Afternoon head burying and chirping

[littleelegy]

Hi! My very young lovebird, Mr. Loops, is going into sleeping position (perched on one leg with his head buried in his wing, eyes closed) in the afternoon and chirping non-stop! I'm curious what this behavior is communicating?? Is he trying to comfort himself? I'm worried because he is a lone bird with no companion but me. Is it a response to stimulus? Thanks for any input!

[Janie]

I have three and the two 1 year old boys do that all the time. Sometimes one and sometimes both. They chatter if they're alone or together. My older bird does nap but does not chatter while he's napping. I think it's a young birdie thing. :D I wonder how they get any rest at all with all that chattering! :lol

[Buy A Paper Doll]

It is a young birdy thing. :) They chatter to themselves as they're drifting off to take a nap. It's perfectly normal.

My sister's parakeets do it as well; never outgrew it!

[Z28Taxman]

It is a young birdy thing. :) They chatter to themselves as they're drifting off to take a nap. It's perfectly normal.

My sister's parakeets do it as well; never outgrew it!

Ditto is 3 and a half and he still does it. :) Naptime sounds kinda like "cheep, cheep, grind, grind, cheep, grind". :cool:

[butterfly1061]

My Olivia does this and she's 1 yr old. She gets really loud sometimes and my other 3 lovies fuss at her to be quiet. I've even caught Daisy joining in with her. It's too funny, but I love hearing them :D

[sdgilley]

Of my three, Peter is the loudest nap-chirper! :rofl: Naps just must be heaven to him. Luka is quiet but stands on one foot. Peepo... she gets ready for a nap by going inside her coconut and chirp-kissing until she's asleep.

[Z28Taxman]

Ditto is doing it right now. In fact he's doing his little R2D2 chattering while he naps. :cool:

[Jill Page]

Buddha is doing it as well...I thought at first he was dreaming...it is hilarious. It is like he is talking to himself although he seems asleep. I hope this continues, i love it.

Jill

[Asue]

The Cockateil does this, but my lovie doesn't do it very often.
I think birds do this as a defense against predators?
I believe that the sleep chattering keeps the predator wondering if it's been spotted or not.

[BarbieH]

I'm not sure about that; you would think that total silence would be the best defense against predators. The only time I've seen bird noises used in defense (besides warning calls) was an adult bird trying to distract potential predators -- me and my husband -- away from the nest. The bird also pretended to be hurt, making him look like an attractive prey.

Maybe all that chattering keeps the young ones sleeping lightly so they can be wide awake intantly. I'm sure it serves some purpose in the wild.

[mjm8321]

The best I can figure without being an expert is it is a flock thing. They all chirp to sort of check in with each other. Yep, I'm up here on the top branch, everything is fine. I'm on the bottom branch, ok here too. Even the little 5 week old peepers I've got in a brooder right now are beginning to chirp when napping.

When I just sit in the room and watch my fids, I see that they are, when startled, dead silent, until someone decides to let out a warning call. Then it's a few loud calls and the snoozing chatter begins again.