[header] How to understand your bird's body language [title] Look for preening behavior. [step] Birds are typically very clean creatures and they spend a lot of time cleaning, preening, and grooming their feathers. This is natural self-care behavior that is important for birds to do. 
[substeps] While preening, birds straighten out their feathers by pulling them through their beaks. This allows them to pull out dislodged feathers, clean out pests and debris, and spread preening oil across their feathers.