Lovebirds....using their feet!

[Janie]

I'm curious if anyone has noticed that their lovie uses his/her feet to hold food? Oliver never has and I haven't noticed that Big Boi does but SHY, oh yes! He picks food up with his foot and takes it to his beak and he does it often with any kind of food that he can hold onto with his foot. Birdie bread, nutraberries, broccoli, etc. Funny thing, it's always his right foot.....must be "right footed!" :D I know that larger parrots often use their feet to get things to their beak but I'm just wondering if any of you have seen your lovebirds do this OR, is my Shy merely a genius? :D

[Elle]

Janie,

I have read somewhere that lovebirds do not use their feet as much as larger parrots does to hold things including their food. You will still find exceptions to this and it seems that Shy is one of the gifted ones. :)
Blu uses her foot to stabilise food and popsicle sticks, but won't bring food to her beak.

[BarbieH]

George is the only one of our birds to hold some foods with his feet. He may have learned this from Linda's larger birds.

[linda040899]

Hi Janie,
All of my Abbys use their feet to hold food but none of my other species do. Lovies have the capability but it's an individual thing whether they use their feet or not.

[Janie]

Maybe that's it, Barb! Shy grew up watching Jeanette's Macaw! :D I guess Big Boi wasn't paying close enough attention. It is cute to watch him work that foot with his food and he also uses it with toys sometimes. My family accuses me of spending way too much time just watching my birds but I'll tell you, it's so easy to spend hours doing just that! :D Much more fun than cooking or cleaning! :lol

[Janie]

Linda, you were typing while I was so I missed your reply. So.....are you saying that my Peachie IS a genius? :lol It's interesting to hear that Abbys use their feet but that most lovie species don't. I have no idea if Shy is really smarter than Big Boi but it sure does appear that way to me. BB is so sweet (even when he bites) and is kind of my lovable lug but that Shy is a sharp little bird and is definitely the Alpha bird in the pair. Big Boi feeds him and has even taken to sleeping on top of the cozy so that Shy gets it all to himself! That stinker! :D

[Buy A Paper Doll]

I think Dave's Ditto holds onto his food with his foot, too. But my pair certainly don't!

[bellarains]

Janie,

Bela doesn't hold onto his food, but he will use his feet to play with his little balls with the bells inside.

I think Shy IS a genius:D

[Z28Taxman]

I think Dave's Ditto holds onto his food with his foot, too. But my pair certainly don't!

Yep, Ditto does that too. That's why I break the sugar snap peas in half so they're small enough to hold (he even eats the pods). :D

One time I saw him sitting on his swing eating a carrot strip that way, next time I looked over he was hanging upside down from the swing by one foot holding the carrot to his beak with the other. I wish I had my camera for that one.:rofl:

The lovebird/cocatiel sized nutriberries are perfectly foot sized too.

He will even throw his cat toy balls with his feet sometimes, or pick them up with his feet then grab them with his beak to throw them further. Of course then it's time for me to fetch. :whistle:

[Janie]

Now Dave.....how did I know you were gonna say that Ditto does that? :rofl: So.....Ditto is as sweet as Oliver, as smart as Shy but, can he bite as hard as Big Boi? :D

[butterfly1061]

I've seen Molly use his feet to hold food and toys. Yes, my Molly is a genius :D The girls at work are always talking about their kids and school, so I perked up one day and said "My girls are home schooled". They told me to go back to my desk :p I figure that's why Molly is a genius.

[Z28Taxman]

Now Dave.....how did I know you were gonna say that Ditto does that? :rofl: So.....Ditto is as sweet as Oliver, as smart as Shy but, can he bite as hard as Big Boi? :D

Maybe because I've said it before? :p :p :p

Ok 'ya got me there, Ditto doesn't bite (just nibbles) although he has drawn blood in the past. Only once with me becuase he didn't want to come back in the house (he was in his little cage out on the screened porch and was enjoying talking to the birds) but Barb got it quite a bit. I trained him well. :evil:

[kimsbirds]

None of my lovies use their feeties for eating or playing, other than Miss Daisy. The only reason I can think of that would explain why she does this unlovielike behaviour, is that she is side-by-side cagemates with Abbey. Since Abbey uses her feet in almost anything she does, I figure Daisy has caught on by watching and copying. It's pretty cool to see, except Daisy isn't that graceful when she um...plops on her bum trying to show me that she can eat with her feeties:whistle: :rofl:
K

[Janie]

Kim, :lol, Shy does drop plenty but he keeps right at it. Shy did spend over 8 weeks in a room with a Macaw and several conures. Maybe he really did pay close attention to them and that's where he picked this up. :confused: But then again, I only noticed that he's using his feet like that in the last 3 or 4 weeks and I've had him since the end of July. Much as I watch these birds, surely I would have noticed it before but heck, maybe not! :D

[Z28Taxman]

Daisy isn't that graceful when she um...plops on her bum trying to show me that she can eat with her feeties

That's how Ditto wound up hanging upside down from his swing. The swing started swinging, he lost his balance and went whoops. Didn't drop the carrot though and kept right on eating. Now he sits on his boing to eat. :lol


Shy does drop plenty but he keeps right at it.

