How can I get my kakariki to quieten down?

pennyw74 · Snr Member Joined: Jul 25, 2007 Posts: 34

I know this sounds terrible but my kakariki is a wonderful talker. I know...everybody wants a talking parrot and so did I. I love him and love how he talks but sometimes he just gets so loud and his favourite saying is "What are you doing?" He says it over and over and over again and apart from annoying my fiance, it may start to annoy my neighbours. I live in a townhouse and don't want to have to find a new home for him because of noise complaints.

Sometimes he can speak very softly and that's fine. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with it but I just want to save him. What can I do to keep him quiet without keeping him in the dark all day (ha ha). He is such a happy bird and joins in with all the other birds when they chirp and sing. He has copied the noisy miner's call so perfectly that it's hard to tell the difference. They're annoying at the best of times but at least they're not sitting at my back door. He also does his kakariki call which can be quite loud and irritating, too. Whenever he starts, I try to get his attention and talk to him and tell him to stop it but I'm not there during the day when other neighbours are home.

Please help me. I am getting desperate. Think

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

How can I put this, politely??

Kakariki are not a noesy parrot as far as parrots go...

What you are asking ...drawing a parrall...

We have children...how does one get babies not to cry when hungry or sick, quietly
How does one get children playing in the park to play without making a noise?

How would one get a stadium of soccor/sport fans not to cheer when their team scores?

How does one make a cat not meow when hungry?

Short of putting ones children up for adoption, moving away from the park, or staduim or kicking the cat till it is so intimidated and fearful....

Sry but bottom line, we have our pets, partners, family etc and we must accept them as a whole.

pennyw74 · Snr Member Joined: Jul 25, 2007 Posts: 34

I know where you're coming from but he is loud and constant.

Would a female friend help him quieten down?

Steptoe · Site Admin Joined: Oct 06, 2004 Posts: 4550

Possibly, then he will e talking to her maybe

Kakariki are a social bird...it appears that he has attached himself to you
So when u are not socailising or being attentive to other things or people he will be calling to get attention... Getting another bird MAY help, but the attachment is aready with you.
As he doesnt get this he calls loader and loader..till he gets that attention
just like a child will.

Hence this is one reason why our pets...cats, king parrots ...we sort of co habit...they do their thing we can do ours.
Also our hose parrots do have a cage, but it is open 24/7 for them to wander/fly around as they please...even when away for a weekend.

thankyou for not being offened at my post, none was intended

pennyw74 · Snr Member Joined: Jul 25, 2007 Posts: 34

You're right - he has definitely attached himself to me. I have put my cockatiel in his cage a few times to see how he reacts. He is very quiet but still runs around his cage. If he comes near her, though, he runs the other way. If she starts eating his seed, he will just sit back and watch.

He has only been agressive towards her once. I had the little door opened and his eyes changed and he went to attack her just like he does to our hands. He is quite agressive when he's in his cage and I'm not sure if it's just playing or something else. When he's out, he's different but if he lands on your head, you definitely can't pick him up because he will bite. It's a shame because we bought him as a hand raised bird and handled him all the time. I spoon fed him when he was only five weeks old and formed a real bond but now he's just like a wild bird except that he talks and is attached in some strange way to me.

Unfortunately, Birdie's wings aren't clipped, so if I let him out and we accidentally left the door opened, he would be gone in a second. His wings were clipped when we first got him but we let them grow and then I read that kakarikis get really depressed if their wings get clipped because they love their exercise. I didn't want him to get depressed.

Our cockatiel has her wing clipped but obviously she is a different bird, different nature and personality.