Parrot fell and landed on tailbone. What are symptoms of injury?

My DYH fell off my hand and landed with her tail tucked in, resulting in the impact being on the upper back of her tail (essentially her tailbone). She only fell about 1 ft, but landed on a hard counter top and screamed when it happened. She hasn't displayed any issues perching, walking, climbing, balancing, eating etc. The only reason I'm still concerned is because she keeps twitching her tail and wings, and repeatedly preening the top of her tail where the injury occurred. Is this a sign of injury, or could it just be normal molting? Because I do see tail feathers coming in there, and my Mom said she thinks she was doing the same thing this morning before the fall happened.

I will likely take her to the vet to be safe, but I just wanted to know what the symptoms would be if she did fracture something? Is the twitching/preening a sign of fracture, or would the signs be more obvious if broken (like unable to perch/walk etc)?

I’m sorry to hear about your bird’s accident. Birds are hardwired to hide symptoms of illness or injury, usually when symptoms start to show there’s always the chance the underlying cause is serious enough to warrant a vet visit. Your mom’s observation that your parrot was already preening the area and flaring her tail before she fell makes me think the behavior may have caused the fall rather than the other way around. I think I would consider a vet check just to be sure. I hope your baby recovers quickly, please keep us updated.

Allee said:

I’m sorry to hear about your bird’s accident. Birds are hardwired to hide symptoms of illness or injury, usually when symptoms start to show there’s always the chance the underlying cause is serious enough to warrant a vet visit. Your mom’s observation that your parrot was already preening the area and flaring her tail before she fell makes me think the behavior may have caused the fall rather than the other way around. I think I would consider a vet check just to be sure. I hope your baby recovers quickly, please keep us updated.

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Thanks. I'm gonna see how she is in the morning and will call the vet if still acting unusual.

I'll keep you updated.

I would go regardless hun, better safe than sorry and an xray can tell if anything is amiss.

The skeleton (tailbone) sits above and forward of the Rump. The muscles sit both above and under the tailbone region and control the multi-directional movement of the area just behind it (the tail feathers).

A fall that involves hitting a fairly sharp edge corner can result in muscle strain or damage, which can result in pain.
It is never a wise choice to wait and see with Parrots because they hide their structural (physical) or illnesses issues so very well. There is nothing better than an Avian Professional hands on the area to determine if all is well.
The general movements you are referring to is common preening, but can also be the Parrot attempting to reposition /adjust the tail feathers, which could seem out of place or attempting to understand the possible pain in that area due to muscle strain.