|
Vocalizations are essential to a bird's
existence in the wild. As social flock animals, they need to communicate
with the other flock members about a host of topics - where the best eats are,
where to meet up after a long days work to roost, to warn or scare away
predators, to attract a mate or to warn off someone encroaching on their nest.
In nature, the most vocal periods for bird are at sunrise and again at sunset.
There are several types of vocalizations:
-
Contact Calls are used to locate flock
members when they are separated within the thick forest canopy. (Sort
of a Marco Polo technique to guide a separated bird back to the flock.)
-
Warning Shouts to make the flock aware of
a predator.
-
Angry Shouts when someone encroaches on
one's territory.
-
SOS Calls when a bird is in distress,
under attack or injured.
-
Love Songs or chatter between mates.
-
Begging sounds made by hungry babies in
the nest.
In our home, often a
parrot's vocalizations are expressions of their emotional needs to the rest of his flock
(you and your family). The number one reason bird's vocalize is
to get our attention. They are constantly calling out to
their human flock with the equivalents of:
-
"Where's dinner? to let us know
they are hungry
-
“Hey, where is everybody”
to find out where we are
-
"Help!" because something scared
them
-
"Get the heck out of here!" - to warn us
of danger
-
“Time to get up and
going" to greet us in the morning
-
"Yea! You're home!" to
greet us when we get home from work
-
"Gotta go nite nite" when they've had
enough for the day
They also vocalize:
-
just for fun ! (singing, whistling)
-
to engage us in play
-
to compete with other noisy activities in
the house (vacuum, TV, music, kids)
-
to respond to or imitate noises in the house
that usually command our immediate attention
(telephone, doorbell, microwave beep)
Bird owners should listen to
their bird’s calls and try and interpret them relative to what is going on in
the environment and what time of day it is and then you can appropriately
respond to their needs.
By responding to there contact calls
you will reassure them that their flock is intact.
Vocalizations are normal for a
parrot and they certainly can be LOUD at times. What we might think is
obnoxious is completely natural and instinctual to our birds and, as such, we must
learn to accept "normal" noise. However, not all noise is "normal".
There is also "learned screaming behavior" that puts a lot of bird owners over
the edge and often results in birds being passed from home to home. See
our related article Why Does My Bird Scream?
for
insight on excessive screaming.
 Print
Version
|
|
