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https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/jun/01/masturbation-birds-natural-healthy-behaviour-study>
"An investigation into acts of self-pleasure among parrots and other birds has
reached a climax, with the results providing welcome relief for vets and
researchers, not to mention the birds themselves.
Bird keepers are often advised to discourage and even punish birds for
masturbating, but the study found the activity was more common in the wild than
in captivity, with researchers concluding it is part of a bird’s natural
behaviour.
The report’s authors urged vets to reassure worried owners that the antics are
not harmful and warned that efforts to intervene, which range from removing
perches to hormone treatment and surgery, could be far more damaging.
“Our big finding is that masturbation is not a negative response to captivity,”
said Dr Chloe Heys, an evolutionary ecologist at the University of Lancashire
in Preston. “This is widespread in birds and we found it’s a perfectly natural
and healthy behaviour that’s part of their repertoire of sexual behaviours.”
Researchers historically tended to assume birds either did not masturbate or
did so only under the stress of captivity. But Heys said the behaviour was
quite common and distinctive. “I had a pet cockatiel that masturbated all the
time,” she said. “If you’ve ever seen a bird masturbate, you absolutely know
what that bird is doing.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
