Decibel Levels High?

Here you can see Poe and Salsa enjoying their breakfast. When breakfast is served to the masses, all gets nice and quiet...

Lately, I've had a lot of noisy house guests. Lots of Aratinga Conures (ie the noisy kind, suns, jendays, nandays, etc.) and an umbrella cockatoo, aptly named Rooster! I manage the inevitable noise in many ways.

When I enter the room, I make sure that I don a pair of Hearos ear plugs. These are made of foam and if you twirl them with your fingers prior to inserting them, they then expand and protect your ear drums from the shrill sounds. It is important to remember to act normally when wearing ear plugs. Don't forget to talk or sing to your parrots.

I also try to make each room as sound friendly as possible. I do have neighbors! I have acrylic panels mounted on the inside of each window to create my own version of double paned windows.

Next, I mount foam egg crate sound deadening tiles on the walls. This really helps since all the floors are bare for easy sweeping. I've used the foam mattress pads in the past but for the latest renovation, I ordered special acoustic tiles from Next Acoustics. Com. This absorbs a lot of the parrot noise.

My home is surprisingly quiet when you consider how many parrots are here. One reason is, they all enjoy each other's company and have lots of new sights, sounds, and good food to keep them occupied. I make the rounds and give each bird the attention they crave. The noise is just a part of being around parrots. If you react negatively to the noise, you can create a problem. Noise Manipulation is a common behavior problem. Parrots love drama and attention. When they squawk and you respond, whooppeee! What fun. And, what you consider effective, like covering them or spraying them with a water bottle, may be just what they scream for. It's best to just not react at all to the noise and calmly attend to their needs. Many parrots that are escalating their decibels can be rerouted to a song or happy phrase even from a distance. Try it!