Sometimes I think Ditto drops more than he eats. :lol I think he learned it from watching me (not that I eat with my feet though) since I eat here at my desk about 10 feet from his cage.

[PurpleLovinRN]

Hi everyone,

My little guy Peaches uses his feet!! He will grab a piece of avi-cake or millet with his beak, fly over to his other perch, then hold onto his food with his foot while he enjoys his treat!
Peaches also hits his bells with his feet...such a funny guy!! :)

Hugs, Lisa

[Janie]

Lisa, Peachie's little avatar photo is adorable!!!! A lot like Oliver's! I know that Christmas is over but I just love a Santa hat on a lovie! :D

It is interesting to hear that several other lovies do use their footsies! Guess I better not send Shy's Mensa (sp?) application in! :lol

[Ziggy]

Thanasis is also using his feet when playing. He's got a hanging toy that's his favourite. It has a long chain with wooden pieces and a bell at the bottom. He absolutely loves bells. I have it hanged from the top of his cage near a perch he sits but the bell is hanging below the perch level so he can't easily reach it. So what he does is to grab the chain with his beak. He pulls it towards him so that the toy rests on the perch. Then he steps on it with his foot to keep it steady and proceeds with his bell-destruction plans!

[Z28Taxman]

Thanasis is also using his feet when playing. He's got a hanging toy that's his favourite. It has a long chain with wooden pieces and a bell at the bottom. He absolutely loves bells. I have it hanged from the top of his cage near a perch he sits but the bell is hanging below the perch level so he can't easily reach it. So what he does is to grab the chain with his beak. He pulls it towards him so that the toy rests on the perch. Then he steps on it with his foot to keep it steady and proceeds with his bell-destruction plans!

Ditto kicks his bells with his feet. He discovered that trick one day when he was standing next to one of his bells that hang from a chain. He scratched his head with his foot and his foot would hit the bell too. After that he'd stand next to the bell with the bell at head level, raise his foot and kind of karate chop the bell. :rofl: Then when it starts really swinging and hits him in the head it's all out war on the bell! :lol

[bubble]

one of my babies use it's feet a lot, she picks up food and toys with it all the time. she likes to use them to fight me, her beak will be on my fingers and her little foot will be on my face :blush:

[IrishEyes]

My little birdlet doesn't use his feet for eating. His mum sat on him funny, so his feet are splayed. When he first came home, he couldn't even sit on a perch, or the edge of his food dishes. He would actually crawl INTO the dishes to eat (he was very small, with no tail). As time went by, he blossomed into this little pirate, careening around his house at will, chirping and carrying on like nobody's business. He developed alternate means of getting around and performing normal birdie activities. When he sits somewhere, it looks like he has a foot and a hand; the other leg is up quite high. He will often sit up against the cage and hang on with his "arm." He likes to sleep on an angled rope for this purpose, too, I think. When Reepicheep swaggers around on a flattish surface, he sashays from side to side, like a little Technicolor penguin. The funniest adaptation is how he eats a chosen tidbit. My cockatiel, who is Reep's co-dependent constant companion, usually selects something to cart up to a perch and eat out of one foot. Since Birdlet can't do that, he's come up with an alternative. He carries the food bit up to the perch, balances with one foot out to the side . . . and uses his back as a table. He'll put the food there and take bites, coming back for more until it's all gone. If he's eating right out of his dish, he'll prop the food up against something so it won't slide away while he's taking bites. Clever little guy!

Perhaps these are also normal lovebird behaviours. Does anybody have birds with straight legs that do this? I may be disillusioned by my birds and their supposed brilliance as well. . . :whistle:

[Martha]

Wow I have never heard of a Lovie ever using their feet.

[PurpleLovinRN]

HI Janie...

Thanks!! I think Oliver's pic is sooo cute too!! I know it is way past Christmas, but I don't want to take it down!! LOL :)

Anywho, I thought I read somewhere that what distinguishes a "parrot" from other birds is their ability to use their feet to eat...now it is driving me crazy. Now I need to find the book....I know I couldn't make something like that up...
lol :blush:

Hugs, Lisa

[Z28Taxman]

HI Janie...

Thanks!! I think Oliver's pic is sooo cute too!! I know it is way past Christmas, but I don't want to take it down!! LOL :)

Anywho, I thought I read somewhere that what distinguishes a "parrot" from other birds is their ability to use their feet to eat...now it is driving me crazy. Now I need to find the book....I know I couldn't make something like that up...
lol :blush:

Hugs, Lisa

There are 2 major things that distinguish a parrot from other birds. One is their foot with 2 toes facing foreward and two facing back (zygodactyl). The other is that they can move the upper part of their beak, other birds upper beaks are not moveable.:cool: