Taking A Nap With Your Birds

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It’s rare to see a bird sleeping. Nearly impossible in the wild because it will either be dark or the bird startled before you could catch a glimpse. Less unlikely yet still rare to see your companion parrot sleeping in your home. That is because normally it sleeps at night when you do. Otherwise there is just too much activity going on that the bird is too aroused to sleep. But on occasion there are opportunities to see your birds completely relaxed.

If your bird trusts you, if tired it may decide to take a nap in front of you, knowing that you won’t hurt it and will protect it from danger. Most times I’ve seen my birds fall asleep is sitting out on their playpens for a long time when I am busy on the computer doing my own thing. If the environment in the room is very mellow and the birds are sleepy, they will doze off.

My Senegal Parrot starts by fluffing up her feathers and getting really relaxed. Next she gets on one foot and even squats down to get her feathers to cover her exposed foot. The first time I saw this I wondered where her foot had gone! In fact birds lose a great deal of heat through their feet because there is no insulation on them. By sleeping on one leg, birds can save a lot of energy that would be lost otherwise. The way birds leg muscles and tendons work, the bird can sleep relaxed on one foot and hold its balance. After getting on one leg you may observe your birds closing for a few minutes at a time and you know it’s getting sleepy. Finally, if your bird is really going to go to sleep, it may turn its head around 180 degrees and tuck its beak under the scapula feathers. This also preserves a lot of heat energy.

Birds may sleep with one eye open and this is not just a saying. They can have a state of unihemispheric sleep where one side of the brain shuts down for sleep while the other keeps an eye open to look out for danger. The brain is cross linked as on mammals so if the left eye is closed, then the right brain is sleeping. There have been some studies done about bird dreams and scientists have found that some types of birds actually practice their songs in their sleep. I wonder if my parrot dreams about training sessions because I swear to you, she does a newly learned trick so much better after a night of sleep.

It was very difficult to catch the above video footage because on the occasions I’ve seen my birds fall asleep, reaching to get the camera would always wake them up and ruin the opportunity. This must have been a particularly sleepy day that they slept through it as I caught them falling asleep.

It seems like my parrots get especially sleepy midday during a drop in pressure prior to rain. Sometimes there is a thunderstorm coming and the birds get really sleepy and fall asleep on their playpens and I get sleepy and fall asleep on the bed next to them and nap an hour. It’s kind of fun because all gets quiet and everyone is just really sleepy and wants to relax. I trust that they won’t do anything crazy while I’m asleep and that if they do it would probably wake me up. Then I wake up refreshed and so do the birds. They are usually excited to be handled after this and are happy to spend time with me. I think it’s a nice way to spend meaningful time with the birds and to build a mutual trust both ways.

*Note, when I do not support actually sleeping with your bird on the same bed or location. I know that babies have been killed sleeping with their parents and the same thing could happen to a bird. What I mean by taking a nap with your bird is having them on a perch or cage near you but not close enough that they could get hurt.