Uncommon Eclectus behavior? All she does is a horrible, raspy, screeching squawk

cytherian

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Dec 29, 2020
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Near NYC
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Eclectus
I've posted about this before. But I finally got around to taking a video of her doing this.

Backstory: this is a female ekkie that is about 11 years old and a very active egg layer. She has one bird successfully raised thus far. Her mate, a male who is about 10 years old now and her son, about 3 years now, are both very vocal birds. Her mate doesn't talk at all any more. He used to say "hello" but all he does now is a variety of chirps, whistles, squawks, and screeches. He'll mostly be quiet when no one is around. The juvenile is a chatterbox. He LOVES to talk. He is so incredibly social. Most of the time he will greet you and try to engage in chatter. If you don't respond, he'll say "Helllll-looooooooooooooo???" He's hilarious. Sometimes you can hear him in the other room, rehearsing his vocabulary of phrases.

But that female... she is a very reserved bird. Not very social. Her owner is somewhat bonded and she'll easily go on her fingers. I've had her perch a number of times. But if she gets mad? She bites HARD. Just the other day I was changing her water. Sometimes she's in a combative mood. She had quickly scrambled to the perch near the water dish and as I put the new water dish in place, like a bullet she darted her head out in the space, caught hold of my finger, and bit down hard drawing blood. The other two never do that.

(note -- this video attenuates the sound. it's MUCH louder than it sounds)

When she's nesting? She almost never squawks. But when the nest is gone and she has nothing to do... all you have to do is be in the kitchen nearby, in view, and then the squawks start. About 1 per minute on average when she gets going, sometimes 2 per minute. If she's being fed from above her cage by her mate, nothing. If she's out on the couch with her mate and hanging out, rarely squawks. It can be dead silent. You walk into the kitchen and start doing something, like preparing tea. You can be so very quiet, the other birds not making any noises either, and then like a crack of thunder the female will squawk. It's MOST unpleasant. I wish there was some way to encourage different vocalizations. She picks up nothing from the other two. And in fact... the male has now gotten in the habit of imitating her loud squawk on occasion, when he's annoyed (wants to come out of his cage but no one is obliging him).
 

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Okay, my boy has a screech very similar to that. It's LOUD. In his case, it's usually attention seeking behavior or flock calling if he can't see me. He'll do his little excited dance thing, and if I walk by and don't stop to talk to him, he'll do the scream. It's certainly not every time, just when he REALLY wants me to pay attention to him. He'll usually stop pretty soon if I just ignore it, but sometimes it gets the dogs howling, and it turns into a big show. Dogs howl because of the squawk, bird squawks because of the howling...
 
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cytherian

cytherian

Active member
Dec 29, 2020
102
114
Near NYC
Parrots
Eclectus
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Okay, my boy has a screech very similar to that. It's LOUD. In his case, it's usually attention seeking behavior or flock calling if he can't see me. He'll do his little excited dance thing, and if I walk by and don't stop to talk to him, he'll do the scream. It's certainly not every time, just when he REALLY wants me to pay attention to him. He'll usually stop pretty soon if I just ignore it, but sometimes it gets the dogs howling, and it turns into a big show. Dogs howl because of the squawk, bird squawks because of the howling...
Thanks for sharing! Wow... that vicious circle dynamic with the dogs and the parrot... maddening!
Yeah, she will make this loud screech when you're there, but sometimes when you're not. I think she gets bored and wants out. This female is SO fixated on procreation, she has taken to reaching down to the papers below her cage grate and pulling them up, shredding, making a mess.
Does your male have any other kinds of vocalizations like words, tweets, or chirps? The two males we have are mostly quiet. They will get noisy from time to time, but compared to the female they are bliss. Honestly, if I owned this female I would consider putting her up for adoption (she and the 2 males belong to my roommate). She is NOT a sociable bird. There's not much redeeming value in having her, other than egg laying. But the other problem is... she has a mate. They are bonded. And when she's not around (e.g. the vet), the male is so distraught, screaming & crying, and at times behaving like almost in a panic. Really cannot separate them.
About the "excited dance thing," what does he do? Our female will do this back-and-forth jig between her water dish and her cage door. She'll also do this body-twist thing--step back, then step forward while turning her head to one side, then repeat. The cage door thing is intelligent--she does that when she wants to come out.
 
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