Overdramatic flyer?

[IndySE]

I'm not sure how to put this but I think my parrot is a complete drama queen or else there's something more serious at work.
Kermit flies, kind of. Not usually because she wants to but because something spooked her -- although every now and again, when the planets have aligned, she'll fly for the heck of it. She's built up an okay endurance and she no longer is panting with more sustained flights. But every now and again the flight itself seems to misalign her flight feathers when she lands.

Then she acts like she's been shot. She completely panics: acts as though she has little balance, feathers go flat, won't bite hard, tucks her tail very low, etc. Usually what happens is I have to fix her flight feathers for her. This is the only time she'll permit me to fan out her wings without biting my hands to pieces (which I suppose goes to show how much of a panic she goes over it). Within a minute she's back to normal. I haven't thought about it in a while, until she did it for me this morning.

The behavior is just so bizarre to me. Can parrots be drama queens? I assume a misaligned feather would feel pretty weird... Or is this a more serious medical symptom I'm misinterpreting? It doesn't occur often, maybe only once every month or so, but it's enough that it's a pattern. Perhaps her feathers aren't as rigid/strong as they're supposed to be? I'd appreciate some thoughts on this bizarre behavior.

 

[SailBoat]

In their home range, they see other Parrots in flight and also after they land. The reality is, they have on-going examples of near everything in a Parrots life right in front of them near everyday. They see and learn from what they see and as a result understand what is normal and what needs to be adjusted or done differently!


Welcome to teaching a Parrot how to be a Parrot.

 

[Flboy]

We could always build a virtual reality chamber for them(holodeck) and recreate their natural habitat!
[ame="https://youtu.be/oZwtVz7z0wM"]Star Trek holodeck introduction - YouTube[/ame]

 

[IndySE]

Haha thank you both for that. I admit I feel a bit silly for posting it... but she's SO dramatic. I guess I do have the parrot-equivalent of an over-the-top actor. I wonder if I can get her in lifetime movies ?

Until holodecks are invented, I guess I'll settle to continue target training. I can get some nice hop action going with enough treats. Maybe someday flight ! :]

 

[EllenD]

I would only worry if after every time she does fly a little, after landing she's breathing extremely heavily for a good amount of time, or if she ever seems to be disoriented afterwards, as these could be symptoms of a cardiac or respiratory issue that should be checked-out by a Certified Avian Vet with a routine blood work panel and a plain-film x-ray. Just as a person getting very short-of-breath after little exertion can be a sign of a cardiac issue, the same goes for birds...But if it's simply a matter of her not "acting normally", meaning "not like a bird should act" after flying, in the sense that she doesn't fix her feathers afterwards and that's it, then I wouldn't think it's anything but what was already stated, that she isn't sure what she's "supposed" to be doing after she lands...

 

[IndySE]

No she's not panting heavily when she lands anymore. She was at first when she hadn't quite built up her flight muscles/endurance, but even with her longer flights she'll recover relatively quickly.

I've explained to her quite thoroughly she needs to fix her feathers, but she doesn't seem to get the idea. She's still working on her english (and myself on my parrot). I guess she figured out that the human just fixes that for her after she lands if she has a problem.