Ask Lafeber

Frisky Male Lovebird

Spring is here and my male lovebird is now wriggling himself on soft “protruding” surfaces. This goes on for a while until he chirps, stops, and then pants heavily for a few minutes. He may repeat another one or two times in a row. Is it okay to leave him alone and let him continue this behavior or should I discourage it ? I’m not sure what’s healthy in terms of the amount of times/day male birds should be conducting this behavior. Sort of an embarrassing question, but I want to make sure he remains healthy so want to do the right thing.

Hi MJ,

This does happen with male birds and generally is fine. If he is obsessed with one particular object, then you can remove it. If he had a mate, they would mate often, and even once she starts to lay eggs since each egg must be fertilized. It is more of a problem if he starts to feed items. Male lovebirds can become obsessed with regurgitating for objects and this can compromise their nutrition if they keep it up obsessively. If his mating behavior continues, try moving the cage to another place in the room to disrupt his routine. You can also try distracting him when he does this. Again, he should get through this cycle soon and stop on his own.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda