a question about feet

[freocosmo]

Hi
as a newbie tiel friend (I was going to say owner, but I prefer friend) I was thinking back to my years in England when I had Oscar a much missed African Grey. He used his feet to hold his food & other things, but so far, Monty - only 9 weeks old) isn't doing this. Do tiels use their feet to hold, or just to stand on? Seems like a silly question, but I'm curious.
I'm so happy today cos, apart from being my birthday I coaxed Monty off a stick & onto my finger to eat his spinach He's learning pretty quickly & each day brings something new with my little darling.

[notredamebird]

I have seen cockatiels hold things in their feet, but they don't do it very often. Cockatiels seem more likely to grab something, place it on a perch, and pick pieces off of it. By contrast, my african gray uses her "hands" for everything.

[schlisa]

I wish cockatiels would use their feet more. I have to use treat clips for everything or else it would be all over the place, lol. Happy birthday! Good luck with your tiel!

[macbeck]

I've seen Poppy hold stuff in her feet if it's too big for her to just crack in her beak. So she'll hold it and bite off of it, but only with things like yogert nuggets and broccoli. I think it's so cute.

[Sun_angel00]

Nope never ever...



Of course!! He is still young and he is probably clumsy he will get it my 10 months old are just starting to hold nuts and treats in there foot, he will get there eventually.

[freocosmo]

Hi & thanks for all your posts.
It looks like he may or he may not use his feet as hands - I'll wait & see.
Since I posted my question on Thursday, Monty has eaten from my hand many times & has started to fly from his cage onto my lap (only a short distance for his clipped wings). There he wanders around, tries to bite my skirt, then clambers up the back of the chair where he seems to enjoy nibbling my curls. He has even got onto my head a coupla times. How cute. The bonding going on is just amazing me &I'm seeing a real character develop. How come it's taken me so long to learn about the joy tiels can bring?!

[momgugie]

I've said many times in the past year and a half, that if I had known birds were this much fun, I never would have gotten a dog. My Star eats pellets with her feet. She's the only one, so like you said, some do, some don't.

[schlisa]

So they all use their feet eventually? That would be awesome! Lexie is a little over 4 months and she hasn't done that. I'll wait too, lol.

[HeatherFeather]

I have two tiels and only one uses her feet to hold things and it's fairly rare. It just depends on the tiel, I think. They aren't really known for doing it like a lot of other parrots are, but it's not an impossibility.

[HeatherFeather]

I found a pic of my tiel doing it....



That's the camera strap she has.

[schlisa]

oh that's so sweet!

[Sarin]

Out of my 4 tiels only one does that, and only ever since I switched them to Pellets. Bungie, my 5 year old Grey male, always holds every single pellet in his foot and neatly eats the whole thing up - I wish they all did it! I'd have a neater house.

[Riptide0999]

My teil dosen't usually try to hold things. She's only tried to hold a toothpick which seems to be too small to do and a rubber band.

[elfhome]

Bella won't hold things, she just uses her feet to hold things down and grab. She has snatched plenty of things out of my hand using her foot (silly birdy). Sometimes if she wants me to stay with her she will grab ME in one foot with her other foot on her perch. She also does something similar when she doesn't want to step up (she puts one foot quickly on my hand and then yanks it back). Most Tiels don't use their feet as hands. One of my Tiels has though, and it was horrible and nice at the same time. He didn't waste any food but he learned to fling food the way large birds do and his aim was good. O.O

[crickett-7]

I'm blown away by how much better life is now that we have our 2 boys! Charlie doesn't used his feet, but Munson does.