Wing Flipping

Aussie Ben

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Eddie does this thing and it has been happening more and more often. He sits on the very front perch of his cage leaning forward with his wings flipping up and down. He only seems to do it if people are around or if someone walks in the front door. If I poke my head in when no one has been in his room for a while, he is sitting there playing with his toys. The behaviour is becoming more regular, with him doing it while he is out of his cage now. Is this possibly a diet related thing, or is he just excited? I have also heard of 'wing quivering', what is the difference?

The behaviour is very similar to this bird. YouTube - Tango wing flipping
 
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antoinette

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Hey there Ben, :grey: also flips her wings, when people are around.
I always thought it was because she is seeking attention and was excited. Perhaps they are coming sexual active, I must investigate this further. Hopefully it's not dietry related. :rolleyes:
 

HRH Di

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Jade and Ruby do something similar...we call it "baby wing". It's usually accompanied with "baby noise" which is a muted throaty squawk. Basically, they just kind raise their wings a bit at the shoulder a couple times. No full wing extension but a bit away from their bodies. It's what baby birds do to beg for food. Does that sound like what Eddie's doing? It makes sense if it's only when people are around...he's begging for attention. Don't let that make you feel like he isn't getting enough, Jade and Ruby do this even in the middle of petting/scritching/treat giving.
 

Spiritbird

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Depending on your bird's age it could also be mating behavior. It is hard to tell exactly what it is unless you take your bird to a vet for a diagnosis. Here is an example of mating behavior but with a grey:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqGmm0Mi7gE&feature=related[/ame]
 
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greycloud

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The video you posted of the plucked eckkie is actually wing quivering not flipping. The bird hopefully received some vet care.
Flipping or popping of the wings in eckkies can be due to many reasons. My concern for your bird is that you say it seems to be occuring more often. This is a very exhausting behavior that can actually effect the birds sleep pattern causing more problems. So many things can cause it. Bacterial infections, metal toxicity and an over abundance of rich foods as well as certain pelleted diets. Absolutely no artificial colored parrots for eckkies. Here is a link describing wing flipping. It actually makes a popping noise. I highly recommend you take your eckkie in for a vet check and blood test. Land of Vos - General Care and Information Articles/Talk/Weaning/Aloe/General/Entertainment=
 
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Aussie Ben

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Thanks for responses all. Looks like I might have a bit of a problem on my hands here. lol never stops with these guys, everything seems to be going 'haywire' recently. I feel like a terrible guardian, I must be doing something wrong :(

SB, it is not like what is in the video of the AG. It is more of a stressed/excited look with quick little flips and pinned eyes (not aggressive though). You did get me thinking about something else that has increased too, that I should have mentioned and that is mating behaviour. Eddie in the past will often regurgitate for us, but not all the time. Now I can't seem to handle him without him wanting to share his last meal with me, and lets just say get a little more friendly than we would like. Eddie is 3 1/2 yo btw.

I am trying to keep him to a solar schedule, but it is difficult when I get home in the late afternoon and that is the only time I can really spend with him - after the sun has gone down. My household is quite busy too, so even though I may be able to get it dark and cover his cage, there are plenty of noises that will keep him awake. I try to cover them so they get 8-10 hours sleep, but how much sleep they actually get is a big :confused:
 
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Birdamor

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Wing quivering is like fluttering, a movement that is soft and without sound. Wing flipping makes a sudden noise - I would not call it popping but I don't know how to explain it either, I think it sounds more like a hand clap than a pop. It is not a hormonal behavior in ekkies. It is thought to be due to an inaappropiate diet, most often because of too high protein which is always a problem with ekkies and which will also bring them into breeding condition (his regurgitating all the time is definitely a hormonal thing). So, I suggest you re-evaluate his diet because the next step could be toe tapping and/or feather destructive behavior. Ekkies are not easy birds to keep healthy and happy.
 
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Aussie Ben

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Aw poor Eddie :( I hope everything is ok for him. Have you taken him to the vet for a check -up yet?

