covering bird cage at night?

[pamha]

Just curious to know if everyone does this, and do you cover it all the time or just when its cold or drafty? We used to cover our cockatiel every night, but haven`t done it regularly in a long time. I do usually cover her when its cold, but not all the time. Some people I know cover their birds to keep them quiet at times, but I`m wondering how necessary it is to cover them at night, other than to keep chilly drafts off.

[clm]

I've always had to cover my cockatiel (Frank). He actually prefers to stay covered most of the time, although I insist he get some light during the day whether he wants it or not. I think it makes him feel safer. He clucks and chirps and coos in there when his cover is on. I admit he's the exception not the rule. I used to cover my budgie (Henry) at night. Again, just to make them feel safe while sleeping.

Cindy

[Kinguni]

We always cover Mr. Right's cage at night, often earlier in the evening too if he won't let us watch TV.

[Lise]

I don't cover any of my guys.Hawk and Oscar think it's a punishment and pull any covers of and destroy them.The rest are aviaries that are too big to be covered.I think as long as they get enough time to sleep and are in a draft free room they don't need it,but that's just my opinion.

[whitbit317]

My three cockatiels are in my room and generally they are only covered on Friday night and Saturday night and that's so I can sleep a little the next morning. During the week if I'm not up early I go to another bed to sleep in. They don't really like being covered.

Our Quaker Parrot is in the dining room and he gets covered because it's a high traffic area and sometimes lights are on off and on so it helps him sleep better, and he has a habit of being quite cranky if he isn't in bed early....

[pamha]

So it looks like its not an absolute necessary requirement at least. My mom was just shocked to learn that we hadn`t been covering Peaches regularly at night; she`s never had a bird and just assumed that it was necessary. I couldn`t remember and was too lazy to try looking it up. Peaches seems happier uncovered, and she`s not a very squaky bird most of the time, so I think we will leave things as they are.
Thanks for the replies!

My budgie Danny gets covered up at night with a towel. He often tries to bite people when tired or upset, but otherwise he's very friendly.