Ask Lafeber

Is my budgie being aggressive or is this normal behavior?

I had two budgies: one girl and one boy which lived together for 5 years. The girl passed a few days ago and I felt bad that my bird was alone now so I went to the pet store and got him a friend, also a girl. They are in the same cage and have been for around 5 hours now. They stayed apart at first and then sat together for a long time, but every so often the boy sing songs in the new birds face, then tries to knock her off the perch but isn’t biting her or continuing to fight. Is this considered rejecting the new bird or is this normal and will pass with a little time? Now he is on one foot grooming and she is just sitting next to him with her eyes closed.

Hi,

You should never bring a new bird home and put it in a cage with another bird. The new bird could have a disease and get your old bird sick. If this new bird is a baby or really young bird, it should not be in a cage with a mature bird. Your bird is sexually mature and is already bullying this new bird. A female budgie should not be exposed to a male budgie until she is 18 months to 2 years old. He will try to make her breed and when she rejects him, he may kill her. And he may cause her to try to lay eggs while she is still too young. This can actually cause her to become egg bound and die. Sitting with her eyes closed is not good – she is either very stressed, or sick, or both. Please separate her and keep her apart from the male. If you want a new companion for him, you should return the bird and try to find a budgie that is 2 years or older. But if you keep this bird, you can’t cage them together for a year or more, depending on how young she is now. I’m sorry the pet store did not give you good advice.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda