Screaming During The Night?

[GreatBlue320]

Hello everyone!

Do your macaws ever have screaming fits during the night? Or, are they pretty much quiet and settled once you have put them down for the night?

I really haven't heard any stories of someone's macaw having screaming issues in the middle of the night, but the thought crossed my mind as I was going to sleep last night so I thought I'd send the question out to all of you - the macaw experts!

Thanks!

 

[Christinenc2000]

Only once. Night terror or something spooked him. Scared the crap out of me LOL

 

[thekarens]

I would say as a general rule that wouldn't be normal. We've had Zoe a year now and she's never screamed at night. We don't cover our birds.

 

[Birdman666]

Those are called night frights. It's an occasional thing with all parrots, not just macaws.

Every once in awhile, the wind will make the trees move wrong, or shadows will play tricks on the walls, or an animal will unexpectedly appear on the fence outside the window, or what have you, and they will freak out for no real reason.

All five of my birds have done this at some point during the time I've owned them. It's rare, but it does happen.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Luckily none of mine have ever had night frights.

They're completely silent once lights are out, other than beak grinding the first 5-10 minutes after they were tucked in.

 

[Christinenc2000]

May have been night frights for him but was TERROR for me

JK

Thanks for the correct term

 

[Kiwibird]

Kiwi has never had night frights, but will occasionally make the "amazon alert" noise at night if there's a really loud noise. My parents birds once all flipped out in the very early morning for "no apparent reason" and there was no calming them down. That was until it was on the news that the Northridge quake happened in California (they sensed that all the way in AZ). When Barney had his stroke in the middle of the night, Lucy flipped out and started screaming (but that's understandable, her mate was paralyzed on the floor of the cage).

 

[Birdman666]

Last time it happened here, a Possum ran across the fence and stopped to peer in the window at Maggie.

Maggie was startled awake, and made it pretty clear to everyone in the neighborhood that she wanted the possum gone...

The possum, of course, didn't realize there was a pterodacytl in the area. "I thought those things were extinct!" You want to talk night frights?!