Body Language

Understanding what a parrot is trying to tell you can be very challenging, especially since mine can't talk. But, their body language is essential to having a healthy relationship with them. I've always wondered what all the head shaking, pacing back and forth, the head bobbing, and all these weird stuff meant for birds. There is a reason for all of it, so I dug a little deeper into it and found some interesting information. Turns out a parrot wags their tail like a dog, because of excitement. Bobbing their head is a way of getting attention, which makes sense because Sonny is a diva! I used to say to Sonny, "You're one weird and disturbing bird!" But now I have an idea of what Sonny was trying to communicate with me.
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Field Notes 10/30/14 

 

Parrots actually know what hand their owner is dominant with, and I know this for a fact because every time I approach Sonny, she always turns towards my right side, which is the hand I wright with. Some parrots will only stand on the person's dominant hand because they know that is the strongest hand, and a parrot always wants to stand on a strong perch. This is pretty awesome for a bird to automatically know that about their owner.

 

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVj-R_hXeuA

 

Sonny is very playful, which again is an important sign of her body language. She does certain moves indicating whether how playful she will be. Unfortunately, she is too camera shy, and she is terrified of the camera, she won't play when the camera is recording. She has a tolerance level with photography, but the key in filming birds is to make the bird feel safe and natural in the surrounding environment.

 

                                  http://www.cockatielcare.co.uk/cockatiel_information.html

I think it's a great learning experience to understand a bird's body language because there is always new material to learn, and these birds are very funny as well. I feel very lucky to have a cockatiel, they might be the best pets a person could have.

Works Cited



Moustak, N. Parrots for Dummies. John Wiley & Sons Inc. New York, NY. 2005. Web. November 1, 2014.