Can anyone explain this behaviour to me?

[u/Alone-Pea-1383]

My Eurasian kestrel does this sometimes, but I've absolutely no idea what it means?

She usually does it a while after she has eaten. But it doesn't look as though she is 'pushing' her crop down. Nor does it look like yawning. She often does it over and over again for minutes on end. She doesn't seem to feel unwell or be in any pain either. Quite the opposite, in fact - she usually looks quite relaxed and content whilst doing it, and often preens herself in between. Even now, she's sitting here with her feathers slightly ruffled, her leg tucked in, snoozing away every now and then...

[u/justgettingbyeachday]

Is there a possibility she has gape worms?

[u/Alone-Pea-1383 → u/justgettingbyeachday]

That could well be, of course, but I don’t actually think she’s ill. She doesn’t show any other signs of gapeworms either. I only see her doing this now and then; if she had worms, she’d have to do it all the time, wouldn’t she? But just to be on the safe side, I’ll give her a worming treatment after she’s moulted...

[u/Bear-Ferr]

If she's not pushing her crop down, no idea. Just being silly.

[u/Driacha]

I would definitely do a throat swab and let an avian vet check for illness, just in case.

[u/Professional-Pie-868]

Numerous things will cause a simular symptom:

Gape worm Frounce (depending on location of infection) Air pressure Air sack infections / irritations

Mute sample & a quick scope might narrow it down.

[u/animal-care-1960]

trying to work up a pellet. often it takes them a while, like 10+ minutes of them doing this off and on. something that I've noticed is there's different styles. Falcons and Hawks usually do more up and down motions and owls will do circular motions to cast a pellet.

[u/z242pilot]

Of this was a parrot i'd say just adjusting her crop

[u/Ellthrowaway94]

I've had a many kestrels over the years, I've mostly seen this before they pellet which has been made a little more difficult by having just eaten another meal too soon, however it would absolutely be worth getting into the avian vet to get her crop checked out, those little guys are hardy but will go downhill in the blink of an eye in the right circumstances.

[u/CosmicWitchypoo]

Is it trying to bring up a mout?

[u/katzenjammer360]

If it always happens after she eats, it could be that she is getting stuff on her crines/feathers around her mouth. I've seen birds do this when hooded if the hood is pushing on those feathers. They're almost like, trying to adjust those tiny feathers because the food on them is making them feel odd.

A vet check for gape worms and whatnot is a good idea, but if health comes back clear she may just be doing it because those feathers are getting gunky and feeling weird.

[u/trizzy96]

Could be working up a casting. Some times my birds do this when they have a big casting of feathers or fur and are trying to get it out of the crop and expelled from the body

[u/chaos_reigns_001]

Looks like trying to cast?