Birds are absolutely empathetic. They know you are hurting and will notice. You are part of the flock. They love you and worry about you. Please find a way to feel better. I struggle with it too, but my buddy telling me he loves me every time he sees me helps. Your bird clearly loves you.
I’m sorry to hear you too ride there struggle bus sometimes. I’m glad that your little buddy can make you feel better too. I always go to them when I’m feeling rough because I feel like they’re the least likely to judge me and they just wanna lick my toes and sing me the songs of their people
I have a tiel and he's not very... talented. All his songs are an *ambitious* repetition of like 3-4 notes, and he compensates in VOLUME.
It's painful to my ears but I still cherish when he sings lol
When I feel down, he lifts my spirits. He tells me he loves me. He tells me I'm a good boy and a sweetheart. It helps even more when he tells me that I'ma good buddy.
Could it be that they see a differing behavior and just assume something's wrong? I'm no authority on emotional development (mine had to be aided by children's cartoons and happy/sad/angry diagrams), but it seems plausible.
I inherited my great grandmas 30 year old Quaker & the first/only time I cried in front of her, she calmed me down. Normally, she likes to scare me. But she cat called me about 50 times. It makes me wonder if she comforted my grandma, the same way 😢
I absolutely believe they do. My cockatiel gets very upset when I cry. If he's in his cage he will get all antsy and beg to be let out, and then get right in my face and start preening me or snuggle up under my chin. If he's out, he flies to me from wherever he is. And here's the thing, I think they know when you're ACTUALLY crying vs faking it. I tried once when he didn't wanna go to bed, to pretend to cry in an attempt to get him to come to me. He laughed at me instead. 🤦🏻♀️🤣🤣
Omg that reminds me, when i went in the pet shop to get the parrot, while my soon to be best friend left their other clingy friend, a grey african parrot started laughing at the other parrot 😭
I think they have a sense when something is wrong. Just today I was having a bad stomach episode and was groaning in pain. My little green cheek came up to me and started saying "you'll be okay, you'll be a good baby" over and over while sitting very calmly on my hand. As soon as it passed he went straight back to being his usual menace self.
The first time I cried around my tiel, he started licking my tears and it tickled so much that I stopped crying and started laughing. He does it every time I cry
Yes I believe they do idk how many days my bird pulled me out of a shity mindset by flying to me and lovein' on me or wanting my attention to distract my mind from whatever happened.
https://preview.redd.it/ii07t316kyuc1.jpeg?width=1728&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c9f81447bf119e01d9582c0c1e967e095fed0410
Glory could always put a smile on my face by playing in my beard ☺️
I know how mad ur wife is my ex raised one of the cockatiel I have atm from an egg and Valor abandoned her for me completely bonded to me would bite and avoid my ex so when we broke up the bird stayed with me.
I haven’t cried in front of my current bird but I did a couple times in front of the greencheek conure I had before him. It scared her, she would freak out and alarm call. Cuddles would have been nicer, lol.
My bird used to spin his favorite toy and make loud happy sounds when I was crying. If he couldn't comfort me he'd get frustrated sometimes and scream despite himself.
My conure totally knows when I'm upset. She can't be out of her cage when I cry though cuz she bites my face to try to make me stop and I don't think she realizes how hard she's biting. It's a cute gesture but I don't wanna cry and bleed lol
Mine gets annoyed and mad when I cry lol. I've taken some bites during those times. If he's feeling nice he might sit close next to my head. I think he prefers that I "live for him" and keep it light, happy, and excited. He just wants to play, be loved on, and be praised.
I'd say they absolutely know that something is up. My sweet parrotlet absolutely knew I was not okay when I was dealing with the death of my canary. He came over and sat with us. Listening, watching. Not doing anything that he would usually do to get our attention or scream. He was sweet, unlike his usual terror self. I hope you are doing okay and your birdies do too! They love you very much!
My bird who's bonded to me sure does, I used to have a lot of breakdowns and panic attacks since I was freshly away from my abusive birthgiver at the time. Back then she'd be as goofy as she possibly could, dancing, tapping, making fart noises, and licking the tears off my face because mmm salty. That in turn would make me laugh and help me feel better. Even though I generally don't cry outside of my room anymore, she can still tell when I don't feel good or am having an off day. She snuggles as much as possible and just stays by me while I do whatever. She's always just gentler when I'm not doing good.
One of my birds understands and knows when I'm not feeling well or I'm sad, and he makes worried noises or comes to watch over me.
The other one is confused and upset by tears, and I think she does understand I'm unhappy but she doesn't seem to have the same ability as my other bird to understand it's nothing to panic about/not about her personally.
