one year old female cockatiel, healthy, recently she will display mating stance to me. she has bonded to me, but just started this behavior. I rarely touch her (she doesn’t like me scratching her head), but we are always together. is there anything else besides ignoring the behavior that I should be doing? she eats well, and flies to me for treats (millet).
Hi Rick,
Birds will get hormonal at times, even when we do everything we can to avoid triggers. Female cockatiels are especially bad about this, and notorious for becoming chronic egg layers. One factor here is that she is a year old, and just becoming sexually mature. However, if she were for breeding, you wouldn’t want her to breed until she is 2 or older. If she has a lot of freedom, being out of the cage most of the time plus she is fully flighted, this can contribute to hormonal behavior. She feels like she has places to choose from as a nesting site. Make sure she doesn’t crawl into cozy places or get under things. If she tries to establish a nesting area, block it off. If she chooses somewhere in her cage, hang toys where they are in the way. Try limiting her light to 8-10 per day by covering her cage early in the evening. Rearrange toys in her cage and move her cage to other spots in the room about once a week. This prevents her from having a stable nesting area. And as you are doing, ignore the behavior. Distract her with toys if you can. But don’t let her shred anything like paper or cardboard. Our webinar this Friday is all about hormonal triggers, so be sure to tune in!
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
