Birdie Body Language
by Marilu Anderson
Bird Nutrition and Behavior Consultant
Phone: (503) 771-BIRD
LINK: Your Parrot Place :: Birdie Body Language

Most parrot people are aware of some of the basic body language out companions use to communicate with us. But it's usually the more negative ones! However, our buddies use a multitude of moves to express lots of emotions, both positive and negative. So, let's look at a few:

EXCITEMENT/AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIORS

Although most of these activities are associated with aggressive/defensive attitudes in our birds, they can also simply signify any excitement, good or bad - so you have to know your bird, and observe closely to differentiate between aggressive postures that mean "Stay away!" and those that simply mean "I'm over-excited!" even in a good way. (Of course, even with those you need to be careful, as an over-stimulated bird can still act out by biting.)

Eye pinning: The pupils dilate and constrict rapidly, back and forth, indicating excitement and interest. Definitely means you need to pay attention and look out.

Feather Puffing: The bird fluffs his feathers out all over, but especially the head and neck, and with Cockatoos, the crest is erect. In the wild, birds use this to appear larger, and thus be more intimidating to foes.

Tail Fanning: Especially in Amazons, the bird fans his whole tail out (like a mini-horizontal peacock), again, to appear large and "scary."

Blushing: Bare-faced birds like Macaws, allow you to visually observe the facial redness that accompanies excitement. (Actually, ALL parrots do this - we just can't see it through the feathers! Some birds blush a light pink, others (Like my Amber), go a deep red. I find babies blush more than adults, as they experience new things in the world.

Head Bowing: The bird, while puffed up, eye-pinning, tail fanning, and blushing, also lowers his head, stretching out his neck. Often accompanied by a "growling" sort of sound, or with African Greys and Cockatiels, it's more of a "hissing" sound.

Stretching/Wing Spreading: The bird raises up on tip toes, feathers and crest erect, neck stretched, wings eagle - spread - again, he's trying to look large and threatening. Often, a highly agitated bird will sway back and forth. "Flash" colors (Bright color accents under wings, crest or tail) are highly visible during this type of posturing - it's hard to miss, as this type of display is QUITE obvious!

Although aggression behaviors and excitement behaviors are similar, the good observer with a trained eye can readily tell the difference. Work on developing your observation skills, so you'll know how to best proceed. Of course, a bird coming at you, head-lowered, with an open beak, is hard for ANYONE to misinterpret!

SOLICITOUS BEHAVIORS

These include all the more passive ways a parrot asks for attention. If we ignore these, they can lead to more outright demands, such as screaming, or neurotic behaviors that become obsessive, almost ritualistic, habits such as constant flipping or circling in the cage, or toe-tapping, beak wiping, and odd looking head movements. The basic solicitous behaviors include the following:

Food Begging: Recently weaned babies often cry and "baby bob" repeatedly. They sit low on the perch, heads turned up, slightly quivering their wings, with heads bobbing rapidly. This needs to be addressed! Often, newly weaned babies revert after moving to their new home. It's a good idea to continue regular body weight checks, as anything over a 10% loss is cause for concern. I don't believe in time-table weaning, and do not feel it is inappropriate to continue, or re-start, hand feeding of young birds. Ask for guidance on how to best handle it.

Wing Quivering: The bird sits low with wings gently quivering, head out, and stretched and softly chirps to you. Some may "bob," even as adults. This is more common in females. It simply means "Pick me up! Love me!" I find it quite endearing and nothing to be alarmed about.

Leaning Forward/Looking up at you with Big Eyes: This is also a very sweet way birdies ask for some loving. They simply lean toward you and give you big, soft, goo-goo eyes! Pretty fool-proof for most birds!

Feather Puffing: Nothing like the feather puffing of aggression/over-excitement, which is stiff and rigid, this is a "soft" raising of the feathers, again, especially on the head and neck and means "Please scratch me and preen my pin feathers!" They need out help to reach those difficult spots, and it's a glorious way to strengthen your bond by preening his "pins" for him!

HAPPINESS BEHAVIORS

These are my favorites! They are also the most subtle and most often missed signals that our parrots give us. Learn to recognize them and you'll enjoy a whole new level of richness in your communications.

Tail Wagging: Often in one on one interactions, you'll see your bird give his tail a quick "fan" and a vigorous side-to-side shake. This means "I'm content, I'm enjoying myself and feeling quite relaxed!" It's always a happy sight!

Happy-Wing Tai Chi: You walk in the room, or up to your parrot, he spreads out one wing, in a big stretch, often accompanied by a full extension to the back of the leg on the same side (very graceful, martial-arts-looking). I love this one! Often, they do it at the most inopportune time, like when you're in a big hurry to put him up and get out for the day. But, this is the parrot equivalent of a big hug! It means "I'm so happy to see you! How 'ya doing?!" Don't ever rush him when he's being sooo courteous and pleasant!

