[RogueFeather]

Sometimes my QP will rake her beak across my hand or finger. I am not exactly sure why she does this. She doesnt seem to be in a bad mood when it happens. I dont know if she is excited or upset when she is doing this as she seems to do it at random and in both moods. I searched the net half heartedly on this subject and came up dry. Does anyones bird do this to them and what have you noticed about it?

[equineRtist]

My Sun Conure does it but with the side of his beak. He pushes it and pulls it along the my hand or finger. I take his beak between my thumb and index finger and rub it gently. He LOVES that, so I think he just wants his little beaky rubbed when he does that. I prefer to think it means he wuvs me!

[kalipso2]

my quaker "pecks" at me all the time.... my hand, my leg, the top of my head. i have always wondered why he does it but i'm assuming it's a reaction to excitment?

also, when i tell cricket he's a good boy i take his beak between my forefinger and middle finger and kind of wiggle his head back and forth. he LOVES it for some reason and starts lightly nipping at my fingers while he asks over and over if he's a good boy.

[tjbird]

Polly does this to me all the time.....I think that she is lovingly grooming me. She never hurts me, and it reminds me of 1 bird careing for another. What could be a bigger compliment?
Trish

[belindag]

I think they love the feel but they also do this when they need to clean their beak...

[gottaquaker]

It's called "beak wiping' and if done in a quick hard manner, it is a sign of aggression or to be not so dramatic, your birdy is just feeling a bit of insecurity and needs to display aggression. Here is something I found off the internet on beak wiping.

Beak Wiping

We've observed three separate reasons for this activity. When done in the presence of another bird, it is usually an attempt to tell the other bird that it is intruding on personal territory. When done while alone, it usually indicates one of two things: the bird is trying to dislodge something stuck to his beak, or the beak wiping is a displacement agression activity. Displaced aggression means that the bird cannot perform the activity he would like to and is aggravated, which he displays by wiping his beak on another object. We've observed this particular cause and effect in a jealous Amazon who is over-bonded to his male owner, and never fails to bite the owner's wife when given the opportunity. Whenever the bird is caged and observes acts of affection between the owner and his wife, the bird commences beak wiping and aggressive behavior.

I noticed when my QP beak wipes, she is usually in an unknown area, around a stranger or feels threatened somehow. I think they are a bit insecure when beak wiping so a nice scratch or hug is a good response.

[RogueFeather]

When we say "beak wiping" are we talking about wiping the beak after eating something or raking in a quick motion with the sharp part of the beak? My QP is doing it with the sharp part.

We recently got a parakeet for my son, maybe this is the reason for it.... We have had this keet for a month now and it is already talking and whistling. It is picking up words and whistles from our QP. The keet wants nothing more than to be with the QP but the QP hates him lol.

Anyway thanks for the advice as usual