rubbing beak

Question
hi!
i have this container full of food and when a parakeet pokes at it, seeds come
out.i caught my parakeet doing something really strange. he kept on getting
his beak and rubbing it on the container. sometimes i forget to refill the food
bowl (though they have another one) but they still rub their beak on the
container. i doubt that they are trying to wear their beak down because i
provided them a cuttlebone(they use it too). why are they doing that?  

Answer
Hello Katelyn,

This is perfectly normal. You will find your birds rubbing their faces on the food container, the sides of the cage or the perches. They may just have an itch or they may just be passing the time! By the way, the main purpose of a cuttlebone is for calcium, not to file down their beaks but I suppose it could do that too.

Bye for now,
Riley