Understanding and using contact calls is a good way to avoid behavioral problems, like screaming. Often screaming behaviors develop from natural, instinctive contact calls that go unanswered by the parrot's human flock members and escalate into screams when the frustrated parrot cannot make its needs understood with simple contact calls. Not long ago I saw another good reason to initiate and return contact calls with our parrots. My mother's peach face lovebird, Peaches, although clipped, can get around the house just fine. My mother has had Peaches for almost 6 years and they are very close.
Peaches likes to go into the bedroom and chatter to the wild birds outside.
Peaches always returns this contact call with lovebird chatter and often flies to where my mother is in the house. If Peaches is in the front room and my mother opens a door to step outside, she always puts the lovebird in her cage. However, the other day Peaches was in the bedroom talking to the outside birds and my mother thought that would preoccupy her as my mother opened the door just enough to pick up the paper. A few blocks and a half-hour later, Peaches finally tired of her adventure and flew down to my mother, who was patiently standing under a big tree calling her. There's no question that she would try it again if given the chance.