How To Keep Your Bird Quiet At Night

Are you losing sleep because of your pet bird’s constant chirping? A bird squawking at night can be an annoying problem, and that problem is intensified when you have more than one bird.

You love your pets, but the loud chirping is making you crazy, especially when you’re trying to sleep. The question of how to stop birds chirping at night just isn’t covered in most articles, but rest assured, you’ve come to the right place!

The following methods are some tricks I’ve learned through trial and error to keep my birds quiet at night:

First and foremost, make sure your birdcage is in a dark and quiet room. If that’s not enough, cover the cage with a dark blanket or towel. Next, try lowering the volume on your TV or other devices. If you want your birdies to be quiet, you’ll need to do the same. You can even train birds to be quiet with food, but that will take time.

Let’s get into some more detail about the aforementioned recommendations.

The Importance of Covering the Cage at Night

Cover your birdcage with a blanket or towel. Blocking out the light with some kind of dark cloth will provide the level of darkness your birds need to let it know it’s bedtime. Almost all bird owners do this, so please don’t feel guilty about it.

The birds like it which is why they usually calm down afterward. Unlike wild birds, birds in cages don’t get to choose where they sleep, so it’s your job to make sure it’s dark enough in their cage.

Moving Your Birds to a Darker Room

Sometimes, it’s you or them, and you probably don’t want to move out to the couch. If the birds are in your bedroom, the obvious solution is to move them to the opposite end of the house.

Even if that’s not the ideal location for their cage during the day, getting a good night’s sleep will be worth the hassle of moving the cage every night.

Lowering the Volume on Your TV or Other Devices

Maybe you like falling asleep listening to music or watching TV, but your birds probably don’t. Shutting things down before bedtime will give the birds a chance to wind down.

If you must listen to something at night, consider wearing headphones. The obvious side benefit is that you won’t hear any of those dreaded after-hours chirps.

Checking for Outside Bad Influences

Birds are very vocal creatures and could be responding to other birds or even your cat or dog that they hear making noises. Do what you can to quiet your other pets, or move the cage away from the window if the distractions are outside.

Bye Bye Birdie – And I Don’t Mean Getting Rid of Your Birds

This is going to sound crazy, but if your bird squawks when you leave the room, maybe squawk (or tweet) back at her. That’s called flock calling, and it’s how another bird would say goodbye if they were living in the wild.

This may just be the closure your bird needs after getting covered with the blanket at bedtime. Birds of a feather flock together, and tell each other goodnight. Who knew?

Training Your Bird with Food

So far, I’ve given you some fast and easy solutions to your problem, but if those suggestions didn’t work, you’re going to have to step it up a notch. A few training sessions might be in order.

The first thing you’ll want to do is calm your bird if he or she is upset. Speak softly to him, caress him gently, and maybe even put him under your shirt to help him feel secure. Once he quiets down, give him his favorite treat.

Also, try leaving the room for short periods, then come back and give him a treat only if he’s quiet. Extend the time you are away until he stays quiet throughout the entire night.

Remember: this will take some patience. Try to spend as much time as you can with your bird, as they crave company and will let you know if they’re being left out! This will also help to bond with your feathered friend.

Here are the key points to remember when treat training birds to be quieter:

Calm an agitated bird before a training session
Reward good behavior
Reward quieter sounds
Never reward squawking
Have patience

When All Else Fails, Invest in a Pair of Earplugs

Maybe someone else in your household lets their birds chirp all night, and there’s not much you can do.

I feel your pain. Or what if the avian offenders aren’t pets at all? Sometimes the birds outside your window are the ones causing a ruckus. Either way, I can relate. I’ve been there, and it’s for the birds.

You can’t control other people or other people’s birds. When all else fails, I simply wear earplugs or resign myself to sleeping in another part of the house.

The Struggle is Real But Worth It

I know how frustrating noisy birds can be, but If you’ve made it this far, I commend you for your dedication to living in harmony with your feathered friends.

Whether you just needed to make some minor adjustments or your birds still need intensive training, you’ll be getting to sleep on time again soon if you implement the above ideas.

Your pets don’t mean to be a nuisance, they’re just doing what comes naturally to them. Birds make wonderful pets, and they are definitely worth the trouble.

Here’s a helpful video which talks about some more ways to stop your bird chirping:

Noisy Bird Checklist

Be sure you have tried the following:

Cover the cage
Move them to a dark room in a quiet part of the house
Squawk goodbye
Stay Quiet
Reward quiet behavior with treats

Now that you’ve read all about the various reasons your birds might be chirping and how to prevent these common tweet triggers, it’s time to take action.

Experiment to figure out what works best for your individual situation. And don’t give up. You’ll need to do whatever it takes to get a good night’s sleep so that you can be up with the chickens.

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