He went in for a checkup last month. The vet was very happy with his physical condition, although we didn't run any tests.

Birdamor, i think you might be right with the diet thing. I have been trying to improve it by just adding a few new items to his bowl and taking away some of the higher protein stuff, although this is obviously not working. So I think I will have to start from scratch and change everything about the way I feed him. His current diet is sort of a reflection of what i fed him when he first came off formula and it hasn't changed a lot.
 

Mel

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I've never heard of protein being a cause of wing flipping or toe tapping but rather a diet too high in vitamins & minerals such as pellets or giving supplementation.

Ben I think if you just stick with a variety of good quality F & V as the main source of food (try to use products rich in colour and of different colour to add a varety of nutrients), sprouted seeds & good quality dry mix eg nuts, seeds with the odd mashed up hard boiled egg with shell, pasta/human food etc thrown in every now and then he'll have all his nutritional needs met.
 

Birdamor

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I've never heard of protein being a cause of wing flipping or toe tapping but rather a diet too high in vitamins & minerals such as pellets or giving supplementation.

Ben I think if you just stick with a variety of good quality F & V as the main source of food (try to use products rich in colour and of different colour to add a varety of nutrients), sprouted seeds & good quality dry mix eg nuts, seeds with the odd mashed up hard boiled egg with shell, pasta/human food etc thrown in every now and then he'll have all his nutritional needs met.

Mel, I don't mean to contradict you but, IMPO, this diet seems to be way too rich for an ekkie. You did not put out percentages which would make a difference but just reading it like this, it has too much protein (sprouts, egg, seeds, nuts, human food) and not enough fiber (the best part of an ekkie's diet needs to be leafy greens).
 

Spiritbird

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For forum members that may become confused by different opinions of our bird people I am including a very well written article on parrot nutrition. Please pay special attention to the section on protein. Hopefully this will give you reliable information of the basics of parrot nutrition.

Feeding the Companion Parrot by Pamela Clark
 

wildheart

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For forum members that may become confused by different opinions of our bird people I am including a very well written article on parrot nutrition. Please pay special attention to the section on protein. Hopefully this will give you reliable information of the basics of parrot nutrition.

Feeding the Companion Parrot by Pamela Clark

Oh my gosh, you are so super, especially because you clearly know that people like me read EVERYTHING!! It is as if you read my mind!
:D
 

Mel

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I've never heard of protein being a cause of wing flipping or toe tapping but rather a diet too high in vitamins & minerals such as pellets or giving supplementation.

Ben I think if you just stick with a variety of good quality F & V as the main source of food (try to use products rich in colour and of different colour to add a varety of nutrients), sprouted seeds & good quality dry mix eg nuts, seeds with the odd mashed up hard boiled egg with shell, pasta/human food etc thrown in every now and then he'll have all his nutritional needs met.

Mel, I don't mean to contradict you but, IMPO, this diet seems to be way too rich for an ekkie. You did not put out percentages which would make a difference but just reading it like this, it has too much protein (sprouts, egg, seeds, nuts, human food) and not enough fiber (the best part of an ekkie's diet needs to be leafy greens).

I did say F&V as the MAIN source of food & to add the ODD egg/human food etc EVERY NOW & THEN. I'm not sure what it's supposed to be too rich in, last time I checked protein isn't really high in F&Vs ?!?! Ben isn't an idiot so I didn't feel the need to treat him as one I'm sure he realises what I mean by Main source of food without having to spell out percentages
 

Birdamor

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I've never heard of protein being a cause of wing flipping or toe tapping but rather a diet too high in vitamins & minerals such as pellets or giving supplementation.

Ben I think if you just stick with a variety of good quality F & V as the main source of food (try to use products rich in colour and of different colour to add a varety of nutrients), sprouted seeds & good quality dry mix eg nuts, seeds with the odd mashed up hard boiled egg with shell, pasta/human food etc thrown in every now and then he'll have all his nutritional needs met.

