Uncovered windows make my Caique go crazy. Is it okay to keep them covered?

[DoctorWhoops]

My Caique, Appa, seems to get a huge shift in mood whenever I pull away my curtains and provide him access to the view behind window that his cage is next to. He can be sitting idly in his cage eating and playing with his toys, and as soon as I pull away the curtains he becomes incredibly horny and hormonal. He starts whistling so sharply that it hurts my ear, sometimes even screaming for attention, hanging off the top of his cage flapping his wings and shaking his head, rubbing his back on the side of the cage, beeping incessently and performing all of the most annoying and excited behaviours there are. He gets amped up almost instantly and becomes incredibly exhausting. The strange part is that he's not even looking out the window while doing this, but perhaps the blue light gets him excited and hormonal.

On the other hand, when I close the curtains and limit the room to primarily artificial ceiling lights he calms down rather quickly. Grabs some food, sits on his perch, and eats it while only occasionally beeping for attention. It's a completely different behavioural pattern, one that I obviously much prefer. He doesn't seem sleepy, just more calm.

The only 'solution' so far has been to keep the windows covered, but I'm not sure whether it's healthy for him to have no view of the outside and limited access to natural, blue light. I have a parrot-safe UV lamp that I turn on from time to time and it doesn't lead to the same behaviour I described above, but I can only run it for a couple of hours a day at most.

Would it be acceptable for me to keep my blinds closed and keep my parrot calm as a result, or am I depriving him of an essential view or blue light that is part of what makes him so hyper?

 

[wrench13]

Few people know or remember that window glass filters out the needed UV , etc, parts of sunlight. Parrots derive very little or no benefit from sunlight coming thru window glass. As far as behavioral changes, he may see something your poor human eyes are missing and that is triggering his responses.

 

[DoctorWhoops]

Few people know or remember that window glass filters out the needed UV , etc, parts of sunlight. Parrots derive very little or no benefit from sunlight coming thru window glass. As far as behavioral changes, he may see something your poor human eyes are missing and that is triggering his responses.

I understand that the windows block UV (hence why I have the UV lamp), but I wonder if visually natural light is still important for their sleep rhythm and health. If this is not the case, I can just keep the blinds closed.

 

[wrench13]

The day/night schedule - some folks keep to the natural one, ie longer summer days, shorter winter ones. Me, I keep Salty on a 12/12 hour sleep schedule, it seems to help keep his hormone levels in check during mating season.

 

[Jcas]

My Quaker parrot gets spooked by things out the windows and will start screaming. I keep the side of his cage that has his sleeping perch partially covered with a blanket all the time so that he has a “safe” spot where he can’t see anything out the window. I don’t know if that would help your bird at all? Personally, I do feel like all animals need some natural light to thrive.