Eye pinning: The secret way your chicken says, “I love you”
When I walked outside, my little Ameraucana, Edy Bea, sprinted over to see me. I squatted down so she could jump in my lap, and as she looked into my eyes, her pupils were doing the craziest thing.
Her pupils were dilating to an enormous size and then constricting to a teeny tiny size—they were doing this action very quickly and over and over again.
I thought she was dying.
Edy Bea is a cross beak, which means she was born with a slightly squished skull, causing her upper and lower beak to misalign. I thought maybe now that she was full-grown, something in that squished head was pressing on her optic nerve, damaging it and maybe her brain too. Or maybe she had a tumor.
I feared the worst.
So, my heart heavy, I did what we all do—I Googled it. And I came across the term “eye pinning,” also called “eye flashing,” which is a common behavior in parrots.
You can see what this looks like in the video of the parrot below.
Edy Bea’s eyes were doing a similar thing to what you see in the parrot above—except her eye movement was more intense. Could she simply be eye pinning the way parrots do? Or was it something else?
I had to find out more.
What exactly is eye pinning?
Eye pinning, or eye flashing, is when a bird’s pupils rapidly dilate and constrict. The bird’s eyes may do this for only a second, or it could last for minutes. This action can be voluntary or involuntary.
Why do birds practice eye pinning?
Eye pinning is a form of communication.
Parrots of all kinds are famous for it. Basically, when a bird eye pins, it means he’s excited. This could be good excitement, like when he’s excited to see you, excited to play with a toy, or excited for a treat.
Or it could be bad excitement—for example, many parrots will eye pin when they’re feeling aggressive and about to bite.
Parrots are also known to eye pin when they’re concentrating, when they’re about to talk, and when they hear their favorite words—not all words, just their favorites (again, they’re feeling excitement). These eye effects have been measured scientifically by Gregory and Hopkins (1974).
You can see an adorable example of eye pinning in the Parakeet below. This bird is clearly really happy about being touched by her owner, and she’s eye pinning to show her enjoyment.
So parrots eye pin, sure, but do chickens actually eye pin?
When I was worried about Edy Bea’s crazy pupil dilation and constriction, this is exactly what I had to find out. I looked through the academic literature, through every poultry book I owned (academic and otherwise), and I even desperately pored through the chicken forums.
Nothing. There was nothing.
So I emailed an avian vet, and he assured me that, yes, chickens communicate with eye pinning too, and they do it for the same reasons as parrots. It means they’re uber-excited!
That means that chickens may eye pin when they’re feeling excited in a negative way, such as when they’re feeling scared or aggressive. But it also means they may eye pin in a positive way, like when they’re feeling elated… or feeling love!
Chickens may eye pin when they’re anticipating a treat, or, like some of my hens, they may do it when they’re just chilling on your lap and you happen to get eye contact for a moment.
In that case, I like to think my hens are telling me they love me. At the very least, they’re communicating they’re really happy to be with me.
And now that I’m familiar with eye pinning, I notice it more and more. Most of my hens do it more subtly than Edy Bea. Typically, they’ll make eye contact and dilate and constrict their pupils two or three times, and that’s it for a while. But that’s enough to make my heart melt a little.
I just wish I could do it back.
What does eye pinning look like in a chicken?
Did you think I was going to leave you hanging without a video?
Well, I am disappointed to say that I have been unable to capture Edy Bea’s ultra-wild eye pinning on my camera. She got camera shy when I tried, and no amount of begging would change her mind (or cuddling, or baby-talking, which usually works).
And I can’t blame her—I feel the same way in front of the camera.
BUT I did get a video of her eye pinning in a less intense way.
When I shot the video below, Edy Bea had just finished her bath (she gets covered in wet food and needs to be bathed weekly). She hates the baths, but she loves the blow-dry and grooming that follows.
In this video, she’s sitting on my lap being blow-dried (we took a break for the video). She’s giving me solid eye contact here, and she’s eye pinning to communicate how happy she is. You’ll see that when I talk to her, she eye pins back to me in response.
And sorry, guys, but the camera focused on the wall behind Edy, so she’s a bit out of focus. Yeah, I’m a total amateur, but you can still see the eye pinning.
If that’s not love…
Do your chickens eye pin too?
Now you know what to watch out for! Next time you’re interacting with your chickens, pay close attention to their pupils. Look for those little flashes when your eyes lock.
And then be sure to say, “I love you too.”
Pin this article for later!
Sources
Gregory, R. and Hopkins, P., “Pupils of a talking parrot.” Nature, v. 252, 1974, p. 637-638.
Schwartz, D., “Understanding your parrot’s body language.” Exotic Direct, 2018.
Womach, Jamieleigh, “Parrot eye pinning and what it means.” Bird Tricks, 2011.