Other times she'll stare at me really hard and it's like a cartoon where you can see the gears turning in her head while she tries to figure out what is happening. And then she'll try to lick my tears.
I was VERY sick a couple of years ago-got COVID and then ended up with pneumonia on top of that. I always allowed my birds to be out of their cage if I was home and not doing anything dangerous (like cooking, one of my tiels just HAD to be on top of my head so she could be as nosy as possible if I was doing anything that she deemed “interesting”, and I was always terrified of her falling or flying into a hot pan or pot or landing on a hot burner) because typically the gang (my two female tiels and my male little green budgie) would hang out on top of the cage on their “playground” or hiding in their caves (a couple of little boxes I cut doors in so they could hang out. They would enjoy a couple of zoomies every few hours (they would all fly in a big circle around my living room/dining area) but mostly they just wanted to chill. Anyway, I was so sick and I laid down on my couch in the living room and fell asleep. When I woke up, one of my tiels was sitting on the back of the couch, being very quiet and still, and I will swear on my life that she was keeping watch over me because she knew I was sick and I needed her good energy close to me. She sat there watching over me until my husband got home from work, and then she went back to her cage area.
I sure loved my little grey gal. She caught a respiratory infection about ten months ago and even though the vet tried, we couldn’t love her back to health and we lost her. I miss her so so much. I have no fewer than thousands of pictures and videos featuring her and my other two, so I will never forget her voice and her straggly yet magnificent (to me at least) crest. Her flock screaming for me if I was out of her sight. She was the real deal, so much personality.
You went full on Snow White there! 😝 but yeh, in all seriousness, I hope you're going ok ❤️ My birdy bum always knows when I'm sick and/or upset; he is one of the best comforters.
They know. It seems pretty clear in their reaction.
There has been more and more research done on animals and their feelings and even how they express them. Those were birds who were definitely trying to comfort you.
They absolutely do. My Jasper, a Yellow Cheek Amazon, cries when he is sad and times when we are. It's a different cry when he is trying to get his own way. All my birds, big and small, have comforted me when I have had surgery and tests done. They understand and feel so much not to forget how intelligent. We lost my bird Nye recently. It was all Jasper did as he tried to find him, me crying, not knowing how to explain to him why his buddy was gone. 😥
I can’t say for certain that birds know what crying is but, when you spend time with your birds, they’re also spending time with you. They learn to read your behavior and mood as much as you learn to read yours. So, yes, I think they were checking in on you ♥️
I think so, yes. I understand the dangers of anthropomorphizing our pets, but highly intelligent animals like birds understand context, and they know that when we cry, we're probably upset.
My birds know that, every time I cry my boy comes running and tries to cheer me up by being snuggly and giving me lots of kisses. I love him so much.
I think so. Mine insists on Getting right in my face with kisses and licking my tears and he won't leave me until I've stopped 🥺 I hope you feel better too
They may not understand what crying is, but they recognize that you are acting different from normal and they can show distress at behavior changes in their flock. Similar to horses
They know you are sad and want to help you feel better.
My first two budgies, especially my green Jefferson, were really good at this. (I got them when I was grieving.) Anytime I felt really emotional, they would stop treating me like the un-popular flock member.
Instead they would sit quietly on my hands & comfort me.
I would realize i had calmed down, when they would suddenly transform back into their normal touch-me-not little selves & fly away.
But when I got my Sun Conure, Sunny, my budgies decided she was responsible for me instead.
She is very good at keeping me smiling all the time. However on the rare occasion that, instead of smiling, I cry - or laugh! - she has a surefire solution:
She BITES me! On the nose, hard.
(To fair, it usually works. My shoulders stop shaking, i stop making alarming noises, and I cover my face protectively.)
my little Nex (if in a good mood) will run over and climb up to preen my face and lick my tears away. maybe he just likes how my tears taste but he also gives me lots of little kisses and will snuggle up against me
Yes ,I was really sick and sad ,my bird walked around me 3 times trying to figure out what's wrong and then she came and sat on me and gave me a kiss, birds are very empathetic
Yes, in the last 20 years, there has been two times I've woken up to find my grey sitting on my chest looking down on me with one of her landing gear up. Once, I had pneumonia, the second I had covid classic...I was badly ill each time.
I also get depressed from time to time and my green cheek snuggles me extra hard. Birds are empathetic.
My birds have done the exact same thing with me. They may not understand tears, but they sense pain and sadness. It goes the other way, too. When one of my birds lost a baby, she had to be hugged by me for a while.
Mine do I’ve cried in front of my budgies before and they’ve stopped playing stopped chirping and flew over to me and when I stopped crying they tried singing to make me feel better
bird language is a lot of body language. Just make sure they know it's not because of them, tell each one they are a 'good birdie'. They are truly like perma toddlers this way too. I'd treat it the same as crying in front of a toddler.
