Oh, all the questions! LOL
Okay, so first off: How much preening is normal? Ricco seems to preen himself quite a bit. He does seem to do it pretty hard, too. I think he's quite an overpreener... He also does pluck sometimes, but not very much. Mainly if he's in a stressful situation, like when he's introduced to a foot toy... He hates them. LOL.
He also does this weird thing where he rubs his head on his back/in his wings. What's that about?
If he's preening and I touch his head, he starts to preen really hard like he itches or something.
Why does he have his beak open a lot? Any specific reason for this or just because?
Also: I'm really beginning to think HE is a SHE... LOL. He sticks things in his feathers which I have read is a female nesting behavior...
How much preening depends on the bird. My sulfur preens quite a bit but very gently and her feathers are always perfect or pretty close. My goffin's is a rehome and she rarely preens, but when she does she preens pretty hard. I've got her to the point of being nearly pluck free at the moment, but if she settles in for some petting, she will often preen herself kind of rough while I'm petting her. Her tail feathers tend to look a little more frayed after snuggling then before. Thankfully they shake out back to normal after a few minutes or a bath.
Rubbing the head on the lower back especially while fluffed up and in the midst of an intensive preening session is normal. They pick up oils from their preen gland and spread it around to their other feathers this way.
The preening when you touch him could be various things. Cassie went through a phase about a year after I got her where if I touched her she yanked out a feather and just seemed hugely itchy. Could not figure it out and she didn't have quite that plucking pattern for her previous owner. Although she did pluck quite a bit for her previous owner. I started giving her two bowls of water, one with a little bit of sea salt(1teaspoon per gallon) and one with just plain water. Initially she drank the salty water like crazy and after a few weeks she stopped acting so itchy when I petted her. She now goes back and forth between the salty and plain water and self regulates according to her needs. If I take away the salty water, then a few weeks later the pattern repeats. Just a thought for you or anyone else with an itchy cockatoo. I also give Cassie some Noni juice because it works for my Sulfur crest during her allergy season and has taken her from plucky 3/4ths of the year to virtually pluck free. If you want more info on the Noni juice let me know. Its not the easiest stuff to get into them and if you dont' get enough into them, its not worth bothering with.
Have no idea about the beak open thing. I noticed mine does that and wondered about it too when I first got her. My sulfur keeps her beak closed most of the time.
Sticking things in the feathers is a nesting behavior for female lovebirds and a few other species. Not cockatoos. When cockatoos do it, its called anting and depending on the individual, both males and females will do it. Some like to weave pellets or wood shreds through their feathers. Often times its associated with some overpreening, but not all birds that ant, over preen. When I see Ariel(sulfur crest) doing this, I know its past time for me to mix things up for her and give her something new to think about. With Ariel it seems to be boredom with a sexual/nesty component type of behavior. Thats not the case for all birds though. Some just do it because they are cockatoos and they are goofy. I know someone who's male LSC2 ants quite a bit and he doesn't have much if any feather problems or sexual issues.
Under no circumstances would I spray bitter apple or any such thing on a bird's feathers. Even if its designed for birds. Your more likely to have the bird tasting their own feathers thinking it tastes good or trying to overpreen it off themselves if they think its icky, than leaving it alone. Not once have I ever met someone who actually thought bitter apple worked for their plucker. Better to address the underlying physical issue than the behavior.
Melissa
