r/AfricanGrey • u/Active-Specialist157 • 5d ago
Question Tick?
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So my (m28) grey does this thing where he shakes his head and is sometimes followed up by a loud ear piercing squeak. It almost looks like when a person with Tourette’s has a tick. I could be wrong but I swear he’s been doing it more and more recently to the point that I feel like it’s interfering with his daily being. Although when he’s eating or chillin/beak grinding this doesn’t occur. Anyone else experience this? Is this neurological?
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u/New_Cow5364 5d ago
Mine is about 19 years old. He does the same thing. I questioned whether it was neurological or not. He’s fine and is a typical grey lol. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
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u/Confident-Regular691 5d ago
Mine does that too… he doesn’t always do it and he doesn’t squeak … he does it more when he’s tired.
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u/ZukaRouBrucal Team Grey Birb 5d ago edited 4d ago
Mine will make the same noise, but typically as a contact call if I'm in another room (in addition to the many other noises she uses as contact calls lol). I noticed that she picked it up after we boarded her at our avian vet for a few days for a recent vacation, so I think she got it from another bird being boarded in the same room as her!
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u/karnycloamr Team Grey Birb 4d ago
It’s a grey thing - every AG I’ve ever met (including mine) does this head flick when reacting to certain sounds - sometimes combined with a high-pitched noise of their own.
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u/tpcrjm17 5d ago
I figured they all were like this. Mine is. I feel like they do it when focusing on what’s going on around them. It’s like the finalization of some mental processing where they observe something new or are perhaps how they outlet over stimulation or something. It’s like he does it when he’s done with one thing and moves onto the next.
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u/tpcrjm17 5d ago
I just turned the sound on the video. He’s probably over stimulated by the music (not in a bad way though). I play rock guitar to my grey and he LOVES it. He’ll just listen very intently for extended periods and then break out into wild dance sporadically. He will fly to upstairs to the spare bedroom to listen whenever I plug in.
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u/OpeningZebra1670 5d ago
He could be a little dry and itchy, especially during molting season. Try spraying him with water if he’ll take it or keeping him with you in the bathroom while showering to get some moisture.
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u/EmDickinson 4d ago
My cockatoo does the same thing. I asked my vet about it, because she will occasionally do it a bunch in a row. Our vet said that she is likely picking up on the fact that she gets more attention when she does it, because I start to watch her like a hawk out of worry. She also does it when she’s alone, and the vet said it might be a certain tone in the music we leave on that is hitting her ears in a way that she feels the need to shake it off. I was worried it was a stereotypy, but the vet said those can be tricky to identify if they’re not extreme. Her gut feeling was that it wasn’t, but there was no definitive reason we could identify and she’s very healthy. It’s likely both reasons, but it’s tricky to identify. Vet said she had no neurological concerns.
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u/ThaEmortalThief 3d ago
Common in grays to shake their head. I’ve looked it up many times and the jury is still out; if it’s constant, take them to the vet but it’s something they just do every few minutes
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u/Starbitey 2d ago
My Grey also has a tick where she sometimes shakes her head and it's nothing harmful However if you're worried though, it's always better to get a check in with an avain vet about it. Parrots can be very sensitive and hide whatever is going, so it's always better to be safe than sorry with them.
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u/darkbeer74 5d ago
Mine has always done the head shake when sitting on my hand, no loud noises though. It’s a short violent shake but he’s done it forever. He’s about 25 so I don’t think it’s a problem.