Figured something out.

[texsize]

I see lots of behaviors that leave me scratching my head.
Like biting their own legs when playing.

One of the weird things I see Merlin doing is chewing. It looks like he is chewing gum or something.
In the past I have tried to inspect what's in his beak and not found anything.
But now I know.
I saw him very deliberately pick off a fluffy bit of down feather that was stuck to the bars of the cage and go to town chewing on it.

Anyone else seen this behavior in their birds?

 

[wrench13]

Sorry cant say I have.

 

[Cottonoid]

That's fascinating!

Cotton hasn't done that, but he does grab a long wing feather in his foot and then chews it like it's corn on the cob.

 

[texsize]

I may have a video of Merlin chewing but I have to hunt for it.
It’s not exactly an exciting video.

 

[eman]

This is interesting! I never noticed such a behavior, but I will try to observe closely!

I’ve noticed Mathew lowering his head to bit Mia’s feet sometimes, and the other way around too!

 

[ctwo]

My IRN does all the time, especially when one comes floating nearby. He's very aggressive about it and sometimes when he's grooming, I'll get a little nip when he goes for it. I've picked it up and handed it to him and he's casually taken it for a snack. Just the very tiny down feathers.

I've seen the cockatiel wielding a fallen feather like a big toothpick. IRN is not so interested in the larger feathers and will just toss it to the ground.

 

[JimsBrother]

Amy does that too. I'm tempted to take the fluff out of his beak, but there's no way I'm getting my fingers near him.

 

[texsize]

My main concern was that he was eating no no material, like fabric.
I did force look see a few times but found nothing.
Merlin is fairly forgiving and being on the small side for an Amazon his bite is 1 or 2 orders of magnitude less than a hot 3.
I gotten bad bites from Bingo to the point I don’t take chances anymore.

 

[Laurasea]

I've seen mine do this occasionally. Like they are affronted to find a fluff. Just yesterday I picked up a fallen fluff and Pikachu grabbed it from me and ate it

 

[Cottonoid]

I've seen mine do this occasionally. Like they are affronted to find a fluff. Just yesterday I picked up a fallen fluff and Pikachu grabbed it from me and ate it

This would be a full time job for Cotton Although he's just as bad finding them on his body, I suppose, haha

 

[chris-md]

Yep, Parker does this occasionally.

 

[trishgal]

I see lots of behaviors that leave me scratching my head.
Like biting their own legs when playing.

One of the weird things I see Merlin doing is chewing. It looks like he is chewing gum or something.
In the past I have tried to inspect what's in his beak and not found anything.
But now I know.
I saw him very deliberately pick off a fluffy bit of down feather that was stuck to the bars of the cage and go to town chewing on it.

Anyone else seen this behavior in their birds?

No. But they are all such puzzles and it's so lovely when finally figuring something out. Like I have finally learned different reasons why Sugar will bite or nip me. She has taught me to avoid doing certain things that she doesn't like. She dislikes me intensely when I don't wear my reading glasses, when I reach my right hand up to pet her when I'm already petting her with the left, to avoid sudden moves and to do things very slowly while in her close presence. A biggie is she hated to take showers with me until we moved. I had only put up the clear shower liner and not yet the more decorative one over it. With Sugar now being able to see the entire bathroom from her chair in the shower/tub, she now revels in pleasure when she takes a shower. Such a simple and should-be obvious solution took me 5 years or so to learn! No wonder she feels superior to me!

 

[AnatandGiaco]

We have a male English Budgie that is always "chewing" or at least it looks like that's what he's doing. I always wondered what the is the actual reason for this behavior.

I see lots of behaviors that leave me scratching my head.
Like biting their own legs when playing.

One of the weird things I see Merlin doing is chewing. It looks like he is chewing gum or something.
In the past I have tried to inspect what's in his beak and not found anything.
But now I know.
I saw him very deliberately pick off a fluffy bit of down feather that was stuck to the bars of the cage and go to town chewing on it.

Anyone else seen this behavior in their birds?

 

[MykaMom]

Myka does it every now and then.

 

[SailBoat]

With Amazons it is always important to start from the Clown Vantage Point as they are a group that loves to play and part of that play is to drive their Humans NUTS!

Finding your Amazon on the floor, rolling around while playing with any number of things and becoming carried away and one will find them chewing their lower leg and claw. It is important to understand they are not bitting with force more just playing.

Feathers: The full range, added to the list of toys and what they will do is only limited by their imagination. Chewing on feathers they have left behind can draw any number of responses from fun play to dominance play and if one is not paying attention, bites can and do happen. Chewing or eating feathers is yet another event that falls along the line of driving their Humans NUTS. There is some belief that it is based on a lack of a nutrient in they diet, but the obtain nutrient is so small as to require more energy to obtain then worth the effort. IMHO, its more than likely falls long the line of play just a bit more odd or developed depending on you view it

The entertainment value of our Feather Family Members just add to the why we love them!