Mel, I don't mean to contradict you but, IMPO, this diet seems to be way too rich for an ekkie. You did not put out percentages which would make a difference but just reading it like this, it has too much protein (sprouts, egg, seeds, nuts, human food) and not enough fiber (the best part of an ekkie's diet needs to be leafy greens).

I did say F&V as the MAIN source of food & to add the ODD egg/human food etc EVERY NOW & THEN. I'm not sure what it's supposed to be too rich in, last time I checked protein isn't really high in F&Vs ?!?! Ben isn't an idiot so I didn't feel the need to treat him as one I'm sure he realises what I mean by Main source of food without having to spell out percentages

I have to admit I am a bit of an idiot when it comes to this type of thing because I get very confused with amounts like 'main part' and 'odd'. I find the terms too subjective and would worry that it might not mean the same thing to me as they do to you. I mean, one could say that 35% is the main part of a diet with fruits and veggies and that sprouted seeds could be 20%, dry mix (seeds, nuts or pellets) could be another 30%, with 15% been the odd egg and people food (which could also mean meat -something I would never recommend be given to any parrot) and IMPO that would be way too much protein for an ekkie. I think ekkies do better with 30% leafy greens or cruciforms, 30% fruits and veggies, 15% whole grains, 10% pulses, 10% nuts, and only 5% for the egg, seeds, pellets and people food.

Dietary guidelines are universally given in the form of pyramids with percentages spelled out and I would think this is precisely because amounts are usually very subjective when it comes to food.
 

Auggie's Dad

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Oh I beg to differ!

Let us be precise: the nuts should make up exactly 9.95% of the diet and the eggs 5.05%. Any deviation from that strict plan will lead to horrible medical problems, malformations, and just far to much of a normal life.

I also recommend keeping your bird in a bubble: there are far too many things that could harm them. Keep them in a bubble and keep the bubble in a padded room.

Note that the bubble must be a perfect sphere with a radius equal to 1.23 times the birds body length. The padded room should be precisely 15680 cubic feet measuring 49 feet by 32 feet by 10 feet (LxWxH).

If you feel that you are unable to meet these stringent requirements of bird ownership I recommend you give up your bird immediately to someone tightly wound enough to do so.

Or you could just take a deep breath, relax, and live a wonderful life with your avian companion ... that is if you want to be an irresponsible fool!
 

Mel

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Oh I beg to differ!

Let us be precise: the nuts should make up exactly 9.95% of the diet and the eggs 5.05%. Any deviation from that strict plan will lead to horrible medical problems, malformations, and just far to much of a normal life.

I also recommend keeping your bird in a bubble: there are far too many things that could harm them. Keep them in a bubble and keep the bubble in a padded room.

Note that the bubble must be a perfect sphere with a radius equal to 1.23 times the birds body length. The padded room should be precisely 15680 cubic feet measuring 49 feet by 32 feet by 10 feet (LxWxH).

If you feel that you are unable to meet these stringent requirements of bird ownership I recommend you give up your bird immediately to someone tightly wound enough to do so.

Or you could just take a deep breath, relax, and live a wonderful life with your avian companion ... that is if you want to be an irresponsible fool!

Oh AD thank you so much for clearing that up, I'll start working on the padded rooms immediately, one for the birds and one for me
 

wildheart

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I also recommend keeping your bird in a bubble: there are far too many things that could harm them. Keep them in a bubble and keep the bubble in a padded room.

Note that the bubble must be a perfect sphere with a radius equal to 1.23 times the birds body length. The padded room should be precisely 15680 cubic feet measuring 49 feet by 32 feet by 10 feet (LxWxH).

That is the first that I have heard or read something like this and I've never seen it either? Can you please explain to me why a bubble is necessary and is it only for ekkies with a decease or all of them? Thanks.:D

Mel, I'll help you with YOUR padded room cause I am so confused I think we both need it now.
crazy.gif
 
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