Caiques

Question
my caique has taken to clinging to the side of his cage, he often rattles the cage wanting to come out. But it seems that he will not spend much time on his perches, he holds on for hours at a time and seems to be cold or shaking when i take him out. He seems to be fine when I let him play, he does not limp or favor his legs, and his cage is clean and his nails are trimmed.  Is he just so determined to get out to play that he endlessly hangs on the sides? I  have even tried covering him during quiet hours of the day so he will get used to being calmed.  I don't know what else to do, can you give me some suggestions?

Answer
Hello Deirdre,

Caiques are very active birds. Hanging on the sides of the cage is not unusual behavior and really nothing to be concerned about. Birds in the wild do not necessarily sit properly on a perch either.

Since you have a very active bird I recommend that you make sure to provide him with ample opportunity to use that energy. I see no reason for covering him. In fact that could be detrimental to him. Do provide him with as many bird safe play areas as you can, play gyms, window perches, shower perches, ceiling perches, etc. When in his cage he should have a variety of toys and foraging opportunities as well.

If you feel the shaking is a health problem you need to make an appointment with your avian veterinarian. Birds will also shake with excitement.

As for the rattling the cage to come out, this is most likely a now trained behavior. When he rattles the cage do you let him out? If so you have trained him that he should rattle his cage, by taking him out of the cage you have rewarded the behavior. The only way to change this is to ignore this behavior and reward behavior you do want.

My website has links to several parrot resources where you can learn more about natural parrot behavior. I encourage you to continue to learn more.

Jennifer
www.feathersandscales.com