Hi,
This is typical behavior for a bird this age. And she may not change her behavior towards others. Cockatiels are a wild species of bird with all of their wild instincts, even when captive bred. In the wild, once a bird is old enough to find a mate, they no longer have physical contact with the other flock members. She is starting to view you as a mate, and doesn’t want your husband around – she is trying to warn him and drive him off. Be careful how you interact with her, because you don’t want a mate type bond. It’s hard enough to prevent unwanted egg laying – female cockatiels are notorious chronic egg layers. And that brings about new problems. I’ll give you a list of things to avoid and change with her, to maintain a companion bond and not have her see you as a mate. Your husband should continue to get her out when you are not around to try to keep her from becoming a one person bird. And while we highly recommend not clipping wings, sometimes with a cockatiel, a light clip can help stem the aggressive behavior and nesting instinct.
Keep in mind that in the wild for breeding, they need longer daylight, warmer weather, abundant food, and a quiet, private environment. The goal is to reverse these conditions.
Limit her light to 8-10 hours by covering the cage early each evening
Do not give her anything to use as a nest – no bird huts or tents, no box, bowl, etc. If she decides to sit in a food bowl, remove it and replace with smaller cups.
Do not give her anything to shred such as paper or cardboard.
Rearrange the toys in the cage frequently.
Move the cage to a different place in the room. Move the cage about once a week, or whenever she show signs of nesting – settling on the cage floor for example. This disrupts her idea of having a stable place to lay eggs and raise chicks.
If you feed a lot of fresh foods, stop offering any for a couple of weeks, and then only offer them in small amounts about 2 or 3 times a week. You can resume normal feeding later when the birds aren’t being hormonal.
When she is let out of the cage, do not let her get in any dark cozy places and don’t give her free roam. When you let her roam around, this mimics searching for a nesting site.
When you handle her, limit any petting to only the head and neck – do not pet a bird on the body. Only a bonded mate is allowed to groom the body. We can’t be a mate, so touching the body is off limits.
If there is no metal floor grate, then do not use any bedding or paper in the cage tray – leave it bare and clean it daily.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda
