Knowing why your bird does certain things will help you determine if the bird is healthy or unhealthy and will help you determine if the bird is injured or in distress in any way.
If you’re wondering why your bird is flapping its wings in its cage then this article will be of help to you
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Budgie flapping wings in cage:
A bird that is flapping its wings in the cage will definitely get your attention and very quickly at that, and this is exactly what the bird wants. This is why the bird flaps its wings:
It is trying to stay cool:
The wings of a bird serve a variety of purposes, one of which includes insulating the bird and keeping the bird warm.
If the bird starts to flap its wings then this may mean that the bird is overheating and is flapping its wings as a way to cool down.
What to do:
Your budgie may be struggling to stay cool but you can help with this. You can cool the bird down by giving it chilled fresh water to drink and by giving it refrigerated treats to eat.
Give the bird sliced-up strawberries, cut-up blueberries, sliced-up melon, sliced-up cucumber, or whatever fruits your bird enjoys. This will go a long way in cooling the bird
Attention seeking:
Budgies not only like attention from their owners they need attention from their owners.
If you haven’t been giving the bird the attention that it needs then it will flap its wings when you come around in order to gain some attention from you and get you to play with it
Birds that are lonely and bored will start to feel neglected and will act out attention-seeking in this way
What to do:
These birds need at least an hour of attention a day from you to feel satisfied, you making sure that the bird gets this attention will stop it from flapping its wings in its cage.
You don’t have to spend an hour straight with the bird, you can spend time with the bird over short sessions throughout the day.
Contentment:
A budgie that is flapping its wings in the cage may also be happy with its current situation and its environment. This is a sort of celebratory dance for the bird that it may do when you come around.
What to do:
The bird flapping its wings out of excitement is a good thing, you should be happy that the bird is excited to be around you and you should be happy that the bird is content in its environment.
This means that you’ve created an environment that the bird is not only comfortable but happy in as well.
Exercise:
If your bird is cooped up in its cage then it may flap its wings while in the cage as a way of getting some exercise in, if the bird is given enough attention, but the bird isn’t active, then the bird may simply be exercising in its cage.
What to do:
If your budgie is trained then you can let the bird out of its cage for about an hour, make sure that the room you let the bird fly around in is safe for the bird.
Threatened:
One negative reason why your bird may be flapping its wings may be because the bird is threatened while in the cage.
A bird that feels threatened may also frantically fly around its cage trying to escape the threat. This flying around may be accompanied by signs of distress like screaming as it flies around in the cage
What to do:
Your bird can’t escape the cage when there is a threat around but the bird does not know this, it will flap its wings and try to fly out and may injure itself in the process.
Getting the threat away from the bird is the recommended thing to do. These little birds can view almost anything as a threat, including humans that it doesn’t know, or your domesticated dogs or cats.
Calm the bird down by getting the threat away from the bird and out of the room to where the bird can’t see it, after this, calmly talk to the bird and give it treats to calm it down again.
If the bird becomes injured as it is trying to escape the threat then you may need to take the bird to the vet.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other budgie related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Cockatiel Beak Peeling, Cockatiel Bruised Beak, Budgie Puberty, Why Is My Canary Sitting In His Food Dish?, Parakeet Laid Eggs In Food Bowl, Budgie Squeaking When Sleeping, Angry Budgie Sounds,