Vocalization: Part II
Vocalization PART 2: Understanding the vocalization
By Sheila S. Blanchette, IAABC-CPBC, UW-AAB
As discussed in my earlier blog, I explained that parrots are very social, and vocalization is a natural behavior. Our companion birds maybe spending time in a cage or on a play stand observing the human flock maneuver through the four-wall dwelling jungle (residence). Our companion birds vocalize for a variety of reasons from singing to the morning sun to playing with a toy. Most people with a companion bird enjoy the different vocalizations and even the mimicking of sounds or human words.
What brings a person to their breaking point is a companion bird repetitive vocalization at a specific pitch. When this vocalization occurs, a person may react in many ways. The more this repetitive vocalization occurs, the more the person’s frustration level goes up. There is this instant jump to go to social media to find ways to make the vocalization to stop.
Let Us Review - Social media suggestions to stop vocalization:
A. Place the bird in a cage and cover the cage (Black out).
As noted in social media, this will act like nighttime and the bird will rest. There is no research that says that the bird believes that it is nighttime, and the bird should rest. Depending on the companion bird, the bird will try to find a light to peek underneath and continue to vocalize, or for that moment the bird may appear quiet.
The fallout of this option: As soon as you remove the cover, the vocalization returns immediately or occurs later. If you continue to cover the cage, you are additionally creating distance between you and your bird. Additionally, there is a chance that the companion bird will chew through the cover and scream through the hole.
B. Spray the bird with water.
Depending on the companion bird, the bird may think it is bath time and vocalize more for the enjoy of the bath. There are some companion birds that may stop vocalizing for the moment and try to get away from the water.
The fallout of this option: You may have a wet bird, and the vocalization returns immediately or occurs later. Additionally, the bird may become neophobic of being misted and the bird could start attacking the spray bottle (2nd undesired behavior).
C. Yelling at the bird.
This may appear to stop the bird’s vocalization and might make you feel better. There is a possibility that the companion bird may join you in your vocalization. The companion bird may not understand that you are frustrated and instead may cause the reinforcing of the vocalization as the bird wants to join in on the screaming.
The fallout of this option: Increase of vocalization.
D. Saying ‘No’ and Grabbing the bird’s beak.
As much as the companion bird may stop the vocalization when you say “No”, the words really do not mean anything to the bird. Of course, your approach, body language and grabbing the bird’s beak may scare the bird at that moment which may stop the vocalization at the moment,
The fallout of this option: Your companion bird may not appreciate you grabbing their beak, and the next time you go to give food to your bird, your bird may think you are going to grab their beak, and bite you. Saying “No” really does not mean anything to your bird, the word does not tell your bird what to do instead; there is a good chance that vocalization will continue.
I am only mentioning a few “quick fixes” I have seen on social media. “The problem with this approach is that these “solutions” that make the noise stop in the moment most often reward the behavior so that it increases in the future. By using interventions like this, we actually teach our parrots to scream. However, in our desperation for quiet, we really don’t care in that moment.” (“Your Screaming Parrot and You – Pamela Clark, CPBC”) i
You can tell yourself that these “quick fixes” stopped the vocalization, if the vocalization occurs again in the future, then in reality the fix did not work. It was an intermediate moment of quiet. These quick fixes could create additional behavior changes which could include undesired biting, stopping to interact with you, and increased vocalization.
Reviewing Excessive Vocalizations:
A. Stressed Vocalization – This vocalization behavior – “I am referring to parrots whose body language indicates a lack of comfort in the environment. They do not often settle and roost. They may circle in their cages or pace back and forth along a perch for extended stretches of time. Their feathers are slicked down tightly against their bodies, and they stand up tall. They move often and may vocalize shrilly in a repetitive fashion as they do so.” (“Your Screaming Parrot and You – Pamela Clark, CPBC”) ii
B. Proximity Vocalization iii – This vocalization behavior could appear with a companion bird which has a pair bond with a specific human. The companion bird spends many hours on the shoulder, lap or extremely close to the person, and when trying to station the bird on a nearby perch, the companion bird jumps back onto the human.
C. Attention Vocalization – This vocalization behavior is a learned behavior. The companion bird may have vocalized once, and the human ran to the location of the bird to determine the issue. The human may have responded by asking “Are you okay?”, “Do you need food?”, “Oh Shhh, here is a pistachio (or millet)”. The companion bird does that vocalization again to verify the human’s response, and the human does that same reaction again. The companion bird learns the vocalization brings in the human (the action is reinforced (increased)).
“If you used to walk to the bird’s cage and ask it to quiet down when it was screaming before, you were likely unknowingly reinforcing the scream. The bird’s behavior has been reinforced by the attention given. This is likely to cause the screaming to increase out of frustration. It can cause the bird to scream louder and longer as well.” iv
D. Stereotypical Repetitive Vocalization – This vocalization behavior may have a rhythmic, repetitive, invariant behavior pattern that have no obvious purpose or function. In the following video link the cockatoo appears to be “dancing”, the behavior is stereotypical repetitive behavior; the repetitive motion, leg lift, and there is a vocalization (the sound was turned off because the vocalization was extremely loud) - https://youtube.com/shorts/as_k-MubwuI
Understanding the Function:
Remember, the companion bird does this behavior as a functional reason. It Is easy to jump to the conclusion the companion bird is doing this vocalization to “Tick me off” (review the Anthropomorphism Blog). “Understanding the functional relations between behavior and environmental events is key to accomplishing these goals. Behavior is never independent of conditions, and, in the captive environment where we provide so many of the conditions...”v (“Behavior Fundamentals: Filling the Behavior-Change Toolbox”)
A. Medical – If the companion bird on average is quiet or usually is not a vocal, and the companion bird’s personality has changed and the vocalization appears to be random, there could be a chance of a medical issue. Most companion birds hide medical issues. Example: If you noticed that your companion bird has stopped stepping up, or taking a time to step up, or maybe the vocalization occurs when the companion bird moves around the cage, there is a possibility that the companion bird has arthritis or bumble feet. The recommendation of an Avian Veterinary Medical visit is to evaluate whether there are no medical issues. Additionally, if your companion bird does have a medical condition, any training will be placed on hold until the condition is understood and under care and reviewed.
B. Nutrition – The diet of the companion bird is important to review. Fats and carbohydrates can cause increased vocalization. “Nutritional deficiency and excess can impact animal behavior in a variety of ways. First, a severe nutrient deficiency can change the behavior of an animal in terms of activity level.”.vi As our companion birds do not get the same exercise and foraging opportunities as their wild counterparts. Most of companion birds live on their human cab to get from one location to another location. The fats and carbohydrates can increase energy and sexual behaviors which leads to excessive vocalization.
Review your bird’s diet with an Avian Veterinarian or Avian Behaviorist (not a Consultant/Trainer) on how to properly change the diet to a more appropriate balanced diet. “a mix of produce and formulated diet can meet the nutritional requirements of captive parrots”vii
C. Environmental – Once Medical and Nutrition has been reviewed, now, it is time to put on your detective hat and review changes in the environment. “Behavior always depends on the environment in some way. Functional assessment is the process of developing hypotheses about the functional relations between behaviors and the environment.”viii Environmental Arrangement (also known as antecedent arrangement) can be an option to assist in reducing excessive vocalization. If the excessive vocalization recently started, what changed in the environment?
Example: The human moved the bird cage closer to the window. The human believes the companion bird may like looking out the window. As much as the window may appear to be an enriched location by the human, this location could be incredibly stressful for the companion bird. Excessive sunlight or heat, increased activity outside the window with flying birds, road noise/ construction, and/or new location for the cage could lead to stress and vocalization. By changing the environment arrangement, by placing the cage back to the original spot, could reduce the vocalization.
Another example, there is construction work being done in the home, the companion bird may start off with no vocalization and may be interested in the people going in and out of the office. The continuous or unpredictable noise from the construction can increase stress on the companion bird. The companion bird may start to vocalize even when the construction work is over. The unpredictable noise from the construction has caused fear and unstable in the environment from the companion bird’s perspective.
If there is planned construction going to occur in the household, recommendation is to move the companion bird to calmer location until the construction is completed. If cannot be done, look at sound proofing the area (the best you can), or do some form of training to aid with reducing the stress.
Additional question to check is “was anything added to the environment”? From a new toy in the cage to a plastic bag placed on a desk nearby. Novel items, which may appear innocent, can create stress and/or feat to a companion bird; by removing the item can lead to the reduction of vocalization.
“By identifying and changing the conditions in which problem behaviors occur, problem behaviors can be replaced with appropriate behaviors, and caregivers and pets will experience more success living together.” ix (“FINAL A Framework for Solving Behavior Problems”)
D. Learned Behavior – We all want what is best for our companion bird and will do anything for them. “However pet–human relationships are not always successful and differences between human and animal behaviour can lead to lack of understanding and problems where animals do not to live up to human expectations of what a pet should be.” x (“Examining Bird vs. Human Expectations - Pet Professional Guild”)
We can unknowingly increase the vocalization of our companion birds.
Avian – Human Pair Bond - The companion bird has become over reliant on the human. The companion bird spends excessive time on the human’s shoulder or lap; and/or cuddled; and has learned minimal independence. We want our companion bird to be bonded with us; there is respected co-existence which allows the bird choice and independence. The Avian – Human Pair Bond is usually the companion bird that has developed a mate relationship or over reliance to the human. This relationship can lead to many undesired behaviors including excessive vocalization when the human is out of eye shot.
