Ask Lafeber

cockatiel aggression

I have two rescued male Cockatiels who became bonded. One bird is extremely aggressive and will attack me even if I am not close to their cage. Is there anything I can do to ameliorate the situation?

Hi Barbara,

I’m sorry we didn’t get to your question during the May 8 Webinar, but Dr. Lamb did answer live during the May 15 webinar – please view using the link below.

In most cases if birds are caged together, even if they are the same sex, they will tend to bond with each other rather than remain tame with people. You can try to make it work, but generally you end up having to separate them if you want the birds to be tame pets. Otherwise, there are ways to deter the aggression by trying to remove hormonal trigger, which Dr. Lamb describes in her reply to your question. If the aggression continues, but you plan to leave the birds together anyway, mainly you need to be sure the aggressive bird does not turn his aggression onto the other bird. In the wild if a rival were to approach, the male would behave as you describe. But if he can’t drive the rival away, he will often attack the female to force her back into the nest.

Webinar: “Pet Birds & Hormonal Behavior: Part 2!”

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda