Customer's pet parrot set off the motion sensor 14 times in one visit

So I'm doing a panel swap at this house in Phoenix, right? Mid-size install, nothing crazy. I finish up, arm the system to test the zones, and the motion sensor in the living room goes off. I check the wiring, looks fine. Walk test passes. Re-arm it, and it trips again a minute later. I'm about to blame the sensor when I hear this squawk from the kitchen. The homeowner's parrot flies in, lands right on the sensor bracket, and starts bobbing its head. The thing weighs like half a pound but it's bouncing enough to trigger the PIR every time. Customer just laughs and goes, "Yeah, Charlie does that with all the new stuff." I had to move the sensor to a corner with a pet-friendly lens and tape off the lower half for a bit. Took me an hour extra and I almost swapped out a perfectly good detector. Has anyone else had animals mess with sensors, or is my luck just special today?

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eva_moore16d ago

Ha, that's wild but honestly parrots are the worst for motion sensors. I had a friend whose cockatoo learned to set off the alarm on purpose just to watch the panic, smart little jerk. At least you caught it before swapping the unit, that would've been a real head-scratcher to explain.