# Female cockatiel screams every morning



## avakekkuli (Mar 26, 2019)

Hi!

(First of all, I'm not native English speaker, but I try my best to explain)

So I have three female cockatiels, I've had them around 3 years now. Two of them are sisters and will be three years old this year and the third one is around 10 years old. I'm not really sure, because I adopted her and the person whom I adopted her from didn't know her date of birth, only the year. 

And she's the one who screams a lot. Of course, birds scream and that's only natural, but the way she screams is some kind of demanding screaming, like she really wants something, but I don't know what. Their cage is really big I would say, It's home made and fits 3 tiels well. They also have toys to destroy, and the sisters are pleased with them. I also make sure to give them baths and everything, bird lamp is working too.

They also have space to fly outside the cage and spend a lot of time outside the cage. But every morning Waru (the screaming one) wants to get out of the cage, and if I let her off the cage, she still screams, very very loudly. Of course I try to ignore her to help her learn that she can't get everything she wants. She screams around when it's 2pm, but it depends.

My theory is that she's been to many different houses maybe, and perhaps the previous owners didn't want to keep her because she screamed? I don't know. I still love her very much and try everything to keep her happy. I would still like to hear your opinions?

Thank you.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

It's possible that she's calling because she wants to find a mate. You don't say how well the three birds get along with each other, but it seems likely that the sisters are closer to each other than they are with the older bird because they've been together since the time they were hatched. If this is true, then they have sort of a pair bond, but the other bird does not. 

Is it possible that she is calling to birds that she hears outside? If one of your neighbors has a cockatiel that she can hear, she might be calling to that bird. Or she might be calling to wild birds that sound sort of like cockatiels.


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## avakekkuli (Mar 26, 2019)

Oh yeah I forgot to mention that. Actually Waru is very close to the other sister, and the second sister is not really bonding with both of them, but instead has a strong bond with me. But it's quite difficult to bond with Waru.

In Waru's previous home she did have a crush on a male cockatiel, but he didn't really care :") 

None of my neighbors has any birds, but you can definitely hear outside birds when you are in my room, so that could be a possibility.


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## AmyJas (Mar 27, 2019)

tielfan said:


> It's possible that she's calling because she wants to find a mate. You don't say how well the three birds get along with each other, but it seems likely that the sisters are closer to each other than they are with the older bird because they've been together since the time they were hatched. If this is true, then they have sort of a pair bond, but the other bird does not.


I agree with Tielfan. In most parts of the world, it's breeding season, so she may also just be hormonal right now. Make sure you don't have a nestbox or any hideway that could be used as a nest because it will increase her hormonal behavior. You could try reducing her daylight hours by covering the cage in the evening (but leaving some light in case of night frights) to make her less hormonal as well. 

It's also probably possible Waru just misses another bird from her previous home. That loud screech is flock calling. I would try to continue to work with her. Try handfeeding her millet or other things if she is afraid of you. Hopefully she eventually calms down and settles in with her new family, but keep in mind birds can be crazy this time of year.


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## avakekkuli (Mar 26, 2019)

haha gosh I didn't know even how to quote a post...


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## avakekkuli (Mar 26, 2019)

AmyJas said:


> I agree with Tielfan. In most parts of the world, it's breeding season, so she may also just be hormonal right now. Make sure you don't have a nestbox or any hideway that could be used as a nest because it will increase her hormonal behavior. You could try reducing her daylight hours by covering the cage in the evening (but leaving some light in case of night frights) to make her less hormonal as well.
> 
> It's also probably possible Waru just misses another bird from her previous home. That loud screech is flock calling. I would try to continue to work with her. Try handfeeding her millet or other things if she is afraid of you. Hopefully she eventually calms down and settles in with her new family, but keep in mind birds can be crazy this time of year.


Yeah. I mean she has done this in the winter too, and it's really dark in the winter in Finland. And I've had her almost 3 years (maybe two, but this year it will be third year). 

My other birds however show a lot of hormonal behavior now, but I really don't know about Waru. I'm sure she might miss a bird from her previous home, since she was in a quite big flock too. She's pretty tamed even tho she's not always bonding with me. When I first got her, she wanted a quite a lot of scratches, but not really anymore. She does fly to my hand to get millet, but sometimes won't want to step up on my hand.


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## Bikkie (Apr 27, 2017)

*screeching*

I adopted a senior cockatiel that was constantly flock-calling. I played the radio for him, and that helped. I started with the radio (music) pretty loud, but reduced the sound as his calling reduced, so that now it is on all the time, but softly. Mine are all males, so that might make a difference. Ollie did begin to emulate the mockingbird that visits each morning.


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## silpugs (Oct 27, 2016)

*good advice so far*

I agree with the other responses. I have 3 males and they are so much easier, as far as being hormonal. I had females but would get so upset with the eggbound / hormones, that I stopped getting females. Especially when I lost two to eggs.
It is hard to have three birds male or female. they all want your attention.

I also adopted a new bird and he does alot of screaming. Alot of weird habits. I agree with you and think this is what he was able to do in the last home. I see it in my baby. 

:wf pied::wf pied: You will do a good job. I can tell by your responses. good luck.


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## Brightshen (Aug 2, 2018)

Does the sister also like Waru? All of my females (have had tiles" for 20 years) have all been very quiet and only scream when they want the attention of whomever they love. My females have all been sweet as can be except the day they lay eggs and maybe the day or two before. That day they tend to not want to be bothered, but don't do anything unless I get too close or bug them. I'm at a loss.


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## avakekkuli (Mar 26, 2019)

Thank you all for you replies. I contacted the breeder and and we both came to the conclusion that Waru wasn't happy at my place, and really needed a bigger flock. So luckily I could bring Waru back to her previous home where she can be happier and the flock is now way balanced than before. The breeder might give Waru to one of her friends, who takes older cockatiels and also has a bigger flock, since the breeder can't breed Waru for reasons.

It was a really hard decision and I miss her so much, but I had to think whats best for the bird  Thank you everyone!


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