Beak Chattering?

[DeepLikeNin]

Hi everyone, seems I've always got a question... Anyway, Mercuri has done something twice within the past week that's kind of freaked me out. She'll be sitting there and her beak will chatter (i guess like our teeth chatter when it's cold?). Sometimes it doesn't last long... or i'll feed her or move to a different part of the house, but the times it has happened, it has not been cold, and there weren't any drafts. Today, it was weirder... she was sitting on the floor with us, and started scratching her BEAK (not ruffling any feathers) like she was really annoyed, then her beak started chattering again then she scratched, chattered... i thought maybe she was really itchy so i put out her bowl to see if she wanted to bathe, and she basically dove in. ...any suggestions? I thought maybe mites since she was real itchy, but what would that have to do with the chattering, and she's always been a bird that loves to scratch anyway... I dont know.... :confused:

[shylevon]

She could be molting. Those pinfeathers do cause the itchies and a bath always helps with that.

Birds do chatter their beaks when they get annoyed, so don't discount the mite angle just yet. Of course, the term chatter could describe a whole array of different sounds and without knowing what you are hearing, it is hard to say what she is doing. Give her the bath bowl daily and see if it helps. Dry skin also gets itchy, so check the humidity in the house.

Some birds also make a funny beak noise if they have eaten something sticky.

[DeepLikeNin]

it pretty much sounds like what we do when we chatter our teeth in the cold. it's not grinding, it's not a vocal sound, just the beak chattering? does that make sense? I dont know it confused me that she itched her beak specifically (which i hadn't seen her do before). thanks!

[bellarains]

Cerrissa,

It is so hard to actually put into words the sounds our lovies make isn't it? The one thing that comes to mind would be what we call clicking. This is usually started out by the lovie scratching their nare area and then making a clicking noise. Does Mercuri make any squeaking noises at all during this time?

Anyway, I'm thinking this might be a soliciting type noise you are hearing. How old is Mercuri now? Oh, and are we sure of Mercuri's gender? Males make more of a clicking noise, while females make more of a clucking type noise from my experience :)

[Janie]

Oliver does something very similar....at least I think the sound I hear from him is what you're describing. He was just doing it in the last five minutes while sitting on my shoulder. It is definitely not beak grinding but more of a very, very fast click, click, clicking. Yesterday, I watched him scratch his beak (with his little footsie) a couple of times. He IS molting or at least starting a molt. I've observed and heard that behavior from him several times over the last two years and just figured it was something they all do. :confused:

[Joanie Noel]

And of course right after reading this, Kirby starts to do his clicking sound too. :rofl: He is pacing and trying to regurgitate to Maple. That's pretty much his ritual. The boys here seem to do the clicky sound every morning when they're trying to solicit the females. Then they pretty much go crazy while the girls ignore them most of the time. :rolleyes: Not sure if that's what you're hearing, but it does sound to me like chattering teeth.

[Janie]

Alrighty, I have a question......why do you all think Oliver has NEVER regurgitated anything to me (or anyone/thing else that I know of)???? He has shown me a couple of amorous poses and does the clicking but never regurgitated a thing on me. Should I be hurt and offended? :D

[DeepLikeNin]

Hmmm...Yes, Mercuri is definitely female (DNA, and...she's really MOODY) and she's now 8 months old. Lori, she did not make any squeaking noises that i noticed... I will pay more attention to that next time (what would it mean if she did squeak?). I don't know, it seemed to be more of an annoyed thing because she was puffing up and seemed to be distressed. But that might just be because I have never seen it before... she wasn't yelling or squealing, just ... chattering! Shiver and chatter your teeth together...it was like that? Geez! so hard to explain!

[linda040899]

Hi Janie,
Could be that Oliver just doesn't realize that birdies can show affection by feeding the "mate." Many handfeds think they are human and don't do many of the things that you would see in a parent raised or wild caught bird. The knowledge just isn't there in the database so you don't see the behavior.

Oliver loves you and I'm sure he has other ways of letting you know that! I would not be offended at all. :)

[Janie]

The "shiver and chatter your teeth together" sounds (and I just did it, :D) exactly like my Oliver's clicking noise. Maybe, because she is young, this is just one more new phase for her and I'm sure there will be plenty more to come! :)

Just this morning, one of my new boys made the cutest NEW sound when I went in to wake them. I have no idea where it came from, or which one it came from, but it sure did get my attention in a hurry and put a :D on my face. They are picking up some adult chirps, too. Probably from Oliver. My very favorite call/chirp from Oliver is one that I've never been able to figure out and even though I've tried to imitate it to several bird people, over the phone and in person, they all look at me like I'm nuts. You should have seen me, standing in the vet's office, trying my best to make the call so someone could tell me what the heck it means. He does it often, at least daily, and he knows it's my favorite and will always do it when he's on his cage and wants his momma to come get him. He also does it a lot when I'm in the shower and he's on a portable perch in the bathroom. We call back and forth the whole time and he knows that one special call always gets my attention and makes me laugh.

