what time does your bird go to bed?

Mare Miller

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May 14, 2011
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sierra foothills of central California
Parrots
13yr. old male umbrella cockatoo,
we call him Amigo!

7yr. old Goffin cockatoo, she IS Sassy!!
I've read that birds need to have 10 to 12 hours of darkness so that they don't go into breeding mode. I'm not a breeder but I've noticed that my U2 wants to be tucked in right when the sun goes down. The days are short right now so he is in the dark for more than 12 hours, sometimes up to 14. He lets me know when he's ready to be out and about. It works for us, I'm curious about you folks that stay up later with your birds, do they sleep in later? Or do they wake with the light of day?
 

Mamanda

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Oct 17, 2011
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Central Oregon (Paradise!)
Parrots
Keen: female, YSGCC & Opi: male, Pied Cockatiel & Milo: male, Timneh African Grey
Mine go to bed between 7-8:30pm and wake up around 8am. They're covered and in a room with closed blinds. If it's a bright sunny day and they sense the sunlight shining through they'll often make noise. Otherwise, they just hang out til I come get them. My kids wake up around 6:30am and their bedroom is across from the bird bedroom/my office so I'm sure they hear the boys. If the boys wake up really early and make a lot of noise (sometimes they're up at 6am) I will put the birds to bed earlier that night to ensure they get enough rest.
Keen doesn't take naps during the day that I've ever noticed, so I think she gets plenty of sleep. Opi naps 2-3 hours during the day, every day, no matter how much sleep he gets. I guess he just likes nappies ... can't blame him!! :)
 

beck

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Jun 30, 2011
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Florida
Parrots
Moche the Quaker Parrot and Charlie the African Grey
My quaker usually puts himself to bed by about 9:30, and sleeps at least 10 hours. He'll hop into his happy hut and hang out in there until I roll him into the bedroom. Sometimes if I know we're going to be up late I'll keep him out in the living room so he'll sleep in with us a little more.

In the morning he generally wakes up a little bit earlier than us and quietly plays with his toys and munches his pellets. He's a freaking angel about quietly entertaining himself while I'm sleeping- a godsend, since when I first got him I was working overnight four nights a week.
 

andrea.faerie

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May 16, 2011
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North Carolina
Parrots
My lovely little Black Cap Conure, Lucy (in the sky with diamonds) <3
Bleu puts himself to bed as soon as the sun sets. Lucy I let stay up as late as she wants (up to 9 pm at the very latest), usually she'll go to sleep when Bleu does. Both fids are up with the sun (around 7 ish) and Lucy makes sure I hear my alarm clock... haha
 
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Mare Miller

Mare Miller

Banned
Banned
May 14, 2011
1,260
Media
2
3
sierra foothills of central California
Parrots
13yr. old male umbrella cockatoo,
we call him Amigo!

7yr. old Goffin cockatoo, she IS Sassy!!
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I free flight my Amigo, maybe he is more in tune with the hours of light in a day. When the sun doesn't go down till 8:30, he'll be out and about till then, he'll then be up at the crack of dawn. Do you find that your birds, being in the home all day, change with longer days? Or is it the electric light (or kids), that is the deciding factor?
 

andrea.faerie

New member
May 16, 2011
751
1
North Carolina
Parrots
My lovely little Black Cap Conure, Lucy (in the sky with diamonds) <3
well I dont have kids lol, I usually keep my light off until i need them at night and even then, my birds are in my bedroom and I spend most of my time after dinner in the living room so they're very in tune with the sun and length of days :) I've noticed Lucy going to bed earlier and waking up later than she did earlier in the summer. Granted... if I turn on the lights, the fids are going to wake up lol but they quiet down and go back to sleep very quickly once I've settled in bed and turned all the lights back off after my before-bed-routine
 

Remy

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Jul 13, 2011
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California
Parrots
Darcy (Golden-Collared Macaw), Puck (Caique - RIP)
Puck puts himself to bed usually between 10 and midnight. I usually stay up later than him. He usually wakes up before I do (unless I'm up "early"), and sits on his door (which I leave open at night) and waits for me to wake up. Sometimes he'll decide when I need to wake up though, lol. Sometimes though, he wants to stay up super late, if my bf and I are doing so.

I usually let him decide, although I've found that I have to turn off his bright light by 10pm or he will be grumpy and/or demonic the following day.
 

mtdoramike

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Jan 18, 2011
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Mt. Dora Fl./central Fl.
Parrots
11 month old Senegal Parrot - 3 year old SI Eclectus
Here in central Florida it't pretty much dark at 6:00pm at this time of year. My Senegal likes to be in bed right after the sun goes down which is 6:00pm. However, my Eclectus likes to stay up a bit later and watch a little TV with me and since he's older, he gets to stay up a bit longer. I put him to bed between 7:00 & 7:30pm.

I get them both up when I get up, which is 7:00am and it's daylight here.
 

ScottRoberts

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Sep 25, 2011
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Valdosta Georgia
Parrots
African Grey named Buddy and Marty
re-homed from rescues both are about 5 years old.
My guys are up around 7 and let me know it.... They get more vocal once they hear my voice. I turn their full spectrum lights off at about 7:30 but being in the family-room they are mostly awake until I go to bed between 9P and 11P I don't cover them anymore as they don't seem to like it.. I don't have any issues with this schedule and they don't seem to either.
 

roxynoodle

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Dec 1, 2011
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2
I think it depends on the bird. My Blue Crown put herself to bed when the sun went down. She almost never napped at all during the day.

