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Beak Grinding: an hypothesis


trancework

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I've read that sometimes birds young birds like warm food in the evening as a comfort enhancer. And anyone who's held a sleepy parrot is familiar with the "FIREFOOT" phenomenon, where a sleepy bird's feet pads heat up.

 

This makes me wonder whether greys grind their beaks to heat up their head and relax for sleeping. It's just an hypothesis, but I wonder if they grind to generate heat, and they find that heat comforting and relaxing.

 

/QUOTE]

 

Parrots expel and retain heat through the skin. The position of the feathers is what retains and captures or releases heat. Beaks don't generate any heat. Beaks don't have external pores on the beak. This gathering and expelling heat goes on all day no matter what the temperature is including sleeping.

What a bird stands on with the feet is what generates all degrees of heat. A concrete perch is colder than a wooden perch. Many birds like both and others don't.

As far as warm food at night, that's the owner's choice. They may like warm food but it isn't harmful when they don't gt it. The younger the bird, the more the need for warm food.

Edited by Dave007
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Generating heat could be a possibility if they did it hard and fast enough I suppose. My grey grinds his beak while sitting on the shoulder and haven't noticed it warming up at all.

 

In regards the feet getting hot when they are sitting while being sleepy, my greys feet can be warm or cold. It does not really seem to be related to sleep with my grey anyway. It seems more ambient air temperature related here.

 

They are all different. :)

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I've always associated the grinding of the beak with the purring of a cat. They both do it at the same times - relaxed. All of our birds grind their beaks. I did notice for the first time on our Jardine's that she has ridges on the underside of her curl. Saw them on Greycie too. My other theory is they do it to sharpen the bottom beak or keep it trimmed, kind of like chewing your nails.

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