Scratching tray behavior???

[Azrich]

Our grey, Pepper, sometimes goes to the playground tray on top of her cage and begins scratching the tray with her feet. She gets very intense doing this and sometimes it is difficult to distract her out of this behavior. Sometimes there might be the remains of an apple slice or other food on the tray. I've been reading about behavior in the wild and know that they do eat dirt and roots. I'm wondering if this behavior stems from that wild behavior. Does your grey ever do this scratching behavior? Any ideas??

[judygram]

My Josey does this many times, as do lots of the other members greys, and it looks like a chicken scratching and sometimes it is when she is on her playtop also. It usually means she wants to come off it and come to me but Pepper may have something else in mind when he does it. I wouldn't worry about it but I know it can get annoying when it continues on and on.:blink:

[Laurie]

Yes, I've heard this is natural behavior in the wild, to scrounge up food that might be hiding under a leaf or something. My dogs have "buried" their chew bones within blankets here, too. They even "nose" the pretend dirt over the blanket to make sure that bone is safe & sound. But I digress...

Klaus does the scratching, too but I think it's because he wants out because he's holding the cage door with his beak when he does it. He must think if he plods on long enough the door might eventually open. :lol:

If it's not a good time to let him out, I just ignore him and he stops after a while.

[ziggy]

Hello,

You are right they do dig in there natural enviroment, but in this case he is doing it for attention. Greys are so smart that they know if I do this I will get attention. Like a child that does thing that make you scratch your head at times. Even in bad behavior they will recieve attention. Not saying your bird is bad this is just an example. Like you said he will totally ignore you but keep doing it this is a form of attention. Most greys will dig when they want something example if he wants out of the cage he will scratch at the cage floor near the door. If he scratchs on top of the cage he wants you to talk to him even if its yelling. He feeds off the attention.

[danmcq]

Hi Azrich,

 

Yes, all Greys scratch at different times. It is a normal search and harvest behaviour.

[Kibibi]

I've heard (read?!?!) that the scratching behavior is a latent wild behavior that helps them keep their nesting locations clean and clear of unwanted debris. Of course it's just a theory but it matches my Grey's behavior because she only does it in closed locations like under covers, in corners etc. There is an excellent DVD about Greys in the wild if anyone is interested. I highly recommend it and the cost of the DVD goes toward a good cause. Here's a link to it.

http://store.wptestore.com/servlet/Detail?no=23

It's heartbreaking but it is very informative and awesome to see Greys in the wild. You will never look at your Grey the same way after watching this DVD.