New Quaker

[Brigette]

Hi! I just got a Quaker parrot and also got an Eclectus around the same time. The Quaker is about 2 years old. I just got him last night and he is LOUD! He yells and then gets the Eclectus yelling! He was even yelling last night after I covered him and turned the lights out! Is this normal?

[DarwinTheSun]

Screaming is very normal :0 But maybe not after the lights went out. Quakers are very loud birds, they like to scream. But most will settle in for the night. Did he have a new cage? I suppose even just the change into your house might be throwing him off. Give him a few weeks to settle and I bet the night time screaming will stop (just not the rest of the day screaming!)

Good luck! The only thing you can do is ignore the behavior and reward soft sounds. It seems you got a quaker that has been ignored and maybe so far as abused...so you will undoubtedly have some behavior issues to correct. Lots of treats for good behaviors!

[becca623]

What worked for me when I've had birds that continued screaming after lights out was making sure s/he understood it was bed time so s/he didn't freak out. I would put everyone in their cages, give them each a little treat, then a few minutes later say night night followed by turning out the lights. It didn't take long for them to learn the routine. One of my birds starts telling me night night when she's ready for bed. Now when she says night night, I put everyone to bed.

[DarwinTheSun]

We do exactly that too. :) At bedtime my bird gets his "berry" (a nutriberry) and he has to get into bed (the fleece hut) before he gets it.

And he definitely gets cranky if we don't listen to his demands for berries come 8:30 or so at night.

[my-africangrey-echo]

LOL When Vern is ready for bedtime she will start saying night vern..

I was so surprised the first time she said it to me a few days after she found me and her forever home..

[Brigette]

I do the same thing! LOL! But, I wasn't giving treats before bed. I'm going to try that! Last night was much better. He got quiet when I covered the cage. It's so funny, he'll scream, then the Eclectus will scream, and they'll do this back and forth for about a minute! Geesh, I didn't realize such a small bird could scream so loud!

[Paralegalpebbles]

I've only had my Quaker for 5 days, but s/he is quiet and doesn't hardly say a peep, unless she tries to fly and lands on the ground, she squeeks. I think she said "peek a boo" when I played the game with her, but other than that she's really quiet. Is that normal? S/he is about a year old.

[Kolkri]

I have three quakers(one pet one retired breeder and one baby from last year.) and I rarely have any yelling. They do like to make some noise in the morning and in the evening. This is normal and does not bother me. I even join in from time to time. They love it and well start talking then.

He may just be calling for his old owner or a bird the old owner had. Be careful not to "teach" this habit. Ignore him when he does this and do not cover the cage to quite him down.

Reward him with a treat whenever he is not "yelling". If he won't take it from you offer it threw the bars or drop it in his bowl.
Yelling is not normal for quakers. Noise is. Only ones I have that yell are my breeders when they get upset.

That is why I think he is just upset with the new home.

paralegal your bird is new and yes being quite when first in a new home is normal too. I find mine tend to get noisy when I have on the radio or TV they don't care to much for a house that is to quite it worries them so they stay quite too. Just like in the wild when it gets all quite right before a storm or when a predator approaches.

Hope this helps and I wish you both luck with your new quakers. IMO they are the best pets.