Why is my bird spitting up water? Is it vomiting or regurgitating?

If Enzo was bobbing his head up and down, he was likely regurgitating. Birds do this to share food or feed their mates, chicks or owners. It is a high compliment if he regurgitated for you! Vomiting is a symptom of a sick bird and is characterized by a quick flicking of the head from side to side as ingesta is ejected. This requires veterinary attention.

Thanks for reaching out about Bulbul. Is this bird only 8 days old? Regurgitation is not normal, but could be due to over-feeding, a crop infection or impaction, sub-optimal husbandry, viral diseases, and other. Older birds are more likely to have eaten a foreign body, something toxic, metabolic diseases, and others. If continues to regurgitate, a veterinary visit is recommended. Good luck.

Thanks for including the picture of Kiwi. It seems like Kiwi is regurgitating. Parrots can regurgitated for multiple reasons: food sharing, stress, eating something noxious, ingestion of something toxic or due to infectious or metabolic illness (kidney, liver, etc.). With food sharing, they rarely shake their head and spray it everywhere. One of the other more common causes is eating items with lead or zinc, two soft metals, that affect the vomit center to cause the regurgitation. You'll have to investigate the environment and search for anything Kiwi might be chewing on. If you think that is the case, a visit to the veterinarian should provide a means of confirmation (radiographs) and then the treatment has a fairly good prognosis as long as it is caught fairly early. Providing heat support for an environment around 85-90 degrees will help to stimulate his immune system. But if he continues to regurgitate or become lethargic or anorectic, you need to visit your local avian veterinarian.

It can be normal for a bird to regurgitate food food or liquid from time to time so I would not be too overly concerned. If the regurgitation continues or Sunny stops wanting to eat and/or his stools are abnormal you may want to have him checked out. It sounds like in this instance that Sunny may have drank too much water too quickly and then regurgitated. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

Thanks for reaching out about Pudgie. Regurgitation can be behavioral but also possible illness such as metabolic disorders (liver, renal), toxicities (zinc, lead, plants, etc.), crop infections or impactions and more. A veterinary visit is recommended to assess and provide a diagnostic/treatment plan. Good luck.

Vomiting in birds can be caused by various diseases, the most common would be bacterial and fungal diseases. it could also be a foreign body ingestion. if the vomiting carries on i strongly recommend that you take Snow to an avian vet specialist in order to get it checked and treated.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I'm sorry your bird isn't feeling well! Vomiting and nasal discharge in birds can be a sign of bacterial or fungal infections, toxin ingestion, as well as damage to the crop (the area that stores food in the esophagus). I recommend having your bird seen by a vet as soon as possible to determine the underlying cause, provide stabilization and treatment as necessary.