Ask Lafeber

Parrot hormones

As parrots mature can they become sexually active and if so what can I do to prevent sexual frustration?

Hi Amir,

Parrots can get hormonal when they reach maturity. The age depends on the species, with smaller birds becoming mature at an earlier age than larger species. There are things you can do to minimize hormonal behavior and this is to avoid hormone triggers. They do not go into automatic heat cycles. Hormones are triggered by environmental and physical triggers. In the wild, hormones are triggered when breeding season arrives. This is when the days are longer, weather is warmer, food is abundant and they have a safe place to nest – and of course a bonded mate. In captivity, we have learned that when handling our pet birds, it is best to limit any petting to the head. Only a mate is allowed to have physical contact with the body, so when we pet our birds on the back, chest or around the tail, it can send the message that we are the mate and trigger the bird’s hormones. We need to have the type bond that a flock mate would have, which means limiting pets to the head and neck. It’s also best to never provide a nest or anything that can be used as a nest – no boxes, bird huts or tents, nothing they can get inside of. The same goes for being out of the cage – don’t let your bird get into dark cozy areas like a shelf or underneath something. If your bird does get hormonal, you might not be able to handle it for a short time until the hormones settle back down. You can limit light to 8-10 hours per day by covering the cage early in the evening. You can also keep the cage in a busy area of the house where he sees people all the time. We hosted a 2 part webinar on parrots and hormones, so I would recommend watching those on our youtube channel. Here are the links:

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda