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My Guy does the screaming bit whenever I am on the phone and he can hear me. As soon as I hang up he stops. He knows I am talking to someone, and its not him, but thier is no one else their and he cannot hear the other person. So I think it confuses him a little so he screams at me so I will talk to him instead.
I have found in this situation my first reaction use to be to yell from across the room Zazoo be Quiet, well that was the worse think to do, you don;t even think about it you just do it. Kind of like when your kids are annoying you from another room and you yell at them to stop. Kids get it, but Birds don't always.
Mine decided this was a game and when I yelled it meant he could yell louder. So know what I do is go very close to him and whisper. The only way he can hear what I am saying is to quiet down and as soon as he does I tell what a nice quiet bird he is. I will pick him up or give him a treat all while whispering and it works. He sometimes tries to copy the whisper which is pretty funny.
He also does a lot of screaming in the winter because he wants to go outside and its to cold so he cannot. When this happens I lock him in his cage(which I rarely do because I leave the door opened all the time) and cover him. I go back in 10-15 minutes and uncover him. I ask him if he wants out and if he is ready to be a good boy. He either immediately says, Up,Up and lifts his foot or he screams again and we start over.
Both of these things took time to resolve but now the screaming fits are coming less and less. He is very demanding and does not like to share me with the other pets. So The best thing I can do is remove me from the equation. If he is doing this for my attention and won't stop then I completely remove myself and my husband steps in and does the above steps. Once he stops screaming and calms down I will come back and talk to him. This also works. I understand how frustrating the constant noise can be, For a smaller macaw my Military is very vocal and Can be heard by neighbors three blocks away when he wants to be heard.
The hardest part is figuring out what is triggering the screaming. You need to break it down as someone previously said. Pay attention to what is going on before, during and after the screaming, is it the same time of day. Or just when you are talking to clients.
If yours is like mine and doing it to take your attention away from your guests and give it back to him. You might want to put him in a quiet room Such as a bedroom and close the door before your clients come, than once they leave go and bring him back out to the play area. If you are doing your business in the same area as his cage or playstand he could be protecting his space and trying to chase the strangers away, and he is suceeding if you are forced to do business elsewhere. My Military does not like anyone near his cage other than myself, my husband and my daughter anyone else he tries to chase away.
Approach the situation the same way you would with a small child that cannot tell you what is wrong, and go through a process of elimination. You will find a solution as long as you sit with it. The hardest part of rehoming any animal is undoing any behaviors you disagree with. What was okay or ignored by the last owner might not be okay with you, but your pet does not know the difference. It is up to you to reteach and show him what is acceptable now. Good Luck
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