Can you make your pet bird less prone to shrieking?
Pet birds like parrots, cockatoos and budgies can be hugely rewarding to own, and their chatter, song or other vocalisations are often a huge part of the appeal. However, shrieking isn't generally one of the pet bird noises most of us find charming or pleasant, and if your bird is prone to doing this, it can soon become quite jarring. Your neighbours probably don't enjoy the noise much either!
So, is there anything you can do to make your pet bird less prone to shrieking if they do this a lot? This article will provide some suggestions. Read on to learn more.
Covering the cage
If your bird shrieks early in the morning or late at night, or in response to certain types of visual stimulus, covering the cage can go a long way to keeping them calm and reducing their shrieking, depending of course on why they do this.
However, it is important to do this appropriately, ensure your bird still gets enough natural light, and not use covering the cage as a punishment.
Ensure they have enough mental stimulation
A bird that is bored or that feels neglected is a bird that is likely to act out in all manner of ways, some of which are apt to be annoying and others of which can be distressing, like feather plucking.
Making sure that your bird gets enough mental stimulation is integral to keeping them happy and also, preventing and potentially reversing behavioural problems like shrieking.
Intelligent birds like parrots and cockatoos will shriek from boredom and also for attention, as they quickly learn that doing so will get a reaction out of you.
Provide plenty of interactive toys in your bird's cage, spend plenty of quality time with them playing and engaging with them, and swap out toys for new things regularly as birds soon get bored of the same old things all the time.
Food rewards and puzzles, making your bird think and have to work out challenges and hunt to find treats are great diversions. A varied diet with plenty of different flavours and textures is important too.
Ensure their cage is large enough
If your bird's cage is too small, they will be bored, frustrated and also uncomfortable, as you would be without enough room to move around.
If your pet bird's cage is too small, nothing else you can do will resolve the shrieking problem, and you must get them a far larger cage as a priority, as this is a welfare issue.
Give them room to fly or move around
Birds really need to spend time every day outside of their cage, unless they have an enormous enclosure. Let them out daily with space to fly if they fly and this is possible, or simply to explore and enjoy a change of scenery and to stretch their muscles if they don't fly or there isn't room.
Make sure they can see things going on
If your bird is inquisitive they will probably get a lot of entertainment from being able to watch the world go by, as long as things don't pass the windows closely enough to scare them.
Try to give your bird a good view of what's going on outside, and also within the home; locate their cage in a room you actually use and where your bird can feel involved and able to interact with things.
Ensure their physical needs are met
A bird that is uncomfortable or feeling unwell is apt to be either very quiet or very noisy. A stable and comfortable temperature is a vital part of this, and birds are very sensitive to temperature fluctuations, which is something to bear in mind if your heating goes off at night.
The cleanliness of your bird's cage is important too, and if it is dirty it can affect not only their health but also temperament.
Don't reward or reinforce the noise
When it comes to intelligent birds, you can accidentally make shrieking worse or more acute by engaging with or rewarding it. If you answer your bird when they shriek, go into the room, engage with them, or otherwise show them that they can achieve something by making a shrieking noise, you're not going to help matters but are apt to make them worse!
Ensure your bird isn't lonely/needs a mate
Finally, some birds and bird species are far more social than others, and while some are far happier being an "only child" others will not thrive without the company of their own kind. However much time you spend with your bird and however much attention they get, some birds simply need another bird of the same species around to be happy.
Think carefully then about whether your bird might be lonely; this might be the case in a bird you've had since they were young if they have suddenly developed a habit of shrieking and nothing else has changed, as they may have reached or be approaching sexual maturity and be feeling the need for a mate.
Understanding Contact Calls Versus Excessive Screaming
Not all loud vocalisations from your parrot are a problem to be fixed. In the wild, parrots use contact calls to locate flock members when they are out of sight — it is an instinctive survival behaviour. Your pet parrot will do exactly the same: when you leave the room, they may call out to check where you are. If you do not respond, the call will often escalate into a full shriek.
The practical solution is straightforward: answer your parrot's contact call with a simple vocal response — a word, a whistle, or even just a call back from another room. This reassures them that you are still present and within the flock. Ignoring a genuine contact call entirely will only intensify the noise, because from your bird's perspective, they are simply not being heard. The key distinction to make is between a contact call (a short, repeated check-in) and an extended screaming episode driven by boredom, frustration, or a learned attention-seeking habit — the latter is what behaviour-shaping techniques are designed to address.
Using Incompatible Behaviours to Replace Shrieking
One of the most effective long-term strategies for reducing excessive screaming is teaching your bird an incompatible behaviour — something they physically cannot do at the same time as screaming. Whistling is a prime example: a parrot cannot whistle and scream simultaneously. By consistently rewarding your bird with attention and treats whenever they whistle, and withdrawing attention whenever they scream, you gradually shift their communication strategy away from shrieking.
Tricks also work well as incompatible behaviours. Teaching your bird to wave, spin, or raise their wings on cue gives you a tool to redirect a screaming episode mid-flow — ask for the cued behaviour, reward it generously, and the screaming loses its momentum. Be aware that when you first begin withdrawing attention from screaming, you may notice an "extinction burst" — a temporary, intense escalation of the noise before it subsides. This is a normal part of the behaviour-change process and a sign that your approach is working. Stay consistent, do not give in, and the burst will pass.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you get a parrot to stop screaming?
The most reliable approach combines two strategies: stop reinforcing the screaming (do not go to your bird, make eye contact, or engage with them when they scream) and consistently reward an alternative behaviour such as whistling or quiet talking. Over time, your bird learns that screaming achieves nothing, while a calmer sound earns your attention. Consistency from everyone in the household is essential — one person reinforcing the screaming will undo the efforts of the rest.
What does it mean when a parrot screams?
Screaming can mean several different things: boredom, loneliness, hunger, fear, the need for a contact call response, or a learned habit built up through previous inadvertent reinforcement. Paying attention to when and where the screaming occurs will help you identify the trigger. A diary noting the time of day, what was happening beforehand, and how long the episode lasted can be very useful.
Why does my parrot scream when I leave the room?
This is almost always a contact call — your bird is checking that you are still present. Respond with a short vocal acknowledgement from wherever you are. If the screaming persists well beyond a brief check-in, it may be a learned attention-seeking behaviour, in which case the extinction approach (consistently ignoring the screaming and rewarding silence or a substitute sound) is appropriate.
How to make a parrot calm down?
A soaking bath before a typically noisy period of the day is a surprisingly effective calming tool — a wet bird has preening to focus on and rarely screams. Placing your bird in a quieter area with foraging toys and a radio for company before a guest arrives or during a busy period at home can also prevent screaming episodes before they start. Structured daily interaction — regular training sessions, out-of-cage time, and play — reduces the baseline frustration that drives much excessive noise.