Budgies like routine, these birds like to do the same things at the same time on a daily basis, so a change in behavior should make you as the budgie owner concerned. A change in behavior includes the budgie twitching its wings.
This article looks into why your budgie may start twitching its wings.
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Budgie twitching wings:
Wing twitching is not normal for birds the same way that it ins’t normal for humans, humans twitch when their muscles move involuntarily, this is the same with birds. A bird will start to twitch if it is having a seizure
Seizures in birds:
If your bird is twitching its head this more than likely means that the bird is having a seizure, a partial seizure.
The brain of a bird is made up of two sides, a bird that suffers a general seizure will go through this because it has abnormal electrical activity in both sides of the brain.
A bird will have a partial seizure when only one area of the brain has abnormal electrical activity.
This can be caused by overheating, ingestion of toxins, ingestion of tobacco, ingestion of pesticides, liver disease, trauma, and even dehydration.
What to do:
Taking the bird to the vet as soon as possible is the recommended route to take in this case. Not taking the bird to the vet, or waiting to take the bird to the vet, can make the situation worse and so can trying to treat the bird yourself.
If you can’t readily get the bird to the vet you can keep the bird in a hospital cage or box until it can get to the vet.
Remove the perches from the hospital cage or box, leave food and water inside and leave padding at the bottom of the box or cage that you keep the bird in
Once you get the bird to the vet they will hydrate the bird by giving it intravenous fluids. They will also stop the seizures by giving the bird diazepam, and may also keep the bird for observation if necessary in a warm and quiet environment.
When you get home you’d also need to keep the bird in a warm and quiet environment and place the bird back in its hospital cage/box
Tumor:
This twitching can also develop if the bird has an internal growth that is pushing on a certain part of the bird’s brain, organs, or the bird’s spine.
The effects of this internal growth are similar to the effects of a seizure but in this case, the twitching is not caused by abnormal electrical activity in the bird’s brain but rather a mass in the bird’s body.
A bird that is on a mostly seed diet is at a higher risk of developing tumors in its body.
What to do:
This is also not something that can simply be diagnosed and treated at home, taking the bird to the vet is the recommended treatment.
The vet in this case will take a crop or a mouth swab to check for a fungal or yeast infection, will clip the bird’s toenail to get a blood sample, and will do further testing on the bird
It is recommended that you place the bird in an isolated cage with padding at the bottom once it is back from 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: Budgie Twitching Head, Bald Budgie Vent, Why Does My Budgie Bite When I Pet Him?, What To Do With Unwanted Budgie Eggs, How To Stop Budgie From Laying Eggs