Aging behavior

[metalstitcher]

Was doing some research on older bird behavior and found something of interest and wanted come feed back.

Some people have mentioned their birds will come to a point where they will stop flying when they hit a certain age/point of their lives. Or their birds will not fly as far as they usually do if they are just indoor flyers as they use to. I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this as their birds have gotten older over time?

 

[JLcribber]

Yes they do slow down but it's when they are truly "old". For example in a bird that has a 20 year lifespan the slowdown will not be noticeable until the last couple of years. If the slowdown happens long before that it's usually a case of health/past injury etc.

 

[Hankmacaw]

Sometimes with an older bird, pain from arthritis will slow them down. Arthritis deposits in wings and feet are most common. That's why it's so important to get them onto pain killers - constant pain is debilitating.

 

[sunnysmom]

I was fortunate in that I never saw a decrease in activity- flying or otherwise with Sunny. The most noticeable change was he liked a much earlier bed time as time went on. So I guess that in a way was a decrease in activity. But when he was awake, he was the same bird. : )

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

Percy my g2 has been cutting back on fling and sleeps more plays less he will be 30 this year

 

[Monica]

Not really behavioral.... but there could be weight gain or weight loss as well.


I don't know who my oldest bird is now... I know Charlie will be 23 this year, but one or two cockatiels could be older than he is... I haven't noticed any age related behaviors with any of them.

 

[melissasparrots]

Yes, as with humans, they get weak or arthritic as they age. I used to have a cockatiel that flew up to the curtain rod on a regular basis right up until very near his death. However, you could tell it was harder for him and he just seemed to struggle more. A few times, I had to rescue him from the floor because he just didn't have enough steam to make it all the way up to the curtain.

Currently I have an old female quaker. I actually just took her to the vet last weekend for x-rays and a general check. Vet says she's just an old bird. She had been preferring to hang out on the floor of her cage. She'd pull herself along with her beak but was able to move her legs so not paralyzed. I took her out to see if she could fly and she kind of jumped up and down but didn't go far. She's on metacam right now and doing better. X-rays showed minor arthritis, possible enlarged heart and an old leg fracture from probably before I got her and that was 14 years ago. Got another vet visit for next weekend to follow up and maybe do a blood draw.

 

[Dartman]

Nerd never slowed down at all, he was just Nerd and did Nerd things and he only acted sick the very last time he got something at at least 31.
He had no clue he was old and I wasn't going to tell him.

 

[metalstitcher]

I've been noticing Gracie isn't flying as far as she usually does when we let her out. It just straight to her dish on the table or my lunch pail. She's using is for a nesting area/chew toy thing. But one thing I've noticed is she won't gain altitude she stays pretty level and won't go very far like she use to. So I figure I would ask to see if anyone else notices changes as their feathered counter parts get older