Budgies are social creatures that get lonely when kept by themselves. To fulfill their social needs, many owners wonder if playing budgie sounds will remove the sense of solitude.
However, there’s much debate on whether it’s cruel or if budgies even like hearing these sounds.
Some budgies love to hear recorded budgie sounds, but this depends on their personality. One may chirp back, while another may grow confused and frustrated when the other budgies don’t reply.
So, monitor your budgie’s behavior during and after listening.
There seem to be no determining factors that can predict a budgie’s reaction. The only way to know if it likes the sounds is to test it in a safe environment.
If your budgie is having a good time, allow it to continue listening. If it appears upset, stop the sounds and replace them with music.
Should I Play Budgie Noises for My Budgie?
When keeping a single budgie, loneliness is an ever-present concern. Popular advice suggests that playing TV, music, or even budgie sounds can prevent this.
Logic suggests that the sound of other budgies should fool your pet into thinking that it has company. Thus, it should feel less solitary, acting happier and singing back, even if it can’t see the other birds.
For some budgies, this is true, but not all. If hearing recordings of budgie sounds makes your bird happy, by all means, play away. However, not all budgies like hearing these sounds.
You have to carefully monitor your budgie to see if it likes them or not.
Advantages To Playing Budgie Sounds
Playing budgie sounds for your budgie has multiple advantages, such as helping it:
- Get used to a new environment
- Feel less alone
- Feel more comfortable
- Entertaining it
Budgies are born and raised in large flocks, so they’re naturally receptive to the sounds of their kind. Chirping, singing, and imitating each other is how they communicate.
Because of how social they are, they need a lot of attention and care, but we can’t always be around them all the time. Playing budgie sounds for your budgie can be a great way to help it feel better while you aren’t there, and it’s also a good way of giving it a taste of belonging to an actual flock.
Budgie sounds can be very useful when helping a new pet budgie adjust to living in your home. If your new feathered friend still has some walls up and refuses to eat or drink, you can try playing budgie sounds to help it feel comfortable.
You can tell when your budgie is happy hearing the budgie sounds when it whistles, sings, flies around, and bobs its head. Not only should you watch out for these signs when your budgie is listening to these sounds, but also after.
If your budgie is more willing to interact with you or eat long after the sounds have stopped, it means that you’ve successfully filled its social meter.
Is It Cruel to Play Budgie Sounds to a Budgie?
Playing budgie sounds for a budgie isn’t cruel, as long as you play it when you know that your budgie enjoys it. Many budgies love hearing recorded sounds of other budgies. However, some budgies will react with frustration and confusion.
Can’t Find The Other Budgies
Some budgies behave negatively to the sounds, not because they’re anti-social, but because they’re a little too happy. Your budgie might become too excited because it believes that other budgies are nearby and might try to locate them.
However, it might become upset when it realizes that there are no other budgies. This can result in a frustrated response, causing it to scream, pick fights with you, or refuse to eat.
Unable To Communicate Properly
Likewise, your budgie may not like the sound because it cannot communicate properly in that kind of situation. As mentioned, budgies communicate with each other through their sounds.
In a situation where your budgie believes that other birds are near, it might chirp about, only to realize that the other birds aren’t responding. They may also be communicating back in a confusing way.
This can leave your budgie puzzled, even causing it to feel more secluded than it was before. This is also the case for some budgies that are exposed to mirrors.
Does My Budgie Hate Budgie Sounds?
It’s important to take a close look at how your budgie behaves when playing those sounds and after as well. While the sounds are playing, your budgie may be chirping happily, but once the recording is done, it may quickly become frustrated or sad.
The common signs of an upset budgie are:
- Growling
- Screaming
- Biting
- Feather picking
- Loss of appetite
- Decrease in vocalization
If you aren’t sure whether or not your budgie is upset after hearing budgie sounds, take a video of it during and after playing the sounds. You can then take it to an avian veterinarian.
Why Does My Budgie Scream When I Play Budgie Noises?
Budgies are among the most vocal and energetic parrots, so a degree of noise is expected. However, if your budgie screams a lot when you play budgie noises, it means it’s upset.
A happy budgie will chirp, chatter, and whistle pleasantly. However, screaming is a sign of a distressed, scared, or unhappy budgie.
If the source of the distress is the budgie sounds, it’ll stop screaming when you turn it off. If your budgie continues to scream long after you’ve turned the sounds off, it means that it is still upset, or it has grown bored and needs to be properly stimulated.
If your budgie does not like hearing budgie sounds, you can play music for it instead. In this way, you can keep your budgie happy and entertained without worrying about stressing it out.
Is It Okay to Let My Budgie Listen to Others Online?
It’s OK to let your budgie listen to the sounds of other budgies online, as long as you know that doing so makes it happy. It’s difficult to truly know if your budgie will like listening to those sounds until you try it out.
According to Behavioral Ecology, budgies respond to environmental changes differently based on their personality. When a change in their environment occurs, the budgie’s personality will determine how well it goes about solving a particular cognitive problem. While one budgie may not mind being unable to find the ‘other budgies,’ another may grow frustrated.
If you have two different budgies, and one likes budgie sounds while the other one doesn’t, it’s best not to play any sounds at all. The two budgies can socialize with each other or listen to music together.
Budgies may like listening to recorded sounds of other budgies, but this depends on their personalities and preferences. By testing it out with a few recordings and monitoring your budgie’s reactions, you can determine if this is a pleasant pastime or an annoyance.
