Posted by stephief96 on Sun, 12/24/2006 - 08:16 :: Conures
Hello:
I just got a new pet GCC on December 2. I am a first time bird owner. Sydney will start to squak every time I leave the room and go to the other room and will not stop. She also has become quite the shoulder bird. I have spoiled her to no end since I got her due to the fact she had been through a lot of transitions. Sydney has this thing about licking the insides of my ears. It is rather disgusting. Has anyone run into an issue like this before of a bird consistently licking the insides of ears?
Posted by karen on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 00:22.
I think you answered yourself why she calls for you: she's been through many transitions and you've been spoiling her. It's normal for them to call for the flock when alone, and it's probably worse if she's afraid you won't come back each time. And, it sounds like you may sometimes be rewarding her screaming by coming back to get her when she screams.

Best thing to do is to try not to react to the screams. Wait until she's quiet or makes a more pleasant sound before going over to her and praising her. They do learn to be quiet or make more pleasant flock calls this way... though it may take awhile if she thinks of screaming as a way to get attention now. If she just won't quiet down, then go back into the room she is, but ignore her completely and don't look at her until she's quiet.
Another thing to try is, if possible, sometimes take her along with you into the other room to help her realize you aren't going far away.

Karen
Chico (conure) and Pippin (budgie)
WI
Posted by ssj2matt on Tue, 03/13/2007 - 10:17.
My GCC likes to do that ear thing too. I think it's generally if they see dirt, they will attempt to clean it (And the ear is the dirtiest part they're near). Birds preen each other a lot, so if they basically see you as the other 'bird' they will try to preen you.

It's a good sign that she is bonding well with you, though be careful as I think ear wax can be bad for the bird if she gets enough to eat by accident.