Parrots often bob their heads as a common way to communicate with their friends or owners. So we have a question in our mind Why Do Parrots Bob Their Heads?
When a parrot wants your attention, it will begin to bob or move its head up and down. As soon as they feel neglected, they will perform their best dance to show you.
Understand their signals and show them some love, they are trying to establish a bond of friendship with you.
In some cases, they may be trying to tell you something else or something specific so pay some attention to them.
Contents
Head bobbing in nature
The natural cause of a parrot’s head-bobbing behaviour is linked to its early childhood life.
Babies of parrot species bob their heads to let their mothers know they are hungry. When the parents realize this, they give food to their children.
Why do parrots bob their heads?
Head bobbing is a normal and natural behaviour found in every parrot, whether wild or captive and can sometimes be a sign of serious anxiety or distress.
As parrots grow up, they learn many ways to get attention, head shaking is one of them, and it’s a positive one.
It’s Feeling Aggression
If your parrot is angry at something, be it with you, or another bird, or is feeling aggressive toward anything else in the room, he may start bobbing his head.
Head bobbing is one of the few defence signals your tote has that will help it perceive someone as threatening.
It’s Hungry
Whenever parrots cheeks feel hungry, they often open their mouths and raise their heads towards their parents.
It also works as naturally as wild and in captivity because it lets him get what they really want.
If it’s meal time, try feeding them first, and you’ll know you’ve fed them when they stop bobbing their head after eating.
It’s Looking for Attention
As we mentioned, head bobbing as a baby helps parrots get food and attention from their parents.
It is quite understandable that behaviour may continue even after the parrot has become mature, especially when, the bird wants to attract to get you.
The head bobbing habit works especially well around humans because it keeps us busy attracts our attention and also piques our curiosity.
If you are too busy and not spend as much time with your parrot as you spend normally, your parrot will looking for your attention and an attempt to get this.
Your Parrot Is Bonding
One of the strange things that your parrot might try to bond with you is caring for you.
Parrots will often do their head bob before regurgitating food, which is how they feed food for their cheeks.
If your parrot is regularly regurgitating on you, that’s a soft signal that your parrot is getting too close to you, which is not a good sign.
Birds that are overly bonded with you become sexually frustrated, and they feel jealous and may also attempt to block other birds and even humans from interacting with you.
It’s Excited
Parrots have a special way of expressing themselves, and bobbing their heads can mean different things, either because they are angry or happy to see you.
Playing birds usually nod in a friendly manner along with chatter and whistles, and they also flap their wings slightly and can jump from one perch to another.
It’s Dancing
Many times we have seen such videos that parrots reacting to the music played in the house.
In many cases, the bird will bob its head to the tune of the songs and will also flap its wings and sway its body to and fro.
One study showed that birds do not always move their heads in perfect time to the music, this can happen faster or slower depending on the tempo of the song.
Other Ways Your Parrot Might Try to Get Your Attention
Screeching
If your parrot needs you, is feeling lonely, and you are not visible, your bird may use a loud squawk to get your attention. So that you can reach them immediately.
Wing Flapping
The parrot want your attention and try to get it by quick flapping its wings.Fluttering wings will immediately catch everyone’s attention, they are impossible to ignore.
Is head-bobbing a common behavior in all parrot species?
Yes, head-bobbing is a commonly observed behaviour in various parrot species.
Do parrots bob their heads while eating or drinking?
Yes, parrots may bob their heads while eating or drinking.
What does head-bobbing indicate in parrots?
Head-bobbing can signal excitement, curiosity, or a communicate with other parrots.
Conclusion
To find out the main reason for your parrot’s head-bobbing behaviour, you will have to observe them closely for a moment and try to observe more about his mood.
In most cases, your parrot is either happy to see you and bobbing its head in excitement, or it is angry about something with it in the room and is trying to explain to you.
It could also be one of the other causes we listed, but except maybe dancing, they’re not nearly as common.
Whatever the cause, by observing your bird and paying attention to when it bobs its head, you will likely get to the root cause.