Ask Lafeber

Male cockatiel sometimes panics in the cage while female is inside nesting box incubating eggs

Hello.
I have a pair of cockatiels of which female is hand tamed..pair bonded so we never interacted with her afterwards and now since last 3 days they were going to the box ..i checked and they have an egg. They are incubating but i am worried about their two behaviours.
1. I sometimes hear sound inside the box which sounds like birds are playing football with their eggs and eggs hit the box walls ? Would they be playing with thier eggs ?
2. Sometimes while female is inside incubating eggs ..male comes out into the cage and panics and goes from here and there shouting ..feels like its worried of some thing bad that has happened..? Why is it so ? He then settles down after sometime.
Plz help me understanding this and let me know if anything is wrong…
Thanks a lot.

Hi Hassan,

Since this is their first clutch of eggs, everything is a learning experience for them. I do want to remind you that first clutches are rarely successful for this very reason. But leave them alone because they need to learn in order to be successful in the future. The adults will turn the eggs regularly and this may be what you are hearing. While both parents will sit on the eggs together at first, generally they end up taking turns with the male sitting on the eggs during the day and the female at night. The male will guard the box when the female is inside. This is what he is doing when he comes out of the box and acts the way he is acting. He is warning any possible predators to stay away. He is not likely to harm the female, however if he does attack her, he needs to be removed and probably will not be a good breeder.

For now, give them as much privacy as you can because anytime you can be seen it is a distraction and a threat. It is possible they will break the eggs, or not sit on them correctly or they may not be fertile. But let them go through the process to get some practice. If this clutch fails, let them try again. After that, remove the nest box and let them rest from breeding for a few months, whether the second try is a success or not. Because cockatiels will breed year round in captivity, it is your responsibility to remove the box and force them to rest after a successful clutch or after a couple of failed tries.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda