This paper focuses on the nonlinear vibrations of stay cables and evaluates the dynamic characteristics of stay cables by using the nonlinear enhanced MECS approach and the approximate approach. The nonlinear enhanced MECS approach is that both the girder-tower vibrations and the cable vibrations including parametric cable vibrations are simultaneously considered in the numerical analysis of cable-stayed bridges. Cable finite element method is used to simulate the responses including the parametric vibrations of stay cables. The approximate approach is based on the assumption that cable vibrations have a small effect on girder-tower vibrations, and analyzes the local cable vibrations after obtaining the girder-tower responses. Under the periodic excitations or the moderate ground motion, the differences of the responses of stay cables between these two approaches are evaluated in detail. The effect of cable vibrations on the girder and towers are also discussed. As a result, the dynamic characteristics of the parametric vibrations in stay cables can be evaluated by using the approximate approach or the nonlinear enhanced MECS approach. Since the different axial force fluctuant of stay cables in both ends of one girder causes the difference response values between two approach, it had better use the nonlinear enhanced MECS approach to perform the dynamic analyses of cable-stayed bridges.