Just like people and other animals, parrots will tell you a lot about how they’re feeling through their body language. However, if you’ve never spent much time with parrots before, then it may be difficult to decode their behaviors. As a bird owner, it’s important to be able to learn to read your bird so that you can foster a positive relationship with them.
While habits vary slightly between species, the following behaviors are common in most parrots:
Eye pinning
What it is: When a parrot rapidly shrinks and dilates their pupils in succession. It is easier to observe in birds with light-colored irises.
What it means: Eye pinning can either be a sign of surprise or excitement, or agitation or anger. For example, many birds will display pinning eyes while they are vocalizing or playing with a favorite toy. On the other hand, if pinning eyes are accompanied by other signs, such as a flared tail, the bird may be feeling threatened. Either way, if your bird is pinning their eyes, it is not a good time to handle them — whether you’re interrupting their fun or something is threatening them, they are likely to bite in response.
Beak grinding
What it is: Side-to-side sliding of the top beak over the bottom, creating a gentle clicking noise.
What it means: Birds most often do this as they are getting ready to go to sleep. It is a sign of contentment, so if you hear this, it means your bird is happy and relaxed!
Beak wiping
What it is: Wiping the beak from side to side, usually on a perch or another surface.
What it means: If your parrot has just finished eating, then it may wipe its beak to remove food that has gotten stuck. Other times, your bird may do this as a display of marking their territory, especially in the presence of another bird.
Regurgitation
What it is: Bobbing head and stretching neck to spit up small amounts of food.
What it means: In nature, birds will regurgitate for their mate, typically while they are sitting on the nest and cannot get food for themselves. If your parrot is regurgitating for you, it is a sign of affection. However, pay attention; if your bird regurgitates frequently right after they eat, it may be a sign of illness.
Tail wagging
What it is: Tail feathers wagging back and forth.
What it means: Just like a dog, parrots may wag their tails when they are happy to see you! One caveat: a quick tail wiggle may also be an indication that your bird is about to *ahem* drop a little something. Recognizing this sign can be very helpful with potty training your bird.
The more time you spend with your bird and observe their behaviors, the more confident you will be in the subtle cues that they are giving you about how they’re feeling. Knowing the times when your bird is happy and ready to interact will help you to strengthen your bond.
Got a question about something that your bird does? Let us know! We’re always happy to answer any questions you may have.
Whether you’ve just brought home a new baby bird or you’ve been living with your parrot for 20 years, it’s never too late to teach your bird something new! Working on tricks with your bird serves two main purposes: it stimulates your parrot’s intelligence by introducing something novel, and it strengthens your bond by spending quality time together. In fact, even spending just a few minutes a day working on a new trick can help relieve boredom and give your bird something to look forward to. As an added bonus, both you and your parrot will have fun showing off to friends and family!
Getting Started
Before you start teaching your bird any tricks, you will need to master basic handling techniques if you haven’t already. With a new baby parrot, one of the very first things you will want to teach them is how to step up onto your hand. This will enable you to take them in and out of their cage easily. Your bird may be reluctant at first — this is normal. Be patient with them and shower them with praise when they do finally step up onto your hand with ease. If the time that they spend out of their cage is a positive experience, they will be more eager to step up for you next time, too.
Learning New Tricks
Once you and your bird have begun to establish a trusting relationship, you can start working on some tricks together. Keep in mind that different birds mature at different rates. A 6-month-old conure or cockatiel may be excited to work with you on a trick, while an African Grey or macaw of the same age might not yet be ready to learn. Always work at your bird’s pace, and stop if they become bored, frustrated, or uncomfortable.
Handshake
After learning how to step up, an easy trick to transition to is a handshake. Extend your finger to your bird, but don’t let them step up onto it. Stop them with just one fit and give a gentle bounce. As you do the action, give a command such as “handshake” or “how do you do?”.
Wave
Once your bird has learned to shake hands, you can transition to waving. Start with a similar action to a handshake so that your bird only lifts up one foot. But instead of allowing them to shake your hand, hold up your hand and give a command like “wave” or “say hello.”
Dance/Spin/Bounce
This next trick relies on a different strategy. Observe some of the actions your bird does on its own. What happens if you sing or put on some music? What about if you start bouncing around the room? Many birds like to bob their heads, spin, or bounce around. All you need to do is figure out what your parrot enjoys doing, and then pair it with a command!
Tips for Success
Keep training sessions short. Five minutes might be plenty.
