I taught my cockatiel to make a whistle noise and now it does it all the time. how do i stop it?

Question

I taught my cockatiel to make a whistle noise and now it does it all the time. how do i stop it?

Answer 1

Sorry... You can't really bring it to a screeching halt. Ah... The torture the students give their teachers :)



Cockatiels show how happy they are with the noises they make, and this is it's way of fitting into the "flock" when they make the same noises that you, as a flock member, do.



If you teach it something else- like a softer "ooo-ooh" sound and reinforce it (repeat it) when he whistles this tune you taught him, there is a chance you can get him to forget the whistle, but it is not guaranteed. Just make sure it is a noise that is not constantly made (like the ringing of the phone or a Nextel/Verizon 2-way beep) so it won't be used again.



I had this problem, so I taught my male cockatiel the Star Wars Darth Vader theme. He sings this constantly instead of trying to sound like a regular ringing telephone, but now he's starting to make a noise like the beep of my Nextel because it is a fairly constant sound in my home.



If anything, be happy he's making this noise. This means he's happy to have you as his companion :)



Please DO NOT USE A SQUIRT GUN OR BOTTLE TO PUNISH A BIRD. Most owners use this as a method to bathe thier birds, and it is harsh to a bird to use it as a method of distraction as such. They have VERY thin skin and may bruise easily if it is at a high power.



You would never want a bird to be afraid of water- a squirt bottle is the easiest way to bathe a bird, cool them in summer and administer remidies for scratches and cuts if you cannot handle them.



Don't scream to get them to stop. This is a positive reinforcement- they are getting a reaction to the whistle, and may keep doing it to get you to scream- and the last thing you need to a parrot to mimic you yelling cursewords. Grandma would have a heart attack.



Throwing things does not help either. You scare the bird, can stress them out, and can end up with more problems then just an annoying whistle; they may end up with plucking or biting behaviors because they are afraid of you, or because you have made them upset. If you were in the spotlight on American Idol, you wouldn't want someone throwing a shoe at you, would you? It's quite the selfesteem killer.

Answer 2

Show him some deep fried chicken and hope it gets scared.



Just Kidding.



You should do positive reinforcement, such as when it's not whistling, give it a treat, such as non-flavored Cheerios or a sun-flower seed. As soon as it whistle, stop.

You can also try holding it to your chest and scratching it, playing with it, or just spending more time with it. The whistling could be a call for more attention. Spending time with it can help calm it down.

Answer 3

i have 2 birds and they are non stop talking and barking and whistleing lol my hubby sleep's in the day he always telling them to shut up but it don't work try a mirror but take it way at times i do some time's it help's to get them to be quite...my kids it draive's them crazy when a good shot or movie on me ya it can but i alway's give them a treat or a toy or some thing to help keep them from doing it all the time =)

Answer 4

the worst thing you ever could ahve done was to teach your bird to whistle first it is very hard to make it do anything else the best thing is to stop whistling and start talking to it more

Answer 5

Get a squirt gun and every time you hear it whistle, squirt it!!! Seriously, and if you do it so that the bird doesnt know its you squirting it, it will think that is going to happen EVERY time it whisltes, so the bird wont even do it when you arent home (and make the neighbors mad!!!)

Answer 6

My cockiteil does the sames thing somtimes i scream shut up at him or throw somthing at his cage or what you can do is try to teach him to do somthing else besides whistleing.

Answer 7

Just like children. Don't teach them to talk, if you don't want to listen to it non-stop. Basically, you have to hope that the bird gets tired of doing it.

Answer 8

I can sympathize. I taught my dog fetch, now it wants to play fetch all the time and barks when you don't play. My advice to you would be to teach it more things to mimic.

Answer 9

Teach it to make a fart noise instead?

Answer 10

squirt him with 409 and hope one of his eye's falls out. missing an eye should shut him up real quick.

Answer 11

you can teach it to make other noises on command.

Answer 12

Just be glad it doesn't ring like a phone! lol

Answer 13

Simple, teach it something else.

Answer 14

Say hi it should copy if it doesn't sell it.

Answer 15

lol shouldn't have tought it to it in the first place

Answer 16

teach it to be quiet.... teach it to whisper!!!!! lol

Answer 17

Kill it