just noticed the beak.

[mrgoogls]

hey guys. i got my quaker Cooper home almost a month ago now and he is great. shows no sign of sickness or anything. seems like a happy healthy bird. but, what should their LOWER half of the beak look like. i never see that in pictures so i dont know. i just gave him a pumpkin seed and he was sideways(on the cage bars) and i saw his lower bak when he grabbed it. the tip of it was like flat. is that normal shape? or is it supposed to be pointy like the top?

PS: what color is the bottom of their feet suppoded to be?

 

[ConureLady]

I know I was definitely surprised when I first saw my conures bottom beak..
from what I gather, a healthy bottom beak is squared off and almost looks broken, this allows the beak to close properly.
if your birds bottom beak looks this way, your bird is getting adequate chewing and foraging.
the only time you should ever worry is when the parrots mouth doesnt close right, because it can cause problems with eating.
i was told never to file a birds beak, because it can cause scissoring, where one side is longer than the other.
I always provide things to chew on and show them how to chew it by breaking it apart and offering them it as a reward. you can always get the bird to chew sticks by holding it infront of them.

 

[MonicaMc]

How the bottom beak looks, or the beak in general varies on species... such as cockatoos that have a uniquely shaped lower beak... instead of being squared, the sides come up to points and the bottom goes down. This holds true for cockatiels as well. Young birds usually have a squared beak though. However, even within cockatoos, their beaks vary!

Goffin's Cockatoo | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Have a Happy Feathery Friday! | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
20100330RescuedMacaws_0426_Flickr | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Moluccan Cockatoo | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
cockatoo scream | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
You are NOT having my woman!!!! | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Long-billed Corella | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Young black cockatoo 1 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Graham (from West Virginia) with a red-tailed black cockatoo | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
an eye on you... i gotta keep movin' on
friends 4ever...


Point is, beaks vary in shape and size! They can even vary between two birds of the same species!



As far as feet goes, that depends on mutation... but I'd say grey or pink/flesh colored...

 

[Pedro]

Your quakers beak is absolutely normal. So don't worry.