[Sophia]

Ok, so in the morning when I got up my mum told me that Earl keeps sitting in the cockatiel food bowl and kicking it about and when I looked there was seed all over the floor! So I thought that he might be looking for some seed at the bottom but he wasn't even looking he just had his feet in it and was kicking it around. He did stop a few times and eat some but other than that he was just throwing it about. I thought I better change it to see if he just wanted fresh but still when I put it back he was kicking it around. So I removed the cockatiel seed bowl but left the budgie seed in and he didn't bother about the budgie seed.

So after he had been outside in his cage in the sun, I decided to put it back in so I did. I went out the room for about 10 minutes and came back in and the floor was filled with fresh seed and there was Earl just sat in the bowl looking naughty. After I had brushed it up off the floor, I just left the bowl inside the cage and he hasn't kicked it since he has just been eating it.

Does anyone know why he is kicking it around like this, unless he was just in a weird mood I don't know why he would do it ???

Thanks,
Sophia.

 

[elijahfan]

they like to have a good rumage i ahve had to put the cover over on of jojo's dishes as i was getting woken up by being rained on with seed, the other one is open but he seems to have stoped, trying not filling the dishe so much not as much to get on the floor

 

[xxxSpikexxx]

Spike use to stomp in his food dish, now he just does the beak sweep when looking for his favourite seeds.

 

[sweetrsue]

One of my breeding pairs do the beak sweep. The other pair that is in the room with them fly free in the baby room and they seem to consider themselves cleanup crew. It's amazing how much of it ends up on the floor.

 

[Bea]

I've never had the tiels do this, but when i used to breed budgies the adults would do that once the nest box was taken away at the end - so i've always interpreted it as nesty behaviour. Perhaps Earl is feeling a little hormonal.

 

[kimmikefids]

little mikey makes a mess of his seed by getting in there and kicking it out....i don't know...maybe its too full and he likes to sit in it...or it could be attention seeking too...i know little mikey does it more if i am watching him and ignoring his "get me out now!!!" squawks....as for how to stop him....well...i haven't figured that out yet ...i'll let u know if i figure out something.....and will watch this thread in case someone has a tip!

 

[Renae]

My 2 males do this as well. I don't know what makes 'em do it, but now I have just started putting in less seed so they can't sit in it and flick it everywhere.. even though every now and again they'll still do it!

Maybe it's a male behavior thing (that only some do) 'cause none of my girls do it.

 

[Sophia]

Well this morning I watched him a little closer and he was sitting in the bowl and getting seed in his beak and throwing it out the side. It might be the noise of it boucing off the wooden floor that he likes but he is just picking it up and throwing it and kicking it out aswell. I tried putting less seed in but he still carries on doing it.

Maybe it is a hormonal thing but why throw it but eat at the same time..? :wacko:

 

[kimmikefids]

maybe he is flicking out the seeds he doesn't like?? or getting rid of husks? i've just about given up trying to understand tiel behaviour lol....seems like i get a grasp of why something is happening then they discover a new way to confuse mummy!!!!

 

[Sophia]

He likes all the seeds in the bowl because I have decided to get the mix of seeds him and Little Bill like the best, he was also doing it when I had just freshly changed the seeds so there was no husks to kick out, I am sure he is just puzzled or plain mad! :wacko::lol:

 

[kimmikefids]

lol well that clears that up..sounds like ur right....or he has found a fun game!!!

 

[Sophia]

Earl's seed kicking is getting out of hand now, I changed both the budgie and cockatiel seed this morning and put about 2 tbs of each in, each bowl. So he is alright when I put it in and then later on in the day (about 4:00pm) when I am just sat down, he starts the kicking and it is like the whole bowl is on the floor. He is also picking it up with his beak and throwing it out and kicking it aswell. When he picks it up with his beak he is just throwing it on the cage floor but he can't get to it because we have a grate because he likes to rip the paper and nibble poop.

 

[Sophia]

Update: since I have started putting less seed in, first try yesterday. Earl has stopped the seed kicking for now anyway. I also think he has started being in a better mood for the last day or so, maybe that has something to do with it aswell.