Pixie is a great little bird (we've had her for 3 weeks now). I love her very much and she's starting to make human-ish noises and she loves to play. All good things!

However, she has this fantastically loud pteradactyl-like alarm call that she uses A LOT. When we're home during the day on weekends, she sometimes gets going at top volume and will not quiet for more than half an hour. She's in our living room, the central space of our home (we have a 1-bed apartment, essentially), because we want her to be a part of it all, and the TV is on. We tried covering her and then uncovering her as soon as she's quiet, but that doesn't work anymore. I try to ignore her but she's persistent. She stops if I pay attention to her and talk quietly, but I think I'm just reinforcing the behaviour when I do that. The biggest problem is that she's worse when I'm out of sight, and it drives my husband batty - he's not even close to as patient as I am.

The worst part is that the parrotlet, Sprite, has figured out that he can get her going by doing his own little tweets and running around his cage. As cute as that is - she is MUCH louder than him! Often as soon as she settles down, he gets her riled up again, the little brat!

Any suggestions? Is she being overstimulated by the TV and all the commotion in the living room when we're home on the weekends? Is she just really demanding of my attention? Is this a phase that she'll grow out of?

This sounds a lot like what is often referred to as ´screaming´ on this forum. Have a look at some of the topics related to screaming for some excellent advice.