How to Know Your Bird's Body Language

Teaching a bird to talk isn't going to teach it to tell you what it wants all the time. You need to learn your bird's body language as it's the key in communicating to you many important things relating to its health and happiness. Read on to learn how to know your bird's body language.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

1. Watch your bird's body language closely. Knowing the bird's patterns and habits helps you to discern when something is disturbing your bird or if your bird's health is at risk.
2. Familiarize yourself with content and healthy pet bird body language. Content birds stretch their wings gently, preen their feathers faithfully and fluff their feathers for sleep while standing on one foot.
3. Listen to the sounds your bird makes. Once covered for the evening, or if sitting with a favored pet owner or another bird, it will grind its beak happily. Some parrots shriek when stressed.
4. Look for aggressive behavior. A bird bobbing its head and pacing is working up to a confrontation. A head or body moving side-to-side while sitting on its perch or on your shoulder warrants precaution as well. These movements may include dilated pupils.
5. Prepare yourself for the body language of love. Mating rituals are a natural part of a bird's body movements, but most of these look like the aggressive behavior mentioned previously. Add to this regurgitation and you've one amorous bird.
6. Identify the sex of your bird by watching its body language. Most parrots need to be sexed via a blood test, however some parrots aren't shy with their signs. Usually a male wiggles and rubs its rear while a female raises its tail feathers and presents its rear.
7. Take notice of signs of illness. The body language of a sick bird includes fluffing up the feathers to control its body temperature. It may have trouble standing on one foot to sleep and tries to stand on two. An extremely sick bird sits at the bottom of the cage and needs immediate medical attention.