Incoherent conure

Question
I have a 2 month old conure, Luna, he/she cries at night when she is sleeping. I find myself getting up at night to check up on her. I used to think it was because it was cold and I bought a heater that keeps my room around 79 degrees. yet, she still cries. I always have her food bowl filled up so I'm guessing shes is not hungry. I play with her as much as I possibly can at different times of the day and i dont give her a bed time, i put her to sleep when she starts trying to sleep inside my sweater. so I don't know why she would cry..and while she is crying, she sorts of does this incoherent mumbling, as if speaking to someone else. She has a mirror in her cage so i dont know if that would be it... she has also started being a lil nippy..I don't know what is going on with her..do you have an explanation for her behavior? if so please answer me. thank you

Answer
Hi Ivana, what you're hearing with the talking and 'crying' at night is a self-soothing and very common behavior in parrots.  I've got a blue and gold macaw that does this regularly.

Yours might be a little worse though because you've established a feedback (reward) for the crying by going to the cage every time. Now the bird knows what your triggers are and what she needs to do for your attention.

You might want to secure a soft, clean cloth (we tie a washcloth through the cage bars next to the perch they prefer) so there's something to snuggle up against.  You can also secure a small stuffed toy, just make sure it's not a 'beanie' type.  Be absolutely sure you don't feel any 'beanie' pellets in it.  There's too much of a chance the toy will be ripped apart and the last thing you want is 1. For the bird to ingest these things; 2. to have these things all over the place.

For more about how to best care for your new addition and what the behaviors are, how to address them and even feeding, check my site

  www.4AnimalCare.org  (click on 'birds')