Don’t expect mastery after the first session.
Keep commands simple and consistent.
Keep treats on hand as a reward, but only offer a treat after the bird performs the desired action. Make sure the pieces are very small so that you can resume training quickly.
Offer plenty of praise and use excitement in your voice for a job well done.
Everything Your Parrot Needs
Whether you’re looking for your new best friend or you need to stock up on toys to keep your parrot entertained, you’ll find everything your parrot needs in our store and online!
While parrots can make wonderful pets, they are certainly not the right pet for everyone. Just like any other animal, it’s important to do your research before bringing one home. Birds are highly intelligent, social animals that are often compared to human toddlers. Some of the same traits that make them great pets for one person might make them a less than ideal choice for someone else.
At Todd Marcus, we love our birds — but we hate to see someone take a bird home without knowing what they’re getting into. Here, we discuss some of the “problems” with parrots, as well as some of the things that make them fantastic companions.
Why Parrots Are Not for Everyone
Remember how we said birds are like toddlers? You’d be surprised at how similar they are. Birds can be loud, messy, and they’re smarter than you think — which can sometimes get them into trouble.
They can be very messy.
If you watch a bird eat, you’ll notice that a lot of their food ends up on the floor. And the walls. And somehow, halfway across the room. Besides being messy eaters, they will also drop feathers, and some species (particularly Cockatoos and African Greys) will leave a lot of “dust” due to a special powder coating on their feathers. Areas where they live and play need to be cleaned regularly, and even then, don’t expect that your house will ever be “spotless” for more than five minutes.
They are noisy.
Parrots are loud — some more so than others. That’s because in the wild, they need to communicate with members of their flock at a distance. When you bring a bird home, your family becomes the flock, and your bird will communicate with you accordingly. That means they will chatter regularly, alert you to any perceived “danger,” and may be louder during certain times of the day (often, in the afternoon or evening). The noise level can vary widely between different species, from the sweet whistles of a cockatiel to a deep squawk of a macaw to the piercing scream of a conure. If noise is a major concern, such as in an apartment or with a roommate who might not appreciate it, then a bird might not be an ideal pet.
They need dedicated space in your home.
While you don’t need an entire room for one bird, they do need a cage to sleep in and to spend time alone in which has enough space to move around and play with toys. The larger the bird, the bigger the cage you will need to accommodate them. Additionally, you’ll also need a spot where they can spend time out of their cage. This can just be a stand so that they have their own spot out of the cage where they can spend time with you and observe things going on in your home.
They require a little patience.
Birds are known to be anxious, and it typically takes them longer to get used to a new situation than a dog or a cat. That means if you bring a weaned baby bird home, it might take days before it comes out of the cage and steps up onto your hand easily. This is even more true for birds that have had previous homes, like those in our consignment room. They may have unwanted habits or be more reluctant to trust strangers, making them difficult pets for a novice with birds.
They need mental stimulation.
Birds are very intelligent, which means that they crave mental stimulation. Without it, they become bored — which means that they will either get themselves into mischief or become depressed. Neither situation is good, which is why it’s important to provide novel things in their environment, including different types of toys and puzzles, and to spend some time interacting with them each day.
They are not just decoration or a talking novelty.
While there’s no doubt that a parrot’s beautiful plumage can be mesmerizing, a bird should be more than just a colorful centerpiece to show off to guests. And while many parrots can learn to talk, this should never be the sole reason for wanting one as a pet. Parrots are more likely to speak when they have regular interaction with you, but even in a species that is well-known for its talking ability, there is never a guarantee that an individual bird will talk.
They are a long-term commitment.
When choosing a parrot as a family pet, you may be selecting a companion for life. It’s not uncommon for many species of parrots to live 30 years, and some larger birds may even live up to 80 years or more. Even some small birds that are more common as pets, such as budgies and cockatiels, may live 10-15 years, which means bringing home a parrot is a decision that should not be made on a whim.
Why Parrots Are Great
It might seem like there are quite a few downsides to owning a parrot; however, talk to anyone who has shared their life with one and they will tell you that they are mostly minor inconveniences compared to the joy their bird brings them.
They are highly interactive.
Parrots are very intelligent, as we mentioned, which means that they are relatively easy to train. They love being showered with attention, and training them to do tricks is a great way to bond. These can be simple tricks such as shaking hands or showing off their wings, to more complex tricks like teaching them to put a bird-sized basketball into a hoop. They can even learn to match shapes and colors.