Minimal Environmental Changes – The companion bird has not had any changes to the environment. There is this “myth” that companion birds need predictability (Strict predictability). When there is a strict predictability, when there is a change to the schedule, undesired behavior and vocalization could occur. This event has been seen when the human delivers breakfast every day at 7am, and one day decided to sleep in. The companion bird is expecting breakfast to be delivered and vocalizes under stress.
Predictable Activities – The companion bird learns outcomes. “Regardless of what we think about the value of any particular behavior or the consequences we provide, the function the behavior has to the bird dictates whether or not the behavior will be performed again in the same way in the future. That is equally true for behavior caregivers consider wanted and unwanted.” xi The garage door opening can predict the vocalization of the companion bird.
It is important to not jump right into training/redirecting the behavior without considering any medical, environment changes, and/or nutritional changes that could be attributed to the increased vocalization. Once those components have been assessed, the learned behavior can be reviewed.
As noted in Vocalization – Part 1, especially for Learned Behavior, create a logbook, and track when the vocalization occurs: What time of the day, what occurred right before the event, when did the companion bird start to vocalize and for how long, and what did you do during the event. As you document, a pattern may appear associated with vocalization. The more you document, the more you will learn about predicting your bird’s individual vocalization.
In next entry of this series: Focus: Vocalization (Part 3) – No Quick Fix: Patience and planning to reduce excessive learned vocalization.
References:
i. Your Screaming Parrot and You, Pamela Clark, Pamela Clark Blog, January 2, 2019 (https://pamelaclarkonline.com/2019/01/02/your-screaming-parrot-and-you/)
ii. Your Screaming Parrot and You, Pamela Clark, Pamela Clark Blog, January 2, 2019 (https://pamelaclarkonline.com/2019/01/02/your-screaming-parrot-and-you/)
iii. Parrots and Proximity (Part Two), Pamela Clark, Pamela Clark Blog, November 10, 2023 (https://pamelaclarkonline.com/2023/11/10/parrots-and-proximity-part-two/)
iv. The Top Three Common Parrot Concerns & The Three Biggest Mistakes in Trying to Change Them, Lara Joseph, The Animal Behavior Center, January 20, 2024
v. Behavior Fundamentals: Filling the Behavior-Change Toolbox, Susan G. Friedman, Ph.D., Journal of Applied Companion Animal Behavior Vol. 3, No. 1. 2009 (https://www.behaviorworks.org/files/journals/behavior%20fundamentals%20jacab.pdf)
vi. Captive Parrot Nutrition: Interactions with Anatomy, Physiology, and Behavior, Kevin David Matson and Elizabeth A. Koutsos, Manual of Parrot Behavior – chapter 6, 2006 – (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220049599_Captive_Parrot_Nutrition_Interactions_with_Anatomy_Physiology_and_Behavior)
vii. Nutritional Levels of Diets Fed to Captive Amazon Parrots: Does Mixing Seed, Produce, and Pellets Provide a Healthy Diet?, Donald J. Brightsmith, MS, PhD, Journal of Avian Medicine and Surgery 26(3):149–160, 2012, 2012 by the Association of Avian Veterinarians (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233534374_Nutritional_Levels_of_Diets_Fed_to_Captive_Amazon_Parrots_Does_Mixing_Seed_Produce_and_Pellets_Provide_a_Healthy_Diet)
viii. FUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENT: HYPOTHESIZING PREDICTORS AND PURPOSES OF PROBLEM BEHAVIOR TO IMPROVE BEHAVIOR-CHANGE PLANS, Susan G. Friedman, Ph. D., APDT Journal Sept 2009 (https://www.behaviorworks.org/files/articles/Functional%20Assessment.pdf)
ix. A Framework for Solving Behavior Problems: Functional Assessment and Intervention Planning, Susan G. Friedman, PhD,
J Exotic Pet Med 2007;16(1):6-10, 2007 (https://www.behaviorworks.org/files/journals/A%20Framework%20for%20Solving%20Behavior%20Problems%20JEPM.pdf)
x. Examining Bird vs. Human Expectations, Sheila S. Blanchette, The Barks, November 4, 2021 (https://www.petprofessionalguild.com/barks/barks-magazine-blog/examining-bird-vs-human-expectations/)
xi. Animal behaviours, post-human lives: everyday negotiations of the animal–human divide in pet-keeping ,Fox, Rebekah, Social & Cultural Geography Volume 7, . 2006 (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249005646_Animal_Behaviours_Post-Human_Lives_Everyday_Negotiations_of_the_Animal-Human_Divide_in_Pet-Keeping)
xii. How Parrots Learn to Behave, Phoebe Greene Linden, SBBF and S.G. Friedman, Ph.D., Bird Talk, May 2003 (https://www.behaviorworks.org/files/articles/How%20Parrots%20Learn%20Behavior%202003.pdf)
Copyrighted. Blog posts may be used as guidelines for the proper care of your parrot. Not intended for medical or legal advice. Please consult with a licensed avian veterinarian regarding the medical care and wellbeing of your exotic pets.