How To Keep Budgies Quiet?

If you have chosen to become a budgie parent, some noise is inevitable.

However, a budgie experiencing strong emotions is bound to be more talkative than its usual self.

And budgies are usually very talkative and love chirping and singing

Which they do pretty much all day

But sometimes it can become a bit unbearable

For example if you have a headache and want to take a nap

So the question is – How to keep budgies quiet?

You can quieten your budgie a little by acting calmly and making a few adjustments. 

In this article we will go into more detail

You will discover the following

  • Why are my budgies so noisy?
  • How to get your budgie to be quiet?
  • Getting your budgie to be quiet in the morning
  • Are female budgies quieter than males?

Lots to cover

Sound good?

Let’s get started!

Why Are My Budgies So Noisy?

Cause talking is an essential part of your budgie’s routine.

The major reasons include:

1. Natural Behavior 

Budgies in the wild tend to live within flocks.

The flock members communicate via vocalization.

And so, through these “contact calls”, the flock provides a bird with the ability to locate food resources as well as seek protection against predators.

Perhaps your bird is talking loudly to make a contact call with you. 

2. Security

Budgies associate silence with approaching danger.

Besides, pet birds often feel abandoned when their owners leave the room.

Therefore, they may be chattering only to feel secure. 

3. Emotional Changes

Just like a human would babble when nervous, a budgie may also express its emotions through gossip.

If your budgie is happy or excited, it will chirp more.

If it’s stressed or frightened it may scream or screech.

Or,

Who knows if that noise you hear is your budgies squabbling over cage management?

4. Lack of Stimulation

A budgie may produce noise simply out of boredom. 

So, maybe your reaction to your bird’s screaming is something new and amusing to your budgie.

5. Responding To The Environment

Budgies like other parrots tend to mimic sounds. 

So, perchance your budgies are loud because they are living in a clamorous environment e.g. loud television, kids, radio, neighbors, and even other pets.

6. Sickness And Injury

Sick parrots are generally more silent.

However, certain budgies suffering from the disease may change their vocalization patterns and become extremely noisy. 

Check out my article – Why does my budgie scream in the morning?

How Do I Get My Budgie to Be Quiet?

If your idea of a perfect pet is “speak only when spoken to”, then getting a budgie is not your thing.

A happy budgie will likely chirp all day and may get exceptionally chatty around dawn and in the late evening.

So, completely silencing a budgie is off the table. 

But you can manage noise by following these:

1. Understanding the Bird Behavior

Budgies are social birds and so, talking is essential for their health.

In fact, communicating through vocals is a matter of life and death in the wild.

And so, you should never try to forcefully suppress your birdies voice.

2. Training with Positive Reinforcement 

“How should I react to my budgie’s yelling?”

Well, You shouldn’t.

Since your every reaction is a new trick to your bird.

Therefore, by reacting you will be encouraging your bird to scream more.

So, 

Don’t yell. Don’t give out treats. Also, don’t hold your head. 

Here is how you proceed,

  1. If you are holding the screaming bird, put the budgie inside the cage and walk away. 
  2. Don’t return until after shouting is over.
  3. Give treats to your budgie when it speaks softly.
  4. Occasionally, interrupt the yelling by giving a toy.

Your bird will gradually associate soft talking to “contact calls” and will stop being noisy.

3. Changing the Surroundings

You can do so by:

  1. Relocating cage to a new place.
  2. Shuffling position of feeders, perches, and toys within the cage every week
  3. Letting your budgies stretch their wings outside the cage.
  4. Dimming down excessive lights that may otherwise stimulate talking.
  5. Removing any seemingly dangerous things or pets to reduce stress levels.
  6. Putting cage in places with minimal traffic.

4. Dealing With Over-Crowded Cage

Too many birds in a single cage are bound to bicker and chatter, forming a sort of never-ending chorus of chirps.

So,

Get a bigger cage or separate cages for incompatible budgies.

