Vomiting

Question
Do budgies (or in general, birds) throw up seeds? I don't know if this is normal or not but lately I've been notcing that my budgie has been throwing up brown seeds with a little bit of saliva. I'm not sure if this has to do with worms. Please Help.

Thanks.

Answer
Hi, Esther.  Thanks for posting.

Birds that throw up whole seed are usually sick.  Parrots hull seed before eating the food inside the seed.  You need to get your budgie to an avian veterinarian ASAP for diagnosis of the problem.  Your budgie should not have worms unless s/he has contact with the ground outside (animals get worms from contact with the ground) and/or has been in contact with the droppings of another animal who does have worms.

Does this bird have a mate or a mirror in it's cage or is this bird regurgitating to you (is the bird bonded to you)?  If so, your budgie could be regurgitating food as a sign of affection.  It's normal for a male parrot to feed it's mate if they are pair-bonded.  However, since parrots hull their seed before eating it, if your bird is throwing up whole seeds, there is most likely a problem.

Chrys