wing problems

[megzly]

Ever since slack (western long billed corella) was a chick he has done this weird thing with his wings, he flips them up into the underside of his wings and pokes his flight feathers out from his "armpits" or whatever they are called , it doesnt seem to hurt him, infact he seem to be comfortable in this positions.

I was wondering if it is diet related or related to him plucking (which he has almost stopped) and if it could be harming him?

he cant fly, he never has been able too, could this be why?

Here are a few pictures of what it looks like



And this is what the underside of his wing looks like when they wings are in this position



If anyone knows what it is id really appreciate it, or alternativley if you know someone who might know could you forward the pics onto them or give me a contact number

Thanks

[Mark]

Sorry Megzly i can not help you

Good Luck Though

[Peter]

Are his feathers curled back on to his body?

[megzly]

i dont think so, when he has his wings down or out they are completely normal, he can do everything a normal bird can with them (except fly) i was thinking mabye he could have somehow streched the muscles and tendons or something and mabye it is more comfortable like this?? i have no idea really just hes been doing it for a long time, i am going to take him to the vet along with some photos to show them and see what they think, it doesnt seem to be harming him (and hes been doing it for about 20years) but id still like to know what it is

here are some pictures of him when his wings are down and in a normal position:

and here they are extended:


If it would help i can take some more pictures or video of him doing it,

[Matt]

Hi Megzly,
I would tend to think that he does this as more of a habit rather than anything medical. Our tame Galah also does stuff like this, he wraps his wing under his leg and stands over it, looks really uncomfortable, but he seems to enjoy doing it. I guess it might be worth trying to make his environment as stimulating as possible to try and lessen the amount of time he reverts to this behaviour. In regard to him flying, there are many reasons why he might not fly, some birds have no problems with their wings at all, yet they never fly, it can be for many reasons, such as lack of muscle development due to a long time in a confined space or simply that he never learned properly to fly as a baby and therefore does not know how. I hope you can get a more definate answer but I would assume it is just a behavioural thing.