Elderly Lovebirds and eyesight

[ravenwoods]

Our elderly lovebird is about 16 years old. It suddenly occurred to me a couple days ago that he or she may be gradually losing his eyesight. Is that common in elderly lovebirds? Sometimes he holds his head at a weird angle as if he can't see clearly, i.e. that his peripheral vision is better than looking straight at something. He is not hand tamed and does not like to be held or touched. But when I put my hand in his cage the other day he did not react to my hand being near him until I touched his tail feathers. Then he got all alarmed. That is what lead me to think his eyesight is not quite what it used to be. He clambers all around his cage as if he can see, but I suppose he knows the whole thing by heart. He hasn't flown in a long time, which I had assumed to be because he was old. But perhaps he can't see well enough to fly.

[linda040899]

This seems to be extremly common in older lovebirds. Cataracts are very common and you can even see them if the lighting is just right.

[ravenwoods]

This seems to be extremly common in older lovebirds. Cataracts are very common and you can even see them if the lighting is just right.

Thanks for the reply. I believe our bird does suffer from reduced eyesight.

[Maxie]

Poor little angel. Very heartbreaking.

What great lovebird parents you are to have a happy and healthy bird at 16 years of age! :)

[Elle]

We have a 9 year old lovebird with diminished vision. If you want to catch her, approach her from her bad side! She is completely blong in one side but can still see somewhat from her left eye. She still flies, tries to nest and has accepted a budgie as a mate since her old mate, Petie, passed away in February 2013.

Don't believe for one second that she cannot carry a normal life (in captivity) because of her diminished vision :) Just be a little bit more careful. We learned to stop moving when she flies around, if we get in her path she will crash into us :)