# Holding stuff with their feet



## Siobhan (Mar 21, 2010)

I've always heard that it's the rare tiel who will use their foot to hold food or toys the way my Quaker parrots and most larger parrots do, and out of my three tiels, I've discovered, two of them do that very thing.

Freddie likes to dismantle baskets and I saw him working on one a few days ago. He'll pull a piece free and stand around with it in his mouth like a farm boy with a piece of straw, and he did that, but then he reached up with his foot to hold it steady while he gnawed on it. Later I saw him trying to hold a sunflower seed steady so he could break it open. Naturally, I thought, well, Freddie spent his formative months as the only tiel among Quakers, and I just never caught him doing this before. He's 3 and I got him at 8 weeks, so he grew up observing Clyde and Jade as his role models for being a parrot. 

But then I saw Greta using HER foot to eat! Greta was acquired by her former human, who is now deceased, as a baby and grew up as an only bird. I've only had her a couple of months. She likes to walk around on my ottoman and pick up any discarded bits that the other birds have dropped (yes, I feed her, LOL, she's just quirky) and she found something too big to eat in one bite, so she held it with her foot and munched on it. Now I'm keeping an eye on Johnny to see if I can catch HIM using his foot. It's still possible the Quakers taught the tiels to do this because the tiels can see them doing it all the time and may have decided it looked like a good idea.


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## Darkel777 (Jun 7, 2013)

Siobhan said:


> I've always heard that it's the rare tiel who will use their foot to hold food or toys the way my Quaker parrots and most larger parrots do, and out of my three tiels, I've discovered, two of them do that very thing.
> 
> Freddie likes to dismantle baskets and I saw him working on one a few days ago. He'll pull a piece free and stand around with it in his mouth like a farm boy with a piece of straw, and he did that, but then he reached up with his foot to hold it steady while he gnawed on it. Later I saw him trying to hold a sunflower seed steady so he could break it open. Naturally, I thought, well, Freddie spent his formative months as the only tiel among Quakers, and I just never caught him doing this before. He's 3 and I got him at 8 weeks, so he grew up observing Clyde and Jade as his role models for being a parrot.
> 
> But then I saw Greta using HER foot to eat! Greta was acquired by her former human, who is now deceased, as a baby and grew up as an only bird. I've only had her a couple of months. She likes to walk around on my ottoman and pick up any discarded bits that the other birds have dropped (yes, I feed her, LOL, she's just quirky) and she found something too big to eat in one bite, so she held it with her foot and munched on it. Now I'm keeping an eye on Johnny to see if I can catch HIM using his foot. It's still possible the Quakers taught the tiels to do this because the tiels can see them doing it all the time and may have decided it looked like a good idea.


I don't keep track of which of my tiels do it, but I know a few in my flock do. This is more common than you think.


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

I hear that it can be learned, or passed down genetically. Two of mine hold toys with their feet -- Freya and Astrid -- but not food.


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## hysteriauk (Jun 24, 2012)

zippy will hold stuff like his toys when he is playing to steady them while he attacks them , he also can hold large feathers he has molted so he can attack them easily, He has no intrest in holding food tho


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## ccollin13 (May 24, 2013)

Tommy holds things to steady them, such as millet or a toy. Ziggy will do that and also holds food in his foot (especially Cheerios, which of course were designed to be cockatiel sized!). I'd never seen a tiel do that until Ziggy!

The thing is, Ziggy has spent VERY limited time around other birds. He did this when I got him and he was already 6 and had never been around parrots, unless it was at the pet shop as a very young bird. Now he spends time with my family flock, but he knew before hand. So maybe it can be learned OR inherited.


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## Siobhan (Mar 21, 2010)

Perhaps this is another case of what "they" say being untrustworthy. I have always been of the opinion anyway that "what tiels do (or don't do)" or any other critter is way too general. Birds are individuals and my two Quakers are no more alike than my three tiels are like each other. My pigeon adores petting and kisses and demands both every day, while I've been told pigeons "hate being petted." Female budgies don't talk, except I've had two who did talk. They didn't say a lot, but they could both talk. And Greta is trying to learn the whistle tunes. Freddie and Johnny can both talk, though they don't often actually do it, and Johnny is a closet talker in the worst way. He waits till his cage is covered and he believes I'm not in the room to hear him. LOL


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

both my tiels do it, though tsuka seemed to have learned it from dally. dally is a natural at it, using for food, toys, anything really. tsuka was awkward about it at first and he's still getting the hang of it, and he only does it for toys

got photos attached, and videos...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Aj0xpzACRs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2W0KHLTpgsg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ldr2O4WenM


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## CaliTiels (Oct 18, 2012)

Beaker uses his foot for a lot of things. No bird taught Beaker how to do it, he learned from watching me


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

It's _so_ cute when they do it! Mine do it sometimes, but not very often. I wish they would do it more lol!


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## Korvia (Aug 3, 2012)

Cookies does it, not very well, he mostly uses his feet for toys. I don't think anyone taught him since I've had him since he was 10 weeks old and the breeder only had tiels.


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

I have heard it can be a genetic trait too. I have a few that do it, but you would be more likely to see Mali doing it, as she does it more often than the others.


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## urbandecayno5 (Oct 24, 2012)

Hank eats certain things/holds toys with her feet
She's always done this


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## Kiwi (May 12, 2013)

Kiwi does that too. It's really fun to watch because it's so cute when she does it! :rofl: I think she saw the parrots at the pet store use their feet and/or learned from me because we eat lunch together.


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## kmclaassen (Jan 17, 2013)

Haze used to hold my hair in his claw and chew on it....(he liked to chew on it when it was wet for some reason)


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