weird behaviour

Question
Hello Chrys,
thank you for your help.  The only thing is that my budgie is extremely active.  He comes out of his cage everyday for exercise and is noisy and playful.  But then he will lie his head down on the perch.  But mind you, he usually lies his head between the perch and a pair of bells, so he might just be playing with them.  It's just that he has never done this before.  And as far as I can tell, he is not in any pain b/c he is active and playful.  Maybe he just really likes his bells.
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Followup To
Question -
Hello Chrys,

I have a question concerning my budgies weird behaviour.  For the past months, he has been lying his head down on his perch.  To explain better, as he sits on his perch, he will rest his head down on the perch as well, almost as if he is lying down.  

I am not sure why he is doing this.  He is quite old, he is 7 years old and I am not sure if he is slowing down or maybe he has body aches.  Have you ever seen a budgie do this before?

Thank you,
Maria
Answer -
Hi, Maria.  Thanks for posting your question.

No, I've never seen a budgie lie down on it's perch like you describe in my 16 years of raising budgies/keets.  It's not normal unless he is playing or rubbing his beak/face or something like this.  Perhaps you need to consult an avian veterinarian regarding this behavior due to his age.  If he is ill and/or has aches, the bird vet can check for this.  I'm sure if he's hurting, you would like to help alleviate his pain, although if he is hurting, a parrot will normally cry out or make some type of noise to alert you.  If he is ill, he needs to be on medication to make him well.  If it's just old age, the vet will be able to tell you this also.

I hope everything turns out OK with your budgie.

Chrys  

Answer
Sorry if you get this reply twice...I'm not sure it went through the first time (getting error message)....

Hi again, Maria.  

I'm glad to hear that you don't think he's sick or anything.  You know his behavior better than anyone else.  Maybe your budgie has just found another way of playing with his bells, like you say.  Or maybe he's just found that he likes resting his head on the perch (a new thing he's just discovered).  Is there a mirror close or some other way he can see his reflection (maybe in the bells)?  Sometimes a bird will "show off" to it's reflection, thinking it's another bird.  Maybe he's just discovered this new thing or maybe he saw his reflection in the past, but laying his head down makes the reflection look different (a different and/or new bird).  You have to look at things through the bird's perspective.

Even though I've worked with parrots every day for over 16 years, I still find things about them that amaze me.  Even individual birds will do new things now and then and/or discover things that have always been there (although they rarely miss much)...they are just like humans and find new ways to entertain/amuze themselves!

Chrys