Answered by Lee McGuire:

Hello there Joanne

It would appear that this response didn’t post last year so we are going to try again.

A vocalization that hurts our ears is surely one of the most annoying situations that we, as parrot caregivers, have to deal with.  Add in the fact that each of is us different when it comes to what we can tolerate before we decide we just can’t take it any more and it can make for an interesting behavioral puzzle for the caregiver to overcome.  Once we’ve decided to take action, we enter into the foggy realm of which advice to take.  Do we, as you did, speak softly? Cover up the bird? Ignore the behavior? Spray the bird with water every time opens it’s beak?  Run to the cage when the birds whistles? Or, re-home it?

We’ve all read each of those suggestions many times espoused as general wisdom for altering parrot behavior. Which way should we turn and what would be the best strategy to use that would reduce the irritating whistle?  That’s what the rest of this response will be about.

Let’s think about this for a moment. With our cars, would we change the battery when we have a flat tire?  Not likely since we deduce that the reason for the car’s “thumping and bumping along” behavior is due to the flat tire not the battery. In other words, the car is still running so we almost immediately rule out battery problems.  In the blink of an eye, we’ve rapidly collected some data based on the way the car is behaving, at that period of time, that tells us the reason for the rough ride is related to the tires not the battery.  If we approach a bird’s behavior in the same systematic way, collecting data, it’s more likely that we can come up with a strategy that will impact the particular bird’s behavior.

None of us vocalize without some reason - parrots included. Finding out the reason for the behavior will provide us with a clue as to the function that behavior serves for the individual bird. Once we understand what function any behavior serves, then we have a better chance of customizing an intervention that will work specifically for that bird.

The first thing to do is look at the surrounding environment with a critical eye. You will soon see that there are times when Bobby whistles loudly and repetitively and times when he doesn’t.  For instance, does he whistle when you’ve been gone for a period of time?  If you have other birds, does he whistle when they are vocalizing? Does he whistle when he hears a specific sound?  Does he whistle if you have ignored him for some period of time?  Does he whistle when he is engaged in other activities?

Answering those types of questions will provide a clue as to the purpose that the whistling behavior serves for Bobby.  It could be a contact whistle to greet you after absence; a reply to another bird; a response to a specific sound or a tactic to get your attention. With that information in hand, we can design a strategy that will reduce the whistling behavior in favor of those vocalizations you find more acceptable while still meeting the same function for Bobby.

As an example, we might say that when Joanne ignores Bobby, IF Bobby whistles, THEN eventually Joanne provides some social interaction time.  From that data we could predict that Bobby will continue to, or increase, the amount he whistles to gain social interaction time with Joanne. In other words, he’s whistling to get your attention.  It doesn’t matter if you only tell him to be quiet, speak softly, yell at him, spray him with water, etc. The function of his behavior served the purpose of getting your attention for however brief a period of time that might be.

Does that mean we have to live with any form of excessive vocalization? NO! There are any number of approaches to reducing excessive vocalizations but the intent of all of them is the make the excessive whistling irrelevant, inefficient and immaterial. Once you have a clear idea of the purpose Bobby’s whistling serves, you can still fulfill the function the whistling behaviour serves, just in a different way, thereby reducing the behavior you find problematic and increasing acceptable behaviors.

More often than not, in the home situation excessive vocalizations serve the purpose of getting the caregivers attention. Should it happen to be that Bobby’s whistling serves that purpose, there are several things you can do.  One of the easiest strategies to implement is training the ear to listen to the acceptable pleasant sounds Bobbie makes and immediately reinforcing those. You could also teach Bobby to ring a bell, bang a certain toy, make a specific noise, go to a given area, or any other creative solution you can come up with any time he wants your attention.  Speaking from experience, a caregiver can reduce annoying vocalizations quite rapidly provided we rapidly reinforce alternative behaviors consistently.

I look forward to hearing about your success.

Best

lee

Answered by Lee McGuire:

What a great question Steve.

Why on earth should a macaw vocalize when a human species leaves it's vicinity? What function could it possibly serve? When screaming is ongoing, if we stop to think about it for a few minutes, we could say that those vocalizations serve some purpose for Grover. He gets something out of it. Otherwise, why be bothered wasting time and effort to behave in such a way. What that purpose might be is up to us to find out.

Parrots, like most species on this planet, behave in ways that work for them in their current living situation whether that be free range or captive. That work in ways that are effective, relevant and cost the individual the least amount of it's available resources both behaviorally and physically. In other words, each individual does what works for that individual, in any particular situation, as it wanders through life finding out what has value and what should be avoided.

Using the previous comment as a starting point, we can infer that Grover gets something from those screams of his. If we could discover what purpose those screams might serve, that can form the basis for any intervention in a sound, scientific, respectful and VERY humane way. When you think about it , behaviors that are ongoing, generally occur for only a couple of reasons. Either Grover is vocalizing "to get" something in the surrounding environment or to escape or avoid that which has produced unpleasant consequences in the past. It can be that simple and that complicated trying to deduce what is maintaining any behavior.

What is wonderful Steve, is that you've identified a specific context in which Grover vocalizes. If you leave the room, Grover screams. So we now know what set's the scene for the behavior to occur. What we have here is one half of what's known, in Applied Behavior Analysis, as a Functional Assessment (FA) . To complete our assessment, we would need to know what currently maintains the behavior. In other words, what does Grover "get" when he vocalizes?

How can we discover what might be reinforcing Grover's behavior? By looking at the Grover's surroundings and everything that happens immediately before and after the screaming. Part of that environment includes Steve and his reaction to Grover's "yodelling". You see, very often with captive parrots any excessive vocalizing is a learned behavior that occurs when the bird is soliciting attention from the caregiver.

If our hypothesis is correct we could say:

WHEN: Steve leaves the room
BEHAVIOR: Grover screams
TO GET: Steve to look at or talk to him
Prediction of Future Behaviour: Grover will scream more


Bingo! That look or word is often all that is needed. No matter if it is an annoyed or disgusted look or a less than friendly "shut up!", "stuff it" or any of the other myriad of phrases we humans are prone to come up with. Grover has gotten your attention. That is especially true if you don't comment or look at him all the time. Intermittent reinforcement does make for very persistent behavior on the part of our birds.

Does that mean we can't change the behavior? NO! If we want to alter one behavior, we should be replacing it with another that is of equal value to Grover. Fair is only fair is right? If we identify another behavior that serves the same function and reinforce that while ignoring Grover's excessive vocalizations we can meet that target. For instance, if you recognize Grover for making any sounds that are pleasant to your ear (talking, whistling,etc) and provide lots of feedback in the form of your attention for that then the screaming will serve less of a function for Grover. In other words, it will no longer be worth the extra effort it takes to make loud noises.

Another tactic might be to preempt the behavior before you leave the room by chatting with Grover for a few seconds and telling him you'll return shortly. As with humans, often those few words will be enough. Teaching him to find other reinforcement through foraging and toy playing could also be considered. Not all birds have learned how to interact with the "cage decoration" we put in their cage.

That doesn't mean that any given bird will not have it's moments of exuberance for life. It simple means that excessive "screaming" will reduce if we offer immediate praise and attention for behaving in ways that we appreciate and don't require ear protection.

All in all Steve there are a number of ways that you can reduce the loud noises Grover makes when you leave the room.

Best
Lee