I have noticed that Opal is petrified of her own feathers for some reason. If I pick up one of her moulted feathers and hold it any where near her she freaks out and flies away. Also if she is preening and one of her down feathers gets stuck to her beak, she starts shaking her head. Then if she is in her cage she might fall off her perch to try to get away from it and then fly away. The problem is that most of the time it is still stuck to her when she lands and that makes her even more upset. It is really quite funny to watch... lol Does anyone else's budgie act like this?

Edited December 15, 200816 yr by KAZ

They dont like their own feathers - its so weird

I guess its a natural instinct to avoid all stray feathers as they could be carrying disease and/or parasites.

The babies always seem fascinated by them but adult are paranoid

I agree, I thought it was cute when someone posted a picture of their bird holding it's tail feather, I tried it with Pretty and Merlin and they freaked, I don't think they recognize it as their feather to be honest.

Same as us adults freak out about others hair in a bathroom or in food!

 

Bird feathers can carry many diseases and parasites - i would say they avoid them because they know the risks of touching them.

thats a good insight on it...

thats a good insight on it...

 

 

Interesting Dave and Shelfie love to nibble their feathers but they are both still pretty young. I wonder if that will stop when they get older.

 

Their fascination with feathers was actually a breakthrough in hand taming them. It gave me another way to interact with them without millet.

 

summer

Mine love playing with feathers. If I hold one up to them they will preen it or destroy it! They like to play with feathers so much that if an oblivious tail waves in their face they will pull on it!.

In fact I chose my Arkady in a petshop when he was just 7 weeks old because he was chasing the cockatiels and pulling their tails!