# screeching baby cockatiel



## jbrav003

Hi, about a month ago, I found a baby cockatiel in my backyard after a storm. (We think that he must have fallen out of a nest.) I estimated that he was about 4 weeks old at the time because he had about half of his feathers but his head, back and crop area were still bald. He seems to be very healthy and began to drink water and eat as soon as we got him. I have taught him simple commands like up and down and he loves being around people. However, he has separation issues and begins screaming as soon as I leave him. This doesn't concern me as much because I have already read posts about birds that do this and I think I can train him out of it. What does concern me is that whenever I have him on me, he begins making the strangest, almost mechanical noise and he just continues this screech no matter what I do. He will continue doing this until he gets tired and goes to sleep. Actually he is at it right now as he sits on my shoulder! What does this noise mean and how can I stop him from making this noise.
Any input would be greatly appreciated!


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## tielfan

Is it possible to post a video of him making the noise? That might help us figure out why he's doing it.

In general though the way to reduce unwanted noise is to ignore the bird when it's making the noise, and reward him with attention, treats, etc when he's being quiet or making sounds that you like. 

If he's been getting some kind of reward (like attention) for making the obnoxious sound, things might get worse before they get better. This is called an extinction burst, where the bird tries harder with the technique that used to work in the past. It takes about three days for the bird to give up, and during this period it's VERY important to NEVER reward the unwanted behavior. If you give in just once it makes the problem worse - the bird has just learned that if he tries long enough he'll eventually get what he wants.


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## tielmom

Is he eating on his own...because my first thought is maybe he is crying for food...I do not know, it is just a thought. If he is only 8 weeks or so, he may very well be not eating enough. Just a thought.


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## Mentha

If he had only half his feathers when you found him, that would make him younger than you estimate, I'd say he's about 5-6 weeks old right now. My babies have been fully feathered at 3-4 weeks old. He may be hungry and still not be completely weaned. Eating seeds does not nullify the need for a few hand feedings a day. I have babies which are 10 weeks old and still not completely weaned. 

Try hand feeding him when he cries like that and see if he isn't just hungry.


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## srtiels

It sounds like you might have an unweaned baby. There are many good avian vets in Miami, you might want to take the bird to a vet to make sure it is OK. Mostly the vet will put it on antibiotics and antifungals due to the stress it has gone thru which can trigger secondary infection.


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## Berdnerd

Poor little baby! I agree, he's younger than you think he is and not weaned yet. I'm amazed he's made it a month without being handfed. My babies haven't even been picking at food yet at the age you described. Does it seem like he's lost a lot of weight to you? I think a vet visit is in order like Srtiels said and you should look into how to handfeed. There's a good sticky about it in the breeding section. It's not hard but there are a bunch of important things to remember when you do it.

And how weird, finding a cockatiel chick in your yard! Amazing! And in Florida!


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## Berdnerd

Poor little baby! I agree, he's younger than you think he is and not weaned yet. The sound he's making is the "I'm hungry feed me!" sound baby cockatiels make. I'm amazed he's made it a month without being handfed. My babies haven't even been picking at food yet at the age you described. Does it seem like he's lost a lot of weight to you? I think a vet visit is in order like Srtiels said and you should look into how to handfeed. There's a good sticky about it in the breeding section. It's not hard but there are a bunch of important things to remember when you do it.

And how weird, finding a cockatiel chick in your yard! Amazing! And in Florida!


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## mpayjr

Is that normal to find wild cockatiels in FL? I've never heard of them surviving here in the US in the wild...


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## srtiels

Yes...we do have feral cockatiels in S. Florida. Also there are many breeders that don't keep the babies in the house, and when they handfeed they take them outside...and this is how an unweaned baby can fly off. I know several that this has happened to. 

Many years ago I was out feeding the birds. I noticed thay were all staring at the same spot on the ground. I looked down and there was a young tiel...probably about 2 month old on the ground. I reached down quick and grabbed it and it screamed and bit/latched on to my finger, which let me lnow it was wild and not a handfed bird. I put it in a cage. It had NO idea what seed and a water bowl were, and spray millet it acted like a snake was in the cage. I wound up pulling grass with the roots, Hibscus flowers, and branches from trees to give it and it nibbled on them. I had a semi-tame parent raised bird I wound up putting in the cage to show it how to eat.


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## jbrav003

That is the exact thing that I thought- he needed to be handfed. The day after I found him I went out and bought the handfeeding formula (I used to breed lovebirds so I know how to handfeed baby birds) but he didnt want anything to do with it. I kept trying over the next couple of days making sure that the temperature and consistency were ok but he never took to it. Since he had been eating all the millet I gave him, I decided to just leave food out and see what happened. I have been monitoring his weight and he does not seem to have lost any weight and is now almost fully fledged. I feel really sorry for him because the cry is so pitiful and he only does it when I pick him up so I know that he is asking for something. Should I try handfeeding him again? It has been almost a month since the last time I tried.


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## jbrav003

Oh and I worded it incorrectly when I said he only had half of his feathers- it was more than that. He had most of his feathers just with those missing parts. I have a picture of him from a few days after I found him although you can't really see the bald spots from the picture. How old do you guys think he is in the picture?


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## tielfan

It looks like his head feathers have been plucked, probably by his parents. This is a common problem. It looks like he was at least up to fledging age (4 weeks) when you found him, and possibly older. I can't judge his age but maybe Susanne can.

