Strange tail posturing in my Galah

[Betrisher]

Many of you have read the story of Dominic, my Galah. Recently, he's been allowing me to hold him (still bites, though). One of the odd things he does is to fan his tail widely and then sort of swish it mechanically from side to side. It's not at all like a mating behaviour and he doesn't rub any part of his body on the holder's wrist. He just swishes/flicks the tail (with feathers tightly compressed) from side to side. It's almost like some kind of ritual.

Has anyone else seen this behaviour and could it signify a need I'm not noticing?

 

[Luke252]

Cockatoos have quite unusual behaviour compared to many other parrots. I ve never had any of my cockatoos present such behaviour. It could be due to the presence of parasites, but I could be wrong. It would be great if someone who did know could reply, because this is actually interesting me a little bit.

 

[Mike17]

We have a male corella who does something similar. He was only semi-tame when we got him, and him getting onto my hand (even shoulder) is a recent innovation after 2 years with us. Sometimes he swishes his tail back and forth with tailfeathers fanned. He only does this when he's actually perched on my hand or wrist, not when he's on a perch at my height and being scratched, and he's more likely to "wriggle his bum" if I'm seated or standing, bending down to him- he often wanders around the veranda pavers looking for dropped corn or chili.

I've always thought it was a mating behaviour. Corey does show some other "weird" behaviours but I'm no expert on cockatoos and they could be quite normal, or at least, not unusual. Corellas are, of course, closely related to galahs and presumably would exhibit similar behaviours.

 

[Betrisher]

Yeah, Mike, that sounds exactly like what our Dom does! He only does it when seated on someone's wrist too, never when on a perch. I guess it indicates some kind of closeness, so I'll take it as a good sign.

 

[MikeyTN]

Most likely a mating behavior, if you guys can get a video of it I can tell you for sure! IF it is, don't encourage it!!! It's actually not a good thing!

 

[Pajarita]

Well, I don't know about Galahs but my LS does that trying to masturbate with my hand.

 

[Betrisher]

I have wondered whether there's a sexual component to the behaviour because it's ritualistic: almost robotic, just like a mating dance. Only, there's no apparent (to me) mating attempt. I don't suppose it matters in the end (bad pun right there) - I guess it makes sense to try and discourage it, whatever it represents. The reason I question the masturbation notion is that there's no attempt to make contact with my hand. That is, he's not rubbing any part of his body on my hand: not his tail feathers, his cloaca or anything. When the tail flicking thing is happening, it does cause the lipomas to jiggle a bit - maybe there's some kind of happy feeling associated with that?

The other thing is that I'm almost certain Dom is a girl (reddish brown eye). The vet is sitting on the fence and reckons because there's never been an egg, because the skin around the eye is pale grey and the bird is somewhere nearing thirty it won't hurt to make it an obligate 'him'. Do females masturbate in the same way as males?

 

[Mama4life]

Well, I don't know about Galahs but my LS does that trying to masturbate with my hand.

ewww lol that's gross! I wouldn't know what to do if Boo or Rivor did some crazy stunt like that! HAHA

 

[Mike17]

Some years ago I had a lovebird (peachface) that used to continually rub his bum in my hair (when I had hair up there). He did it all year round, he was just fascinated by my hair, didn't do in anywhere else. My Dad, who'd bred the bird, thought it was mating behaviour.