Ask Lafeber

Male and female cockatiel behaviour

Hi! I have had a cockatiel which is a male for 3 months and I thought of buying a partner for him cuz I cant always have time for him and it would be better if he had a friend that can keep him happy. So I bought a female and they were both lutino cockatiels and she had dots and stripes under her wings and tails.. after 1 or 2 months this strange behaviour started happening in my female tiel. She started singing and dancing infront of the male and started disturbing him. He tries to run and stay away from her and she does this every day, every time. It became 5 months since this is happening. I wonder if u could help me. They never showed any signs of love to each other. Thanks!!

Hi,

When you have a bird as a pet, getting it a “friend” to live in the same cage is not a good idea. And adding the opposite sex is eventually going to result in the birds bonding with each other and becoming breeder birds, which means no more handling. The female is interested in breeding and the male is not right now. He may still be too young – he should be at least two and she should be closer to three years – or he may be bonded with you still and doesn’t understand what she wants. If you want him to remain as a pet that you can handle, then you need to remove the female and give her a cage of her own. Otherwise they will eventually bond and you will lose your pet bird.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda