Humans usually put their heads down when they are about to doze off. If you see your bird doing this then you may be confused as to why the bird does this.
This article is a look into why your bird puts its head down.
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Why does my bird put his head down?
Even the smallest behavioral change in your bird may worry you,
Birds are usually very consistent so a sudden change may mean something is wrong. Here is why your bird is putting its head down:
The bird wants a scratch:
Your birds can’t communicate through words but they can communicate through actions.
The bird may be telling you that it wants a scratch by lowering its head.
What to do:
If you see the bird doing this then you can go ahead and indulge it and scratch its head.
The bird is testing you:
Birds understand hierarchy and will try to test whether you’re above or below it through a “sucker punch”.
The bird will test your leadership by lowering its head, as though it is asking for a scratch, and then will bite you.
This is referred to as a sucker punch
If you let the bird bite you then the bird will trust you less and less as a leader as you’ve allowed it to see you as vulnerable and allowed it to hurt you.
The bird will become disrespectful towards you the less and less it respects you and sees you as a leader.
It will also start to act out because of it.
What to do:
This action is similar to the bird wanting an actual scratch.
A bird who is going in for an actual scratch will close its eyes, or have relaxed eyes, because it trusts you.
A bird who is going to bite you will have its eyes open and focused.
If your bird lowers its head and has its eyes open do not reach for the bird.
Do something else like waving at the bird or talking to the bird to show that you know what it is doing.
The bird will regain trust in you once it sees that you’ve learned its tricks.
It likes the position:
Another reason why your bird may be hanging its head may be that the bird enjoys being in this position.
Some birds may sit in odd positions like these because it feels most comfortable.
These birds will not show any signs of distress when doing this and the bird may only sit in this position for a minute or two, a few times a day, or even less.
What to do:
As long as the bird only does this on occasion then you don’t need to worry, this may be odd but isn’t something to worry about.
You’d only have to start worrying if the bird starts showing signs of distress along with the lowering of its head.
Signs of distress in your bird include feather plucking, stress bars, vocal changes, decreased appetite, aggression, and droopy wings to name a few.
If you see these signs in your bird then take the bird to the vet.
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: Why Does My Cockatiel Sit In The Corner?, Cockatiel Swaying Side To Side, Why Does My Cockatiel Flap Its Wings Really Fast?, Cockatiel Sleeping On Me, String Stuck In Chicken’s Throat, How To Save A Choking Chick, How To Tell If Your Chicken Is Choking, How To Stop A Chicken From Choking, Baby Chick Choking On Water
