Is the eclectus a quiet breed?

[johnbonce]

My male eclectus is alot more quieter than my female, and the 2 are alot more quieter than my Quaker and ringneck. Also it depends where you are going to position them in your place. If they feel left out, then they are going to make alot of noise. Another thing to consider when placing the cage is sleep.. My pair get about 8-9 hours undisturbed sleep as they can become very stroppy if they don't get enough sleep.

 

[helijohn]

My male eclectus is alot more quieter than my female,

Seems to be no pattern. I read the male can be more prone to giving the alarm which makes them the more noisy of the two but my female goes from quiet to full on with nothing in between.

 

[johnbonce]

hmm I've read that the female is the noisier, just backs up the points made above about no 2 birds are the same and no such thing as a quite species or gender for that matter.

 

[johnbonce]

Wow, that's amazing. I came on the forum today to ask more or less the same question.
"How noisy is your Eclectus?"

I got a female because all the reports said the female tends to be the less noisy where the male is noisier and could go off on one if disturbed or whatever. I like the colouring too. I had a grey that was quiet nearly all of the time - you'd get the odd very loud click a few times a day but honestly the bird was not intrusive at all. He was a whistler and mimicked those sorts of sounds but if you didn't make the sound in the first place he was quiet. His only drawback was dust.

Getting back to the Eclectus, I expected some shouting - bit like kids really - like at roosting time, twittering at night and so on.

Mine is quiet as long as I am. So from 11pm to about 3pm the next day silence apart from some helloing, thank you and ickle tickle comments.
But as soon as the TV or music or vacuum or whatever goes on (mid afternoon onwards) that's it, competing noise from very loud chatter to screaming. The chatter is always loud enough to drown out the TV.

I'd like to know what people do to deal with this as I like to watch my soaps in the evening in some relative peace.

I have read that sometimes the babies are better when the parents bring them up because the offspring learns when to use the shouting and when not to. This one is hand reared and I am beginning to think it is either in the genes to be noisy unless in a quiet and calm environment or doesn't know when to be quiet..
So again I ask, how noisy is your Eclectus please?

Do you put a sheet over the cage on a night? I put one over the cage at about 8pm and they start settling down with there clicking then I hear nothing at all until the sheet gets took off the cage the next morning regardless of me moving about, tv on, even at half 4 in the morning when I get up and get ready for work, not a noise.

 

[helijohn]

Do you put a sheet over the cage on a night?

Yes. But that's at night and even then it takes a few hours to settle. In the afternoon I can't really cover her.

 

[johnbonce]

if during the afternoon she makes alot of noise that is undesirable you could cover her cage for 10-15minutes a time until she stops then uncover the cage again, just do this as a way of you telling the parrot its not good making all that noise and they will soon realise that if they make alot of noise they're gunna get covered over and that you won't tolerate it, better than screaming shut up and whatever else at it because your parrot would enjoy you screaming back at it. Hope this makes sense.

 

[MikeyTN]

Instead of just covering why don't you just teach her to whistle or talk or make funny noise. All she's doing is calling you out. Respond to her by talking back to her in a calm or funny manner. They respond to that better. I just can't tell you how much I love my ekkies.

 

[johnbonce]

Same here MikeyTN, couldn't imagine life without them, they really do become part of the family.

 

[drlisaort]

Me too! Oliver has totally filled my life in a way I could never have imagined...

 

[helijohn]

if during the afternoon she makes alot of noise that is undesirable you could cover her cage for 10-15minutes a time until she stops then uncover the cage again, just do this as a way of you telling the parrot its not good making all that noise and they will soon realise that if they make alot of noise they're gunna get covered over and that you won't tolerate it, better than screaming shut up and whatever else at it because your parrot would enjoy you screaming back at it. Hope this makes sense.

She tends to chunter at high volume rather than scream though she does scream too. The chuntering I appreciate is possibly in her chemistry and would let her do it if it weren't for the fact she drowns out the telly. It's a prelude to talking, she's exercising her voice.
Regarding screaming, I admit I have sometimes yelled at her to shut up but mostly I don't respond except to tell her next time she gets covered, and I do cover her sometimes right off or second time as I said. I tell her "Noisy girls get covered" thinking she might learn that as a trigger phrase. But when she is uncovered she starts up again. She is particularly responsive to programmes with applause like X Factor or action movies like Pacific Rim. Talk ones like Originals don't set her off too much. I record them at night and watch them in the afternoon.

