Ask Lafeber

Cockatiel

My male bird , about 18months old has become vicious just recently…by this I mean when he’s out for his fly (wing not cut) he will stand on a lounge chair hunched up and leap at me beak open and fly at me. I have managed to turn and he lands on my back . Tries to back and then flies off. He will often after talking and whistling to each other .. lunge forward at the cafe bars beak open and his ms to bite . …. now we have the most dreadful time getting him back into his cage . I feel he’s very frustrated and angry . He often squeals a very high pitch single note squeal after the sessions .
Please help

Hi Annette,

Welcome to hormonal behavior! And yes, he is frustrated and angry. Fortunately, this is usually seasonal and he will be back to his regular self very soon. I would not recommend allowing him out to fly until he settles down. Being confined to his cage is possibly enough to stop his desire to breed. When you can handle him again, it is best to limit any petting to his head only. Petting him on his body sends him the signal that you are a potential mate, so then he gets hormonal and then gets frustrated because you are not a bird. Along with keeping him caged for now, you can limit his exposure to light by covering his cage early in the evening and leaving him covered for at least 12 hours of darkness to sleep. Longer days are one of the first triggers for breeding. Hopefully the weather will cool down soon and the days are already getting shorter so he should be settling back down soon. And if not, while flying is great exercise, you may try having his wings trimmed because this almost always changes their attitude back to being gentle. Some pet birds do not do well if they can fly and become aggressive because they feel dominant and not reliant on humans.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda