Working on particular spot while preening

[silvermuse]

Gillies, our Goldies Lorikeet, has been working on one spot in particular often lately while he's preening himself. It's right at the base of his back/top of his tail feather area. He spreads out his tail feathers and lifts up his back feathers and there are a bunch of fuzzy, white feathers under there. There is one little clump of the white area that sticks out more than the rest. He chews at it vigorously for about 10 seconds, then rubs the side of his head on it just as vigorously for a few more seconds. Every so often, he repeats that while completing his preening process on the rest of his body. Has anyone ever seen this behavior and know if there should be any concern about it?

Annemarie

 

[Amaterasu]

That's his uropygial gland. It's located on the back, at the base of the tail. It secretes oil that keeps their feathers in good condition. If he's messing with it a lot it might be infected or something but he's probably fine. You might have to restrain him but it's fairly easy to find if you want to get a good look at it to be on the safe side.

Uropygial gland - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[silvermuse]

Thanks for the info! We did some research and kept an eye on him. He is not doing it often, just once in a while ... maybe once or twice a week. I've read that it is good for their feathers and very normal. Thank goodness. Weird to watch them while they're doing that.