Mating Dance

[roxynoodle]

I adopted a 28 year old Yellow Crown 3 weeks ago. He was with the same owner all that time, but we don't know if this is a male or female. Last Sunday he began doing the mating dance. He (or she) usually does it once a day, generally in the afternoon. Do only males do this, or do females do it as well?

He is also putting other romantic moves on me as well, though nothing to get too worked up about. He has been going to the bottom of the cage and trying to entice me over by saying in a deep voice, "Hello, dear. Come here." It's actually pretty funny due to the voice he uses. The rest of the time he speaks in a high voice. I've been advised to kind of ignore him when he's doing these things, so I have. And I praise him for everything else he does to make friends.

I guess Amazon mating season is starting based on the other threads I see here regarding hormonal behavior. I'm guessing he isn't too bad since he did manage to keep the same home for nearly 3 decades.

Is there anything else I should watch out for? I've also been advised not to let him under furniture or anywhere else dark, and to watch for him trying to drive me to a dark (nesting) area.

I've only had female conures, one of which flirts with men, but not me, lol! My other male birds were budgies and not much problem at all.

 

[merlinsmom13]

LOL, Hello dear. He's a smooth one. Merlin had his first "season" this year. He did a little "strut dance", ususally directed to my feet. I did not allow this, I ignored & walked away from any behavior like this. He was also a little hostile towards my husband, usually when we were the same room together w/him.

My husband took over the feeding & the treats to sweeten him up. We controlled how much time we spent w/him together when he was out of the cage. We also made sure he got more sleep, I've read that its a myth that you can fool him into thinking its not mating season. But a well rested bird is not as cranky, so it worked for me.

I've read that older 'zons are milder, someone w/more experience could tell you more.

 

[roxynoodle]

This is what he's doing: he dances from one foot to the other, quivers his wings, makes regurgitation bobs and clucks like a chicken. The first time I was scared that something was wrong with him. Then due to the regurgitation motions, I said, hmm, I think this is hormonal. I then found several videos on youtube of other Amazons doing this as well.

My conure never makes a mistake between men and women. She has never flirted with me nor any of my female friends or relatives. She flirts with almost every man she sees though.

So does this behavior on Pete's part mean he is a male? Or not necessarily? We do know there's never been any egg laying, but my female conures have never laid eggs either so to me that isn't telling.

 

[Remy]

LOL! He's a very smooooth talker! At least he's polite!

Puck regularly tries to mate with me (female) and my boyfriend. He does the the "boy way" though, which means that his tail goes down when he does it; as opposed to going up when a girl bird tries to do it. Of course we discourage it, but he keeps trying! Lol. I'm lucky he doesn't get possessive of people.

I don't think that this behavior necessarily means he's male, although it does sound male-ish, but you couldn't be positive. I know that with some species of birds, the male prepares the nest, and then goes and gets a female. And I think the males typically do the dancing, although I don't know if girl parrots do. The best way to be sure would be to get a DNA test.

 

[roxynoodle]

Yes, he's a very smooth talker. I wish I had a video camera to tape it because I think you would all enjoy it as well.

I was hoping someone could tell me though if the mating dance is a male behavior or if both genders do it. At first I figured it was a male only behavior because it generally is in other types of birds, but I haven't been able to find any definitive answer on that.

The bird is named Pete so if he turns out to be a Pita, there could be an identity crisis, lol! He hasn't mounted any toys or anything to make it more obvious. The former owner treated him as a boy so I have been as well.

 

[henpecked]

From what i can gleam from the post i'd guess male, the tail up,tail down is a good indicator.

 

[roxynoodle]

Yes, the way they approach something they are trying to mate with is very telling, but so far he hasn't done that. Thanks everyone for the responses though. Maybe as the winter goes on, and into spring I'll know without having to DNA sex him. Since he has had a boy's name for nearly 3 decades, I'm kind of hoping it is a male, but it's not like they know if they have the wrong names, lol! Everyone thinks since my Nanday is named Rowdy, that she is a male, but I didn't know what she was when I got her. I did know she was rowdy so it seemed like a good name that wasn't necessarily gender specific.