Ask Lafeber

Lovebirds – Bonded Pair Overpreening

I have two male lovebirds that I adopted last September. They have been together for about 4 or 5 years since they hatched. They are brothers. The foster mom mentioned that the one overpreens the other and he has a bald spot on his head. They are out in the office with me and I can see the one pulling the feathers from the others head and I hear him squeak when he does it. I have just started separating them at night but they are out most of the day with me together with each other, they have plenty of toys so I am not sure why they would be stressed or bored. I give them Harrison’s pellets as food and snap peas or broccoletti at lunch time. Not sure what else I can do to stop him from pulling his brothers head feathers.

Hi,

Something like overpreening is not related to boredom or anything like that. It could be hormonal. But this happens with bonded male & female pairs, too. As long as no blood is being drawn and the birds get along otherwise, I wouldn’t worry about it. They are probably happier being together, even if one is bald, than being separated.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda