my little lucy, a sun conure approximatley 2 years old displays some innocent, yet odd behaviour. i was wondreing if anyone elses parrot does this. she shakes her head very quickly and up and down in a jerky fashion. i was wondering what this means? and she rubs her beak along anything in long slow strokes. is this just a preening action, or does it mean something else? answers anyone? i would appreciate it. thanks.
My tiel, Ash, does that all the time. The head-bobbing thing is usually dancing or trying to get your attention. Or perhaps just for fun. As for the beak rubbing thing, I'm not sure. I think it might be either a marking territory thing or just keeping their beak clean. My finches do that to get food off their beaks so... Who knows. Try googling parraot behaviors and read about this stuff.
I have both a sun conure & tiel. The head bopping in both species means completely different things.
For a start, head bopping in tiels isn't a pleasant thing. It's a "it's mine!" sort of attitude & only indoor cockatiels do this. It is know in aviary tiels but rarer.
Sun conure head bopping is a happy content thing. The rubbing the along as they're moving I'm not 100% sure about. One reason I have heard is it's something to do with their hormones & breeding. I don't believe this simply because my girl does this all year round. She can do it in front of us, on her toys or when she's about to take her bath. I put it down to a kind of enjoyment thing or possibly an attention thing.
Lucy is only 2 years old so she's not matured yet. At about 3 years they will mature.
thanks very much for your advice. it does seem to make sense. this forum is incredible. i just want to know as much as possible about my lucy. many parrot owners, all though they mean well, end up doing the wrong things for they,re friends and end up damaging them in one way or another out of ignorance. this is great. thanks again.
Jen, Hi again. Your Conure is talking to you with body lanugage when she bobs her head like that. My sunney does it all the time to everyone. As for the beak rubbing its either itching it, cleaning it, or dulling it down a bit. they keep their own beak short if they have something to grind it on. Go out and get a stone perch. She will love it!
I have a male Conure and he is 3 years old....he lives happily with his best mate a male Indian Ringneck....but we have one problem and I was wondering if anyone could please advise me. My Conure flicks his food out of his feed bowl..no matter how many times I fill it during the day he still hops into the bowl and flicks it all out.....I have tried a smaller dish but he still flicks it out. Any advice greatly appreciated.
Jen61, Kimfoster is right on the money about the head bobbing. As for the beak wiping, birds don't have tissues to wipe their faces with so many times they use their perches to clean off their beaks. Some scientists think that this may be a territorial issue, as well. If your bird is doing it when you are in front of the cage or messing around in the cage, it may be territorial behavior. However, if the bird appears to be acting pleasant and going about his business, he is probably just grooming.
Dollybird, they make seed guards which look like a mesh barrier that goes around a section of the cage. This is great to keep the seed problem to a minimum, but be careful. I've heard that some birds get tangled easily in this material. Another alternative that is a bit more costly is to invest in a cage with a "skirt." This is the metal lip that you see around the bottom of larger metal cages. Both of these items help me out a lot, but I still clean like crazy.
