Parrots, and all types of birds for that matter, do not sleep the same way that humans sleep, they sleep standing straight up on their perches.
However, your bird may fall off of its perch at night, this is highly irregular, there are a few reasons why this may be happening, this article looks into it.
Table of Contents
Parrot falling off of perch at night:
Any change in your bird’s behavior should be concerning to you.
A change in behavior doesn’t always mean that there is something wrong with your bird but it does mean that there is a change in your bird.
Here are possible reasons why your parrot is falling off its perch at night
Night fright:
If something is scaring your parrot, in the middle of the night, then this may cause your bird to fall off of its perch at night.
Birds know that they are at the bottom of the food chain and are frightened by a variety of things, things including your other pets, lights, the sounds of cars outside etc
All these can make the bird wake up in the middle of the night and fall off its perch.
What to do:
While you can’t stay up to reassure your parrot of its safety all night, there are ways to remedy this issue.
You can keep your other pets out of the parrot’s room, and, you can leave a dim night light in your parrot’s room for when it is woken up.
The light will help the bird see that there is no threat in its area if it does wake up in the middle of the night
Arthritis:
If your parrot is an older bird then signs of old age will be apparent, an old bird may develop arthritis in its feet and this may cause it to fall off of its perch at night.
Your older parrot joints may have started to degenerate because birds spend a lot of time on their feet. Arthritis can develop because of all the stress being put on the bird’s feet.
Arthritis is an inflammatory disease that will cause great pain in your bird’s feet.
If the bird is suffering from this condition the pain of arthritis will cause the bird to fall off its perch because it is too painful to hold onto
In addition, pressure sores may develop on your parrot’s feet because of arthritis and the bird won’t be able to grip its perch well enough causing the bird to fall off its perch.
What to do:
This is something that needs to be checked by and addressed by your vet. Once you get the bird to the vet the vet will be able to examine the bird’s feet.
If it is found that your bird has arthritis then the vet may give your bird non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications to relieve the pain in the bird’s feet.
If the bird has pressure sores then antibiotics and anti-inflammatories may be recommended by your vet.
Small perches:
If the perch that your bird is standing on is not the correct size then the bird can fall off of this perch at times. This can happen during the day or at night.
If the perch is too small then the bird’s feet can become damaged and this could be what is causing the bird to fall off of its perch.
What to do:
When you get home you may want to give your bird several different perches of varying sizes. More variety will allow the bird to switch perches when it is tired of one.
You can also opt to use real tree branches as perches in your bird’s cage, make sure to sanitize these before you add them to your bird’s cage.
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: My Bird Is Throwing Up Clear Liquid, Why Is My Bird Throwing Up Water, Baby Pigeon Not Flying Away, Cockatiel Vomiting Blood, Cockatiel Not Digesting Seeds,