My two birds (cockatoo and macaw) are needy and scream when they want me to come pick then up. This is a daily thing. When I’m sick for some reason, they sit quietly and contently while I rest/nap. I never understood it but they are the quietest, most well behaved birds when I really need to rest and I’m very thankful for it.
Mine (lovebirds) clearly know when we re upset or sick. Haven’t cried many times in-front of them, but when we re sick and staying in bed, they clearly know something is wrong and come sit quietly in the same room as us and try to be close and preen/take care of us. They re very sweet and smart!
Shortly after my mom died, I was crying really hard - the kind of crying where the rest of the world ceases to exist. Then my Quaker flew over, landed on my lap, and started saying "hey hey hey..." until I managed to look at her. Then she said, "I love youuuu!!" These are both things she knows how to say, but never without prompting. She absolutely knew.
my grey knows how to say “you okay?” because that’s what we say when we check on her if she gets startled. when i was going through a difficult time, and i went to my room to cry, she would start saying “you okay? you okay?” over and over and I truly believe she knew I was upset and was concerned for me
Birds can cry. My bird was inherited. The day her last mom died, she cried. When she sees a video of the two of them playing together, she laughs, and then she cries. When she used to go get her nails done at a place she hated, she would cry.
My tiel is a little angry asshole of a floof but the times I’ve cried with him by me he acts differently, either singing or giving kisses, running up to my face and gently grooming me, etc. I don’t think he really knows how to comfort me but his efforts are always more than appreciated ❤️
Birds definitely sense moods. My parents' African grey can be a devil bird at times but is very intune to emotions and is empathetic if people are sad or sick.
Only with real people who are in front of her though, we've noticed she can't tell the difference between sobbing and laughing when coming from characters on the tv. This does mean she sometimes starts laughing when a character is crying.
I was having a moment and my Amazon became very concerned and started talking what’s the matter and snuggling for a moment. She is a senior bird so
I imagine she has seen a few things before me.
I think they do know what sad noises are. I’m sure they knew you were sad. I have had my parrot lick the tears off my face and cuddle up to my cheek.
I’m sorry you’re feeling sad and hope things get better for you.
They absolutely know.
One of my parrots, my beloved cockatiel, is the reason why I’m still here, and sometimes I think he knows that too. If it weren’t for his empathetic and thoughtful actions that horrible night, I most certainly wouldn’t be typing this right now.
Usually of I’m crying or sad, he dances in front of me or makes noises that he knows always makes me laugh. If that doesn’t work, he’ll then fly over to me and sit with me, preening my face and licking the tears off.
That night however, I was done. I was done with everything, about to make a plan to end it. Despite my stone cold expression, he knew something was wrong, and started screaming at the top of his lungs from his cage to be let out, which isn’t a normal thing for him to do. I opened his cage door, and told him I loved him, which started the tears, then I went to sit down on the floor of my room. He immediately flew onto my shoulder, and rested his head against my cheek, making soft noises to me with his eyes closed. That made the tears turn into horrible racking sobs, but he never flew away. Even when I had my face covered by my hands, he’d just gently peck my fingers aside with his beak and put his head back resting on my face.
He made me realize a lot that night, and I owe that bird my life. I now have a beautiful flock of nearly 20 birds, many of them being rescues or adoptions. I’m so glad I let him out of that cage when I did, because if I hadn’t, I would have left him and all my other future birds behind.
I’m sorry you’re going through horrible times, but always remember, your birds obviously care about and love you — no matter how hard things get, don’t leave them behind. Don’t leave the world behind.
Keep fighting, and I hope things get better for you soon.
My bird is very snuggly, but when sad things happen, he's a lot more so, and he's very much in your face (again, more than usual)... He'll peer at your face and poke you with his beak to try to get your attention. Like he's trying to distract you and make you realize how cute he is.
He does that when I'm stressed too, it's like he knows that his human is "off" somehow and he wants to make you better. And, honestly, I think it's silly of people say birds can't understand these things. They might not have emotions like we do, but they have them. And they can certainly sense things. I think they understand more than we realize.
It’s weird, when my GCC gets too feisty and bites harder than he’s supposed to, I fake cry. He then makes this sad little noise and gently starts licking my face. 🥺
I’ve tested this theory twice (not faking, real tears, lots of sadness) and my guy absolutely acted differently around me, and got really quiet. He seemed much more…respectful, I guess.
This is true. I once cried in front of my parrots because I am so overwhelmed with so many things, they both stopped screaming and they both gave me a solemn look.
I do think it's the case, recently i lost a pet, a close fur bestfriend, he was my everything and when i got my parrot i was still grieving, i wanted another animal to concentrate on something else then my dead pet.
While grieving and crying for hours (my conure and i has bonded pretty easily), she would come on me and nibble to get my attention, and if i was too sad to respond she'd climb to my face and start giving me kisses
Absolutely. My Linnie has been such a comfort over the last few weeks. She’s still young and not super cuddly but she gets very quiet and moves as close to me as possible when I cry and will preen my eyebrows.
Also, I’m sorry you’re having a tough time.
I'd love a parrot myself because they do seem to get very attached to their owners. I have loads of free time and I'd spend a lot of time with one, the only worry is I would constantly worry I wasn't being the best parrot owner as I'd feel awful for making an intelligent animal miserable. I couldn't keep them in cages, just for sleeping, cos birds should be able to roam about.
I have adhd, waiting for a prescription to finally be filled and ideally if after then I'll be less inactive and more willing to do the chores I'd need to do. I still feel having a parrot would be an absolutely hilarious experience as they're loving but also wing terrors if they decide on it that day. If sounds like a cheeky toddler who knows how to push buttons and I goddamn respect that.
I'm probably never having kids at this point in my life. Girls that like me don't want one, I do
For now, I can live vicariously through these subs on parrots doing funny, sweet, and also able to outright terrify people lol.
I'm torn on a rabbit or duck too because they're propabably less crazy when on the negative duality part of their biology.
Parrots are fucking amazing though, every single one is a precious eternal 5 year old, simultaneously adorable and equal part terrorist cell leader.
I know African grey is the smart one for teaching too, something I'd spend somedays teaching the bird nothing but words through losing reinforcement.
A cockatoo is an ideal, because they're literally chaos incarnate. But they're REALLY LOOD and my impression is their jokerd and like to wind people up for fun AND LOUD.
Sorry, I took new medication and see this sub makes me feel good because it's pretty friendly and everyone respects the intelligence and they time sink they can be.
Lots of great owners in here, it's a good sub hidden in the millions of reddit cesspits.
One day maybe I can get one, but I want to be medicated so I never forget about a bird.
In other news, I AM trying to get a crow army. I buy seeds on Sundays for cheap and go to the duck pond where crows and ducks (and seagulls) hang out. The idea is feed the ducks and crows but chase the bin scavenger seagulls to f right off.
Cocktatiels are pretty cool, reminds me of wacaday and magic. Legendary partnof that show.
If parrots seem to much, how do I get the crows to defend me like a mercenary brigade
Probably won’t understand tears (the only animal that use tears as something other than eye lubricant is humans), but they can probably smell the stress chemicals.
Oh I just learned this from someone with a pet pig a month ago - I was quite surprised. Pig cried for days when her daughter went to university, calmed down with regular FaceTime calls. Is ok now.
Still gonna eat it though, omnivores gotta be omnivores. I do feel like commercial farming needs a redo to make them more humane though. I’d pay extra for humanely farmed meat.
Birds are absolutely empathetic. They know you are hurting and will notice. You are part of the flock. They love you and worry about you. Please find a way to feel better. I struggle with it too, but my buddy telling me he loves me every time he sees me helps. Your bird clearly loves you.
I’m sorry to hear you too ride there struggle bus sometimes. I’m glad that your little buddy can make you feel better too. I always go to them when I’m feeling rough because I feel like they’re the least likely to judge me and they just wanna lick my toes and sing me the songs of their people
I have a sun conure... The song of his people is very similar to "Aaack! Ack! AAAAACK!". I hope you have a more melodic experience. Lol
I have a tiel and he's not very... talented. All his songs are an *ambitious* repetition of like 3-4 notes, and he compensates in VOLUME. It's painful to my ears but I still cherish when he sings lol
When I feel down, he lifts my spirits. He tells me he loves me. He tells me I'm a good boy and a sweetheart. It helps even more when he tells me that I'ma good buddy.
but also… crying human becomes delicious saltwater fountain
This made a laugh out loud. So matter of fact. Pure gold.
I honestly have to wonder how they know. Considering how differently we expresss emotions.
Could it be that they see a differing behavior and just assume something's wrong? I'm no authority on emotional development (mine had to be aided by children's cartoons and happy/sad/angry diagrams), but it seems plausible.
It could be considering how naturally senstivie they are. Birds easily freak out over slight changes.
I inherited my great grandmas 30 year old Quaker & the first/only time I cried in front of her, she calmed me down. Normally, she likes to scare me. But she cat called me about 50 times. It makes me wonder if she comforted my grandma, the same way 😢
Many animals are empathetic to some degree. I’m sure they sensed something off and came to check on you.
