Parrots are naturally curious birds that explore the world with their beaks, which leads them to swallow objects they shouldn’t. Although parrots rarely choke, since they swallow food whole, it can happen.
When a parrot chokes, identify what it’s choking on, giving it time to cough up a solid object. If it can’t do so, hold the parrot firmly, turn it upside down, and stimulate its jaws to work the object through.
Gently massage the parrot’s keel as some liquid will pass through as it coughs.
How To Help A Choking Parrot
Parrots can usually cough up blockages on their own. After cracking open the shell, they routinely swallow tough foods like seeds and nuts. They rarely choke but may need assistance if they do.
Here are some ways parrots can choke and how you should react:
Parrot Choking On Water
If a parrot chokes on water, it’s only a temporary blockage.
As a liquid, it’ll pass through any gap it can find. A parrot might have its airway blocked for a few seconds, but if it isn’t submerged in water, that liquid will drain away down the throat.
The parrot may cough and gag for a while as it regains access to its airway. It may also be coughing water out of its lungs and air sacs. However, this is a process that a parrot can resolve independently.
Avoid turning the parrot upside down or pressing on its keel because this only works for solid objects.
Parrot Choking On Food
If a parrot is choking on food or a solid object, this won’t pass as easily as water. Food may become trapped in the throat, blocking the airway partially or fully.
If a parrot is choking on food or broken pieces of a toy, here’s what you can do:
- Give the parrot time to cough. The parrot may remove the food itself, and intervening prematurely will stress out the parrot.
- Speak calmly and offer reassurance. The more relaxed you are, the more calmly the parrot will remove the blockage.
If choking on food lasts for more than 10 seconds, you should intervene:
- Place your hands around the parrot’s middle, holding it firmly, but don’t restrain its head.
- Lift the parrot and turn it upside down.
- Gravity and coughing will assist in forcing the object out.
If you don’t see an improvement, use one of these techniques:
- Apply some pressure to the keel (breastbone). Pressing gently will compress the area and dislodge the item, but do so carefully because you may damage the bone.
- Apply alternating pressure to the crop. This is the expandable pouch on the neck for food storage. Tap it with your finger, and the resulting pressure or shaking may clear the throat.
- Simulate regurgitation. Hold the beak between your fingers, applying enough pressure to simulate the same head-bobbing motion observed during regurgitation.
- A vet will advise you on how the parrot is choking and what it’s choking on.
Baby Parrot Choking on Formula
When a parrot eats soft food, like formula, it’s not choking on it. Baby parrots are choking on the water content, as they may have eaten too fast and aspirated water in the mix.
Food content is kept soft to avoid choking so it can’t get lodged in the throat. Once it begins coughing, the muscles contract and expand, moving the soft, gooey substance through.
The only exception is if you’ve overfed the parrot. According to AFA Watchbird, the feeding formula will have nowhere to go when the crop overfills.
Can You Give A Parrot The Heimlich Maneuver?
Never attempt to perform the Heimlich maneuver on a parrot.
The Heimlich maneuver stops asphyxiation in mammals. However, a parrot’s respiratory system differs, as they don’t have a diaphragm (the muscle that contracts to let in air and push it back out).
With land mammals, most use a diaphragm for breathing. Since parrots don’t have a diaphragm, the classic Heimlich maneuver is impossible.
The closest version is massaging the keel bone, which stimulates the airway. However, the keel shouldn’t be pushed forcefully because it’s a bone, not a muscle.
How To Tell If A Parrot Is Choking
The signs of a parrot choking are similar to a human’s reaction. After all, choking happens when something gets stuck in our trachea or esophagus.
A choking parrot will exhibit some (or all) of these signs:
- Opening its beak.
- Coughing.
- Gasping for breath.
- Bobbing its head.
- Wheezing.
- Extending its neck and elongating its body.
If the parrot’s throat is partially blocked, it may cough for a few seconds. Once the airway clears, it’ll continue to cough for a while but still draw in breath.
The coughing should subside after a few minutes.