"Happy Beak": It's late, he's eaten, he's played, he's cuddled, he's almost ready for bed - and you hear a funny grinding rasping sound coming from your bird. This is a total contentment, relaxed, happy behavior. I actually met someone once who professed to "hate" that sound! To me, it's music to my ears - it means my kids have had a great day and are ready to go night-night for sweet dreams!

Regurgitation: You're loving on your buddy when all of a sudden, he starts to bob, then deposits a warm gob of partially digested food onto you! Well, you've just been paid the highest compliment your parrot can pay you!! This is how parrots say "I love you madly, for ever and ever - you're mine!!" Please, don't act grossed out, or make faces, or laugh, or run away. Simply say "I love you, too!" and give him a rub!

There's lots more behaviors and postures our companion birds use to express their moods, needs, and feelings to us. When you start to pay attention to your friend's many ways in which he communicates with you, you'll surely discover some special and unique ones that will go a long way in enabling the two of you to get along better, strengthen your bond, and provide insight into his own unique personality!

__________________
~Karen

.............~Kady & Kita~............


Email: Karen_ParrotChatter@msn.com

These two have to be my all time favorite. Of course the 'happy wings' are always first thing in the morning. It just gives you that warm fuzzy feeling. It took a while before I ever heard any beak grinding from Kady. Now that he is fully settled in and secure I get to hear this wonderful sound everyday and it sure is music to my ears. IMO, it doesn't get any better when you hear that sound.

I agree with you on both of those Karen- beak grinding is just the sweetest sound in the world!

I really like that article! I have witnessed all of those behaviors in Ollie (except the tail fanning) and its nice to have a little instruction manual of what they all mean.

I found it interesting that the article attributes wing-quivering to begging for attention. Winston has had wing-quivers occasionally since bringing him home and we've concluded it was due to nervousness. His quivers have lessened a great deal, but last evening he was quivering them when I greeted him upon returning home from work. I sat with him and hoped to calm him, thinking that he was nervous for some reason, but I wonder if he was excited to see me and hoping for some interaction....but he didn't seem completely content like he usually does when I'm spending time with him - content being happily puffed up and warbling a little and playing with his toy or eating even with my next to his cage. Like the article says, he sits kind of low with his head out when he quivers, but he doesn't make any noise while doing this. And although he's not super-scared skinny, he's not happily puffed up either..

I've always heard that the wing-quivering is begging for attention - and have found it to be true with all our birds. Mine really get into the sit down low - slightly hold the wings out and quiver when they want to picked up - or if we're eating something and they want a taste too. I would think Winston was happy to see you!

This is all very interesting to me as I've never heard of wing-quivering as wanting attention - Jerry and Lulu don't do this (Jerry does sommersaults over his perch when he wants my attention LOL). But it makes me excited at the thought that maybe Winston was happy to see me! I'm going to watch Winston closely, especially when I come home tonight, and try to determine what it means the next time he does that.

Ah, learning the body language of a new fid is so fascinating!!

The more I thought about it I realized I don't really know if the tiels and the quaker really do the wing quivering behavior. Well - Peanut has his own way of doing it - he jumps to the bottom of his cage, wings held slightly away from his body, and he runs back and forth along the cage bottom calling "step up, step up, good boy!" Sydney will hold her wings slightly away from her body and lean way forward - but she doesn't "quiver" her wings. She usually just wants scritches. I'll have to ask my daughter if Skittles does any kind of begging for attention behaviors. I know she doesn't for me - but she's pretty bonded to Emily - so she might do something for her when she's looking for attention. Ziggy's only been here for a little over a week - and he hasn't shown any attention getting behaviors yet. But maybe someday he will!

Sarah, Ollie does it for attention, but also out of nervousness. When we travel home to visit my parents, the first day we are there she is usually a little "on guard." The first time she hears one of the dogs bark, the first time my dad asks her to step up...those things also bring about the quivering to a certain extent. It really could be either, I just have to guage the situation and surroundings to be able to know which it is.

This is what drives me batty when Ruby does this: YouTube - Rubys toenail flick It's the precursor to her vocalizing her "needs" lol.

Their body language can be such a subtle thing that it is easy to misread sometimes (for me anyway). On one instance, Mary and I were in a bird store way out east on LI; they had some older birds and also boarded them. Usually if a bird was unfriendly they will put a sign up that it bites or what-not. Well I walked up to this older grey and was talking to him for a few minutes; he seemed very relaxed, was at the front of his cage with his feathers relaxed; so I figured I would give him a little scritch on the neck. I stuck my pinky in between the bars and like lightning he just absolutely nailed me! drew blood on both sides of my finger. While I'm assessing the damage to my finger I hear "Heh, Heh, Heh, Heh..... The little SOB suckered me!