Having a pet bird can be a wonderful and rewarding experience. However, some bird owners struggle with getting their feathered friends to stop making loud noises first thing in the morning. Birds like parrots, cockatiels and macaws are naturally quite vocal creatures. While their singing and chattering can be cute and fun during the day, it’s less enjoyable when your bird starts screaming at dawn and wakes up the whole household.
Why Does My Bird Scream in the Morning?
There are a few common reasons why pet birds tend to scream and squawk first thing in the morning:
- Attention Seeking – Birds are very social and intelligent creatures. Your bird may have learned that making noise in the morning will get your attention.
- Establishing Territory – Wild birds often call out in the morning to mark their territory and find a mate. This innate behavior can carry over to domesticated birds.
- Boredom – If your bird doesn’t have enough mental stimulation and enrichment in its cage, it may scream out of boredom and frustration.
- Light Levels – Sudden changes in light when the sun comes up can trigger excited vocalizations in birds.
- Hunger – Birds may start calling loudly in anticipation of being fed breakfast.
Tips to Stop Early Morning Bird Screaming
If your feathery friend has you and your family waking up to unpleasant screeching every morning, there are some training techniques and lifestyle changes you can implement to help quiet things down:
Ignore the Noise
As hard as it may be, try your best not to give your bird any attention when it screams in the morning. Don’t talk to it, open the cage, make eye contact or do anything else rewarding. This may be tough at first, but it will teach your bird that morning scream sessions don’t achieve anything.
Keep a Consistent Schedule
Birds thrive on regular routines. Try to wake up, feed your bird, interact with it and put it to bed at around the same times every day. This can help curb early morning noise by not disrupting your bird’s expected schedule.
Provide a Dark, Quiet Space at Night
Make sure your bird is sleeping in a spot that is truly dark, quiet and free from disturbance overnight. Invest in a cage cover to block out light. Don’t interact with your bird after its bedtime. Location also matters – keep the cage in a room that people don’t walk through at night.
Give Lots of Daytime Enrichment
A bird that is mentally stimulated and active during the day will be less likely to scream out of boredom in the morning. Provide plenty of toys, social interaction, training sessions and foraging opportunities when your bird is awake.
Refrain from Responding to Noise
When your bird does make noise in the morning, avoid yelling at it, making sudden movements or doing anything else that may be perceived as a reward. Act like the bird doesn’t exist until it has been quiet for several minutes.
Consider Re-Locating the Cage at Night
If possible, you can move your bird’s cage to an isolated room away from bedrooms overnight to dull the noise. Just make sure the space doesn’t get too cold or drafty.
Use Target Training
Work on target training your bird to touch its beak to a stick when prompted during the day. Then use this same technique first thing in the morning to redirect its energy into a positive behavior instead of screaming.
Change Up Feedings
Try shifting the timing of your bird’s breakfast later in the morning if early hunger seems to be triggering noise. Or split breakfast into two smaller meals – one right when you wake up and one a bit later.
Adjust Nighttime Lighting
If light changes at dawn seem to be causing issues, invest in light blocking window treatments and keep lights off in the bird’s room overnight. You can also try covering just part of the cage at night to dull the transition.
Provide Early Morning Foraging
Give your bird something productive to do right when it wakes up. Place part of its breakfast in puzzle toys or hidden in paper in its cage so it’s motivated to forage and work for its food instead of screaming.
When to Be Concerned About Excessive Bird Screaming
While some chatter is normal, excessive screaming in birds can be a sign of a behavioral or medical issue. Contact an avian vet if your bird is displaying any of the following:
- Screaming persistently throughout the entire day
- Shrieking at night when it should be sleeping
- Showing signs of distress like heavy breathing or fluffed feathers
- Screaming in a strange, off-pitch tone
- Aggressive body language like lunging when screaming
- Loss of appetite or lethargy along with screaming
Sudden, loud vocalizations can be symptomatic of pain, stress, fear, inflammation, infection or other health problems that require veterinary attention. Don’t assume your bird is just “acting up” if it is displaying any abnormal behavior along with nonstop screaming.
When to Consider Re-Homing Your Pet Bird
In some unfortunately cases, birds may still continue screaming in the mornings even after exhausting all training options and medical causes have been ruled out. If the noise has become severely disruptive for your family and is negatively impacting your lifestyle, you may need to consider re-homing your bird. This is a difficult decision, but may ultimately be what’s best for you and the bird.
Key signs it may be time to find a new home for your pet bird include:
- Screaming that starts earlier and earlier each morning
- Screaming lasting over an hour nonstop
- Family members losing sleep and becoming ill due to noise
- Screaming triggering stress and fights between family members
- Complaints from neighbors about the noise
- Inability to concentrate or work from home due to noise
If the bird’s screaming has reached the point where it is detracting from your life and health, re-homing with an experienced bird owner or sanctuary may benefit both you and the bird.
Conclusion
Birds are naturally quite vocal, especially at dawn and dusk. But excessive, loud screaming every morning is problematic and unfair for both pet birds and their owners. Thankfully, there are training techniques and lifestyle changes that can curb this disruptive behavior. With time, patience and persistence, you can teach your feathered friend to greet the morning in a quieter, more harmonious way.