They are very social.
Birds want to be part of your family. In the wild, they spend the day with other members of their flock. In your home, you and your family become their flock members. Daily interaction is important, even if it’s only for a couple of hours. Many birds enjoy just being out on their stand or sitting on your shoulder and observing what you’re doing, whether it’s putting away groceries or washing the dishes (although with the latter, they might want to get more involved).
They are affectionate.
If you’ve never lived with a bird, it might surprise you that they can be super sweet and affectionate. Most birds enjoy having their heads scratched, and some even enjoy cuddles and belly rubs. They also exhibit a high degree of emotional intelligence, and many bird owners say that their birds have been supportive during difficult times.
They teach patience.
While some might view the length of time that it takes for birds to become comfortable in their environment as a negative, it can also be a positive experience for both adults and children. With so much around us offering instant gratification, having a bird as a pet teaches us to be patient and persistent. It makes the experience that much more rewarding when you watch a bird go from reluctantly stepping up onto your hand to begging for your attention the minute you walk in the door.
There are hundreds of different species.
There are so many different species of parrots, and they each offer something different. Even within a family of parrots, there can be many different species of varying sizes and traits. For example, there are over 20 different species of cockatoo, ranging from the tiny, familiar cockatiel to the large and distinctive palm cockatoo. Birds quite literally come in a rainbow of different colors, shapes, sizes, and personalities.
If you think you’re ready to bring a parrot home, we invite you to come visit our store in Delran, NJ, and meet our feathered friends in person. Our staff is always ready to help if you’d like to handle a bird, and they can answer any questions you might have, including helping you to choose the right bird for your lifestyle. Call us today to find out what birds are currently available.
How much do you know about our feathered friends known as parrots? Here are ten interesting facts about these incredible creatures:
There are over 350 different species of parrots. There are 393 species recognized in the order “Psittaciformes” (although sadly some are now extinct). While macaws are probably one of the most widely recognized families, this highly diverse order has an array of birds in just about every size and color. Check out the video below that highlights some of the families of birds known as parrots:
Some parrots can live to be over 80 years old. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest parrot is Cookie, a Major Mitchell’s cockatoo, who was 82 years old when he passed away in 2016. However, there is another bird who is “unofficially” even older — Poncho, a celebrity green-winged macaw who is over 90 years old.
Many parrots can imitate sounds and even learn to talk. Some species are recognized for their exceptional ability to learn words and mimic sounds around them clearly, such as the African grey, some Amazon species, and even the tiny budgie. Many other parrot species can learn to talk as well, although their voices might not be as clear. However, there are many factors that contribute to a bird learning how to talk, and even in a species well-known for talking, not every individual will decide to learn words.
Parrots are some of the smartest animals. More than just learning a few tricks, these birds have been shown to be capable of complex thought processes. The best documented example testing avian intelligence is Dr. Pepperberg’s work with African Grey parrots. Her parrot Alex understood ideas like “same” and “different,” the concept of zero, colors, numbers, and shapes, putting him on par with a child about 5 years old.
In most parrot species, males and females look the same. While some bird species, like peacocks, are known for their striking visual differences between them (known as sexual dimorphism), in parrots, most males and females look alike. The only way to accurately determine sex is with a blood test. A notable exception to this rule is the eclectus — males are green, while females are red.
Most parrots mate for life. Parrots are generally monogamous, and will have one mate for life. For companion parrots, sometimes that “mate” is their favorite person, and can sometimes become “one person birds” who don’t want to be handled by other family members.
Parrots have very powerful beaks. A large macaw may be able to exert as much as 500-700 psi, giving them the power to break open the toughest nuts to crack, like Brazil nuts. However, these larger birds also tend to be very docile, and they very rarely will exert this much force even when they feel threatened.
Parrots are the only birds that bring their feet to their beaks to eat. While some birds can hold their food in their feet, parrots are the only ones capable of using their feet to bring their food to their beak, much like humans and primates use their hands.
Parrots have been kept as pets for thousands of years. Since ancient times, parrots have been companions to people all over the world, from South America to India to Egypt and even China.
Parrots are not domesticated animals. Even a bird that was raised in captivity is still a “wild” bird. Domestication can take hundreds of years, and parrots have only been bred for a few decades. For this reason, parrots are not the ideal pet for every family.
Our staff loves parrots and other exotic birds — feel free to reach out at any time with questions, or to ask about the birds we currently have for sale. This entry was posted
