Peach-faced male, about three. Several times a day now he bobs his head at me, does a pumping motion and brings up food, then tries to give it to my finger. He also does it to a bell in his cage.
He looks completely pleased with himself while it happens and is otherwise busy and eating well. Everything in my head says a bird bringing up food is ill, but this does not look like illness. Which is it?
It is normal and it is still worth reducing, which is the bit people miss. Several times a day means he is properly hormonal, and chronic hormonal behaviour in lovebirds turns into biting, screaming, and in hens chronic egg laying, which does real harm.
So take the bell out or rotate the toys so he cannot fixate, keep petting to the head and neck only, remove anything hut-like or dark, and give him ten to twelve hours of dark quiet. Long days are what drives it.
And do not reward it. Walk away calmly when he starts rather than letting him feed your finger.
Adding the reason the distinction matters rather than just the signs. Vomiting in a parrot can come from infections, a crop problem, or toxins, and heavy metal from chewing something unsafe is a real one in a bird with the run of a room.
Birds also go downhill quickly, so the messy version is a same-day phone call rather than a wait-and-see. What you have described is a smug bird in love with your finger and a bell. Different thing entirely.
@no_aerosols · 6d ago · 3 replies
That is courtship, not illness, and your instinct that it does not look like illness is correct. Parrots feed their mates and chicks by bringing food up, so a bonded pet lovebird does it for whatever it has bonded to: a cage mate, a mirror, a favourite toy, or you.
The tells are all in your description. Deliberate, head bobbing and pumping, calm and focused, food offered rather than flung, and a bird that is otherwise healthy and busy.
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@pumping_at_me · 5d ago
What does the illness version look like, so I can tell them apart if it ever changes?
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@head_shake_mess · 5d ago
Messy and involuntary. Head shaking that flings food about, food stuck to his face and the feathers on his head, and a bird that looks uncomfortable rather than smug. Usually with fluffed feathers, more sleeping, droppings changing, going off his food.
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