[Tombstone]

The best thing to do when they scream is IGNORE it. Make sure your bird is getting enough attention...set up foraging opportunities and ways for the bird to be mentally occupied when you're away....allow several hours out of the cage each day...and DO NOT respond with "be quiet" or "shut-up" when the bird gets too loud...infact, do not even look in the birds direction when they are screaming. All birds will scream, but most of the time it becomes more and more frequent because we unknowingly nurture the behavior by providing the reward the bird is seeking - attention of any kind! If you have to place the bird in another room in order to be able to ignore the screaming and not "lose it," that's perfectly fine - you're human! Do what it takes to train yourself not to respond to the screaming and only to approach the cage and handle the bird, talk to the bird, or look at the bird when he/she is displaying behavior worthy of a reward - which, for your bird, the greatest reward is always your attention and affection.

Finally, if your RB2 cannot fly - it's important to not clip wings and allow the bird some opportunities for flight - even if in your house. I have an outside flight that I built for this purpose as I DO NOT trust my own skills with true free flight exercises with my birds - but I found that when I taught my Macaw to fly and allowed her to do so a few times per week, it seemed to take some of the frustration out of her. She got to be more of a "real" bird. I believe flight therapy is a great thing. My Grey and my U2 both have never had their wings clipped, and they fly freely across the house from their bird stands to their cages. Neither of them is a screamer. I really think there's something to this.

I speak out of experience as my first parrot was my Blue and Gold Macaw; I made many newby mistakes with her, including shushing her when she would scream. She became the worst screamer I had ever encountered. Once I determined what I had done wrong, I implemented the above outlined plan, and she has become progressively better at not screaming. Of course, she's a Macaw - she's going to be noisey - but it doesn't have to be the constant screaming for attention if you correct YOUR behavior in order to give your bird the opportunity to correct his behavior.

Birds are highly adaptive, and they do whatever actions get them the rewards they seek...so we can't blame them for screaming because that is when we notice them the most. Our birds live for our attention and affection, so remember to provide it plenty when they are displaying appropriate behavior! Most quiet birds get ignored, and that is opposite of what we ought to be doing.