GlennCooper

My bird, Freddie, died this afternoon. He appeared "normal" the whole time of his silence, until last night, when he suddenly took a turn for the worst. So I guess this can come as a warning to bird-owners -- if their bird stops chirping and chattering, even if he appears normal in every other way, something is wrong. Unfortunately I'll never know what the problem was. As I said, his behaviour was totally normal, except that he became silent. I am very sad. He was only four years old.

Elly, it has gone on for 6 weeks now. On only 3 or 4 days during that six week period has he made even the slightest chirp - all the other days he is totally silent. He is still active, though probably not as active as he used to be. He seems to sleep more. His appetite is as good as ever.The only time he really livens up is when I take his cage onto the back lawn and lay it on its side, so he has access to the grass and, I guess, a different view. He starts chirping then (though not chattering), and darts around the cage, walks on the grass, pecking, etc.It really is baffling.can i ask is his breathing seem deeper as in not noisey just does he look to be breathing heavier ?No, his breathing is normal. No change at all, there. Yeah, I'm starting to think it might be just loneliness or boredom. But he was fine for three years. You'd think he would be used to his situation.

Elly, it has gone on for 6 weeks now. On only 3 or 4 days during that six week period has he made even the slightest chirp - all the other days he is totally silent. He is still active, though probably not as active as he used to be. He seems to sleep more. His appetite is as good as ever. The only time he really livens up is when I take his cage onto the back lawn and lay it on its side, so he has access to the grass and, I guess, a different view. He starts chirping then (though not chattering), and darts around the cage, walks on the grass, pecking, etc. It really is baffling.

Actually, there is one other piece of information that didn't occur to me until today. Many people have asked me if he is going through a moult: in fact, the opposite seems to be true -- he hasn't moulted in several months. Being an indoor bird, his moults were never big - but they used to be consistent. But it has been a few months and he hasn't moulted. Could THIS be the reason for his silence? What would cause a bird to stop moulting?

Nope, no molt! Yeah, it is very odd. I've just about run out of ideas. Most people either say he must be sick or going through a molt; but it's neither of those things. And to the best of my knowledge he hasn't had a scare. Thanks, though, to everyone who replied. I just thought maybe I had overlooked something. I'll just have to get used to a silent bird.

Yes, I have tried happy budgies on YouTube. He looks around, but remains silent.

I've had my budgie for 3 years. Up until a month ago he was a normal, boisterous, chirpy bird. But beginning about 4 weeks ago, he has stopped chirping, whistling and singing. He is silent. Now, my first feeling was that he must have been ill. But he's not ill. His appetite is normal and he still does all the things he used to do. He isn't listless, just silent. He still sits in front of his mirror, but he no longer attempts communication ... He is in a cage that gets moved around to different rooms of the house for stimulation. Someone is home most of the day. He sits on the front porch in his cage (where he used to be noisiest) for a lot of the day, where he can see and hear other birds. At night his cage comes into the living room where the TV is on and people are talking. Quite often you'd have to tell him to pipe down, he was so noisy. But now, nothing! The only time I can get him to chirp is if I take his cage onto the back lawn and lay it on its side, so he can walk around on the grass, etc. Then he chirps again - not as loudly as he used to, but at least it's something like his old self. Does anyone have any idea of what might be wrong? Do birds become less inclined to chatter as they get older? Is it just boredom? I really don't like seeing him like this, and any suggestions would be appreciated. Glenn