Bobbing and weaving, it dodges journalists' questions like a boxer does blows, scratching around for any excuse not to comment.
All you get is the unblinking stare of a tilted head. This bird's cage will not be rattled.
It is left to Stuart Aitken to explain the pesky poultry's attitude problem.
''They are dags, aren't they?'' he grins, wrestling the sour silkie from its cage with a gruff ''settle down''.
''The kids love them because of how they look.''
Well, maybe. But looks will only get you so far. There were plenty of other fish in the sea, or birds in cages, at the Dunedin Poultry, Pigeon and Cage Bird Club's 37th annual show over the weekend. Six hundred and thirty-seven of them actually, Mr Aitken, the club's president, said.
This year's show had attracted breeders and their birds from around New Zealand to compete for top honours, he said.
That included the ultimate title of ''best bird'', which this year went to a white pekin bred by Rosa and Serena Sangster, of Mosgiel.
Despite the glory, Mr Aitken said bird-breeding was a stagnant art that faced a precarious future.
Older members were disappearing and there were few youngsters prepared to take their place.
''Stagnated would be the word, and as us guys get older it's going to go down,'' he said.
''It's a shame, because it's a lovely hobby.''
Even so, show season still saw breeders travelling the length of the country between May and July to display and sell their best birds.
That was when freshly moulted birds' plumage was at its finest, helped along by loving care and attention, a healthy diet and a well-maintained home, to ensure they were in peak condition.
And, once show time came, competition was fierce, he said.
''Everybody thinks they've got the best bird. It's up to the judges to decide - and then the questioning starts.''
