Noisy Cockateil

Question
Hi,  i have a 3-5 year old Cockatiel, i think its a male, but not entirely sure.  He used to live with a Budgie, but the budgie died about 1 year ago.  He has had his moments of being Noisy, and i used to let him out, but he was so hard to catch, and he used to sit in the cage after i caught him, puffing, that i haven't let him out in about 6 months.  I moved him to a light but furthest wall away from the conservatory where he was Happy, and eats happily & plays etc.  but I then changed the living room around and moved his cage to another wall, and since then, he has become so noisy.  He is so bad that he makes the dog bark when i am at work, and the neighbour has to come round and settle the dog, and cover up the bird.    could he/she be wanting a mate?   Please help.

Answer
Hi,

Although you have been trying to stop his screaming- it sounds like you and your neighbor have accidentally been reinforcing this behavior to get it to the point where it is now. It will take time and patience to work with him to get him to quiet down and to undo his previous "training." It is also important to remember that birds are naturally vocal- and males tend to be more vocal than females... so only correct excessive or inappropriate screaming.

Here are some articles that will help you learn about rewarding desirable behavior and discouraging bad behavior (like excessive screaming):

http://quakerville.com/QIC/q_advice.asp (this article is written with quakers in mind- but the methods and information apply to all parrots)

http://www.companionparrot.com/screaming.htm

http://www.cockatiels.org/articles/behavior/screaming.html

http://www.parrothouse.com/sf7.html (cockatoos are naturally much, much, much louder than cockatiels- but they are both similar birds too in many ways)

http://www.parrothouse.com/sf8.html

http://www.quakerparrots.com/mattiesue/prevent_screaming.htm

http://www.parrothouse.com/sf3.html

I hope this helps.

-Maggie