Does anyone understand this behavior?

[kme3388]

My jenday conure (dna tested female) has been doing this for hours each day. There are pellets in 2 of these bowls. She turns them to powder. It almost looks like she is trying to lay an egg. Has anyone else came across this? Thoughts?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

She may be exploring the bowl as a nesting site. Is the other bird a male? If so, unless you want to breed them I would separate them.

 

[kme3388]

She may be exploring the bowl as a nesting site. Is the other bird a male? If so, unless you want to breed them I would separate them.

Yes, the other parrot is a male sun conure. She has been doing this for 3-4 months now, and everyday. Beforehand she never did this. I did just start caging them together 6 months ago.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Are you prepared to breed them? If do, you will need to get them the right nestbox. If not. You really shouldn't house them together. She will lay eggs anywhere she can. Has he been "courting" her? Feeding her, grooming her, sitting next to each other? Has he tried to put his foot on her back? If so, mating will follow.

 

[kme3388]

Are you prepared to breed them? If do, you will need to get them the right nestbox. If not. You really shouldn't house them together. She will lay eggs anywhere she can. Has he been "courting" her? Feeding her, grooming her, sitting next to each other? Has he tried to put his foot on her back? If so, mating will follow.

Yeah my husband just separated them. We feel so terrible as they sleep together, and do all of the above things you listed. However with this food situation, and the fact that they have become rather mean we thought we would put the divider in. I feel like a terrible person. They are bonded

 

[DonnaBudgie]

It is a bummer when birds start doing the breeding thing and you have to separate them. I always tell people to avoid getting opposite sexes of the same species because if they are healthy and well fed, eventually they will be driven to make baby birds. I'm constantly trying to prevent my budgies from breeding because once a pair starts its very hard to stop them without separating the pair.

 

[JjEjFjF]

The video is so short i cant see exactly what shes doing. My conures will stir their food. I give them a seed/grain/pellet mix. They stir their food to get to what they want to pick out. Thats what it looked like to me.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Yes, the other parrot is a male sun conure. She has been doing this for 3-4 months now, and everyday. Beforehand she never did this. I did just start caging them together 6 months ago.

Are they doing anything else suspicious other than the food dish digging and sleeping close? Does she bend forward and quiver her wings? The foot on the back? If all she's doing is dish digging and sleeping close I wouldn’t rush to separate them. The foot on the back is the closest to actually mating.

 

[kme3388]

She is digging, crushing up all of the pellets into powder, making noises clucking noises, and her claws look like she is digging at her vent. She is making it so Charlie, or herself can’t eat. These two parrots are mating daily, and have been for awhile. We did separate them for now. They can still see each other as there is just a divider in there. We still let them out daily together. They just won’t be in a cage all day together to see if this can’t calm down some. The pellet dust is also all over her. In her eyes, and everything. I feel like I didn’t have much of a choice. I don’t think these two are going to give up breeding, and I myself have no intentions on having babies. I already had the fake eggs ready to go. It’s not because I’m mean it’s because of the amount of parrots that are sitting in shelters. I don’t want to contribute to the problem.

 

[kme3388]

The video is so short i cant see exactly what shes doing. My conures will stir their food. I give them a seed/grain/pellet mix. They stir their food to get to what they want to pick out. Thats what it looked like to me.

It really is short. It has to stay under 5 seconds or it won’t post.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

She is digging, crushing up all of the pellets into powder, making noises clucking noises, and her claws look like she is digging at her vent. She is making it so Charlie, or herself can’t eat. These two parrots are mating daily, and have been for awhile. We did separate them for now. They can still see each other as there is just a divider in there. We still let them out daily together. They just won’t be in a cage all day together to see if this can’t calm down some. The pellet dust is also all over her. In her eyes, and everything. I feel like I didn’t have much of a choice. I don’t think these two are going to give up breeding, and I myself have no intentions on having babies. I already had the fake eggs ready to go. It’s not because I’m mean it’s because of the amount of parrots that are sitting in shelters. I don’t want to contribute to the problem.

You're doing the right thing. I know its hard.

 

[chris-md]

Yeah, I can’t explain it other than the fixation and tail display, but this feels hormonal to me.

So no Sunday babies?

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Don't think it's mean to stop them from breeding. They don't breed because they want to- they're compelled by hormones. They don't know even what they are doing. They don't know what eggs are until they lay them and are compelled to inbubate them. They don't know what babies are until they hatch and they're driven to feed them. It's amazing they even know what to do, the instinct is so strong. I had a pair of budgies breeding from June to October last year and they raised two clutches of chicks (only 2 in each). They were starting round three when I took away the nestbox and separated them because they were not going to stop until the female died from overbreeding. That's how strong the drive is.
Breeding is very hard on the birds. Females can get egg bound and die. Feeding babies is exhausting for both parents. You are doing them a favor by not allowing them to breed.

 

[wrench13]

I have found and observed that after 2 relatively mild mating seasons here in North America, this years is especially strong. Salty has been driven to actively and relentlessly seek out dark hidey spots all around the house, which is totally new behavior for him, at 9 years of age. He;s had strong seasons before, which manifested in deep mood swings and bites, but not this new behavior. Also this year he's been exceptionally loud and long!

I wish I knew the external triggers, aside from the ones we commonly understand, that cause this variability from year to year! 40+ years ago, when my brother and I received a grant to study mating behavior and triggers in Burmese Rock Pythons, our theory was that temperature, humidity AND barometric pressure cycles were the main drivers, and the hermetically sealed huge tanks we made to control these were where the grant money went. Unfortunately the grant money dried up after a few years and we never did get conclusive data (and no baby snakes). But I suspect those (birds being so related to reptiles) are involved with parrots along with other factors. Birds unique Geo positioning abilities and others including olfactory and unique visual acuity to spectrum we cannot easily access could be involved in the variability. And then there is the acceptability of available mates to consider too; look at Merlin and Luna, 2 Amazons, same species, housed together for years and although I believe Merlin is willing Luna is not. As professional breeders know, the presence of male and female does not guarantee successful mating. More, careful and controlled study from the scientific aviculture community is needed ! Cornell University, are you listening?