How Yelling at Your Screaming Bird Reinforces it to Scream On!

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Umbrella Cockatoo

my cockato screems when she cant see me we tell her to shut up but she does not do so i know she knows it wrong because she tells the native ones to shut up when they screem.

- Anne

In the wild, birds have what is called a “flock call” where they yell (or scream) to their flock and their flock members call back.

Parrots don’t have cellular phones, the only way for them to communicate from distances is to scream and rely on their voices to carry far enough to reach their flock members.

In captivity, this instinct is still intact, but now YOU are their flock members. When birds scream to you when they can’t see you or know you are far away, they are flock calling to you. When you scream back, you are communicating with the bird right back. It’s like answering the telephone with someone obnoxious calls. If they know you’re going to eventually pick up every time, it will be easier and more fun to annoy you and you’re simply telling them to keep calling at that point because you keep picking up!

The same goes for birds, the more you yell back, the more they will call to you. This is a form of communication they are using. Screaming at your bird for screaming is about the worst thing you can do it you’re attempting to put it to a stop.

If you want to learn how to put a stop to your bird’s screaming once and for all, check out Chet’s free?video Stop my Screaming Parrot and our Secrets to Stopping Screaming course.