Vampire cockatiel?

[Whammytap]

Hey all, I am the proud pet of a 1 1/2 year old whiteface pied cockatiel, "Gandalf the Grey." Yesterday, as I was stretched out with the calculator and checkbook, paying bills, Gandalf wandered up my arm and started (gross, I know) chewing on a scab from a bug bite. It didn't hurt, and I was just glad he wasn't chewing up my bills so I let him be. When next I looked over, he had removed part of the scab and appeared, for all practical purposes, to be lapping up the blood he had caused to pool there.

I feed Gandalf a balanced diet of cooked grains and veggies (Beak Appetit) with seeds as an occasional treat. He has access to mineral block and cuttlebone. I offer him fresh fruits and veggies, and I also periodically add a protein supplement to his cooked foods (Avico Bugs N' Berries.) Is he really aware of what he's doing? Could he have a nutritional deficiency? Or do you suppose he just likes the taste? Does anyone else have experience with (herbivirous) pet birds doing this or the like?

[Adrya]

My Patagonian Conure a couple years ago was sitting on my shoulder and had a fascination with whatever acne blemishes she would find on my neck, and she would try biting/picking at them. Honestly, I don't know why she was doing that or for whatever reason your cockatiel was doing that either.

That's really quite interesting.

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[Xeikeness]

sounds to me like a form of grooming behaviour. I imagine that in the wild, anything off-color on a bird's mate or friend would be most likely to be a parasite of some kind, and you would assume the birds would do each other the service of removing parasites/detritus from each other, especially individuals with a close bond.

Sounds like she's/he's just saying, "I love you! You've just got a little something riiiiiight here... no no, don't worry, I got it!"

Plus, how do animals deal with wounds?

They lick them! Birds, cats, dogs, horses, hamsters... they all do it. If it's bleeding, lick it!

Just grooming, seems like to me. They love you guys, that's all.

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[TammyJamaica]

I think Xeikeness has hit the scab on the head.

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[Xeikeness]

Eeeew.... *rubs hand sanitizer all over my hands* Scab hitting... eeeewwww....

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[Whammytap]

Cool, thanks! I wasn't sure, not having had prior experience with pet birds, whether this was a normal grooming behavior or not. I suppose it's like when I scratch off the quill shafts from his new feathers--he's just returning the favor!

[sixth_sense]

I have about 20 or so birds at work. Conures, parrots, ringnecks etc. They have all done that to me at some point. Picking at scratches, scabs, buttons, hair, and earrings. It is just a grooming thing. Take it as a compliment! Good call!

[Adrya]

I figured that's what she was doing to my neck but.... it hurt! LOL

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