You can check out my article – Best large cages for budgies 

If one of your birds is being extremely aggressive, I suggest giving him a “time-out”.

For this, put him in a separate room for about two hours and then return him to the flock. 

5. Controlling the Noise

If your place is always booming with loud sounds such as blasting music, television, or kids.

Then, possibly your bird is noisy only because it is mimicking its surroundings.

And so, you may quieten your bird by simply moving him to a quieter place. 

Some birds are noisy only because they are anxious.

In this case, you can play some instrument or use recorded budgie sounds to calm your bird.

Make sure to, 

Always speak softly to your bird. 

6. Increasing The Mental Stimulation

If you add stimulating activities to your budgie’s life, it will likely hush down.

For this:

  1. Get new toys and keep rotating them.
  2. Allow your bird to fly around, climb a ladder or pick food through a puzzle.
  3. Play with your budgie.

If your budgies don’t play with their toys check out my article – My budgies don’t play with their toys 

Here’s some other related articles

How many toys does my budgie need in it’s cage 

What do budgies need in their cage?

7. Seeking Medical Advice

If your bird has only recently started to scream take it to an avian vet to check for any disease or injuries.

Also, don’t try to add any “quietening supplements” like Avicalm without a proper prescription.

However, most breeders don’t mind mid-day chirping.

Rather they struggle with early morning chattering.

And so, they ask,

How Do I Get My Budgie to be Quiet in the Morning?

Well, you cannot convince a budgie to be silent for a few more hours.

But you can manage this situation. I recommend the following:

  1. Don’t share your bedroom with your budgie. Otherwise, you may accidentally give him a night fright, or he may wake you up at dawn.
  2. Put the cage in a dark quiet place. Make sure to close all the doors and draw the curtains.
  3. Cover the cage cover with some breathable but light-blocking material.
  4. Don’t disturb your birds for the 12-hour-dark period.

Since budgies tend to quieten down with darkness. Therefore, these practices will buy you more time in the morning. 

However, you must never exploit this attribute. 

If you try to silence your birds by locking them in some cabinet during the day, you will be abusing your birds.

Also, it may be unhealthy as you will be disturbing their 12-hour-dark to 12-hour-light sleep-wake cycle.

Are Female Budgies Quieter Than Males?

Mostly, yes.

A male bird with an ability to produce a wide range of sounds is considered an attractive mate.

Therefore, male budgies chirp more. 

Compared to female budgies, male budgies usually have louder voices with more developed vocabularies.

However, this may not always be true.

Because:

  1. All budgies have unique personalities. Therefore, a female budgie may be more outgoing and louder than a male one. Also, some budgies never speak.
  2. Female budgies may become more aggressive during the breeding season. And so, they may talk more. 
  3. Some budgies become noisy only because they live in a turbulent environment.

But if you are getting budgies, I suggest that:

  1. Buy a pair and not a solo bird. Two birds keep each other company and don’t make much noise. 
  2. If you are getting a pair, buy a male and a female. Otherwise, get two males but try avoiding two females. It’s because two females are usually incompatible and may quarrel more.

All that said, if your talkative budgie suddenly turns quiet, rush to a vet.

Odds are that your budgie may be suffering from some sickness.

Wrapping Up 

Budgies express their emotions and needs through vocalization.

And so, if you have opted for bird pets, they are bound to be noisy.

Though, by rewarding the quiet behavior you can manage excessive noise.

Male budgies are louder than females as they talk more to court the females.

Naturally budgies are loud

They love to chirp, sing and talk away so this is something to expect

Honestly, you would love this chirping because it means they are happy and content

We at birdcageshere.com write about bird health and diet however it should not be taken as medical advice. For advice on your bird you need to seek out an avian vet. The information you find on birdcageshere.com is for educational purposes only. At birdcageshere.com we are not liable for any information that you may find on here. Birdcageshere is NOT a substitute for professional medical advice about your bird.