IndianRingNeck.com

Are there any major indicators to tell if a bird is happy or not? Im a full time university student and i really love my bird so i let he/she out in all my spare time, but i dont know if he/she is as happy as he/she could be. Im wondering if he/she misses other birds etc Also Lutino doesnt talk much, does this mean anything?, he/she is 5 months. Although i do think lutino is trying to talk because he/she makes these gentle muttering/mumbling sounds.

Please reply if you have any comments at all
Thanks
-Sarah

Birds are very good at hiding unhappiness, sickness or discomfort. But if you look into their body language there are little signs. A big sign of being in distress would be feather picking or a general unwilling to do much.
Good parrot body language site.. http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=15&cat=1795&articleid=3334
I find my fids grind their beaks when napping or going to sleep. This is a sign of contentment.
IRNs generally start to try to talk around 5 - 7 months so your baby is probebly trying to say something.

A content bird usually looks like.. puffy.. They mumble and make little quiet noises especially when they are sleeping. They sit there with one little foot tucked up. They sit really low to the perch and sometimes their feathers cover their feet.

An alert/stressed bird is flightly, has the feathers pressed close to the body is always looking around or moving.

That is cool to know that means my little Oscar is happy. He is always puffed up and standing on one foot even. Even when he is on my finger.

Oh ok,i think lutino is probably happy then! His/her favouite thing is to grind his/her beak on everything, and does the one foot thing .
I was just worried cos ive never owned an IRN before.
I think lutino is still trying to get used to me thats all.

Thanks, id love to hear any more comments.

hi lutino my irn is 5 months old too and i have found he/she to be making them noises that you're describing that i wasn't sure what they mean but they're cute all the signs that the helpful people have posted here for a content bird, my bird is doing. Some of the things my bird has been doing i wan't sure about whether they are good or bad but from reading this it is good...

Thanks

To keep them happy make sure their are lots of toys, this gives them something to do while you are not their, also provide lots of veggies and fruit this 2 can be VERY fun and interesting for birds

With PeeGee, happy/content is standing on one foot; talking to herself; grooming (she preens her feathers, cleaning every single tail feather from end to end, cleaning her feet - every toe, every claw). She does this while I'm taking a nap (she has a perch on the night table). Then she tucks her head under her wing and takes her nap too!