"Twanging" on the cage bars with beak...

[Missi]

I have Scooter in an HQ flight cage. This one: HQ Flight Bird Cage - Presented by BirdsComfort.com & every morning, lately, Scooter has been constantly "twanging" or "picking" (like on guitar strings) on the cage bars with her beak in one spot. Anyone else's cake do this? I'm wondering why she is doing this. She has tons of toys, swings, food. Maybe she wants attention?

 

[anna2684]

Louie does this when I first get home from work and he wants out. He will pace back and forth on the floor of his cage and pluck a bar on his cage, always the same bar.

 

[Jazzysmama]

I have to wonder if a bird does it for entertainment and likes to make the noise. One of my older kids has a quaker that does it compulsively and has even broken the tip of his beak off doing it. He'd rather do that than play with any toy.

 

[looniebirds]

Babycakes did this and rendered a practically new cage useless.

 

[linus69]

My WB bangs her ID band/braclet on objects and delights in the racket she creates. She does it whenever the musicial mood strikes her and she often does it for our attention. She often drums away and bobs her head like she is dancing, very funny, so far impossible to film.

 

[Missi]

Yes! Always the same one bar! Makes sense that she must just want out in the mornings. Her previous owner would get him out in the a.m. & share her cereal with her. Well, I have my cereal while it is still dark out & in my house the birdies don't get up before dawn & that is that!

 

[Missi]

Babycakes did this and rendered a practically new cage useless.

Another 'Baby Cake' caique! Such a fitting name, right?!

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

Obviously Scooter does not agree with your pronouncement!

 

[Coco's Momma]

My cockatiel used to do that. After awhile, I actually realized he was using this process to imitate household noises I would make. For example, he would take his beak and run it up and down the bars in short-type strokes, making a whooshing/scraping noise. Then, I realized he was trying to imitate the sound of my spoon scraping out the yogurt cup each morning! When I would type on the keyboard, he would take his beak on the bars and make those pecking noises to imitate the sound of my fingers on the keyboard. He never used his toys to reproduce any sounds; he always used his beak on the cage bars, and he could come up with a great variety of noises with this simple method!

 

[Ming-Ming]

Douglas does it too!
Sometimes it is to get my attention, other times he just does it for fun. He will do it when his cage door is wide open, so I don't think he does it to be let out.. unless he suddenly can't find the door!

 

[kastelling]

Yep, my Norah does something similar. I have a plastic foraging wheel that I sometimes put into their cage, and I leave the scew on base in the cage all the time. Norah loves it when I pull the wheel out to clean and she can twang the edge of the plastic base against the cage bars. She definately does it just to get my attention!

 

[HungryBird]

Malachite does this to drive me absolutely insane. And it works. I cannot stand the sound. It's like nails on a chalkboard to me. I really hate it and it is the most annoying thing he does. I trained him to say "whee" when he wants my attention instead of making that annoying sound. He learned very quickly but when he says "whee" and I continue to do my own thing he will try banging the bars.

It is amazingly annoying. Especially when I have a migraine.

Romeo and Juliet do it too but it is not nearly as annoying because they are so small and they also don't do it constantly. Mostly to tell me they want food. They like to slam the doors of the cage that used to be near their food bowls years ago (somehow they never forgot) and squawk at me with rage until I obey. Malachite also likes to try to open the door of his cage but luckily it is was too heavy for him to move.

 

[Missi]

Hmm So interesting! Thanks for sharing your stories guys! Scooter only did it shortly this morning. Something else must have caught her attention. That's what is annoying about having a bird room. If you're in another room, you can not watch your bird's behavior!

 

[fidsmom]

1of my Quakers does that, & at times drives me nuts. I fixed that fast. I weaved in peices of sisal rope between the cage bars, she clanks on, so now instead of her doing the clanking of bars, shes kept busy , preening the sisal rope.

 

[beakybirdie]

Oh my gosh yes! Jellybean did this ALL the time and she would stare right at me as she was doing it, I think it was because she could see my visible shudder of annoyance and got a thrill out of causing it She was evil in the most awesome way!

 

[Irishj9]

Yes I'm with Beakiebirdie. Cha Cha does this often the time when I'm not there, especially to annoy my partner. She looks directly at him while shes shredding his nerves, but never does it while I'm there lol