Birds Grooming or Preening Behavior

How do the birds know what area needs to be groomed on their partner? Maybe there is more to this behavior than grooming. Apparently it is not all about cleanliness. Birds preen themselves. This behavior is a form of cleaning and spreading oils that are important in the health of the feathers. They also preen one another. The interaction between birds is a form of bonding. This is called allopreening. Birds that are paired or in a flock will exhibit this behavior. It may also be a sign of trust or affection or part of a bonded behavior. Note that in these photos the majority of contact is the head , neck and beak areas. Contact with the wings and tail may stimulate the production of mating hormones.

Those love birds may have any number of ideas as part of their preening behavior. Be sure to check out the Love Bird at Valentine’s Day and Humans in Parrot Captivity on this blog site. If you have a bird that trusts you, make a comment or start a discussion in the comments box below.

If you wish to be notified when the next post is done enter your email and click on Subscribe.

#grooming #preening #allopreening #feathers #mated pair #feather oil #bird behavior