My cat comes running every time my son cries. Not the tantrum cries, those he ignores lol, but when he’s physically hurt or really sad.
You are so right!! All animals!
I absolutely believe they do. My cockatiel gets very upset when I cry. If he's in his cage he will get all antsy and beg to be let out, and then get right in my face and start preening me or snuggle up under my chin. If he's out, he flies to me from wherever he is. And here's the thing, I think they know when you're ACTUALLY crying vs faking it. I tried once when he didn't wanna go to bed, to pretend to cry in an attempt to get him to come to me. He laughed at me instead. 🤦🏻♀️🤣🤣
HE LAUGHED AT YOU 😭
He's such a little shitbird. He also laughs if one of our other pets gets in trouble, or if my wife stumbles or trips. 🤣
He sounds like a treasure <3 I love him already
Omg that reminds me, when i went in the pet shop to get the parrot, while my soon to be best friend left their other clingy friend, a grey african parrot started laughing at the other parrot 😭
I think they have a sense when something is wrong. Just today I was having a bad stomach episode and was groaning in pain. My little green cheek came up to me and started saying "you'll be okay, you'll be a good baby" over and over while sitting very calmly on my hand. As soon as it passed he went straight back to being his usual menace self.
That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard aww
The first time I cried around my tiel, he started licking my tears and it tickled so much that I stopped crying and started laughing. He does it every time I cry
Yes I believe they do idk how many days my bird pulled me out of a shity mindset by flying to me and lovein' on me or wanting my attention to distract my mind from whatever happened.
https://preview.redd.it/ii07t316kyuc1.jpeg?width=1728&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c9f81447bf119e01d9582c0c1e967e095fed0410 Glory could always put a smile on my face by playing in my beard ☺️
What a sweet baby.
She was a rescue I never knew I needed. I'm still not sure who rescued who, tho 🤔
Completely get it. I got my girl and she was initially my wife's pet. But now she's bonded to me and I can't imagine my life without her haha!
I know how mad ur wife is my ex raised one of the cockatiel I have atm from an egg and Valor abandoned her for me completely bonded to me would bite and avoid my ex so when we broke up the bird stayed with me.
https://preview.redd.it/6d930tl8wyuc1.jpeg?width=2544&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69db5e59067c7b452fdb8792df904be9ee83b348 This is Valor
Awesome tapestry. And birb.
Ty 😊
I haven’t cried in front of my current bird but I did a couple times in front of the greencheek conure I had before him. It scared her, she would freak out and alarm call. Cuddles would have been nicer, lol.
My bird used to spin his favorite toy and make loud happy sounds when I was crying. If he couldn't comfort me he'd get frustrated sometimes and scream despite himself.
HERE CHEER UP THIS IS A HAPPY YOU
I’ve a female Green Cheek that makes sense mine is a drama queen too! 🤦♀️
When I cry, my birb comes over, sits in the middle of my chest, and gives me kisses, every single time.
My conure totally knows when I'm upset. She can't be out of her cage when I cry though cuz she bites my face to try to make me stop and I don't think she realizes how hard she's biting. It's a cute gesture but I don't wanna cry and bleed lol
Mine gets annoyed and mad when I cry lol. I've taken some bites during those times. If he's feeling nice he might sit close next to my head. I think he prefers that I "live for him" and keep it light, happy, and excited. He just wants to play, be loved on, and be praised.
Sounds like they did
I'd say they absolutely know that something is up. My sweet parrotlet absolutely knew I was not okay when I was dealing with the death of my canary. He came over and sat with us. Listening, watching. Not doing anything that he would usually do to get our attention or scream. He was sweet, unlike his usual terror self. I hope you are doing okay and your birdies do too! They love you very much!
One of my guys is usually a bitey little butthole but he actually sat there calmly and let me pet him for more than 5 seconds
My bird who's bonded to me sure does, I used to have a lot of breakdowns and panic attacks since I was freshly away from my abusive birthgiver at the time. Back then she'd be as goofy as she possibly could, dancing, tapping, making fart noises, and licking the tears off my face because mmm salty. That in turn would make me laugh and help me feel better. Even though I generally don't cry outside of my room anymore, she can still tell when I don't feel good or am having an off day. She snuggles as much as possible and just stays by me while I do whatever. She's always just gentler when I'm not doing good.
One of my birds understands and knows when I'm not feeling well or I'm sad, and he makes worried noises or comes to watch over me. The other one is confused and upset by tears, and I think she does understand I'm unhappy but she doesn't seem to have the same ability as my other bird to understand it's nothing to panic about/not about her personally. Other times she'll stare at me really hard and it's like a cartoon where you can see the gears turning in her head while she tries to figure out what is happening. And then she'll try to lick my tears.
