Drying Off

We don't speak the same language, but the birds and I have gotten pretty good at reading each other's body language. When Aldo is on my glove, I am always aware of his body posture, level of fluff in his feathers, wing position, and head movements. 

Aldo's body language indicates comfort.

When Aldo is relaxed, his body is at a comfortable angle, his feathers are fluffed, and his head might even be hidden under his wing as he preens. That's what we love to see!

If he is scared by something, his feathers will slick down and his attention darts in different directions and his head quickly turns. Then his body will lean forward as he crouches with wings slightly out, ready to fly away from whatever threat he perceives. When I see these body language cues, I know it's time for us to move somewhere Aldo will feel safe. 

Last week I stood in the backyard with Aldo and evaluated his body language. How do you think he's feeling here?

I noted that he held his wings out from his body. That might indicate that he's getting ready to fly off. But we also need to look at the rest of his body - and the environmental factors - to read the whole picture. He was standing upright and his eyes lazily gazed around. His feathers were relatively fluffed despite being wet and matted from a bath. I started feeling hot as the sun beat down on us. In this case, Aldo was simply holding his wings out to help the sun and breeze dry his soaking feathers.