Beak rubbing

[MLaCross]

Pedro rubs his beak on me and I was wondering if anyone knew what it meant. He will be nibbling on me, then really fast and hard rub his beak on me. It feels like he is pecking me, but i noticed it is really rubbing. Anyone else's bird do this?

[Carbon]

Yes, especially when I'm scratching her head.

[MLaCross]

Do you know what it means?

[hollyhawkz]

Pepper always "pets" me. LOL When he does it it is a show of affection.

[Carbon]

Nara has all sorts of idiosyncrasies. I assume those she does when I'm scratching her or unwrapping her feathers are her way of returning affection. If I'm lying on my bed and I put her under my chest and slightly cover her, she starts bobbing her head and saying hello, then looking up and trying to kiss me. I assume that means "I like it and I feel safe".

When she was younger, she used to stumble when she would be climbing on us to get to our shoulders. My gf used to make fun of her with an "eeeeeh eeeeeeh uggghhhh" sound, like someone striving to climb a cliff. Now, whenever she reaches our shoulders, she makes that sound and bobs her head, then she laughs, because I assume we laughed every time she did that.

[CRToon83]

Most birds do this on perches and such.. since birds can "see" ultraviolet colors, it is thought they are actually "marking" their territory. I have read studies where it seems they are rubbing some sort of ultraviolet color onto the branch which is unique to the bird, thus setting territory. Much nicer than male cats!

[Carbon]

Originally Posted by CRToon83

Most birds do this on perches and such.. since birds can "see" ultraviolet colors, it is thought they are actually "marking" their territory. I have read studies where it seems they are rubbing some sort of ultraviolet color onto the branch which is unique to the bird, thus setting territory. Much nicer than male cats!

I though birds merely reflect UV from the sun with their plumage. For something to qualify as a UV pigment/color, it would have to be fluorescent (absorb in far UV and fluoresce in near UV). So unless the bird is drooling DNA on the perch, I can't think what that UV color would be (in which case it can't be all that unique per bird). That thought sounds very interesting, albeit over stretched. Though I might be wrong due to ignorance of avian details.

[chinniechantel]

Paco does the same thing, I think it is marking territory, he does it in new places, new perches, or me when he gets excited. It seems to be when he is most nervous too, or too excited. If I bother him while he is "beak rubbing" he gets very angry and will put his beak on me and squeeze, not bite or pinch, but squeeze a few fingers in his beak as a warning. He is starting to get to that mating age, oh no!

[NotEnoughTime]

I've always taken "beak rubbing" as a sign of affection but I'd be interested in hearing more of the "marking territory" theory. From my reading parrots are not particularly territorial outside of their nests..

My girl seems to like it (asks for more) if I use a fingernail to scritch her beak while giving head scratches. Keeping in mind that the beak is a "living and growing" thing it seems pretty logical that it would feel good to rub a beak (if I had one)...

[perchingbird]

My sun rubbed his beak on his perches whenever he was worked up, either angry or excited because we got home and were yelling with him. I think it was his way of getting rid of excess energy.

Kit doesn't do it yet.