We have noticed that Amigo gets quite groom happy at times...he will groom like a madman and if any dander/fluff falls out, he immediately picks it up and trys to put it back in..he has also started doing this with food and toys,...

The food gets shoved into the wings while the toys..some as big as his head lol will get put onto his back than shoved where ever he can get them in..when hes done he gives a good shake and food is literally flying everywhere..and it doesnt matter what kind..nuts/pellets he doesn't even eat..empty shells..

Is this a quirk of the G2 maybe..I have never seen this before...hilairous to watch, but would hate to see him hurt himself...

Blondie/Amigo

<img border="0" alt="[laughing]" title="" src="graemlins/laugh[1].gif" /> <img border="0" alt="[laughing]" title="" src="graemlins/laugh[1].gif" /> I've never seen a G2 do this, but, I knew a RB2 that would.

I thinks G2s do it more than the bigger species. You might want to read this while you wait for more Goffins keepers to reply:

http://www.mytoos.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=001340#000000

My goffins doesn't do this, but she's a human imprinted, hand raised baby who wouldn't know a normal bit of parrot behavior if it smacked her in the face.

She thinks she's a small human with wings and demands to be treated as such <img border="0" alt="[laughing]" title="" src="graemlins/laugh[1].gif" />

Cat

Emmy does this with fluff and feathers and occasionally with bits of dry food--but never her beloved almonds. She used to do it with small toys when she was younger.

Both Bud-Bud (G2) and Cricket (C2) do this...it is pretty funny...sometimes I put a pellet on Bud's head behind his crest and he'll leave it for a long time before shaking it out. <img border="0" alt="[laughing]" title="" src="graemlins/laugh[1].gif" />

My G2 Salvador does the exact same thing--tries to put all fluff and feathers back in. He's a neat freak. Food also goes in. He also has a habit of trying to put things in my ears. He makes a run for it, since he's not allowed up there. Sometimes he makes it and I'll have a piece of food stuffed in my ear and he runs back down into my lap and I swear he laughs at me!

He also cleans up after himself. We eat ice together. He gets a piece out of our glass and will clean up all the pieces that land on my shirt while he eats. He does the same with food.

Crazy. Now if &%*# breeding season would please just stop! It's our first one and I'm ready to pull my hair out- or pluck him.... :rolleyes:

My G2 emmy does a thing if you tell her to put her treat under her wing, then if you tell her to put it on her head she then does that to. She is such a stich its so funny we laugh when she does this. Then she will go in her cage and take her food and throw it everywhere she does it for attention but it is still funny as heck. So let me tell you its pretty normal, of course my G2 is goofy he he he he

Casper does not want his feathers back but he does something with food and almonds in the shell and bead and small toys. He picks up what ever and lifts his wings, almost always the left wing, puts his head under and shoots the pellet out into the room. I give his his pellets at night then cover him quick before he can get them all shot out. I have a food allergic dog and she has a reaction to something in Harrisons pellets. Pellets are pinging away inside his cage right now.

Sherrel and Casper

Our guy does it with pellets and little wood chunks.....

Relle I think putting pellets in Bud Bud's Bald spot is TEASING THE BIRD <img border="0" alt="[laughing]" title="" src="graemlins/laugh[1].gif" />

I will try it on Mr.Peach tomorrow I get such great advise on this board!!!! Thanks guys

My M2 does this she takes her down feathers and rolls them into little balls and puts them back under wings aswell she does it with little pieces of wood she breaks off and stuffs them in also but only when she is ontop on her play gym never when shes in her cage hehe

<img border="0" alt="[laughing]" title="" src="graemlins/laugh[1].gif" /> You're right pjcoop, it is! He seems to enjoy it though...lol...I tried it once with a piece of light wood and he gave me this LOOK...it was such a dirty look that I had to take it off his head. <img border="0" alt="[laughing]" title="" src="graemlins/laugh[1].gif" />

Relle- You're idea was the best! That bald spot is the best storage center ever! The look is priceless!

THANKS!!!!!!!!

For those of you without G2s...here's the look:

You almost (but not quite :p ) make me want to introduce my guys to ants, so they can do this the "right" way.

Ginger, our M2 puts pieces of wood/plasic from toys under her wings all the time. I always thought it was just her being strange! LOL!!!!

Gee I feel sooo much better knowing that other Too's out there are just as strange! LOL!!!!

Tammy

My friend had a G2 that did that all the time. He would take things and roll them over his back and the catch it with his foot. He always had some kind of paper or food sticking out of his feathers.
My SC2 will take his pellets and put them in his wings and headdress and all over the place then will shake and send them flying.
I think it is something that most of them will do if they didn't have enough to do or didn't have any toys before.
Vicki

Hi,

Just my hunble opinion; This behavior is normal in a sence that it is a derived form of anting-behavior which parrots perform in the wild. Mostly every behavior that parrots in captivity perform is altered but as long it does not become stereotypic i would not worry.

But i would not encourage this behavior either, by laughing or talking about it in front of him or playing this 'game' with him. Cockatoos are so intelligent and will do anything for attention, even automutile themselves. So the trick is how do deal with these behaviors in a responsable way! I know it is a contradiction to what you all are saying but i believe it is very important!

Ellen

ok, I know I can be slow, but if anyone knows, I have some Q's. Lil does this and she is a U2. I thought this was some sort of 'saving,accumulation,nesting,etc. process. I read all the attached threads. So I do believe the anting. So, HOW do the birds avoid the ant bites,and if they don't, obviously the bites don't hurt them? But still fire ants,etc. could hurt them, eh? Does this displaying,or quest for foricine, indicate a deficit in some diet,grooming area? Again,Lil does this, BUT she only 'tucks' under her wings and then a little head/wing long preening rubs.?? I don't want to 'miss' anything that could be indicating a close association with plucking. And, in SFlorida, if ants she needs..ants we got.Thanx

OK, you all want to hear a funny story? My greater sulfur crest, Marco, will shred newspapers. Then, he will carry a medium-sized piece of paper in his mouth, climb to the very top of his cage, hang upside down w/his feathers completely spread open, drop the paper into his wing-pit, close up his wings, then go back down and sit on his perch, all the while the paper clipping stays under his wings. He will keep it in there until it falls off during his grooming. He will repeat this gesture for hours, until he becomes tired of trying to keep it in his wings, or until he's finished grooming. We get the biggest kick out of watching him try to master the impossible!

P.S. We don't laugh around him to try and not encourage him, and because he only seems to want to do this when he "thinks" that nobody is looking, but it is amusing and astonishing on how intelligent toos are.