New, Strange Behaviour?

[jaciesaur]

Hey everyone!

I've had my Alexandrine for about two years, and she's had quite the life. She's almost three, and before I got her, she was kept in a cage with two other Alex's (one was very aggressive towards her) with no toys and one perch. It has taken a long time to teach her trust, and she's still pretty much cagebound and a bit of an anxious mess... but we're definitely building trust a little more every day.

Recently, she has started doing something new... and a bit strange.
Whenever I walk past her cage and say 'hello' or 'hi', her eyes will pin down to almost nothing, and she'll get her head close to where I'm standing, and make a strange noise. She only does this to me, not with my husband, who spends just as much time around her. She'll do it twice, tops, and then go right back to her normal self, saying 'hi' or 'hello' in her normal voice.

Here's a link with some videos I took of her doing the behaviour, though the focus isn't the best because I didn't want her to get too close to my phone-- she's very curious about it, and curious Alex's are notoriously chompy, after all.

note: She's pretty scruffy looking right now because she's going through a molt, and this behaviour did start before the moult, but definitely has gotten more intense lately.

 

[Betrisher]

That's called 'eye-pinning' (duh!) and it's a thing ringnecks do when they're emotionally aroused. Now, that could mean sexual arousal, cage-defensiveness, annoyance, owner-worship, or 'I just got out of bed on the wrong side this morning'. It's hard to tell in any given instance what the bird means, so you're going to have to study her and try and pinpoint exactly when she's triggered to do the behaviour.

The tell-tale piece of info you provide is that she's almost three. That's puberty for an Alexandrine, so she's probably having her first flush of the sex hormones that stimulate her to mate and nest. This means she could be looking to you, your husband or another bird as a potential partner. She could be wanting like mad to make a nest and seeking any crevice or corner to tuck herself into and, perhaps, lay an egg (a male is not needed for this). She could be wishing you in perdition as she seeks to protect her precious cage from you and any other threat to it.

All you can do is watch her carefully and see if you can work out which of the above causes it might be.

Another thing that might or might not matter at this point is that some ringnecks will go through an 'acting out' phase where their old, well-behaved self seems to disappear and a new, biting-scratching-clawing demon takes its place. This is so obviously related to the hormonal flush that it's clearly just the bird experiencing its puberty. What you do during this time will determine how your bird comes out the other end.

Be consistent. Don't tolerate bad behaviour like biting or screeching. Leave the bird alone for a few minutes if she does bad things and then return and proceed as normal. Reward her plentifully when she's being good (quiet, calm, polite etc) and try to spend as much time with her as you can. Just as with human children, puberty's a hard time for a birdie and she needs boundaries, just like any young animal.

My personal feeling is that birds do best with an opposite-gender companion. This takes care of much of the hormonal overload and also gives them refuge in another creature of the same species. In my experience, the birds' pair bond has not interfered with either of their relationships with me and I'm glad for the set-up we have. Others will disagree with this POV and that's fine. I'm just giving you my own slant so you can think about it.

Do stay in touch and let us know how your bird gets along. You might want to discuss her trust issues? Maybe we could brainstorm them and find some answers?

 

[Jottlebot]

My guess would be hormone related too. It doesn't look like she's being aggressive or protective of her cage to me. She seems very happy with you being there. She seems to be offering her beak like she might want you to 'feed' her as she would to a mate. I wouldn't encourage it because you don't want her to be stimulated to lay eggs.

She's so scruffy!!! My boy was like that last year when he we t through puberty, but they look AWFUL don't they? Like they've been homeless for months! But always eternally lovely of course ��

Just from the quick look at her cage in the videos, does she have much to chew on and destroy? Might help keep her busy and distracted?

 

[noodles123]

This sounds hormonal to me too and you want to minimize hormonal triggers because a hormonal bird can exhibit aggression, screaming etc (and in females, egg-binding). Alexandrines begin mating at 3.
Prevent access to shadowy places (boxes, huts, under furniture, bedding, pillows etc). Ensure 10-14 hours of dark, uninterrupted sleep. Limit or eliminate warm/mushy food at this time. Consider the types of toys he has access to (some of the grass shredding types can amplify nesting behavior). Pet only on the head (stroking and petting elsewhere is sexually stimulating). These rules go for all people interacting with the bird. Although it sounds like you are the object of interest currently, hormones can be triggered by anyone. A lot of stuff that people do with their baby birds is no longer "safe" when the bird hits puberty (such as snuggling etc).

 

[jaciesaur]

Another thing that might or might not matter at this point is that some ringnecks will go through an 'acting out' phase where their old, well-behaved self seems to disappear and a new, biting-scratching-clawing demon takes its place. This is so obviously related to the hormonal flush that it's clearly just the bird experiencing its puberty. What you do during this time will determine how your bird comes out the other end...

