#sound ask

[flock-talk]

can an environment ever be too quiet for birds? currently my family has kept a couple of birds together in the same room (different cages), but it's a very quiet room and my family doesn't really hang out near the birds, so the birds are always left on their own in the bird room even during open-cage playtime. I'm wondering if that's actually a bad thing. I read that radios/TV are good for single birds, but if there are a couple of birds, is that still necessary or useful? tyvm!!

It will vary from bird to bird but typically we don’t want silent environments, noises become more sudden and startling which can stress them out and the quiet can cause them to believe predators are about (small flocks would go silent to avoid being noticed).  Super quiet situations tend to stress them out which can cause some birds to become super skittish, pluck, or get ill just because of that constant stress weakening the immune system.

If you’ve got multiple birds it may be less noticeable as they’ll be chattering and producing their own sounds while also reducing that fear that something’s lurking now that they’ve got another bird around giving that ‘it’s safe’ reassurance.  It’s possible for the same effects to still occur, as I’ve said every bird will be different, so typically if we can leave some music playing or a radio it’ll help quite a bit.

[flock-talk]

I have two fish tanks where my bird is, its the only place I can keep them im worried this could wake her up, will she eventually get used to it?

If I recall anything from way way back when I lived with a fishtank I think it was a generally consistent noise?  If so it’ll likely be alright, it’s more of a concern when sounds are sudden.

When you put it in to perspective nighttime is never silent, there’s wind blowing, nocturnal animals moving, bugs chirping, which all adds up to general white noise at night which is what birds are adapted to hearing, perfect silence can actually stress them out and cause night frights when they do hear a sound at night! Typically some people leave music on for their birds at night so they don’t experience night frights and coming in for the morning doesn’t catch them off guard, having a filter running would be a similar effect and should be just fine.

If you do notice this affecting your bird (taking more naps during the day, irritable, etc.) then you may consider turning gentle music on so it blends in with the filter and may make it less annoying or finding someplace else the bird or tank may be able to be kept.

[flock-talk]

Hello, I am preparing to adopt a new baby soon, Nearly everything is planned or prepaired, but there is one question I have not been able to answer yet. I want my bird to be as comfortable (and safe) as possible during times I'm not at home or at work. And I hear a lot of leaving something on for them like a radio. What kind of music would you suggest? What about some cartoons with music? Or what if I left them with videos of other talking or singing parrots?

Congratulations on the new bab!

Leaving music, radio, or television is great, what you leave on is really up to what your bird reacts to best.  For television cartoons are usually best as they’re very bright, colourful, upbeat, making them mentally captivating and more interesting, they also don’t use ‘bad language’ which a bird may start copying. For music try experimenting with a variety and see if your bird happens to like some more than others, typically things that have a good beat may catch a bird’s interest but it really does vary from bird to bird (as an example my girls have grown up listening to me listen to rock/ alt-rock music so when that comes on they tend to get excited because generally I’m excited).  I wouldn’t necessarily recommend leaving other parrot sounds on, it could make them stressed out thinking there’s another bird in the territory somewhere or cause them to become obsessed with trying to locate the other bird, you could try it but I would consider other options depending on your bird’s reaction to it.