 

[maillet]

One solution that works well for my bird anyhow. He is quite silent after having a shower or bath. Since it takes them 2 to 3 Hours to dry off fully in reasonable non-cold weather. You can give him a bath shortly before dinnertime. He will eat will he dries off, and is then silent for pretty much the whole time you're watching television.

It will also condition him over time to be quiet before and after dinner. Side effect is he may begin to get louder at other times of the day (mine has not) but never know.

 

[helijohn]

One solution that works well for my bird anyhow. He is quite silent after having a shower or bath. Since it takes them 2 to 3 Hours to dry off fully in reasonable non-cold weather. You can give him a bath shortly before dinnertime. He will eat will he dries off, and is then silent for pretty much the whole time you're watching television.

It will also condition him over time to be quiet before and after dinner. Side effect is he may begin to get louder at other times of the day (mine has not) but never know.

Things like that do subdue her but TBH it wears off very quickly. Sadly it's too cold to let her dry naturally. Great idea though.

She just seems to want to compete with the sound. Some sounds like the vacuum will get a noisy response. In fact the response to the vacuum dies off the nearer I get to her - weird eh! - and she will pretty well stop the noise if I vac long enough.

If only she had a volume control.

 

[helijohn]

Instead of just covering why don't you just teach her to whistle or talk or make funny noise. All she's doing is calling you out. Respond to her by talking back to her in a calm or funny manner. They respond to that better. I just can't tell you how much I love my ekkies.

I gave that a go for a few weeks, she don't seem to want to whistle and it quite surprised me as I whistled with my grey all the blooming time. The loud chuntering is not in this category though. What she does is actually not harmless or offensive, and as I said I rather like the twittering; I just can't hear the TV!

 

[johnbonce]

Maybe U need to invest in some headphones

 

[Caesar]

My ekkie is noisy only in the morning but this is only one or two squawks to say "Why haven't you got my vegies fruit ready and to greet me.

 

[lpolliard]

Chico is very quiet. The only noise he makes is his flock squawk when calling me. In the first year he used it often and quickly when I was out of sight. Now that he is more secure I am able to leave the room without being called. He will join in the merriment when I have my buddies over for poker and the volume levels go up. He gets very loud at this time but this can be stemmed by putting him to bed early in my upstairs closet. This is where he sleeps as he can not settle down and go to sleep at a respectable hour with the television on downstairs.

 

[d2page2]

Both my eckies are quiet. They rarely scream. George chatters every afternoon. It is not loud. My daughters think it is annoying when they are watching TV. As the TV gets louder so does he!

 

[Dacombe]

I find my eclectus Rupee is as noisy as her surroundings. If we have the television on noisily or are having a party, then she becomes very excited and will talk as loudly as she needs to to be heard OVER the noise and no louder. If you turn up the volume, she will too.
On quiet days, however she barely makes a noise. Sometimes she'll get into a talking mood and will babble at conversation level, but she is not a noisy bird. She doesn't shriek for fun... she does this occasionally if she is looking through the window at the garden and sees a cat or the neighbour which startles her. It's a warning call. You only have to say her name and she stops though. I feel very lucky to have such a well behaved bird.

 

[JadeC]

I don't have an eclectus, but I have a caique. I live in an apartment and I can hear him outside of my apartment, but my neighbors can't really hear him. Another thing to consider is when you live in an apartment, try to get a corner unit on the top floor. Haha It helps with the noise and neighbors. Even if your bird is quiet, it still might help just in those cases where they get loud. Also, you say you work from home, but make sure that you'll still commit time, money and love to your bird even if you get a full-time job working outside of your home. I'm sure you're prepared, but just think about if your life changed, if you'd still want your bird. That's just my input, not trying to be rude. Haha I hope you make a good decision for yourself and your bird!! Good luck

 

[helijohn]

Maybe U need to invest in some headphones

Possibly an annexe!

I don't know how people put up with a bird that is louder than the party or TV or whatever is going on. I will admit if the house is silent, in the main so is she.