Ask Lafeber

Hormonal Behaviour in Alexandrine

Hi,
Recently my Alexandrine has been showing some weird behaviour. Mostly he is standing on top of his cage. Whenever my family members approach him, he first goes close to them and then slowly walks to the other end of the cage, far away (he also has started doing this with me). He also steps up on hands when offered a safflower seed. He never used to do these things until a week ago. Today I introduced him to one of those toys which have some weight at the bottom so when pushed they stand right up. He was playing with it for a while and sometime later I saw him flashing his eyes doing what those male ringnecks do in YouTube videos nowadays. I have snatched that toy away from him. Is this hormonal behaviour and what should I do about it? Does it indicate that he is a male as females just become flat during hormonal changes (as i observed with my former ringnecks). I can send you a video if you want to.

Thanks!

Hi,

He’s young for it to be hormonal, but it could be since captive bred birds seem to mature too quickly. You were right to take the toy away. Not only do a lot of birds seem to favor that toy when hormones kick in, but the weight inside contains lead and can poison him if he breaks the toy open or puts it in his water. You can try emailing the video just as you sent the pics. If it isn’t too large it should come through – we do get videos sometimes. If he starting to mature some, then the next molt might reveal more about his gender!

Thanks for the update,

Brenda