..My personal feeling is that birds do best with an opposite-gender companion. This takes care of much of the hormonal overload and also gives them refuge in another creature of the same species. In my experience, the birds' pair bond has not interfered with either of their relationships with me and I'm glad for the set-up we have. Others will disagree with this POV and that's fine. I'm just giving you my own slant so you can think about it.

Thanks for the response! So far I've noticed a change in personality... though going the other way! Mozzie has ALWAYS been really bitey and cage defensive, and I've noticed she's actually been a bit less chompy, and more willing to step up onto my hand for things, as long as the starting point is her favourite perch.

As for a companion bird, I have definitely thought about it, but I don't have the space for one at the moment, and we're actually planning a move soon, so it just won't work out to get one at the moment

My guess would be hormone related too. It doesn't look like she's being aggressive or protective of her cage to me. She seems very happy with you being there. She seems to be offering her beak like she might want you to 'feed' her as she would to a mate. I wouldn't encourage it because you don't want her to be stimulated to lay eggs.

She's so scruffy!!! My boy was like that last year when he we t through puberty, but they look AWFUL don't they? Like they've been homeless for months! But always eternally lovely of course ��

Just from the quick look at her cage in the videos, does she have much to chew on and destroy? Might help keep her busy and distracted?

Thanks! I'll do my best to kind of... lower my voice when I greet her (it seems to be the high pitched 'hello' setting her off?) and be less... in her space when I first greet her. I actually had hoped, when I got her, that she'd be a boy (but I love her all the same anyway!) because I'm absolutely terrified of her becoming egg-bound, so I definitely want to avoid encouraging that behaviour haha

She's SO scruffy! I was super worried lately that she was sick or feather-pulling, actually, because she lost SO MANY feathers over such a short period of time... but I never saw her actively tugging them out, just doing her natural grooming. It's nice to know that puberty makes them look a little homeless haha!
As for chewing, she's got LOTS of wooden toys scattered about her cage to encourage her to explore and destroy. Until recently, she was very much a 'sit on the rock perch and only chew what is RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME' kind of bird, but recently (maybe it's the extra energy that puberty is bringing out in her), she's started climbing and finally exploring and chewing the other toys. She's completely chewed through a few thicker toys, and I rotate them often to keep her interested.

This sounds hormonal to me too and you want to minimize hormonal triggers because a hormonal bird can exhibit aggression, screaming etc (and in females, egg-binding). Alexandrines begin mating at 3.
Prevent access to shadowy places (boxes, huts, under furniture, bedding, pillows etc). Ensure 10-14 hours of dark, uninterrupted sleep. Limit or eliminate warm/mushy food at this time. Consider the types of toys he has access to (some of the grass shredding types can amplify nesting behavior). Pet only on the head (stroking and petting elsewhere is sexually stimulating). These rules go for all people interacting with the bird. Although it sounds like you are the object of interest currently, hormones can be triggered by anyone. A lot of stuff that people do with their baby birds is no longer "safe" when the bird hits puberty (such as snuggling etc).

Right now, she's got no shadowy places in her cage, and she's still very nervous and anxious about coming out of her cage, even with encouragement, so she doesn't have access to very many places within the house for scurrying off into.
As for petting on the head... she is not a very touchy bird, and so far only really lets people tap her beak. Whenever I've tried to touch her head, ever since I've gotten her, she refuses to let you. Perhaps she's one of those Alex's that isn't very snuggly. A shame, but something I can accept.

She HAS been calling more often lately, and I'm not entirely sure how to handle that. I've read conflicting responses about it-- some people say you look them dead in the eye and say 'no' forcefully. Others say just walk away and let them stop before coming back. Any thoughts on how to handle that? Mostly it's her greeting the day and night, which I can handle. But midday shrieking is something I want to cut down on, because we may be moving to a more shared space, and also it's just.... so loud! haha

Thanks to all of you for getting back to me!

 

[noodles123]

She may just need a better outlet for her energy (I maintain that it is hormonal) but it could be that she is feeling very pent up and not thinking clearly due to anxiety etc. How often is she out of the cage? Do you ever just leave the door open and go on with your at-home life? If she is afraid or cage-bound, (either now, or historically) this could certainly play a part.

 

[jaciesaur]

She has opportunity to come out lots (I have left the door open a lot in the past, and she has never left on her own), and I bring her out for a bit at a time, but she usually just scurries or flies right back to the cage within a few short minutes.

Any ideas for breaking cage bound behaviour that I could try, instead? She has a bouncy rope hanging above her cage, but I think she associates it as More Cage. I could move it, though.

 

[noodles123]

She has opportunity to come out lots (I have left the door open a lot in the past, and she has never left on her own), and I bring her out for a bit at a time, but she usually just scurries or flies right back to the cage within a few short minutes.

Any ideas for breaking cage bound behaviour that I could try, instead? She has a bouncy rope hanging above her cage, but I think she associates it as More Cage. I could move it, though.

My umbrella cockatoo took over a year before she would climb on her "boing" rope swing (outside of her cage). Have you tried removing food overnight and feeding her outside of her cage?

 

[jaciesaur]

No, I've never considered that... But I'm also not sure how I would make it work on days aside from weekends. She usually wakes up when I do, while I'm getting ready to leave for work. Our family is not one of early risers haha!

 

[noodles123]

No, I've never considered that... But I'm also not sure how I would make it work on days aside from weekends. She usually wakes up when I do, while I'm getting ready to leave for work. Our family is not one of early risers haha!

I teach so I get up early (as does my bird). She gets out of her cage as soon as I am out of bed, and she has a breakfast routine (we eat at the same time) and then, about 15 minutes before I leave, I chop up some fruit/veg and turn on the radio (after having cleaned her cage grate and washed her water bowl). After work, its the same routine (minus veg chopping). I put her back in right before I leave and she used to be rude about it, but she's okay with it these days. I do also leave pellets in the cage during the day, but when training or mixing in meds with food, I remove her food overnight (or restrict it) so that she is very hungry in the morning.
She also goes to bed super early because, needing 12-14 hours of sleep, she has to. She is asleep no later than 6:30 on a school night but that is because we get up so early .

 

[Betrisher]

I don't think there's much you can do about Alexes calling. It's part of their birdality, I think. Mine start calling around 7am and will go on for half-an-hour or so, sporadically. Then, again in the afternoon. Madge is far worse than Barney! A neighbour up the street a few doors has built a two-storey garage/granny flat and it has a huge, uninterrupted wall facing our place. Madge's shriek rebounds off it and I'm quite sure she truly enjoys hearing the sound of her own voice being reflected back to her.

I used to think Madge was very loud. Then I got Rosetta.

Everyone's shriek pales in comparison to the full-throated bellow of a cockatoo! The thing is, watching 'Setta communicating so obviously with the wild corellas makes me wonder if Barney and Madge are calling (in vain) to flocks of Alexandrines somewhere out there in the big, wide world. Like cockies, Alexes are gregarious birds and travel in huge flocks. It's only natural they would send out 'Hellooooo?' calls to locate others of their species. So I just try to ignore it and tell myself to be happy my birds are doing what Nature intended them to do.

Regarding neighbours, well I'm lucky there. Mine on two sides have noisy dogs, so it's a standoff. The third is deaf, so... I don't cover my birds' cages as a punishment or inducement to stop them calling: it's natural and is their only way of expressing themselves. I have planted a row of casuarinas down the back yard and in a few years' time, those should baffle Madge's arvo-echo-seshes. I hope. My only suggestion for you would be to think of ways to baffle Mozzie's cries. You can use thick or plush curtains, or hang blankets at 'those' times of day. You can always try distracting her by having training sessions during the times she's most noisy. DO NOT succumb to the temptation to give her something edible to keep The Beak busy! All that will do is cause her to yell more often to get a treat. That's all I got.

Oh. One other suggestion. You might like to see if Mozzie enjoys being spritzed with water from a spray bottle (on 'mist' and very gently at first). Mine *adore* such a bath, especially at moulting time when they're itchy and irritable. If you have the patience and Mozzie likes it, make sure to spray her until her actual skin is wet. Afterward, you dry her with your hairdryer set on 'warm' and at least a few feet away from her to avoid scorching. My Beaks love the hairdryer as well and will turn themselves into a pair of little green pretzels to get the warm air on exactly the right spots.

 

[noodles123]

I wasn't saying that to sound like "nah nah nah look what I can do!"--- I simply meant to say that it can be done without a ton of extra effort (from what you are doing currently). When I first got Noodles, I used to tip-toe around the cage before work because I was certain that if I got her out, she wouldn't go back in (and I couldn't pick her up at the time, so I didn't uncover her until I was about to leave and I gave her her chop ect then---out of necessity).
Once she learned to step-up, she was out as soon as I was up. I got bitten a few times because she didn't want to return to the cage, but very very few times overall. If your bird doesn't come out of the cage, it's not like you have to worry about getting him back inside lol

 

[jaciesaur]

Oh no, that's not how I took it at all, no worries!!
Thanks to everyone for all of your help and responses