Hi all,
So harry my eclectus parrot (3 years old) loves making other bird sounds. Here in Australia he gets to listen to a lot of the beautiful species we have living outside our house. He has some really sweet magpie impersonations as well as other birds he hears outside. Unfortunately one of these birds is a family of crows that live in my area. Harry has picked up on their cawing and has his own loud, high pitch, repetitive imitation of it. He's rather good at sounding like a crow, it but it's just terrible and is high pitch and painful to hear, especially as he's now incorporated it as 70% of what I call his "bird call" routine (his favorite sounds to sing, which he repeats throughout the day). He gets very happy making this sound along with his magpie, lorikeet and red wattlebird sounds (and the occasional failed kookaburra attempt) but unfortunately it's so very difficult to live with.
His buddy Oscar (also an eclectus) also hates the crow sound and gets rather quiet and upset when Harry's going on. Oscar is quite the chatterbox and talks to me most of the day (speaks really well actually!) but shuts up and goes as far away from Harry as he can during Harry's crow impersonation. Sometimes he interjects with an adorable soft whistle to try to shut him up! So I don't think Oscar is a fan either unfortunately
So I was just wondering if anyone knows any good ways to help discourage this sound? Harry is clicker trained and does get clicked and rewarded when he says nice things like "hello" or his adorable magpie chirp. Unfortunately he keeps on with the crows as I figure it's probably quite self reinforcing. I'm not at all interested in any positive punishment methods which people keep suggesting. Someone on another forum has suggested having a remote controlled bright light in front on the cage which you flash and use to pretty much blind him every time he makes the crow sound. I've also had someone suggest flicking his beak each time, which I don't like the sound of at all. I'd rather use positive reinforcement!
I'd love and appreciate any suggestions