Wing Flapping and Biting

User Question
My mother has a parakeet who she doesn't spend a lot of time with, so I come over everyday to interact with her. I talk to her, play her music and we're currently working on hand training.

Tonight, she jumped off my hand and on to her perch and began flapping her wings rapidly. She then began jumping from one perch to the next, the whole time looking at me and flapping her wings. I don't know if something scared her or not. Is this a common behavior?

Another question I have pertains to hand training. I'm very calm when I slide my hand into her cage and I do it slowly. She usually rushes over to my hand and hops on it right away (mind you, we've been training for only 2 days). She'll nibble gently at my fingers and hand, but when she gets to a fleshy part she bites down pretty hard. Can you explain why she's doing this? I've been following the steps on your site, by the way. The information you've provided is a wonderful resource! Thanks so much for your time and your kindness to animals!

Lisa's Answer
Flapping of wings is usually a sign of alarm, maybe something about the way you acted or spoke upset her? It's hard to guess just by that description what it might have been.

Parakeets love to gnaw, so make sure you give her lots of cuttlebones plus gnawable food like celery, lettuce, carrots, etc. That way she'll work out her gnawing instincts on things that don't get hurt :)

All Questions in this Category

List of Parakeet Question Categories

NOTE: Because of the huge volume of incoming questions, I no longer answer them one by one. Instead, we have created a live, free Parakeet Forum which is very active, where people are online 24 hours a day to help you with your parakeet related questions. If you have any questions about parakeet care - or simply want to share your parakeet stories and photos - please join us!

Parakeet Forum