Companion birds, especially highly social and gregarious flock birds like many species of parrots, may exhibit separation anxiety when they are either left alone entirely (or just, out of their visual range) or when their primary caregiver leaves them in the care of anyone else. The negative behaviors displayed may range from mild to severe and be of short or long duration. Those behaviors may take several forms: persistent and excessive screaming; distress calls; threatening and aggressive behavior towards the temporary care provider(s); lack of appetite; destruction of property; self-injurious actions like feather plucking; escape attempts from its cage; decrease in activity level; and upon the return of the person the bird is bonded to, extreme attention seeking/attachment.

This article will provide a brief case history of how my orange-fronted parakeet/half-moon conure, Payno, can in some ways (but thank goodness, not in the most extreme self-destructive manifestations) be considered to be the poster bird for separation angerxiety, er, I mean anxiety. Being the unique sentient being that he is, of course Payno has his own ways of showing those behaviors. You see, this bird with a loud but normally sweet disposition turns into one angry parrot!

Ever since Payno came into our home four and a half years ago at the age of about four months old, I have been his primary caregiver. For about 345 days a year, except when I am away from our home on two or three primarily birding trips, I am the only person responsible for his morning feeding, numerous daily snacks and major one-on-one interactions like playtimes outside of his cage. For those other days, my wife, Maria, is the surrogate care provider. Consequently, it is only between myself and Payno that a firm and ongoing human-bird bond has formed.

Payno exhibits a mild yet loud and persistent form of separation anxiety for very brief periods of time on pretty much a daily basis whenever he is left alone or is just with Maria. Most of the time, during daylight hours, he is in the courtyard or living room with the nine other birds in five other cages that comprise my bird menagerie. Typically, in my two rooms, twice a day he is let out of his cage for one to two hours each time while he either interacts with me or does his own thing. Whenever (and I mean WHENEVER!), I leave the room, whether we have been interacting or not), he will stop what he had been doing and instantaneously start to scream. While I am away (which is normally for no more than five minutes and most of the time for much less!), even if I call out to him using such a phrase like "Payno, I will be right back,” that does absolutely nothing to placate his screaming self and he continues screaming, only stopping the instant that I return.

Even (or especially?) if Maria is in the room, when I leave he will commence his screaming. As per what I have read about the topic, I never relent to his screams. However, when Maria screams “Les, get Payno out of here,”I indeed do relent to her even, if possible, louder vocalizations and remove Payno in his cage post haste to the courtyard to be reunited with the other birds. Once with his avian mates, he no longer feels the need to scream in such a manner ( in other manners definitely yes, as he is a conure!) but not in the anxiety/angry one.

When I go on trips his anxiety/anger turns much more severe. In fact, even before I go on the trip he has learned and remembered, cause and effect style, that a suitcase, unlike a backpack or shpping bags, means that I will be gone for more than a couple or a few hours; upon seeing the suitcase he becomes visibly upset and instead of being my loving soul mate, he becomes somewhat hostile and will communicate his anger to me mostly by atypically "beaking" the bars of his cage. I have learned so as not to unduly and prematurely raise his angerxiety level (as Payno is an excellent and demonstrative instructor) to not pack in front of him and to keep the baggage out of his view until it is time for me to depart.

Upon my departure, as reported to me by Maria, he becomes extremely“angry.”This bird who eagerly and passively waits to have his morning head scratch and neck rub while I am giving him his morning meal, will aggressively attempt to attack Maria’s gloved hand as she trepidatiously (a self-preservation learned response on her part) attempts to feed him. For the first day that I am away, he will knock down his food containers and Payno who seemingly “lives to eat” will eat little or nothing. He will also lethargically stay in one area of his cage.

After the first day of being without me, he abandons that self-destructive behavior as many companion birds in similar situations do and resumes his normal eating and activity levels. However, his anxiety/anger induced verbal and physical attacks on Maria continue until I return home. No matter how she tries to pleasantly talk to him to relieve his distress, it seems to have the opposite effect and he loudly vents his anger towards her.

Thankfully, each and every time that I return home, the same scene occurs. Upon seeing me, for only a millisecond Payno seems to be upset with me. Then, as if to say “what the heck all is forgiven, my mate is back and I am so relieved and happy to see him even though he had inexplicably abandoned me again,” he will positively respond to my kisses. Our relationship is back to normal!

Thus, companion bird separation anxiety is a serious matter that companion bird “owners” must be aware of and be appropriately and proactively responsive to. It is said that it most frequently occurs in younger birds and older birds. Whether or not Payno’s angerxiety diminishes or ceases as he gets older remains to be seen and hopefully, not heard. However, I am not betting on that. Neither is Maria as she will, just in case, while I am on my trips always have some gloves literally on hand!