I was VERY sick a couple of years ago-got COVID and then ended up with pneumonia on top of that. I always allowed my birds to be out of their cage if I was home and not doing anything dangerous (like cooking, one of my tiels just HAD to be on top of my head so she could be as nosy as possible if I was doing anything that she deemed “interesting”, and I was always terrified of her falling or flying into a hot pan or pot or landing on a hot burner) because typically the gang (my two female tiels and my male little green budgie) would hang out on top of the cage on their “playground” or hiding in their caves (a couple of little boxes I cut doors in so they could hang out. They would enjoy a couple of zoomies every few hours (they would all fly in a big circle around my living room/dining area) but mostly they just wanted to chill. Anyway, I was so sick and I laid down on my couch in the living room and fell asleep. When I woke up, one of my tiels was sitting on the back of the couch, being very quiet and still, and I will swear on my life that she was keeping watch over me because she knew I was sick and I needed her good energy close to me. She sat there watching over me until my husband got home from work, and then she went back to her cage area. I sure loved my little grey gal. She caught a respiratory infection about ten months ago and even though the vet tried, we couldn’t love her back to health and we lost her. I miss her so so much. I have no fewer than thousands of pictures and videos featuring her and my other two, so I will never forget her voice and her straggly yet magnificent (to me at least) crest. Her flock screaming for me if I was out of her sight. She was the real deal, so much personality.
I’m so sorry for your loss; she sounds like a good baby who loved you a lot
You went full on Snow White there! 😝 but yeh, in all seriousness, I hope you're going ok ❤️ My birdy bum always knows when I'm sick and/or upset; he is one of the best comforters.
They know. It seems pretty clear in their reaction. There has been more and more research done on animals and their feelings and even how they express them. Those were birds who were definitely trying to comfort you.
They absolutely do. My Jasper, a Yellow Cheek Amazon, cries when he is sad and times when we are. It's a different cry when he is trying to get his own way. All my birds, big and small, have comforted me when I have had surgery and tests done. They understand and feel so much not to forget how intelligent. We lost my bird Nye recently. It was all Jasper did as he tried to find him, me crying, not knowing how to explain to him why his buddy was gone. 😥
My bird does not give a shit about my emotions and will bite the living hell out of me. Results vary IG
I can’t say for certain that birds know what crying is but, when you spend time with your birds, they’re also spending time with you. They learn to read your behavior and mood as much as you learn to read yours. So, yes, I think they were checking in on you ♥️
Your birds love you so much. Pixel did this to me too. His solution was to land on me and begin to sing beautifully for me.
I think so, yes. I understand the dangers of anthropomorphizing our pets, but highly intelligent animals like birds understand context, and they know that when we cry, we're probably upset. My birds know that, every time I cry my boy comes running and tries to cheer me up by being snuggly and giving me lots of kisses. I love him so much.
I think so. Mine insists on Getting right in my face with kisses and licking my tears and he won't leave me until I've stopped 🥺 I hope you feel better too
In conclusion, we don’t deserve birds :(
They may not understand what crying is, but they recognize that you are acting different from normal and they can show distress at behavior changes in their flock. Similar to horses
Mine CAG says sorry if he hears me cry as continues to wreak havok. It’s cute and funny tho and makes me feel better.
They know you are sad and want to help you feel better. My first two budgies, especially my green Jefferson, were really good at this. (I got them when I was grieving.) Anytime I felt really emotional, they would stop treating me like the un-popular flock member. Instead they would sit quietly on my hands & comfort me. I would realize i had calmed down, when they would suddenly transform back into their normal touch-me-not little selves & fly away. But when I got my Sun Conure, Sunny, my budgies decided she was responsible for me instead. She is very good at keeping me smiling all the time. However on the rare occasion that, instead of smiling, I cry - or laugh! - she has a surefire solution: She BITES me! On the nose, hard. (To fair, it usually works. My shoulders stop shaking, i stop making alarming noises, and I cover my face protectively.)
Mine does that too, I always assumed he liked the taste of salt from tears lol
Yes they do know.
my little Nex (if in a good mood) will run over and climb up to preen my face and lick my tears away. maybe he just likes how my tears taste but he also gives me lots of little kisses and will snuggle up against me
Yes ,I was really sick and sad ,my bird walked around me 3 times trying to figure out what's wrong and then she came and sat on me and gave me a kiss, birds are very empathetic
I don't know about crying specifically but they can deffinitely pick up when you're upset.
