Birds are quite resilient animals, they live outdoors, forage or hunt for their own food, and they make their nests in spaces that don’t seem very comfortable to humans.
Their immune systems are pretty strong too, but, they do get sick from time to time. If you notice that your bird is panting with its mouth open you’d be right to worry, this article explores why that happens
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Bird panting with mouth open:
Birds have very advanced respiratory systems, they breathe more efficiently than humans do.
They take air into their nares (bird nostrils) and this air enters into their body. If you can hear a bird breathing, or even worse, hear it panting, then you should be worried. Here are reasons why this happens
Stress/fear
Your bird may see a threat and become anxious and stressed about it. This is especially true if the bird is enclosed in its cage and can’t fly away from the threat.
It feels at risk of being attacked by a predator, and if it can’t get away, then it will pant with its mouth open.
What to do:
You’d need to locate the source of your bird’s stress and remove it from the area.
The source of stress may be something as small as your household cat or dog, these animals are much bigger than birds and are seen as intimidating to birds.
Your bird should calm down after you remove your other pet
Exhaustion
If your baby bird, who is just learning how to fly, and is taking its first few flights, starts to pant and breathe with its mouth open, then your bird is likely just exhausted.
Baby birds are simply not used to flying, flying takes a lot out of them, they will pant and breathe through their mouths after their first few flights.
What to do:
You don’t have to do anything in this case, this is normal for birds and they will get used to flying as their bodies continue to develop more muscle. The bird just needs time to calm down and regain its strength
Enlarged organs:
Organs that are too large for the bird’s body can cause the bird to pant, or simply have difficulty breathing. Organ enlargement can be caused by a tumor or an infection in the bird’s body. The enlarged organ will put extra pressure on the bird’s respiratory system.
What to do:
The best thing to do in this situation is to take the bird to a certified avian vet to have it checked out. These types of vets have more experience and knowledge when it comes to birds.
The vet will run tests on your bird to confirm what is going on with it. Expect the vet to do an X-ray of the bird’s abdomen, a CBC, bile acids, and a chem panel.
Overheating:
If it’s particularly hot in your area, then your bird may be feeling overheated and will pant to try to cool itself down. Overheating can also happen if the bird is left outside for long periods of time.
If the bird’s wings are fluffed out then it is very likely suffering from heat exhaustion and is trying to cool itself
What to do:
Since the bird can’t cool itself well enough, you’d need to help the bird cool down. You can do this by serving droplets of cold water directly into the bird’s beak. Give the bird four teaspoons worth of cold water.
You can also serve the bird chilled fruits, like chilled watermelon or chilled cucumber, to snack on. Also, make sure that the bird is resting in a cool shaded area
Infection in the crop:
An infection in the crop can develop in birds of any age but if your bird is smaller and younger, then there is a higher chance of it suffering from a fungal or bacterial infection in the crop.
These infections cause birds to feel nauseous, not want to eat, and pant with their mouths open.
What to do:
The best course of action in this situation is to get the bird to a vet.
You may not have the time to figure out whether the bird has a fungal or viral infection, and you won’t have time to figure out which of the many infections your bird is suffering from.
Your vet will be able to diagnose your bird and offer treatments for its ailment
Conclusion:
Because a bird’s respiratory system is so efficient, a bird panting is cause for alarm.
A bird panting with its mouth open can happen because the bird has an enlarged organ, because it sees a predator in the area, because the bird is suffering from heat exhaustion, because the bird is exhausted from flying or it can happen if the bird’s crop is infected.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Bird Wheezing After Flying, What Do Birds Do When Their Babies Die?,
