie said:

Thank you for your response. It can be definitely bored, but she is not interest in the cage toys. If she is outside the cage she likes to be in the floor ( like my dogs ) but sometimes we can’t watch her because she can be very curious and I am afraid she bites cables or something like that.
I really love her, she says to me “hi baby” but unfortunately when my husband is around she starts to whistle specially when he is talking on the phone ��

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My Moluccan Cockatoo was the worst two times a day, and from reading the forums, have noticed other birds are pretty much the same, usually when he woke up, and then again just before bed time he would get especially loud, no matter what I wanted, no matter what was going on. He gladly went through his vocabulary, then went through noises he would mimic and would eventually hang upside down in his cage spread his wings and scream "I'm an Eagle". These two times of the day were his, it was the nature of the pet, but on a positive note, when I heard him in the morning, I knew he was okay, and the same at night, it would comfort me to know everything was good. As Ellie777 said, she chimes in with Ellie and sings along. But this is the point where you being the bird owner have to do your Investigator work, and figure out if the noise isn't usual, and if it's not usual then try to get to the root cause.

You said, when she is out of her cage, it's hard for you to keep an eye on her, and am afraid she will bite a wire, and I agree electricution is real! Try to get an eye on what fascinates her. If it truly is a bundle of wires, like behind the TV/Theater system, then in her play area, replicate a toy thats safe for her to play with, yet replicates her interests. Sonny would get down and find a 1 inch piece of paper, and shred it to pieces, so he loved to shred paper. I would find him toys to keep in his play area that were specifically made for shredding. You've definitely came to the right spot to figure this out, So many Electus owners here, and all of them have gone through what your going through now. I myself personally purchased a tree which fits nicely in my living room. It's about 5 feet tall, and I have toys hanging from Bird safe hooks from the limbs so she can get to them. I have her food and water attached, chewing toys, shredding toys, foraging toys and swings attached to it. It's a very busy work area for her. If she gets tired of those toys and shows a different interest, Then I'll figure that interest out, and find a toy to replicate her interest, if I can find a toy, I will then build one to hold her attention. But the thing here is your baby has become part of your family, and when she makes noise, She's either voicing happiness or a concern. Think of it like this, your feeding a human baby, and the baby slings food, mine always did as they were wiping their eyes, just being tired. I identified the problem and corrected it, but never did the thought come to mind that this is an undesirable action, I should put the child up for adoption. Thats not fair to me, and certainly isn't fair to the child, but as a parent we get to the bottom of the issue, fix it, and move foreword. With a little work, this can be fixed, either by finding the root cause or by training, either way it's fixable with a little time from her human mom.

Hi there, and welcome to the forum! Lots of knowledgeable Ekkie folks here, although your situation isn't really Ekkie specific at all. It's common to many of us, regardless of species. As an example, my boy Tucker screams at me sometimes out of jealousy if he is left out of the shower when I take Baxter, my YNA, in. It's all about attention for him. I wait for him to stop before letting him see me, and it's over. Point being, ANY reaction to the screams is a form of attention, and thus a reward in their mind, and it will continue/escalate if you give in. That includes yelling back, talking, eye contact, anything trying to calm or soothe them... It's difficult to not react, but necessary. Wait for it to stop, completely ignore her while waiting, then give attention/reward when she's quiet. Gradually increase the time you wait before the reward, and eventually the understanding is that screams= being ignored, and good behavior= reward. They HATE being ignored. You MUST BE CONSISTENT. This goes for everyone who interacts with her.

Hope this helps.

BTW, we love pictures here!

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Welcome to the forums, hope we can collectively ensure your Ekkie remains home and is beloved by you and your husband!

Parrots are by nature vocal, and the presence of your husband is a clue. Does he interact and have a relationship with him, or are you her "primary" person? She may be very interested in your husband, which may present a problem and solution. Some parrots bond to a single person, others enjoy multiple folks. If he is willing to be a larger part of her life, you may find split loyalties.

There is no sure method for "training' a parrot to stop whistling, best method is modify behavior to make her less interested in vocalizing.

Thank you, I like the idea for a real tree and I am looking which ones are safe for her and also available in my area.

I really want to say thank you to everyone to take the time to write back to me, I am still learning how this forum works and how I can answer to anyone, also I don't know yet how I can summit a picture, but as soon I realize how I share with you.
My eclectus name is belle as I said before she is a female 3 years old (next moth she will be 4) is with us since she is a baby and basically I take care of her but she likes to be with my husband too, he is trying to distract her and take her out of the cage but as soon he put her back to the cage and walk out of the room she start whistling very loud (fiu fiuuu) it was funny in the beginning but now is very annoying specially for my husband.
I am going to do the best for keep belle she is my baby and I need to fight for her...

Welcome! I'm glad you found us.

Hello Belleeckie, I’m sorry this situation has become difficult for you. I’m very lucky in that my hubby has been well trained to accept his place at the very bottom of the household pecking order...

Hopefully you can find a resolution that enables you to keep everyone together and happy.

Hi Again Belleeckie,


Just checking in to see how you, Belle, and your husband are doing? I’ve read the threads by Casper223, Scott, and saxguy64. They have provided encouragement and good advice. Casper223 described his ‘tree play-ground’, we have a similar one for Ellie. Eclectus parrots pay attention to detail so Ellie has very colourful and complex foraging, shredding, swings and climbing toys/activity tools. Her cage and tree play-ground are decorated with them. Even the top and outer parts have activity items. Her cage is woven with colourful shredders. The addition of such aforementioned items should assist with any ‘boredom’ issues.


With respect to ‘whistling/unwanted noise’, here are a couple of links to a site used frequently by forum members. The information here may assist you with Belle’s whistling as it appears to be a ‘negative’ behaviour for you/your husband. Please take note that dusk and dawn are ‘natural’ vocal times for birds in general.
https://www.beautyofbirds.com/redirectingnegativebehavior.html
https://www.beautyofbirds.com/noisyparrots.html


On another note, for the total well-being of Belle, Eclectus parrots have unique dietary needs. Please note that Belle should not be given pellets as a general rule. If you wish, please let us know what her daily diet consists of and we can provide any recommendations as needed.


Hormones: never pet her anywhere but her head and beak zone. You don’t want to simulate/stimulate hormonal sexual behaviour and egg laying. Ellie is the same age as Belle and recently laid her first clutch of eggs. It was a nightmare for me – you can get all the advice on that one under my ‘new member’ entry. It’s probably on page 2 or 3 by now. I made a big mistake and I’m hoping that the info given me will keep you from making the same mistake with Belle. On a different note, Eclectus have oil glands, not dander for preening, and petting can make your bird very oily.


Socialization: Ellie is a family bird. I am her primary carer. Or, in Ellie's perspective, she chose me as her primary carer. However, she loves my husband and we coordinate specific quality time for them to spend together daily. For example, I place Ellie in the aviator harness, then she goes for a walk outside with my husband and our Lab. Sometimes it’s as simple as Ellie sitting on his shoulder whilst he sings or creates a new ‘ditty’ for her to imitate. I’m hoping that your husband is able to do the same with Belle.


Hope this helps,
Debbie and Ellie

Belleeckie said:

Thank you, I like the idea for a real tree and I am looking which ones are safe for her and also available in my area.

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I ordered mine from Parrot Wizzard, but I see Amazon and several other sites have them too, if your a Prime member, then you get free 2 day delivery, parrot Wizard gives free shipping over $50, and if you can find a Pet Store near you that handles Parrots, Then I'm sure they have them or can order you one pretty quickly.