Linda, Oliver was a petstore birdie and I doubt seriously he was handfed ever but I am very happy that he has decided he does not need to feed me! :lol He did go through a period, a while back, of building a nest in my hair and that was a pain in the butt. I had to cut the nest OUT several times. He did it so quickly and so quietly that I had no idea he was doing it at all. It got to the point that I wouldn't allow him on my head. I don't mind having my head pooped on but a nest??? :omg: No thank you! :D

[LauraO]

When reading the post, the clickety soliciting noise popped in my head. If you've never experienced this it can be somewhat distressing. It was for me when we first got Zimber six years ago..........

Janie: Believe me, having a lovie regurgitate for you is not fun especially when they manage to get it in your ear or mouth :eek:

I've noticed that different lovebirds make different noises. My lovies make their own brand of chirps, but if I meet different lovies or the adults I've brought into my home are very different. I think it has something to do with their environment and what they hear.

[Janie]

Janie: Believe me, having a lovie regurgitate for you is not fun especially when they manage to get it in your ear or mouth

Laura, :lol.....that made my day! :D Especially.....the MOUTH! :omg:

[bellarains]

Cerrissa,

I'm still inclined to believe that this is a hormonal type clicking noise. Bela makes a squeaking noise when he is scratching his nares, and then starts with the clicking noise. Lacey also make a soliciting noise, but to me it sounds more like clucking, not as animated as Bela either, but I'm sure all birds have their own way of doing things ;)

I can't recall how old Mercuri is, but somewhere between 6 months to 1 year old, they will start to become sexually mature, so this may be what is going on. The moody part sounds right anyway :roll:

[DeepLikeNin]

Gosh I'm sure you know how annoying it is to have a lovely little bird who loves to cuddle and sit on your hand and rub against your fingers one day then, a bird who hops up on you and then starts GNAWING on EVERYTHING the next day. :x She's 8 months old, so i guess we're around that time, huh? I miss when she was 2 months old and didn't seem to know how to bite... Thanks Lori, I'm feeling a little better now that everyone seems to have experienced this. I'm not sure if she was scratching her beak or her nares, i thought it was just her beak but now in retrospect i guess it could have included her nares too... I had her out for 20 minutes earlier today before i had to head out, and i didn't notice any scratching or anything, sooooo...we'll see i guess?

Also, about regurgitation (ew), my boyfriend flipped one day when he thought she was choking on something coz she was bobbing her head back and forth and touching the ground w/her beak...it did look like choking, but the second we ran to the cage she hopped over and of course, just because it would scare us more, she wouldn't chirp for a bit, but she looked at us like, "......what?" :rofl: ... can birds choke? just on normal things like seeds? obviously if they swallow anything huge, but when she's acting like this, am i just to assume she's trying regurgitate??? is there a difference in the way they act? choking/regurgitating?

...i'm going off on tangents!!! oh well! thanks for all the input!

[LauraO]

Cerrissa: If Mercuri is a girl then she should calm down with the biting when she's around 1 year old, or at least that's what's happened in my limited experience.

I've never seen a bird choking but I have seen them regurgitate and vomit and the difference is when they vomit they also shake their heads. While regurgitating they just bobbed them. I'm sure there are some exceptions but this is my experience.

[Z28Taxman]

Ditto makes all kinds of chattering and squeaking sounds, usually when he's beating up one of his rope toys. Right before he starts yelling at it. :rofl:

Janie: Ditto has never actually regurgitated anything on me, but he has "gacked" at my fingers and toes from time to time. And he's done the clicky dance while standing on my chest while I lie on the couch.

[kimsbirds]

Hubby makes a lot of chattering and squeaking noises......when I steal the blankies :lol :rofl:

[Z28Taxman]

Hubby makes a lot of chattering and squeaking noises......when I steal the blankies :lol :rofl:

Oooooooo, a blanket bandit! :evil:

[Mummieeva]

Kim that is why me and mine have seperate blankets. He steals mine all the time.


Steph

[Buy A Paper Doll]

Melody clicks and clucks. Hubby asks me EVERY TIME she does this: What does the clucking mean? I told him it's lovebirdese for, "Hey baby, wanna swishy swish?" He doesn't get it. Fortunately, neither does Milo. :)

[kimsbirds]

Jen,
My suggestion for you would be to:

Get Naked
Adorn your head and rump with bright plumage
Tuck hands under armpits and hunker down towards the floor
Cluck and Click to your hubby


See if he figures it out

[Buy A Paper Doll]

LOL!!!