Beak Wiping

[MiaCarter]

Okay, so I have a lot of beak wipers!

I know beak wiping happens for a few reasons....
- if there's food on their beak (almost never the case)
- as a territorial behavior (very possible)
- as a symptom of mites (possible, but very remote)

I've noticed this is only occurring in my main cage and it happens a LOT.
If you stood and watched them for 10 minutes, you'd probably see it happen once or twice.

There are 4 adults and 1 Squeepers. All 4 adults do it.
It's always the same motion --- they wipe each side of the beak once. It's always done when they're perched.

Their beaks are totally healthy. No oddities to suggest any problems such as scaly beak mites or anything like that.

I'm tempted to think it's a territorial thing.
But there are no other territorial behaviors present.
And the frequency does NOT increase when territorial behaviors increase due to the presence of eggs/babies in a nest.

Could there be some mite or parasite that's causing this, but not causing any other outward symptoms?
I should add that it's extremely unlikely there's a mite. They've all been treated and they're indoor birds, with no exposure to any newcomers. But nevertheless, it's possible.

I should note that one bird who lived in that cage -- Jackson -- never exhibited this behavior. He was the least dominant. Now, he's in a different cage and he still does not exhibit this behavior.

And Squeepers does not exhibit this either, which also makes me think it's territorial. (For if it was mites, I'd expect her to do it too, right?)

Thoughts???

I can try to get a video if you think that would help.

[delray]

ferb does it. I don't think it's anything to be concerned about though. Probably the food thing but Ferb doesn't do it too often.

[CommaHolly]

one of mine does it several times a day (and probably when I'm not looking as well),,,,I think it's just the food, although now reading this post, I'm going to keep an eye out for scaly beak mites,,,,,

I just looked them up ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,ick.

[MiaCarter]

Okay, I've got a video.
It took only 5 min of filming to get 4 beak wipes.

It's not a very good example, as Elvis does a very quick beak wipe; the others are more pronounced. But it gives you the general idea. (I have no idea who he's flirting with, by the way! Me? Ivy? Not sure. LOL He's just a flirty guy, hence the name.)

Ivy is the white zebra finch and the male is Elvis. Elvis is doing his mating dance and exhibiting a beak wiping behavior, observed at :04 seconds, a quick one at :07 and then again at :27 and :29 sec.

http://youtu.be/oYjxVVBj3EI

ETA -- Please excuse Elvis' scruffy appearance. He's mid-molt!
And yes, we recycle names. There was also an Elvis society finch....and also an Ivy gouldian, now that I think of it. We let them "tell" us their names and sometimes, it results in overlap! LOL

[CommaHolly]

pretty birds,,,,,,,did Ivy seem to wipe her beak too?????

[MiaCarter]

Yes!
I was just re-watching that and you're right! She did! It was a quick one and hers are usually much more pronounced.
But you're right! Right around :27 sec.

[CommaHolly]

their beaks look pretty normal, though, from what I can see,,,,,,,,of course, I don't know a lot,,,,,,maybe someone can tell you if you should treat them for mites just in case or not,,,,,I'll be watching for the answers,,,,,

[MiaCarter]

That's what's odd....their beaks are totally normal.
I went as far as to peer at Molly Sue and Elvis under a magnifying glass to see if I could see anything unusual forming. But nothing. Totally healthy beaks.

Molly Sue and Elvis are molting too, so I peeked at a couple areas of skin where the feathers were thin. Nothing unusual.

ETA --- Ha, I was just re-watching the video. I was so focused on beak wipes that I missed the funny at :09 when Ivy pops onto the perch above Elvis while he's singing. He does the funniest little ducking motion like "Woah! Ginormous white bird coming down!" (Ivy is HUGE. About 1/4 bigger than most others. You should see her beside tiny Priscilla! Even Squeepers is bigger than Priscilla now!)

[CommaHolly]

very strange,,,,,,well, hopefully someone who knows more than me will come along

[wildbird]

They will do this if aggravated by something. Nothing physically wrong. Maybe just bored. I wouldn't worry about it.

[Corkysgirl]

I don't think it's mites. It looks more of a ritualistic behavior. They're expressing something. What...I don't know. But I've seen birds with scaly mites and when they wipe their beak, they wipe it more like they're itching it, or with a purpose, not a quick brush like that. I wouldn't be concerned. Mine do it too sometimes.

[MiaCarter]

Corkysgirl -- That's funny that you mentioned it possibly being a ritualistic behavior, as I've wondered about that myself.

They don't seem annoyed or upset when they do it. Nor do they seem to be acting in a territorial manner. In fact, they usually seem relaxed and happy when they do it, often when doing their flirty dances.

Part of me wonders if it started as gesture that had meaning and just became habit over time, with no real meaning now.

I should also note that Ivy - the white hen - is relatively new. She's only been in there about 10 weeks. She never did it before she got into that cage.

That's helpful that you've seen a bird with scaly mites do beak wiping, but differently. I've only seen that once in a budgie and he'd scratch with his foot or rub against the cage bar, never did a single beak wipe, so that experience wasn't any help in determining if that could be the culprit!

[Corkysgirl]

Sounds like someone is trying to make an impression to me.

[Toddmin]

I think the birds also wipe their beaks on the perches and such, to keep the beak in shape and in condition.

[CommaHolly]

I think the birds also wipe their beaks on the perches and such, to keep the beak in shape and in condition.

now that makes total sense,,,,,,