He seems to have quite a lot of yellow on his face too. Perhaps a pied split? Or feathers that were plucked and grew back with adult colors?


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## Berdnerd

Aww he's so cute! I don't know about the missing feathers, but Tielfan's guess sounds reasonable. My Phoenix is a regular normal grey tiel and he has yellow on his face like your little guy. He's only 9 weeks old and has had the yellow since he started getting feathers. At this age it doesn't determine the gender at all, we're just guessing at Phoenix's gender (sent away some feathers to be DNA sexed on Saturday so we'll know soon!).


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## srtiels

From your pix he looks like it is 7-8 weeks old. If younger the tail and wings would nnot be as grown out as the one in your pix.

Quite possibly he may have been an escapee from someone that was handfeeding. have you checked the local ads and on Craigslist for missing tiels? If a feral cockatiel there is no way it would have sat on your hand or allowed it to be handled.


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## srtiels

Is the bird banded...meaning a metal ring around the ankle of a leg?


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## srtiels

.* Perhaps a pied split? Or feathers that were plucked and grew back with adult colors?*
*------------------------------------*
Alot of normals when young will have yellow on the feathers closest to the beak. The bird looks like a normal split to WF (diluted cheek patches)


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## jbrav003

He is not banded. Very shortly after we found him in the yard, we saw a pair of adult cockatiels flying over head so I assumed that they were the parents. The next day we also found alot of feathers in the backyard and I think cats got to another baby.  That is why I believe a nest might have blown over into my yard. Anyway, do you guys think I should try hand feeding him again even though it has been a month? I will put up some more pictures of him shortly so you can see how he has grown up!


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## jbrav003

Here is a new picture of the little guy! (I have a video of him making the noise but can't download it onto the site.) Please any help would be greatly appreciated. I feel very sorry for this little guy. I would like to know if he is making this noise out of physical pain or hunger or because of psychologically feeling lonely and trying to get attention.


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## tielfan

He's a cutie! I don't know if it's possible to directly post videos on the forum, but if you put it on Youtube and provide a link we'll be able to look at it.


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## Berdnerd

He's so cute! I love grey babies!


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## jbrav003

Here is the video of the noise that he makes. This is constant whenever I am around.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0LtpC0StmU


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## srtiels

srtiels said:


> It sounds like you might have an unweaned baby. There are many good avian vets in Miami, you might want to take the bird to a vet to make sure it is OK. Mostly the vet will put it on antibiotics and antifungals due to the stress it has gone thru which can trigger secondary infection.


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*Please...I'm giving the same advice as before.* You need a vet to do some gram stains and run a culture to find out what is going on with the bird. Part of the problem may be it is not weaned, but also crying like this can be a result of it having a yeast or bacterial infection.


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## mpayjr

That is so cool seeing feral tiels!


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## Christine1227

Susanne - are there really feral Cockatiels in Florida? I live in South Florida as well and I truly believe one of my boys (Meenie) is feral but was unsure if that is possible because you don't see them flying around on a daily basis (unlike, say, the Quakers or those black crow birds - what are they called?). I just always assumed they were escapees.

That's actually how Meenie got his name, LOL. We have had him for a few years now, but despite all that time, he is still so... mean and wild. If you stand by the cage with your hands down by your side or in your pants pocket, if you should move your hands or take your hands out of your pocket, he lunges and hisses at you. Even if you are standing by the cage and should you make a little movement or take a step back, Meenie will lunge and hiss at you. He does that probably 8-10 times per cage visit, LOL.


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## srtiels

The feral cockatiels are actually escapees. In south Florida so many people and breeders keep their tiels outside in flights so this can increase the chances of an accident happening and a tiel getting loose. And some people just turn their birds loose when they don't want to deal with them anymore. The escapees learn to adapt to being loose, and eat grasses, tree leaves and flowers. And many people have bird feeders and the wild birds learn where the best locations of the wild bird feeders are.


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## tielmom

Yeah...I live in South Florida and there are cockatiels found all the time. I have two that were found withing the last couple of months. Rambo and Snickers...not to mention "my first tiel Snickers is somewhere out there, someone probably found him and I am hoping he has a good home." I have received several calls of people finding my Snickers, but it has not been him...I took the ones that kind of looked like him, just in case. lol


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## mpayjr

tielmom said:


> I took the ones that kind of looked like him, just in case. lol


You took them? Like keep them? hahaha


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## tielmom

Yep...that is how I have 4 tiels...the people who found them didn't want them, so they asked me to take them. I have tried to find the owners, but no one has claimed them. No one would recognize Rambo...he has been through so much
I stopped going to look at tiels when I get a call, I ask tons of questions and if the tiel found does not have white tick markings on back of head and neck, I do not go.


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## mpayjr

That's so sad that you lost yours. You're in FL right? Since there are lots of feral tiels there too, maybe your baby found a new home (by someone kind like you) or a new mate....


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## tielmom

I like to think that...I really miss him


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## jbrav003

Thats so sad! I keep on seeing my little guy's parents flying by overhead but they have never gotten close enough for me to try to catch them. I hope that I will soon be able to though, because we might have a hurricane coming near us soon! 

By the way, he is doing better now; he doesn't make that noise constantly now, only sometimes when I pet him. I realized that he was having a hard time eating the pellets that I bought for him so I crush them up now and he has been eating much better!


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## Jynxstorm

*screaching adult tiel*

I am glad that he is doing better.


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