LindaMary Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 For anyone who may know, I am curious about a posture my severe macaw often assumes. He will hang by his beak from one of the horizontal bars on the side of his cage, completely letting go with his feet (he just curls them up to his belly.) Then he repeatedly sort of flicks or half-flaps his wings, and periodically vocalizes - not a screech (his mouth is full of bar, after all), but sort of a squeaky squawk. The first few times he did this I interpreted it as just clowning around, but it's something he does a lot of, especially when he first sees me in the morning or after I've been out of the room for awhile. Is anyone familiar with this? Maxi (my grey) never does this routine, by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave007 Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 That's one of the most common things that medium sized parrots do. Most of the time it has to do with playing. Other times a bird will do that in order to knock something around that's sitting loose on top of the cage. To a person, it's scary but if you notice, he never falls down.. At times you'll also see a bird hang off the cage with just one foot. Again, just playing. Some birds hold onto the top of the cage with their beaks and flap their wings. Greys, amazons and eckletus do this often. Some other birds of the same species won't do it. That whole thing will decrease a bit as a bird reaches maturity but for now, it's their way of playing. PS--that would also include Severe, Hahns and Yellow collared macaws<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2009/01/06 22:21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaMary Posted January 7, 2009 Author Share Posted January 7, 2009 Thank you, Dave! It's clearly one of Tanner's favorite games. I'm glad to hear it's not some sort of neurotic acting-out that I should be concerned about. If it just means he wants to play, that's fine with me! (He also likes to hang by one toe from the top of the cage and spin in circles - spot on...!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eckobird Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 My grey does something similar to this but he hangs upside down on the horizontal bars with his feet and he screams and growls at this one toy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 Ahhh, another fun day in the life of a grey, making their owners think they are crazed or neurotic but they are just having a little fun, thanks Dave for clearing that up for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMustee Posted January 9, 2009 Share Posted January 9, 2009 The huge Buffons Macaw at my work does the same thing but from the top of the cage. It's pretty funny to watch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now