http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/a-birds-5-senses/ Fri, 10 Sep 2010 17:33:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/a-birds-5-senses/comment-page-1/#comment-15565 Patty Mon, 17 May 2010 02:34:37 +0000 http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/?p=4719#comment-15565 Jens, Okay, I see. Do you smoke, or wear hand lotions or perfumes? Have you ever had to use a topical medication on your hands? Your bird may have stepped onto your hand after the use of any of these (or something else) and had a residue transferred to his feet. It may be the reason he feels the need to check you out before stepping onto your hand. Just a thought... Patty Jens,
Okay, I see. Do you smoke, or wear hand lotions or perfumes? Have you ever had to use a topical medication on your hands? Your bird may have stepped onto your hand after the use of any of these (or something else) and had a residue transferred to his feet. It may be the reason he feels the need to check you out before stepping onto your hand. Just a thought…
Patty

]]> http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/a-birds-5-senses/comment-page-1/#comment-15564 Jens Mathiesen, Copenhagen Sun, 16 May 2010 23:21:46 +0000 http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/?p=4719#comment-15564 Hi Patty, Thank you for your comment! The only problem with your explanation is that my parrots tongue do not touch my finger in the identification process. Only the edge of the beak as far as I can feel. I used a wrong word in my former comment: Please replace "surpassed" with "skipped"! Hi Patty,
Thank you for your comment! The only problem with your explanation is that my parrots tongue do not touch my finger in the identification process. Only the edge of the beak as far as I can feel. I used a wrong word in my former comment: Please replace “surpassed” with “skipped”!

]]> http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/a-birds-5-senses/comment-page-1/#comment-15563 Patty Sun, 16 May 2010 21:20:51 +0000 http://www.birdtricks.com/blog/?p=4719#comment-15563 Hi Jens, Great question! The tongue is a little bit like a finger. It's dry, thick and padded with 5 bones running through it ( the hyroid apparatus). Parrots have extra touch receptors in their tongues and use them for exploration. I had the privilege of being allowed to feel the inside of my umbrella cockatoo's mouth with my fingers one day. Their tongues are surprisingly strong. The bone on the end of the tongue is ridged, which makes it easy for them to manipulate things in their mouths. With regards to your senegal, I wouldn't say this is a common behavior, but it isn't unusual either. A couple of mine are always checking me out with their tongues. He is simply feeling your skin and exploring the surface of your finger. Why he feels the need to this every time is anybody's guess! Patty Hi Jens,
Great question! The tongue is a little bit like a finger. It’s dry, thick and padded with 5 bones running through it ( the hyroid apparatus). Parrots have extra touch receptors in their tongues and use them for exploration. I had the privilege of being allowed to feel the inside of my umbrella cockatoo’s mouth with my fingers one day. Their tongues are surprisingly strong. The bone on the end of the tongue is ridged, which makes it easy for them to manipulate things in their mouths.
With regards to your senegal, I wouldn’t say this is a common behavior, but it isn’t unusual either. A couple of mine are always checking me out with their tongues. He is simply feeling your skin and exploring the surface of your finger. Why he feels the need to this every time is anybody’s guess!
Patty

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