Senegal parrot loves music.
One of the things I often get asked by friends and family is, ‘Doesn’t your bird hate your musical instrument?’ It is, after all, very loud. And it takes my attention away from them.
As a musician, I find that my parrots have come through necessity to relate to my music. I had to find a way to turn my own practice time (which is of vital importance to me) into a fun time for them, too. Otherwise I’d simply get no peace. Some of them – my Senegal and parrotlet – have even begun to mimic what I play.
At least one member of the flock hasn’t always loved the tones of my viola, though. Our neurotic cockatiel used to lose it when I’d go in to practice – she’d hiss, shriek, and generally throw a fit. We had to desensitize her pretty quickly.
This became a lesson in training in multiple ways. One, it was about desensitizing her to something scary. But there was another training lesson for us in there, too, as we had to figure out ways around this problem for all our birds. Every one of them was different.
Cockatiel and viola.
We used the same method you can use to desensitize any parrot to any object.
First, we let her sit on us within about five feet of the instrument while we humans projected an air of calmness. We used her body language to gauge whether she was comfortable. Our cockatiel was capable of leaving, but she didn’t, so we’d reward her content body language with her most treasured treats (in this case, millet). These sessions would last maybe five minute a day, maximum. We probably stared out for a few seconds or so, gradually increasing the amount of time.
Next, when our cockatiel was comfortable with simply being near to my musical instrument, we moved on to me playing something in another room. My partner would quietly reward her for being calm, or playing with her toys.
Finally, I moved into the same room. I made a fool of myself then, playing and dancing – making it look like I was generally having the best time ever. Mishka grew to appreciate this. Another key aspect of her enjoyment was our canary’s enjoyment. If you’ve seen my intro post, you’ll know that our cockatiel loves our canary – although the feeling is not mutual. When she saw how the canary enjoyed singing along, our cockatiel was fast to join in. Parrots hate being left out. (Learning by example is a fantastic way to teach a bird something.)
Music is also an instinctive thing for birds – just look at songbirds like our canary. It’s how they attract and impress potential mates, signal their feelings (such as happiness or contentment), and in many cases have fun – like with the scream session.
Our Umbrella Cockatoo, Bobo, absolutely loves music time (once he got used to the sight of me with an instrument), and often makes up his own harmonies and tunes to anything playing in the background. This is a great hands-off enrichment opportunity.
Our cockatoo’s singing is a different example of the importance to music to birds – Bobo instinctively knows to associate the word ‘la’ with many different notes and tones. I even have a video of him singing his theme-tune (the Imperial March from Star Wars). In it, he does some perfect harmonies. And while our other birds aren’t necessarily as creative, they appreciate shouting and dancing to the music in the house.
If you or someone in your family plays an instrument, how does your bird react? Did you need to condition your bird at first, or did they instinctively love the noise and joy that comes with music?
Sarah Stull is a graduate of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, a photographer, violist, and violinist who has plans of opening her own avian sanctuary on the east coast of America.
17 comments
My husband plays bass and we both love music. Our macaw has been around music since we got him when he was just over a year old and he is now 24 years old. Hubby plays all kinds of music from rock to blues to folk to jazz. We also listen to classical music and opera. Our macaw likes to sing along to music though sometimes he screams. He sings mostly low notes and sounds like a trombone, too funny. He will also sing high notes. He often sings his own songs that he makes up. I have heard him sing in his sleep, too!
Dear Sarah Stull, Could you please post your video of Bobo singing the Star Wars’ Imperial March and of him singing harmony to other songs? I would so enjoy it and I bet a lot of other people—whether Parrot Moms and Dads or not—would, too. Thank you so much!
By 9 year old B/G, Bacardi, just loves music! When we first got him at 6 months old, I would put on cartoons for him but then I moved and started using music. He so much preferred that so now we just turn on the TMC channel for country music. He contentedly sits and snoozes while we are gone.
Hey there My lovebird HATES me playing the piano she will literally fly away from it What shall i do?
I play the harp and my Indian Ringnecks love to put their little head in the resonating box and hear hwo their chirps and calls are amplified. My goffins is terrified of my harps. She won’t have anything to do with them!
You are absolutely correct about helping a bird find It’s comfort zone, visually and audibly. i have a double-yellow head amazon that loves to hang out with me in my music studio. I have an electronic drum set in my studio to keep volume down and to respect my neighbor’s privacy and quiet time. It took the longest time for Mr. C to feel comfortable in the same room with this monster drumset. He will not sit on my shoulder while I’m playing because of the movement of the sticks, but he is very comfortable with sitting on his portable perch behind the glass and watching my every move. Now, he is comfortable if I have a set of drum sticks in my hand and I walk by his cage. He knows where I’m headed and is more than eager to go.
My sun conure, Cheddar, will climb all over my french horn trying to chew it. If he gets too intrusive and annoying (easy for him to do), he goes into the cage and I sit nearby so he can watch. As long as I am nearby, he’s OK. If I go to a different room, he yells so that I will be able to find my way back to him.
My B&G macaw and my Grey absolutely love music. They get really animated when I play Disney’s Tiki Bird song and similar songs on the stereo. My B&G also tries to play my guitar by plucking the strings. He will try to put his ear right over the hole when I’m playing the guitar. Both birds sing to the music too, but they are totally tone-deaf. How do you get them to sing in tune?
My Amazon loves to sing along. He can’t keep up with the lyrics though so he just sings “la la la la la la” He does a pretty accurate scale, though. I love it!
My African Gray loves it when I sing karaoke. Loves to be right there in my face its like I am singing to him/her – seems to really love Patsy Cline Screams when I stop LOL Every singer loves to be appreciated and this parrot shows the love Ha, ha
HAHA Sorry Bobby
I own 4 budgies and 2 quakers. Booby my quaker likes to dance to my flute, and my budgies like to sing along. I am hoping my newest quaker Tank who is a big talker, will learn a few tunes. :)
I have 3 kids taking piano lessons, but the cages aren’t in the same room so it’s sound only. I play autoharp, melodica, and recorder, but I haven’t noticed any bad reactions from our birds. The lovebird LOVES any music. The problem comes when I’m trying to record for http://youtube.com/jendisjournal and he won’t be quiet! :)
My cockatiel Humphrey loves music. I play a cd and ask him if he wants his music on and he gets all excited. Sometimes he sings along. He seems content when I play music. I play my dulcimer every day and music stand is set up right next to his cage. He and I whIstle together. He choose the tune of course. It’s wonderful. It’s our song! Summertime we both go out on the back patio and I play my dulcimer alone or with friends. I use a smaller cage for him out there. There he gets fresh greens from the garden, hung with care by a clothespin for him. Soon be warm weather for us. I enjoyed your article. Johere
Mason, my cockatoo loves music, mostly soft rock, but really anything almost . I am convinced that he could rival Snowball the dancing cockatoo. Problem is that I am not at all musically inclined.
My African Grey loves music. I play & also teach brass instruments. He will whistle his own songs & dance along. He watches me intently especially if he’s on my shoulder. He tries to get to the mouthpiece & I’m convinced he wants to try & play it himself. Unfortunately for him it requires lips. :-)
http://youtu.be/PyKvGMELNh8. Our Moluccan Cockatoo loves music of all kinds, and will often sing and dance to it!
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