Bird behavior can be quite confusing to humans, these little animals can do things that seem very strange but still very curious and interesting. One such thing is birds rubbing their beaks on your fence.
This article is a look into why this happens.
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Why do birds rub their beaks on the fence?
If you live in an area that is surrounded by wildlife then you likely have a fence around your property to keep any unwanted critters out, but, some wild birds may come along and use the fence and will rub on it.
This is why birds do this:
The fence is a napkin:
Fences may be the perfect place for the birds in the area to wipe their beaks onto, these animals can’t wipe food off with hands or a napkin like humans can so they will clean their beaks by rubbing them onto surfaces around them.
If a bird eats some messy food, and this messy food gets onto the bird’s beak, then the bird will use whatever it can to remove this messy food, that being the fence
The bird in this case will stick its head into the openings of the fence and scrape its beak against the fence to clean itself.
What to do:
This is not something that you’d need to worry about, this is normal for birds, but if your fence starts to get very dirty because of all the rubbing then you may want to clean your fence on a regular basis to make sure that all the dirt doesn’t collect on your fence.
Beak sharpening:
If the bird lives in a man-made environment with not much vegetation then the bird will use what it can to shape and maintain the size of its beak.
The outer layer of your bird’s beak is made out of the same material that our fingernails and hair are made out of, keratin.
Just as with our fingernails and hair, the beak keeps growing and needs to be maintained.
Birds will maintain their beaks by rubbing them on branches if branches are available, but, if branches are not available then the birds will use what is available, what is available may be your fence.
Your fence is a rough surface that can easily wear the keratin on the bird’s beak down.
What to do:
This is perfectly normal bird behavior and is not something that you’d need to worry about.
Wild birds know exactly how much keratin they need to scrape off so you don’t have to worry about the bird injuring itself while doing this.
Marking its territory:
Another reason why a bird may be rubbing its beak against your fence is to mark its territory. Birds are very territorial animals and will do a lot to make sure that other birds in the area know that this is their space.
This is also a way of communicating aggression and may indicate that this bird has a bad temper.
What to do:
These birds are simply doing what they do best, marking and protecting their territory, this isn’t something to be concerned about.
You just have to make sure that your domestic birds don’t get close to this area or else they may be attacked by the wild birds.
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 Budgie’s Beak Is Crusty, Why Does My Sun Conure Click His Beak, Why Do Birds Drag Their Beaks, Why Is My Love Bird’s Beak Turning Black?, Why Is My Parrot Beak Turning Black?, Baby Lovebird Beak Black