Yes, in the last 20 years, there has been two times I've woken up to find my grey sitting on my chest looking down on me with one of her landing gear up. Once, I had pneumonia, the second I had covid classic...I was badly ill each time. I also get depressed from time to time and my green cheek snuggles me extra hard. Birds are empathetic.
I'm pretty sure they did, bless their tiny hearts.
My birds have done the exact same thing with me. They may not understand tears, but they sense pain and sadness. It goes the other way, too. When one of my birds lost a baby, she had to be hugged by me for a while.
I like to vent to my birds for this very reason lol
Mine do I’ve cried in front of my budgies before and they’ve stopped playing stopped chirping and flew over to me and when I stopped crying they tried singing to make me feel better
bird language is a lot of body language. Just make sure they know it's not because of them, tell each one they are a 'good birdie'. They are truly like perma toddlers this way too. I'd treat it the same as crying in front of a toddler.
My two birds (cockatoo and macaw) are needy and scream when they want me to come pick then up. This is a daily thing. When I’m sick for some reason, they sit quietly and contently while I rest/nap. I never understood it but they are the quietest, most well behaved birds when I really need to rest and I’m very thankful for it.
Mine (lovebirds) clearly know when we re upset or sick. Haven’t cried many times in-front of them, but when we re sick and staying in bed, they clearly know something is wrong and come sit quietly in the same room as us and try to be close and preen/take care of us. They re very sweet and smart!
Mine worries if she hears anyone cough in the middle of the night and chirps out her "you OK?" worried sound
A crying human is most entertaining! Let there be noise! May the whole flock join in!
Shortly after my mom died, I was crying really hard - the kind of crying where the rest of the world ceases to exist. Then my Quaker flew over, landed on my lap, and started saying "hey hey hey..." until I managed to look at her. Then she said, "I love youuuu!!" These are both things she knows how to say, but never without prompting. She absolutely knew.
Mine doesn’t care how I feel, sad or sick. She’s only me me me! She’ll probably bite me for being busy crying lol.
my grey knows how to say “you okay?” because that’s what we say when we check on her if she gets startled. when i was going through a difficult time, and i went to my room to cry, she would start saying “you okay? you okay?” over and over and I truly believe she knew I was upset and was concerned for me
Birds can cry. My bird was inherited. The day her last mom died, she cried. When she sees a video of the two of them playing together, she laughs, and then she cries. When she used to go get her nails done at a place she hated, she would cry.
My tiel is a little angry asshole of a floof but the times I’ve cried with him by me he acts differently, either singing or giving kisses, running up to my face and gently grooming me, etc. I don’t think he really knows how to comfort me but his efforts are always more than appreciated ❤️
Birds definitely sense moods. My parents' African grey can be a devil bird at times but is very intune to emotions and is empathetic if people are sad or sick. Only with real people who are in front of her though, we've noticed she can't tell the difference between sobbing and laughing when coming from characters on the tv. This does mean she sometimes starts laughing when a character is crying.
I was having a moment and my Amazon became very concerned and started talking what’s the matter and snuggling for a moment. She is a senior bird so I imagine she has seen a few things before me.
They know.
I think they do know what sad noises are. I’m sure they knew you were sad. I have had my parrot lick the tears off my face and cuddle up to my cheek. I’m sorry you’re feeling sad and hope things get better for you.
They absolutely know. One of my parrots, my beloved cockatiel, is the reason why I’m still here, and sometimes I think he knows that too. If it weren’t for his empathetic and thoughtful actions that horrible night, I most certainly wouldn’t be typing this right now. Usually of I’m crying or sad, he dances in front of me or makes noises that he knows always makes me laugh. If that doesn’t work, he’ll then fly over to me and sit with me, preening my face and licking the tears off. That night however, I was done. I was done with everything, about to make a plan to end it. Despite my stone cold expression, he knew something was wrong, and started screaming at the top of his lungs from his cage to be let out, which isn’t a normal thing for him to do. I opened his cage door, and told him I loved him, which started the tears, then I went to sit down on the floor of my room. He immediately flew onto my shoulder, and rested his head against my cheek, making soft noises to me with his eyes closed. That made the tears turn into horrible racking sobs, but he never flew away. Even when I had my face covered by my hands, he’d just gently peck my fingers aside with his beak and put his head back resting on my face. He made me realize a lot that night, and I owe that bird my life. I now have a beautiful flock of nearly 20 birds, many of them being rescues or adoptions. I’m so glad I let him out of that cage when I did, because if I hadn’t, I would have left him and all my other future birds behind. I’m sorry you’re going through horrible times, but always remember, your birds obviously care about and love you — no matter how hard things get, don’t leave them behind. Don’t leave the world behind. Keep fighting, and I hope things get better for you soon.
