Strange movements at night (video included!)

[Zkyevolved]

Hey guys. My parrot for the past month and a half has been doing this strange little movement with his wings. He moves them very quickly. He usually only does it at night but he does it quite frequently! Any ideas? Is it bad? Should I call the vet to come see if he's OK?

http://db.tt/WZLu1qaT

Thanks a bunch in advance.

Kent.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Thanks for a video, they help so much with behavior/unusual health question.

I've never seen this before- I'm wondering if he's starting to fall asleep, and as he does so his wings are starting to droop a tiny bit, then he realizes what is happening and snaps them back into place.

 

[Captsteve]

Looks like a twitch to me. I don't see anything I wouldbe concerned with unless it was constant and he was not sleeping.

 

[Mayden]

Merlin does this when sleepy, not when sleeping. Like Copper said, I believe it's down to them 'relaxing' as they start to dose off then jerking themselves back in position and awake!

Does he do this throughout the entire night, or is it just as he's starting to drift off? Baring in mind, you being around might be keeping him away, meaning he's 'drifting' more often instead of getting proper sleep when you're around.

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

to me, not worrisome looking.

 

[Echo]

Usually when getting comfortable and making sure all feathers are aligned perfectly. Sometimes they will preen as well.....nothing to worry about IMO.

 

[Zkyevolved]

Hello guys! Thanks for the quick reply. He doesn't do it while sleeping. But for the hour or so before falling asleep (while late) he will do it every minute or so. But he doesn't do it while sleeping as far as I know. Just before sleeping. Thanks so much for your replies!

 

[MikeyTN]

That's a normal thing for them to do!!! Nothing to worry about!!! I see all my birds do it all the time. It's like when you adjust yourself before you sleep. They do it too!

 

[Zkyevolved]

That's curious because he just started doing this and he's almost 6 years old. Go figure. Haha. Thanks again.

 

[MikeyTN]

He might of been doing it before without you noticing it. At least it's nothing serious you have to worry about.

 

[Zkyevolved]

He might of been doing it before without you noticing it. At least it's nothing serious you have to worry about.

I'm absolutely certain it's new. Simba is almost 6 and for the first 4 years he had lived in my bedroom while I was a student and after that he would be put back into his cage in the late hours of the night (1 or 2 am) and generally speaking he would fall asleep before but he wouldn't want to go into his cage if I was still awake. Now while hanging out with me until he goes to his cage he makes those noises. Last night i was watching a movie, dark skies, terrible and yet Ok at the same time, i heard him in his cage making that noise. Recently I left him at my parents house for a few days while I was out of town and they mentioned it as well. So I'm absolutely certain it's new. I asked his vet and she said it's nothing to worry about but just in case I wanted to ask the community. I'm with a new vet now because my last one wanted to kill my bird with 30 days of antibiotics! They changed his diet and wanted to see him more frequently. I took him to 3 other vets and they all said he was in perfect health. Good blood work and happy and healthy. I picked one of those vets as my new vet and I'm testing her out. But with my baby Simba I don't want to take any chances!

Thanks again

 

[SoCalWendy]

To me it looks like he is just repositioning his feathers.

 

[MikeyTN]

That's understandable you don't want to take chances! I feel the same way trust me. IF anything is wrong with any of my babies, I won't be able to sleep at all that night and I'll check'em every 30 min to an hour constantly. Or I'll sleep by them and get up constantly to check on them, done that several times...But don't worry about this one!

 

[Pajarita]

Looks exactly like the wing flicking of ekkies when they have a too rich diet (it's either wing flicking or toe tapping) but I've never seen grays do it...