Merlin just tried to feed me!

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roxynoodle

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• Mar 12, 2012

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I've never had a female bird regurgitate for me before, but Merlin just did and then tried to shove it in my mouth! She shouldn't be all that hormonal because she had a shot for it, and gets another on Saturday. I'm hoping it was just her way of telling me she loves me, not that she sees me as a potential mate.

Pete does this sometimes, but he is a hormonal male bird. In fact he did it yesterday as well, but he puts it in my hand, not my mouth, lol!

 

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wenz2712

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• Mar 12, 2012

• #2

LOL... Hopefully it was her way of letting you know she Loves You or perhaps she thought it was your Dinner Time

 

Mare Miller

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sierra foothills of central California

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13yr. old male umbrella cockatoo,
we call him Amigo!

7yr. old Goffin cockatoo, she IS Sassy!!

• Mar 12, 2012

• #3

Sounds like love to me! I've never had Amigo do this. Is it similar to a dog puking?, as in, the body movements before it happens?

 

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roxynoodle

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Yes, they stand up tall, and their head starts bobbing slowly, with their beak open, and next thing you know a train of food is coming out, lol! I've never even seen Merlin doing it to her toys or anything, so it was not expected. She was all cuddled up with me like she always is, then she stood up and started regurgitating. Then she leaned forward and tried to put it in my mouth.

 

HalfInsane

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British Columbia, Canada

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Pixel: female senegal, hatched Dec 15, 2011

• Mar 12, 2012

• #5

roxynoodle said:

Yes, they stand up tall, and their head starts bobbing slowly, with their beak open, and next thing you know a train of food is coming out, lol! I've never even seen Merlin doing it to her toys or anything, so it was not expected. She was all cuddled up with me like she always is, then she stood up and started regurgitating. Then she leaned forward and tried to put it in my mouth.

Click to expand...

How romantic. Lol.

My old female lovebird would regurgitate for both my father and my one female friend. So she not only played both teams, she's was a two-timer to boot.

 

Mare Miller

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sierra foothills of central California

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13yr. old male umbrella cockatoo,
we call him Amigo!

7yr. old Goffin cockatoo, she IS Sassy!!

• Mar 12, 2012

• #6

Precious!! Definitely, Love!

 

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roxynoodle

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I see Pete doing regurgitation motions all the time when he is hormonal, usually during his mating dances. Every once in awhile Rowdy does it for a toy, but doesn't bring anything up. But, Merlin has done nothing like this before. So when she suddenly stood up and poofed all her feathers, I wasn't expecting the food train right at first.

Yes, our birds are so romantic! Well, they think they are. They don't know we don't appreciate partly digested food for a love snack, lol!

 

oled

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Ville a double yellow head Amazon

• Mar 12, 2012

• #8

Love love love.........

 

Wulfgeist

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• Mar 12, 2012

• #9

That's so sweet! Hee..Tico gets a little crazy now and then and tries that with me but I really don't know if he is male or female for sure. I don't suppose it really matters once they decide they love you that much .

 

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roxynoodle

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It does tend to be more a male behavior. The male is generally responsible for going out and getting the food to feed the hen and babies, while the hen stays with the eggs/chicks. Now with some species, the male feeds the female and then she brings it up again for the chicks. And other species, the male feeds the chicks directly. So I'm guessing with Greys that maybe male feeds female and then she feeds chicks? So yes, you do tend to see regurgitation more with male birds. They often use it to try to win over a potential mate; to show her they would be a good provider for the family.

 

BillsBirds

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Largo, Florida

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Timneh African Grey (Bailey), Lovebird (Elvis)

• Mar 12, 2012

• #11

She DOES love you! And wanted you both to have dinner together! I've known "gakking" to be done by both males & females to each other. It is a love thing, when not a baby feeding thing.

 

Rio Mom

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Pepper - Congo African Grey/

Rest in Peace Rio

• Mar 12, 2012

• #12

Awwww Merlin loves her mommy! Too bad she doesn't know that you're not really that hungry lol.

 

lene1949

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Brisbane, Australia

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Cory: Short billed Corella -
Echo: Galah -
Max: Alexandrine -
Skye: Yellow Sided conure -
Luka: Green Cheek Conure -
RIP Shrek: Quaker

• Mar 13, 2012

• #13

I always play with Max with my hands, and he has always tried to regurgitate to them... He's only 7 months old, so it's definitely not hormonal..

Max is very good playing with himself, but a couple of times a day, he's on me and I play with his toys with him... This enables Max to learn only to bite the toy, and not my fingers.. I've done this ever since I got him, and he has never bitten me by accident or otherwise...

 

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roxynoodle

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Yes, she offered me walnut pieces, one of her favorite things, lol!

Well, we shall see if she does it again today. When she's out, she is with me the whole time. She doesn't want to play on her play gym or do anything but cuddle with me. I guess she figures she can play in her cage.

 

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roxynoodle

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• #15

Well, she did it again today, as did Pete. But, then Pete was trying to hump my hand, so I had to put him on his tower, lol!

Merlin makes funny little sounds when she does it. I let her just keep pretending to feed my lips. She first made a kissing sound and then kissed me before she decided she needed to feed me again. Eventually she settled down again, and asked for more cuddling.

 

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roxynoodle

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Ok now she just said something new. She said, "Oh, I hurt!" I guess I shouldn't say some things out loud, lol! But, since she says so few words, I've really been wanting her to say more, so I guess I'm glad