There are man reasons why our fellow parrots scream. Here's a few that some of you may or may not be familiar with:
- Demands Attention
- Too much energy
- Too bored/excited
- Hungry
- It's simply 5pm
As parrot owners, we know that most parrots will squawk one was or another. They can be very vocal as a form of communication.
And through this form of communication, there are often nuances that tells us why they are squawking and screaming. Lets talk about the top 3 on the list as they are correlation between them.
Parrots are highly intelligent and social. They would want to interact with us or other fellow parrots to stay engaged. Any form of interaction is valuable to them whether is just talking to them, doing training with them or just simply letting them be part of what we do once in awhile. Sometimes, they would want this interaction all day long because they have so much energy to spend or simply because they are bored. Unfortunately, as parrot owners, although we wish we can spend all day we them, we have other responsiblities. During these times, we would want our parrots to have some independent play time. However, this is very likely when they will squawk and scream for you to come back.
This is why we encourage having toys for your parrots. If you find that your parrots aren't playing with toys, it isn't because they just want to waste your money. It may just be that it's not the right toy. I wrote a post about having the right toys.
Or you might have the right toys and you see them play with it when it's new and very quickly it becomes just a decor. Our flock's is like this. Whenever I make a brand new toy, they would play with it a lot when it's flawless and new. But there are a few tricks we use to keep them engaged and motivated to continue playing with the toy.
Although we advocate having toys (especially natural toys), however, toys aren't the only form or enrichment and shouldn't be the only form of enrichment you should have for your parrots. It should supplement all the other enrichments you provide for them to ensure they have an engaging day.