My Nanday and new Amazon are both evening birds. When the sun is down they want to party! Around 10pm the Nanday tells me she wants to go to bed by saying "Okay." Yes, to her "okay" means it's time to go to bed, lol! So that is when I cover them and turn the light off in the room. They both take naps on and off through the day as well.

I also make sure their avian lights are off by 8 so they can start winding down. If it's not, the Amazon doesn't seem to want to settle down.
 

woubette

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Sep 19, 2011
86
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Texas
Parrots
Rio-Pineapple GCC
Kai-Cinnamon GCC
My fiddos put themselves to bed at the crack of dusk. As soon as the sun starts going down, they start making their happy nite nite noises and beak grindin. I then close the blinds and wait another 15-30 minutes to cover the cage. They are also up at the butt crack of dawn, which can suck for me because I am a day sleeper and am just getting home when they are waking up. I uncover them, feed and water then go to bed. I wake up about 2 in the afternoon then it is out of the cage and play time until I go to work (which is right when they are going to bed). This works for us,unless they decide I need to stay awake and play in the morining!
 

Pedro

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Dec 15, 2010
1,583
3
Australia
Parrots
2 Budgies, 3 Cockatiels, 6 GCC'S, 2 Crimson Bellie Conures, 9 Sun Conures, 2 Major Mitchells, 12 Eclectus parrots of various ages, 2 BF Amazons, 2 Hahn's Macaw's, 1 Red Tail Black Too
I think it's only natural for them to go to bed at dusk & rise at dawn.

All mine are settled at dusk bar the SC Too he stays inside untill he decides its time for bed. When he is ready he tells me "Good night, see you in the morning" He won't shup up LOL until i put him in his cage & cover him. God help us if you don't cover the cage. He will keep saying good night over & over until he's covered. Funny bird.
 

antoinette

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Jul 6, 2009
13,114
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18
Sunny South Africa !!!
Parrots
African "Grey"
"Mishka"
Male
7 Years old
Wow so many different times for our birds...
Mishka gets tucked in (when he starts yawning) which is about 8pm. I have a wind up musical clown which I HAVE to play for him, when leaving the bedroom OTHERWISE he performs and performs.
Every morning at 5am, he begins to mumble softly, then starts biting his sleep cage, letting me know it's time for breakfast.
He has been this way, since a baby, so I just fall into his routine.
When letting his stay up later, thinking he will sleep longer into the morning, I am the one who suffers !!!!
 
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fishbait

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Dec 11, 2011
27
0
Bastrop, TX
Parrots
Quincy-Sun Conure
My Sun goes to bed 10 pm every night ....since that is my bedtime...she will stay up later if we let her as she is out with us or on us every night. I get her up in the moring at 6am when i am gettting ready for work. It was funny the other night, we both could not sleep so we got up at 3 am and when she heard us she started letting us know she wanted out! My wife took her out till 5 am and put her back when she went back to bed! On the weekends we get up about 8 am and she is quiet under her covered cage until she hears one of us speak then she starts her morning greeting ritual which has trained us to take her out and spend some morning "Me" time with her!!
 

IcyWolf

New member
Jul 5, 2011
1,542
3
Etters, Pa
Parrots
~Alexandrine Parakeet~2 Red Lored Amazons~Blue Fronted Amazon~Black capped conure~4 Green Cheeks~4 Parrotlets~2 lineolated parakeets~9 American budgies~9 English budgies~ And lots of babies :)
Our birds are kind of on a weird schedule, but then again, so am I. We have no windows in our room and laundry room where our birds are, so I don't really think they know when daytime really is. Ziggy will go to sleep whenever she is tired, and she tends to nap a lot during the day, like right now. Billie stays up as long as you are paying attention to him. The budgies are in the laundry room which is attached to our bedroom and I usually turn their light off around 11pm. They all stay up pretty late, but they also sleep in pretty late, as in 9-10am. It doesn't seem to bother them at all, and they are still getting a good 10-12 hours in each night.
 

ZoeS

New member
Oct 4, 2011
235
0
Libby goes to bed around 10:30, sometimes later if my husband is playing video games and she snoozes on his shoulder and he looses track of the time. On weekdays she gets up with us at around 7:30-8, and weekends she sleeps till about 8:30 and then one of us gets up and puts her in her daytime cage so we can sleep and she can eat and play.

I know she naps during the day and when it gets dark before I get home she is often napping when I get home. Some might say she isn't getting enough sleep but I haven't noticed any ill effects. Some days she seems tired earlier and we will put her to bed earlier. I think she capitalizes on the boring day while we are at work to nap.
 

tikobird

New member
Jun 16, 2012
12
0
Brooksville, Fl.
Parrots
Congo African Grey
Mine go to bed between 7-8:30pm and wake up around 8am. They're covered and in a room with closed blinds. If it's a bright sunny day and they sense the sunlight shining through they'll often make noise. Otherwise, they just hang out til I come get them. My kids wake up around 6:30am and their bedroom is across from the bird bedroom/my office so I'm sure they hear the boys. If the boys wake up really early and make a lot of noise (sometimes they're up at 6am) I will put the birds to bed earlier that night to ensure they get enough rest.
Keen doesn't take naps during the day that I've ever noticed, so I think she gets plenty of sleep. Opi naps 2-3 hours during the day, every day, no matter how much sleep he gets. I guess he just likes nappies ... can't blame him!! :)
My African Grey has been screaming want to go night about three in the afternoon. I want her to stay up later. Once she begins screaming I don't know what to do. She began screaming ever since I got remarried. I have to move her back and forth between places so she'll stop. I let her out of the cage to wander around and she gets petted. The screaming drives me crazy and gives me anxiety which isn't good for me
 

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