Question for breeders - My IRN cries like kitten " Meow "

[ErnieisAwesome]

I'm not sure what's going on . I hand fed my IRN from the time he was 3 weeks old . He is now 14 weeks and eating seed , veggies & fruits ( when he'll take them). He's been doing a very strange " cry" . He almost sounds like a cat . It's like a " meow" "meow" . He lowers his head and meows. He opens his mouth and sometime pins his eyes as if he's angry and ready to strike me . He hasn't but think he would . I don't understand. He use to step up right on my finger and come out of his cage and go on his perch or on top.of had cage . But now all I get is the meowing. I'm wondering if any of the professional breeders have seen this behavior ? And if so what should I do ?
Thanks in advance

[InTheAir]

Baby birds are not my thing. I'd recommend you go to your avian vet for a well bird check, a good avian vet will provide you with information about weaning, enrichment, diet, behaviour etc as well as a health check.

My-not expert- guess is he is begging and there are a few reasons why a bird that age may behave that way.

[ellieelectrons]

Babies make a meow type sound. It's their "beg for food" type sound. We brought Janey home at 6 weeks of age and she did this for at least a month after we brought her home, even though she was weaned. We got Charlie a little older and he didn't make that sound.

I do recommend a once a year wellness check from an avian vet for all birds.

Ellie.

[ellieelectrons]

By the way, if you want breeders to read your message, it might be better to put it in the breeding thread.

Ellie.

[Donovan]

look, .. that gesture you described.. is a very early form of communication.. if it seems even remotely aggressive then he's informing you that he doesn't like what you're doing or what he can tell that you're planning to do...

therefore... this is -excellent-... it means you need to stop doing that. It's not a negative thing.. it's conversation.. and by abiding to his mood you will, in short time, create an amazing bird because of it.

go against his mood and you'll raise a little jerk.

[ellieelectrons]

I must apologise. I only read the first bit of your question before responding. Just read the bit about aggression now. I'm not sure about that part other than to back up what Donovan has said about listening to what your bird is telling you. Breeders may provide you more assistance. Apologies for responding prematurely. I don't normally do that!

Ellie.

[SunniDai]

I don't think this is just a young bird thing. Oscar does this.
It's been a year and almost a half since we've rescued him and Luna. They've both made tremendous strides and I have learned so much from watching them. But we noticed the meowing early on. Wondered if maybe their previous owner had a cat and he was imitating it. After watching it for a while, we found that it was something he does when he feels threatened or imposed upon. He does it at night, after they've gone to bed and we finally make our way to bed. When we go into the room, he lowers his head from his perch and meows at us. We always tell him "It's just us, Oscar. Go to sleep." and he usually stops. If someone approaches him and he doesn't want that, he will lower his head, pin his eyes and meow. He doesn't do it nearly as much since we've figured out what it means.
Interesting to know that other birds do it.

[Donovan]

Is there any way that eitherof you can capture the sound and share it here