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reading parrot body language

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reading parrot body language

Postby Pola » Tue Apr 27, 2010 3:39 pm

in a book about parrots i read about their body language and here is just some interesting information and if anyone else knows any other parrot body language then please add.

tail wagging
the parrot is just saying "im glad to see you" or "that was interesting" but it can also be a giggle

streching
"see how glad i am to see you?" an appropriate response is to mimic the bird and they will understand it as "yes you are very pretty i am very glad to see you"

preening
"i want to look nice for you!!!"

allopreening
"i like you, i want you to look nice for me"

bird scraching its own neck,chin or head
it is an invitation for you to pet the bird. its just like saying "i am so lonely, i have to scrach my own head:("

facial feathers fluffed over beak
(usually done by cockatoos)the parrot is trying to be cute and saying "im so sweet i dont even have a beak"

beak grinding
this behavior says "im going to sleep now" a normal healthy parrot does this but a ill or a depressed parrot will not do this.

tongue wiggling
in human terms this s an affectionexpresion saying "i like it " or i like you
Pola :D
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Re: reading parrot body language

Postby Michael » Tue Apr 27, 2010 4:01 pm

Sorry, but I don't think so. Tail wagging??? Cmon...
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Re: reading parrot body language

Postby Chicklet » Tue Apr 27, 2010 5:38 pm

Both my Senegal and Sun conure tail wag, it's usually accompanied by preening and fluffing out their feathers.
Rista~Senegal
Briar~Sun Conure
Finn~Budgie
George~Budgie
Ralph~Budgie
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Re: reading parrot body language

Postby Michael » Tue Apr 27, 2010 5:47 pm

You mean when they shake their tail feathers out by fanning it open and shut? I wouldn't call that wagging a tail like a dog does in any way...
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Re: reading parrot body language

Postby Chicklet » Tue Apr 27, 2010 6:57 pm

yeah, more like a vigorous shake of their tail feathers, good point, perhaps it should have been worded differently :)
Rista~Senegal
Briar~Sun Conure
Finn~Budgie
George~Budgie
Ralph~Budgie
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Re: reading parrot body language

Postby localpigeon » Wed Apr 28, 2010 9:37 am

my birds' vet once said that grinding beak before sleep is ok but if the bird is doing it too often during the day then it could mean a fungal infection in the beak.
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Re: reading parrot body language

Postby entrancedbymyGCC » Wed Apr 28, 2010 12:16 pm

"Wag" means to move from side to side. I assumed in a bird this means basically twisting the body side to side slightly, which my bird does do sometimes.
Scooter :gcc:
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Re: reading parrot body language

Postby notscaredtodance » Wed Apr 28, 2010 2:26 pm

my bird often grinds its beak if i give it a nice long rub down on its head and it's completely comfortable and happy.

ironically enough, rats do this too with their teeth :] its called bruxxing and my rats do it when i scratch behind their ears.
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Re: reading parrot body language

Postby Pola » Thu Apr 29, 2010 12:54 pm

i did not come up with this i just read it in a book and i thought that this was quite interesting
Pola :D
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Re: reading parrot body language

Postby Michael » Thu Apr 29, 2010 1:19 pm

I'm not blaming you and I understand. But I don't think we should anthropomorphize parrots like that. By making such statements, it may lead people to think that parrots do things for more humanistic reasons and such thinking could also lead to a lot of disappointment and blame when the parrot is doing OTHER things that we don't like. We could say that certain aggressive behaviors are saying "I don't like you, you suck, go away" but as you understand that is ridiculous and doesn't help us solve the undesirable behavior. I think as a joke we can try to give human meanings to these behaviors but from a training standpoint I think it does more harm than good so I'd be quite disappointed if that book meant these in a serious fashion.

We have to be careful not to read too much into behavior because it can lead us to doing the wrong things. It is important to be able to read your parrot's body language and understand if it's ok to touch or not ok, etc. But to assume these meanings about it can be dangerous.
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