How To Tell If A Parrot Is Choking To Death
If the parrot’s airway is blocked, it may be incapable of sound. If so, it can only:
- Extend its neck and body.
- Head bob.
- Flap its wings.
- Appear distressed.
Extending its neck and body shows the parrot is struggling to clear out the object. It’s trying to stretch its throat to get the object to move.
If a parrot only does this for a few seconds and stops, it may have cleared the blockage. Now it’ll cough for a few seconds or minutes and be fine.
If the parrot extends its neck or stretches out several times, it’s still choking and needs assistance.
Things Parrots Choke On
While parrots are skilled at eating sharp or clunky objects without choking, it does happen.
Here are the common items that parrots choke on:
Broken Toys
As a parrot plays with its toy, it may break off a piece. This is most likely for thick plastic toys, leftover bones, or pieces of wood.
While most parrots know better than to eat the fragments, some may swallow them accidentally, which is common in toys with buttons, beads, or rubber parts.
Parrots avoid eating bone fragments by picking out the marrow. However, a young parrot may still be learning this survival tactic.
Tough Food
If you feed your parrot nuts, a parrot will enjoy pulling them apart. This can be healthy and fun enrichment, but it poses some dangers.
The parrot might crack off a piece and swallow it. If it gets lodged, the parrot will choke.
Jewelry
Parrots are curious and playful, picking up anything within their reach. Beware of loose buttons, small ornaments, and jewelry. Beads off a necklace or earring could end up stuck in the throat.
Water
The parrot may aspirate water if it tries to talk, whistle, or move around while drinking. This is the least dangerous choking, but it’s still uncomfortable.
Is My Parrot Choking or Something Else?
Even if it seems like choking, a parrot may be doing something entirely different. Birds have a variety of habits and behaviors that can be confused with choking.
Things Mistaken for Choking
If a parrot seems to be choking but isn’t, it might be:
Crop Adjusting
Sometimes parrots rearrange their crops. As mentioned, the crop (ingluvies) is a muscular pouch in the parrot’s throat that temporarily stores food.
The parrot can store food more comfortably by shifting its contents around. If this happens, you’ll likely observe strange head and neck movements.
Regurgitating
Parrots regurgitate to eject food, which is an entirely natural behavior.
It’s a way for a parrot to feed its young or show affection and love to other parrots (or you). A regurgitating parrot won’t show signs of stress as it is a conscious action.
To initiate regurgitation, parrots will:
- Extend and retract their necks quickly.
- Make a clicking or gagging noise.
Regurgitated food comes from the crop, not the stomach.
Vomiting
Vomiting is the involuntary discharge of food. If a parrot is vomiting bile, it might be hard to notice the contents coming up. Instead, you’ll think it’s choking.
The parrot might involuntarily bob its head before or during vomiting.
Infection
If a parrot has a respiratory infection, it may begin to cough regularly. Avian respiratory infections can occur for many reasons and can be life-threatening.
Food Poisoning
While they know better than to eat spoiled food, parrots may eat toxic food. This usually happens when owners give their parrots a treat without realizing it’s unsafe for their species.
When a parrot is poisoned, it’ll struggle to breathe with its beak open wide.
Coughing
Parrots cough for many reasons, not just because they’re choking. It may be:
- Clearing its throat after eating or drinking.
- Readjusting its crop.
- Mimicking human behavior.
A parrot’s cough can be loud and audible, with an uncanny resemblance to a human cough. It can also be quiet and subtle, making it hard to hear, so it’ll sound more like a soft chirping.
Can Parrots Choke To Death?
If a parrot eats something that fits in the beak but is too large for its throat, it’ll get stuck.
Once the food becomes lodged in the trachea, oxygen is cut off, and air will no longer be able to reach the air sacs around its body.
While it’s theoretically possible for a bird to choke to death, it’s extremely rare.
A vet will take action to remove the blockage. If the parrot can’t breathe, they’ll insert an abdominal air sac tube for temporary respiration until the (partial) blockage is removed.
After the parrot has stopped choking and its airways have been cleared, the vet will check for damage. This is done by conducting an endoscopy to verify the integrity of its internal organs.
