Night Frights!!

[beakycheekie]

I'm not sure if this is the right subject to discuss this, so if it needs to be moved go ahead.
I was awoken in the middle of the night to the sounds of birds flying and lots of commotion. I went downstairs and the cockatiels were careening back and forth in the cage, going from the floor of the cage to crashing into the sides, over and over again. They were hissing, spreading their wings out and totally freaking out. I didn't know what was going on and tried to console them, talking to them, picking them up but they wouldn't stop freaking out and finally I got my wits about me and turned on a light which stopped them. I've read that tiels are prone to night frights but I've never witnessed it before. They have a night light downstairs but maybe that's not enough? After everyone settled down I left the bathroom light on and went back to bed. A short while later I had to go back down and turn that light off because the budgies decided that was their cue to start chirping and making noise.
It was distressing to see the cockatiels so upset and they seemed totally unconsolable. I've never had them hiss at me before. When I reached my hand into the cage Peaches, the new tiel who is nervous with me immediately jumped onto my hand like she was wanting to be consoled
Have others experienced this and is there anything you did that helped?

[liz]

I have had it happen at least once. It was a noise from outside that scared them. I had always given them a night light but was told in the forum that they should not have any light. So when I moved to Florida I gave them their own room without a light. If I cough or sneeze one of them will answer me even in the middle of the night.

I have learned from Myrtle that they can see absolutely nothing in a dim light. Myrtle who does acrobatics while flying will fly into a wall in dim light. The wall was there in the day time too so I don't understand why she did not fly by memory. It had to be that not seeing upset her so much that she was not thinking of where she was.

Rambo will not walk into a dark room. I remember one evening when he should have been in bed that he came to me and asked me "nite nite?". It took me a while to figure it out but his cage was in a dark room and he did not want to go by himself. He wanted me to put him to bed. Inside the security of his cage he finds his way around to eat and drink in the dark.

I have a tendancy to open my eyes while still asleep. If everything is okay then I stay asleep. If I am in the dark and can't see then I wake up. It might be the same for the birds. Except for the dark of the moon there is always some light in the wild.

I don't think Budgies care if it is day, night, rain or shine as long as they have each other.

Because my cockatiels are in a flock they are much braver. Maybe they just huddle closer when they can't see and hope that the next bird can see. I don't know.

I try to think of them as very young children who can't really explain themselves. Some times that does not work with the little ones who have such a small vocabulary.

[beakycheekie]

I have read that they don't see well in the dark. The night light is very dim and it's not really near their cage.I just don't know what set them off. I don't cover their cages at night. The dog is in a crate so he's not wandering around. The cat was asleep on the bed with me. Their cages are not near heat vents. I have wooden blinds that were closed and I'm on a dead-end street so there's almost no traffic and if there is the lights don't shine through the blinds. The only thing I can think is the wind. It's been incredibly windy here the last couple of days so maybe it startled them. I also have to think it was Peaches, the new tiel that started it because Kiwi and Herman have never done it before. She was the most freaked out and took the longest to console.
And Liz I agree with you totally about the budgies!

[liz]

It could even have been one of them that caused it. It is quite visible when a dog is dreaming of running. I am sure birds dream too. Maybe one got scared in a dream and set them all off. One of them might have made a noise that startled another.
Lemone' died in a night fright when he lost his mate Twinkle. The other birds were okay so it must have been something in his dream that scared him. They were all in pairs so when he lost his mate he felt alone.
I am glad that none of yours got hurt.

[beakycheekie]

Yes, you are absolutely right it could have been one of them that started it. I have a feeling it was Peaches. Last night was fine, no frights although Peaches got VERY anxious once the sun went down and especially when we started turning the light off to go to bed she was vocalizing and pacing. Everyone seemed to sleep fine, though.

[Wolf]

The night fright issue appears to be more of a cockatiel thing and I really don't have much information about it and so hopefully more of the people here that do have them will reply and share with you about this behavior.