Preening is when they rub their head all over to spread the oil from their glands, and when they clean their feathers, pulling and straightening them up. It's their way of cleaning themselves.
Flapping their wings in this way is not preening.
<taken from wordpress.com/magicalmallards>
*just a theory*
"Here’s my theory. We know wing twitching helps a duck to thermoregulate. It’s common to see ducks flapping and twitching their wings in summer when the weather is hot. But who’s to say Quakie doesn’t feel warm in the cool springtime weather? Her body is undergoing rapid changes – she is producing one egg per day, each egg weighing some 40g, from her tiny little body (an average wild mallard female weighs only 1.1kg). If she lays a nest of 12 eggs, that would be producing almost half her body weight worth of eggs in 12 days! Her body must be in overdrive and her metabolism is going full throttle. It wouldn’t surprise me she is feeling hot, just like we do when we do intense exercise or activity that increases our metabolism."
OR
It could be this, from<animals.mom.me>
Molting Process
Molting is a natural process for birds, similar to shedding in dogs and cats. When birds molt, they essentially switch out old feathers with brand new ones. If your pet bird is molting, you might see a lot of wing flipping action on his part as the replacement plumage starts coming in. This is how they deal with the itchiness that molting often brings.
But all say its weird, and that it is not preening.
Flapping their wings in this way is not preening.
<taken from wordpress.com/magicalmallards>
*just a theory*
"Here’s my theory. We know wing twitching helps a duck to thermoregulate. It’s common to see ducks flapping and twitching their wings in summer when the weather is hot. But who’s to say Quakie doesn’t feel warm in the cool springtime weather? Her body is undergoing rapid changes – she is producing one egg per day, each egg weighing some 40g, from her tiny little body (an average wild mallard female weighs only 1.1kg). If she lays a nest of 12 eggs, that would be producing almost half her body weight worth of eggs in 12 days! Her body must be in overdrive and her metabolism is going full throttle. It wouldn’t surprise me she is feeling hot, just like we do when we do intense exercise or activity that increases our metabolism."
OR
It could be this, from<animals.mom.me>
Molting Process
Molting is a natural process for birds, similar to shedding in dogs and cats. When birds molt, they essentially switch out old feathers with brand new ones. If your pet bird is molting, you might see a lot of wing flipping action on his part as the replacement plumage starts coming in. This is how they deal with the itchiness that molting often brings.
But all say its weird, and that it is not preening.
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Just piping in here to add, I'd scrub the wounds good and gently squeeze them to make sure there isn't an abscess brewing under the skin. That can cause pain and itching too.
