lovemyGreys Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 As a Grey owner i feel it is vital that we understand our grey's body language.Birds learn to communicate with us through sounds, behavior and actions.We therefore owe it to them to take the time to learn to interpret the meanings of their sounds and behaviors in order to have a successful & happy relationship with them. Growling - In general this indicates signs of aggression, growling is often accompanied by dilating pupils and raised feathers on the back of the neck. It means that a bird does not want to be approached. If your bird display's this behaviour you are best to back of and wait for the bird to calm down before attempting any contact. Tongue Clicking - Rapid "clicking" of the tongue against the beak generally indicates "I want to be friendly, I won't hurt you". Flashing/Dilating Pupils - Flashing, dilating pupils can be a sign of aggression, excitement, nervousness, or pleasure.So you need to pay close attention to other behaviors,such as body posture to determine your greys mood. Beak Grinding - Often a similar sound to a human grinding their teeth.It is your grey scraping the lower mandible against the upper mandible. It is usually a sign of a bird feeling secure, content & happy. This will often be heard after your bird settles in for the night, right before he drops off to sleep, and sometimes during sleep. Biting - With young birds,we often see the "teething stage" young greys will "beak" almost everything it comes in contact with.Biting birds do so for a reason.Your grey may be feeling threatened, frightened or startled.here is a good link for reasons as to why your grey may be biting ... http://www.avianweb.com/biting.html Whistling, Singing, Talking - These activities are displayed when your grey is feeling safe, secure and content in his surroundings. Sneezing - Birds sneeze for the same reasons we do, dust, nasal irritation, or down feathers up the nasal cavity. If the sneezing is accompanied by nasal discharge, your bird should be seen by an avian vet. Regurgitating - When done in the presence of us humans it normally means that the bird has chosen you as it's mate, and wants to feed you! This action is also sometimes performed on a favorite toy or other object. This activity consists of bobbing the head up and down to bring up food from the crop, and depositing it into the mate's mouth. Lowered Head - Generally one of two reasons.A bird who is pulling his wings in close to his body, has his head lower than the perch and sometimes bobbing slightly, and is leaning forward with quivering or flapping wings is getting ready to take flight.Secondly a bird that is standing still with his head lowered/tucked in front of you, with head feathers puffed out, is probably asking to be scratched! Preening - Preening is the activity that a bird conducts to keep his feathers in top condition. It consists of running feathers through their beaks from the base to the tip to straighten and clean them.Greys spend a large amount of time preening. Wing Flipping - This is a sharp, flicking movement of one or both wings and is usually a sign of either,your grey is angry,he needs to put a feather back in place,he is trying to exercise by holding on & flapping his wings,if he has his shoulders hunched & is head bobbing he is after your attention. Perching - On one foot shows us that a bird feels comfortable in his surroundings and secure in his environment. A secure bird will sleep with one foot tucked up to his abdomen and his head turned around and tucked into his back feathers. Tail Wagging - This generally is a sign of contentment and happiness, especially at seeing a favorite human, or during an especially enjoyed activity. Consists of a quick "wag" of the tail feathers back and forth. Tail Bobbing - Tail bobbing, in and of itself, is not necessarily a sign of sickness. Some birds bob their tails while they are talking or singing. If the tail bobbing is evident only while your bird is inhaling/exhaling, then it could be a sign of sickness. Stretching - Like us humans, birds stretch to relieve tension. This is especially important for them since they spend so much time on their feet. Birds will stretch one foot and the opposite wing at the same time, which improves circulation and and refreshes muscles. I have tried to cover many of the aspects of our greys body language,please feel free to add to it if i have overlooked any <br><br>Post edited by: lovemyGreys, at: 2008/03/30 13:58 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 This is a great list Tracy thanks. I have a question on body language though, if they need to pee, do they cross their legs and wiggle around? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted March 30, 2008 Author Share Posted March 30, 2008 :laugh: Well they certainly do a little potty dance & wiggle before they poop Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Then there is one that can be added to the list :-) One other that can be added is, if your are taking a Pen from them and you are dragging them across the desktop whilst they tenaciously hold on, watch out. It means they "Believe" that item is "Theirs". Dayo finally let go and then bit HARD, hung onto my finger, stared me in the eyes as they watered, as if to say "See what happens when you take something that belongs to Me?" B) I of course did not let on that it hurt at all, told him no bite and he just walked away with a very satisfied smirk on his face. :huh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandra902 Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 thanks LMG for this listing now that i know i am not in fact killing my bird (new mamma syndrome - it passes) i am learning merlin's silent language. at first i thought 'hackles raised' were similar to a dog's (back off) but now i'm learning in merl it is 'happy feathers' and he does what i call the sailor dance when i come in in the AM, head down, wings half open, walking side to side on his perch as he knows mamma always gives him a splendid treat first thing. to me it suggested aggression, but given the circumstances (treat time) i guess it is a happy dance. ha ha ha maybe he is really saying 'make with the treats ma or somebody gets hurt' edited to add: so let's turn the tables here. i have wondered if my smiling at merlin might be misconstrued by him as baring of teeth? Post edited by: sandra902, at: 2008/03/30 16:19<br><br>Post edited by: sandra902, at: 2008/03/30 17:19 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted March 30, 2008 Author Share Posted March 30, 2008 sandra902 wrote: edited to add: so let's turn the tables here. i have wondered if my smiling at merlin might be misconstrued by him as baring of teeth? Sandra They love the sound of their owner’s voices, and especially love laughter.Talking and laughing with your parrot is a great activity for you both.Smiling is the same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandra902 Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 ah miss tracy there is no shortage of laughter between merlin and mamma! so i am glad to hear that is a Good Thing. it really disturbed me the first time i heard him imitating my laughter but now i love it. i sit outside the door sometime and just listen to all the amusing things he has picked up. thank goodness i do not swear in front of him, the worst i say is 'monkey's butt' which he has not yet picked up. and i talk to him like a krazy bird lady and if i am quiet too long he gets me going again. i do admit i worried about the smiling=baring of teeth so i will put that out of my mind now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falconeer Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Great Post! I am sure Judy, Dan and others will be adding tonnes of stuff soon... Lucky I got here before them!! Sitting Fluffed up: Shows comfort. Usually after meals and just before bedtime. Trying desperately to climb on you: Daddy, I wanna play!:woohoo: This usually happens when Daddy/mommy is very busy with other stuff. Running Back n forth on perch: Pick me up NOW. In Cage... LET ME OUT! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Falconeer Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 danmcq wrote: One other that can be added is, if your are taking a Pen from them and you are dragging them across the desktop whilst they tenaciously hold on, watch out. It means they "Believe" that item is "Theirs". Dayo finally let go and then bit HARD, hung onto my finger, stared me in the eyes as they watered, as if to say "See what happens when you take something that belongs to Me?" B) LOL SOOO TRUE. Exact same thing happened to me yesterday, Minus the bite part. LOL:woohoo: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted March 30, 2008 Share Posted March 30, 2008 Falconeer, only because you live in a country where the time is ahead of me but watch out I can be sneaky.:laugh: Thanks Miss Tracy for yet another excellent post, you do know your stuff and should with 4 greys to call your own. Dan you know you can't play tug of war and win with Dayo so you paid the price:ohmy: sorry but you asked for it:laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magicalem Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 good to read all this info thanx folks... sensei def is a happy boy.. the stretching the mad noises (as he does not yet talk) then bending down of the head for it to b rubbed the climbing on me... the beak grinding & tounge clicking lol... note to metion his exercising of the wings when i first let him out for the day at about 5ish.... it is a daily rutual now... glad to know he is doing all the good things & none of the bad.. even when he doesnt wanna play or be disturbed he has never growled... his bite now is not really a bite more os a playful... oi not now.... or I am busy in a minute... rather then LEAVE ME ALONE... so thats def got better.... he is def coming along just fine... thanx for all info & advice.. will keep reading up & increasing my knowledge of these little fellas....xxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 Very nice thread Tracy! Thank you for posting this list. :) Karma for you girl!!:woohoo: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Good post. The tongue clicking in my house means that you are very close to getting bit though. It's Finnigans only warning that bad things are to come if you persist in your actions. Thank goodness she came with a warning system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share Posted April 1, 2008 :laugh: Thanks for that info Christina,boy i love that name finnigan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casper Posted April 1, 2008 Share Posted April 1, 2008 Thanks for this post Tracy. Its good to learn our Greys body language and understand their needs. Can relate to all of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share Posted April 1, 2008 Your welcome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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