Beak and Neck Posture

[cassella]

I have a 30-year-old, male Blue Front Amazon parrot, Ziggy, that is displaying (in my opinion) some unusual behavior, and I am hoping someone can provide me some insight. I have owned Ziggy for 5 years, and he is the first bird I have owned.

Ziggy, will open his beak and then stretch his neck, almost as though he has something in his throat. This is not the same as yawning. And he opens his beak wider doing this than he does when he yawns. I took Ziggy to the vet, and the vet did not have an explanation for this behavior.

Any comments are very appreciated.

 

[henpecked]

hey and welcome to the forum. Yeah, a couple of things come to mind. What has his diet been over the years ? Get enough VitA and fresh foods? Does he rub his beak on the bars and perches more than normal? Scratch at his throat area? many zons his age develop infections in their throat caused from a VitA defenciency as a result of poor diet in their earlier life. The infection leaves a white, hard material (pus in birds is different than in people) that will constrict their throat. Did your Avian Vet look in his throat? Regardless, at his age i'd be feeding lots of VitA rich foods. I deal with many rehome amazons who have been on poor diets so let me know if this might be the case. PS did your vet have a opinion about him being overweight ? Check liver size?

 

[Grinder]

I've seen this behavior in my African Grey and Military Macaw as well. I noticed that my Grey would sort of scratch the inner edge of her upper mandible as well, but never thought much of it because it hardly ever occurs. Now I'm a little concerned and will look into it. Although they were both extremely young (6-7) months when I noticed it. Thanks for the info henpecked

 

[Greenwing]

My BG did this he other night.. I posted the same question.. And started to pay closer attention to my other birds.. So far I have caught my 2 amazons and my other GW doing it.... Only thing I have noticed in common is they all had a full crop and it's always accompanied by lifting there foot up beside there face..

Some people here thought it could be that there trying to adjust there crop or that they trigger it by touching there ear...It seems normal..

 

[cassella]

hey and welcome to the forum. Yeah, a couple of things come to mind. What has his diet been over the years ? Get enough VitA and fresh foods? Does he rub his beak on the bars and perches more than normal? Scratch at his throat area? many zons his age develop infections in their throat caused from a VitA defenciency as a result of poor diet in their earlier life. The infection leaves a white, hard material (pus in birds is different than in people) that will constrict their throat. Did your Avian Vet look in his throat? Regardless, at his age i'd be feeding lots of VitA rich foods. I deal with many rehome amazons who have been on poor diets so let me know if this might be the case. PS did your vet have a opinion about him being overweight ? Check liver size?

Thanks for your quick reply! I am in the process of changing Ziggy to more pellets in his diet (Harrison brand). I give him cooked chicken and fish, and fresh fruits and veggies as well as a seed/dried fruit mix. And he is underweight. He does not scratch at his throat area. The vet I took him to did not look into his throat....I think I need to find another vet! And he did not check his liver size (how do you do that!?) He seems happy, and is very sweet. I am committed to providing him the best care, and his weight (320 gms) makes me very nervous. My vet did not express a lot of concern over his weight though. I will investigate a possible infection. Thanks again, Cassie

 

[cassella]

hey and welcome to the forum. Yeah, a couple of things come to mind. What has his diet been over the years ? Get enough VitA and fresh foods? Does he rub his beak on the bars and perches more than normal? Scratch at his throat area? many zons his age develop infections in their throat caused from a VitA defenciency as a result of poor diet in their earlier life. The infection leaves a white, hard material (pus in birds is different than in people) that will constrict their throat. Did your Avian Vet look in his throat? Regardless, at his age i'd be feeding lots of VitA rich foods. I deal with many rehome amazons who have been on poor diets so let me know if this might be the case. PS did your vet have a opinion about him being overweight ? Check liver size?

Oh yeah...he does rub his beak on his bars, but not perches. I don't know what is normal....he has done this since he has been my companion.....
Cassie

 

[cassella]

My BG did this he other night.. I posted the same question.. And started to pay closer attention to my other birds.. So far I have caught my 2 amazons and my other GW doing it.... Only thing I have noticed in common is they all had a full crop and it's always accompanied by lifting there foot up beside there face..

Some people here thought it could be that there trying to adjust there crop or that they trigger it by touching there ear...It seems normal..

Hi and thanks for your quick reply! I am a little embarrassed to say I don't know when his crop is full! I don't remember if he lifts his foot and I will look for that. Hope this is normal behavior.... Thanks, Cassie

 

[henpecked]

I mostly responded because of his age and how little you might know about his past diet.

 

[Brodie]

Is this seriously something to worry about? All birds I have had have done this at some point, and scarlet and Ticka do it every now and then aswell.. I thought it was normal.. Now I'm worried!

 

[MonicaMc]

Sounds normal to me as long as it's not excessive.


Occasionally, I've seen people get worried about the "white feather" or the "bump" at the base of the tail, or the hollow beneath the birds beak, or maybe it's the sinus passage that passes through the birds tongue. Many of these things are abnormal to someone who may not be aware of them.



If Ziggy hasn't had a blood panel done in years, it would be a good time to get one done. That typically checks the liver and kidney values as well as some other things. It will tell you what he may be lacking in or what he might be getting too much of.



You also say that Ziggy is underweight. Is he physically underweight? (keel bone protruding, not a lot of muscle/fat on the sides of it?) or is he just on the small side? There are different subspecies of blue fronted amazons, so their weights are going to fluctuate *A LOT*, and when you hybridize them, you're going to see a greater weight fluctuation between them. What I'm asking is, is whether or not he's at a healthy weight for his size/skeletal structure? Or is he actually underweight?

Average Weights of Amazon Parrot Species