Not Keeping Water Down?

I just had a female SI eclectus sent to me via Delta from a breeder in Texas last night. She is just a little over three months old. I'm sure it was a stressful event for her and she is uncomfortable in her new surroundings. Today(her first full day with me) she has been eating a lot and started to play with a couple of toys. When I was pouring water into her cup she quickly came over to that side of the cage trying to reach for water with her tongue as I was pouring. So I guess that is a sign she was dehydrated, because she hasn't wanted to come near me any other time. What is a little concerning is that after she takes a few sips of water, she starts to bend her head forward and down to try and clean her beak on the perch, but then water comes back up pouring out of her beak/mouth. Sometimes after a few sips, she will start to make a movement as she is trying to yawn, but then water will come out that way. When she is not drinking water, no liquid comes out of her beak. As I am writing this, she is back to eating again. Again, she has been eating a lot. It doesn't seem like she is vomiting, because the liquid is clear, and I remember when my cockatiel would vomit, she would shake her head. But my eclectus isn't doing that. Any thoughts?

I would definitely head to my CAV for this. Welcome, good luck, and please keep us updated on your sweetie.


My chickens and other poultry do this when they drink too much water at once. But in the case of a recently shipped baby parrot? Vet time. Good luck

I can only say that usually stretching of the neck means that her crop is uncomfortable and she is fixing the position of it. But if she does that every time she drinks then ‘vomits’ up the water, that is not normal. You should go to a certified avian vet as soon as possible as this is definitely not something that should happen. Your bird could have a crop infection or even respiratory infection.
I hope this gets sorted out soon!

Hello throwingcopper33 & welcome to the PFs.

You should absolutely get her to a CAV (Certified Avian Vet) ASAP.



Please keep us posted on how she's doing.

I would advise getting a video of the behavior before heading to the vet, as it is unlikely she will do it at the vets office.

I’m wondering if she might be playing with the water rather than trying to drink or possibly is just not used to drinking from a dish (some breeders/owners use a bottle with a tongue roller, like you see mice drinking from). Also, parrots tend to be messy drinkers. They’re basically working with the same design as the back end of a backhoe to get liquids down. I have to give my bird cranberry juice as per his vet because he has kidney issues, which I offer from a glass. I get a very up close experience when he drinks his juice. He gets it all over. I think as much goes down as comes out his beak. Nature didn’t give them the best design for drinking as they meet most of their moisture needs from food (they should still always have clean water available, of course).

Welcome, and you have come to a place full of knowledgeable and caring members.

If she is showing any signs of illness or not, usually the first step in your new relationship is to get her to a CAV ASAP for a complete checkout.

When we brought Arika home, we had 1 week to get her to a CAV for a complete physical. This is the only way they would honor any "warranty / guarantee" on the bird. We were very fortunate that she checked out fine and remains so today.

Please keep us updated.

Thanks for the responses. So I watched her this morning, and one of the first thing she did was get some water out of the cup. Then the water came back out again. After she ate for about 30 minutes, she went back to the water cup. I got my phone to video it, which seemed to distract her while drinking. She would take a couple of sips then look at me and my phone. She did this a few times, then left the cup. This time no water came back up while I was taking the video. Go figure. Later this morning she went back to the water cup and was taking sips for about 3 minutes while I was taking a video. She kind of did her neck stretching and yawning behavior after drinking so much. This time only a few drops of water came back up. The water wasn't flowing out like it was yesterday. She definitely doesn't show any of those signs of behavior during or after eating. There seem to be no vets around me that are open on Sundays. Even if there were, I have no idea how to take her there when she will not step up. I tried for the first time this morning and she acted like she was going to bite me. I was planning on doing my one week initial CAV visit on Friday. I guess I will continue to watch closely each time she drinks water. If things don't improve, then I will have to figure out way to get her to the vet tomorrow.

Just out of curiosity, is she your first parrot? Glad she seems to be improved, keep us updated. Does she have a favorite treat or anything like that? Freedom, my rescue B&G macaw, still wont step up for me, and seemed really stressed by the stick her previous home used to have her step up on. When I noticed the fear, I tossed the stick. Haven't used it in months. When she is out and I want her in, I tell her to get on her perch for a treat. She happily goes in the cage. Anything you can use to "trick" your bird?



Babies often make more aggressive gestures than they have any intention of following thru on. If it were me, I'd still try to get her to step up... but then, I'm not afraid of an ekkie sized beak. Good luck with your new friend.


Ekkies have a very very specialized diet, btw. I have no way of knowing if you know that or not, so please do not feel insulted if you know about their dietary quirks. Many on this forum can point you in the right direction if not.



Are you wotking on handling with her? A newly arrived in your home baby may be the easiest time to establish good handling procedures that you will have. Of course, don't do anything forceful or anything like that, but do be a presence.



Ah, sorry for the off topic advice. Can you put an open travel cage near her and put the funnest toys and tastiest treats inside and then shut the door when she goes to check it out? Still doesn't help that no vets are open, but maybe you could get her in tomorrow.

I’m not a vet and it’s obviously a good idea to video and consult a bird specialist, but it really sounds like pretty typical bird drinking and possibly a bit of youthful inexperience worsening the typical drips and drops that come out. Typically sick birds don’t have much of an appetite and display multiple signs of illness such as lethargy, unusual droppings, low/floor perching, droopy wings, lack of alertness etc...

When my bird drinks, he dips his bottom beak in, brings it up and tips his head way back, often wiggling his tongue to help the water go down. Water does drip out when he drinks. Look at what happens when a dredger or backhoe scoops something up in the bucket- material comes out the sides and your birds bottom beak is very similar in shape and function. We actually refer to our birds beak as his hook and bucket because that’s what he has!

I contacted the breeder and gave him a detailed explanation of what my baby bird(down to 4 possible names) is doing while she is drinking. He seemed to think my bird is drinking too much water.

I took my SI eclectus to the vet today. I showed the vet a 6 minute video of one instance of my bird drinking water from the bowl and all the weird things that I have been seeing as described in previous posts. The vet said she has never seen something like that before in a bird. The vet seems to think it is a behavioral issue. The vet found nothing physically wrong with my bird. A fecal test came back negative. The vet said my bird is too young for blood work and recommended doing one in a few months. The vet then said she would do some research on the water drinking.

When I came back from the vet, I decided since my bird had not eaten in a couple of hours, that I would set her on her outside perch and hold a bowl of water to her. After she took 10-15 sips of water, I took the bowl away. I watched her for 5 minutes, and no water came back up. So maybe my baby bird is too young to know when to say when. I will continue to monitor this. I just wanted to give everyone an update.

Oh and to another point about what I thought was my bird trying to bite me when stepping up. What she is trying to do is to put her beak on my thumb or hand as she is stepping up. I think this gives her more stability as she is not confident yet in stepping up without using her beak. I have seen her do the same thing when stepping to other perches that are side by side in her cage. So she hasn't bit me yet, and is stepping up fine.

Yay good news all around! Baby birds are quite clumsy little things and that makes a lot of sense her using her beak to help keep steady while stepping up.

Luna, now 5 months, is still showing the same behaviors while drinking water. Maybe a little less neck stretching now. I had my aviary vet do a full blood work, and everything checked out normal. My vet is calling it a behavioral issue that I should continue to monitor. Otherwise, Luna seems to be a very happy, healthy, and normal baby bird!