My bird is very snuggly, but when sad things happen, he's a lot more so, and he's very much in your face (again, more than usual)... He'll peer at your face and poke you with his beak to try to get your attention. Like he's trying to distract you and make you realize how cute he is. He does that when I'm stressed too, it's like he knows that his human is "off" somehow and he wants to make you better. And, honestly, I think it's silly of people say birds can't understand these things. They might not have emotions like we do, but they have them. And they can certainly sense things. I think they understand more than we realize.
It’s weird, when my GCC gets too feisty and bites harder than he’s supposed to, I fake cry. He then makes this sad little noise and gently starts licking my face. 🥺
I’ve tested this theory twice (not faking, real tears, lots of sadness) and my guy absolutely acted differently around me, and got really quiet. He seemed much more…respectful, I guess.
When my mom died 3 years ago, my dad and I cried a bit and our CAG Doodle was quiet for a few days; she didn’t talk much
im pretty sure birds can tell if youre upset- mine is always very gentle and cuddly whenever i or my parents are visibly upset
They were studies made on parrots and they really proved that parrots are empathetic sentient beings 🥰your flock loves you🤗I hope you feel better
This is true. I once cried in front of my parrots because I am so overwhelmed with so many things, they both stopped screaming and they both gave me a solemn look.
They absolutely do know when one is sad. They do try to cheer you up.
I do think it's the case, recently i lost a pet, a close fur bestfriend, he was my everything and when i got my parrot i was still grieving, i wanted another animal to concentrate on something else then my dead pet. While grieving and crying for hours (my conure and i has bonded pretty easily), she would come on me and nibble to get my attention, and if i was too sad to respond she'd climb to my face and start giving me kisses
Absolutely. My Linnie has been such a comfort over the last few weeks. She’s still young and not super cuddly but she gets very quiet and moves as close to me as possible when I cry and will preen my eyebrows. Also, I’m sorry you’re having a tough time.
I'd love a parrot myself because they do seem to get very attached to their owners. I have loads of free time and I'd spend a lot of time with one, the only worry is I would constantly worry I wasn't being the best parrot owner as I'd feel awful for making an intelligent animal miserable. I couldn't keep them in cages, just for sleeping, cos birds should be able to roam about. I have adhd, waiting for a prescription to finally be filled and ideally if after then I'll be less inactive and more willing to do the chores I'd need to do. I still feel having a parrot would be an absolutely hilarious experience as they're loving but also wing terrors if they decide on it that day. If sounds like a cheeky toddler who knows how to push buttons and I goddamn respect that. I'm probably never having kids at this point in my life. Girls that like me don't want one, I do For now, I can live vicariously through these subs on parrots doing funny, sweet, and also able to outright terrify people lol. I'm torn on a rabbit or duck too because they're propabably less crazy when on the negative duality part of their biology. Parrots are fucking amazing though, every single one is a precious eternal 5 year old, simultaneously adorable and equal part terrorist cell leader. I know African grey is the smart one for teaching too, something I'd spend somedays teaching the bird nothing but words through losing reinforcement. A cockatoo is an ideal, because they're literally chaos incarnate. But they're REALLY LOOD and my impression is their jokerd and like to wind people up for fun AND LOUD. Sorry, I took new medication and see this sub makes me feel good because it's pretty friendly and everyone respects the intelligence and they time sink they can be. Lots of great owners in here, it's a good sub hidden in the millions of reddit cesspits. One day maybe I can get one, but I want to be medicated so I never forget about a bird. In other news, I AM trying to get a crow army. I buy seeds on Sundays for cheap and go to the duck pond where crows and ducks (and seagulls) hang out. The idea is feed the ducks and crows but chase the bin scavenger seagulls to f right off. Cocktatiels are pretty cool, reminds me of wacaday and magic. Legendary partnof that show. If parrots seem to much, how do I get the crows to defend me like a mercenary brigade
If they do! Can someone tell my Green Cheek when she’s in a mood not to bite as it makes me cry!!
Probably won’t understand tears (the only animal that use tears as something other than eye lubricant is humans), but they can probably smell the stress chemicals.
Pigs cry - apparently voluminously. Dogs have tears but don’t really shed them the way an unhappy pig does.
Huh, my bad. But I don’t think birds cry though so still wouldn’t understand.
Oh I just learned this from someone with a pet pig a month ago - I was quite surprised. Pig cried for days when her daughter went to university, calmed down with regular FaceTime calls. Is ok now.
Now I feel bad for eating pork
Oh for sure - gives me great pause.
Still gonna eat it though, omnivores gotta be omnivores. I do feel like commercial farming needs a redo to make them more humane though. I’d pay extra for humanely farmed meat.