Things You'll Need
- Treats
- Training clicker
Instructions
Chart your bird's vocalizations so you'll know when to anticipate them. It is no coincidence that many Sun Conure owners notice the most vocalization and screaming in the morning and late afternoon. Some amount of noise and even screaming is a part of the Sun Conure's natural behavior and must be tolerated and taken into serious consideration by those who are contemplating getting one.
Train your bird. Use positive reinforcement to teach your bird to do simple tricks or tasks. When the bird behaves as desired, give it a small food treat, and, for best results, add verbal praise and a reinforcing sound from a training clicker. Training the Sun Conure will help its self-confidence, increase positive interactions, and give the parrot new and preferable ways to communicate with you at the time of day when it is most prone to screaming. You can even link simple tricks together to get your Sun Conure to perform complicated routines.
Avoid unintentionally reinforcing the screaming. If the Sun Conure's screams result in lots of attention from its owners, it may learn to scream whenever it wants attention. If screaming results in getting fed or petted, the owner is encouraging the screaming, and the behavior will become even more ingrained. Make sure that your attempts to quiet and soothe the bird do not make the problem worse.