I’ve read some of the comments that came in from my breakthrough with Alexandrine Parakeet Rasta by putting happy on cue with him. The comments seemed to be summed up to one problem: people seemed confused about what made THEIR parrot happy.

So I thought I’d make a list of things that define an universally happy bird…

1. Shakin’ a tail feather. When parrots shake their tail feathers it’s a sign of contentment. 
2. Scratching their heads. Parrots do this and are focused on only the task at scratching, it’s not emotionally negative. 
3. Perching on one foot. When birds shift their weight onto one foot and sit fluffed up on a perch, it means they are very content and happy. 
4. Beak grinding. When birds grind their beaks it’s also a sign of being content and happy. 
5. Other – specific to your bird. Some birds talk when they’re happy, but others talk aggressively so you need to pay attention to the other things your bird does along with some behaviors to make sure you aren’t accidentally putting a different emotion on cue.

How do you know when your bird is happy? Does it preen? Does it fluff up? Yawning is okay to put on cue as well, rewarding anything that isn’t a negative response or aggressive response is great. Watching your bird to figure out what happy truly is to it will help you discover – and ask around with people who have the same species of bird you do and see what makes their bird happy.

Related article:

• My breakthrough putting happy on cue with an Alexandrine parakeet named Rasta.