Do cockatiel like to be on the floor or is it just mine.?

[cockatiel92]

when i open petries cage he walked across his ladder onto his play gym and then onto the floor. is it normal for cockatiels to want to be on the floor. Then after 15 minutes of walking around he climbs the couch across onto the cage and repeats it over. is it normal for cockatiels to go to the floor like this. His wings are clipped sadly. the lady i got him from clipped them could this be the reason.

[sowilu]

Well Maxy will do the same thing except whe will fly down. When I got her she was clipped as well and she stayed on the floor because she could not fly because her wings where clipped. Cockatiels like to rummage for food so I often see Maxy picking at the dirt on the floor. I think its fairly common for birds to do that.

[BigBird]

Cockatiels are grass parrots, in the wild they would be down there scuffling for food bits. My ekkie has a big thing for crawling around the floor too? Is that normal for an eclectus? Poor cats looking thin! Bird has taken to Science Diet!

[vle1170]

My neighbor's cockatiel loves to be on the floor, but his favorite thing is to go to the dogs and try to pluck hairs out of their tails LOL but he forages everywhere for stuff and has found a few feet to furniture he likes to do the nasty too. he is a strange bird I tell ya.

And my Petey likes being on the floor, his first time down there he stood in one spot for 10 minutes just looking around, then the next time he was everywhere LOL

[flyingfluff]

I think it's a cockatiel thing. I know my tiel, Willow loves to just walk around on the bottom of her cage. But cockatiels are naturally ground feeders, so it makes sense.

[SDavid]

My guess is that clipping is not the reason for this. My Galah loves to walk around on the floor and explore much more than playing on a perch or playgym. My TAG on the other hand is like a bat or a monkey.

I think it has to do with the species. In the wild Galah's are known to walk long distances. And they are closely related to cockatiels.

Don't know if this is a factor but some birds have inward pointed toes and they like to climb and hang upsidedown. While other birds with forward pointed toes tend to be quite comfortable walking-like pigeons.

[Astrid660]

My Crimson Rosella doesn't seem to even fly, he just walks around on the floor. It's cute, but boy is he fast! Hard to catch. lol!

My 'tiels like to play on the floor, picking up little pieces of whatever and foraging around. It's adorable.

[Freedomoflight]

Lots of Australian birds are known for being ground foragers- they walk along the ground and grasses to find seeds and grains. perfectly normal.